Worship planning, whether it’s led by a pastor, a musician, a planning team, or a worship committee, begins with this goal in mind: a well-thought-out liturgy that involves the assembly in authentic praise of God. In most congregations, regardless of…
Read MoreWorship Is Mission
My mandate was clear when they called me to be their pastor: “Help our church to grow.” Looking back, I was very naive. It honestly never occurred to me that the members of a congregation would, on the one hand,…
Read MoreVital Worship, Healthy Congregations
Christianity is a “first-person plural” religion, where communal worship, service, fellowship, and learning are indispensable for grounding and forming individual faith. The strength of Christianity in North America depends on the presence of healthy, spiritually nourishing, well-functioning congregations. Congregations are…
Read MoreCharacteristics of Christian Worship
Christians and congregations bring a host of assumptions about what constitutes Christian worship with them to the service. Rather than allowing these assumptions to catch us in conversation about “good” and “bad” or “right” and “wrong” worship, we can testify…
Read MoreTeaching the Congregational Choir: The Role of Musicians in Multicultural Worship
Church musicians have always had particular titles—cantor, Kapellmeister, organist-choirmaster, director of music, precentor, song leader, minister of music, or worship leader. But this office is so important to the experience of culturally conscious worship that a new title, free of…
Read MoreSinging the “Right” Tune: How Music Shapes Communal Experience
Consider these worshipers in modern urban America: rather than having performers act out skits or play instruments on a stage, they want “participatory” worship in which all attendees play a part. Instead of grand auditoriums where the audience gapes at…
Read MoreThe Spirit Is A-Movin’: Helping Worshipers Find Their Voice
The year is 1931. Visualize St. James Episcopal Church on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles: huge Gothic arches, awe-inspiring stained glass windows, massive chandeliers imported from Europe, an organ bellowing music to the heavens, pews filled with Anglo-Saxons dressed in…
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