The on-going gift of the Spirit continues to help us spread the news and become apostles in our time and place. And that is worth celebrating! Here are some simple ideas that will help you celebrate the Day of Penetcost with your congregation and church school.
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Posted in Community, Featured, Ministry |
Tags: children's ministry, Holy Spirit, Pentecost, traditions, worship 
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I’ve worshiped in parishes where The Peace has taken so long, I could have gone out for a cup of coffee, drank it, returned, and not missed a thing. But turning it into a parish-wide love-in is surely not the point. It’s not a liturgical cocktail party where everyone mingles and greets everyone else in the entire church.
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Only the Eucharist itself is older than the liturgy of the Great Vigil. This service reenacts the passage from death into life.
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Whatever vehicle is chosen to focus our prayer, the Gethsemane watch presents us with a superb opportunity to teach faithfulness in prayer and discipleship. “Could you not keep awake one hour?” were the words of Jesus in reproach to his hapless followers in the first Gethsemane.
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Tags: Gethsemane, Good Friday, Lent, Maundy Thursday, meditation, prayer, Vigil, worship Comments Off
We have learned that tending to growth requires tending to worship and education for all ages. Arguably the most significant shift in our congregation has been our emphasis on education and worship for all.
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Tags: adults, children's ministry, Christian formation, worship, youth ministry Comments Off
Baptism has its roots in ancient practices that preceded Christianity. Jewish rituals of purification were centered on the cleansing of the body with water. Many Jewish customs found their way into the initiation rites of the Early Church.
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Tags: Baptism, Christian formation, Christianity, confirmation, Holy Week, traditions, worship Comments Off
As a child, I recall watching my father (also brought up “low church”) enter “our pew” in church with a bow to the cross as he also bent with one knee to the floor. A puzzlement to me of which I never asked. Only my Catholic friends did those weird body gestures, including moving their hands all over their foreheads and chest when praying.
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Tags: adults, children's ministry, Christian formation, Christianity, genuflecting, prayer, traditions, worship Comments Off
Start by being clear about your purpose: the formation of hearts and minds and souls in community. From this will follow intentionality about the content of the service. For me, the “stuff” of Christian family liturgy is hospitality, compassionate loving, mystery, inclusivity, social justice and servant leadership.
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Tags: adults, children's ministry, Christian formation, family ministry, hospitality, intergenerational, parents, prayer, worship, youth ministry 1 Comment »
The naming of her child was to be part of the great unfolding of God’s plan for the salvation of the world. And so this simple act of obedience and following the ancestral tradition was used for the glory of God.
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Tags: Baptism, children's ministry, Christmas, Holy Name, Jesus, Naming, worship Comments Off
For many people, the Christmas holiday season does not bring with it the joy and happiness that is constantly advertised on television, in shopping malls, in catalogs or in greetings cards. The constant refrain of the happiness of the Christmas Season, about getting together with family and friends reminds many people of what they have lost or have never had.
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Tags: Advent, Blue Christmas, Christmas, hospitality, mission, worship Comments Off
The seven “O Antiphons” originated in the daily monastic prayer of the eighth and ninth centuries. They are short, scripture-based prayers invoking various titles used for Christ. They express the deep longing for the Messiah’s coming that is a characteristic of Advent. The ninth century hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is based on one of the antiphons.
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Tags: Advent, Christianity, music, worship Comments Off
There will be a lot of people in most of our churches on Christmas Eve, and perhaps at special services in Advent and Epiphany. Certainly, some will be out of town family and friends. But equally certainly, some will be in-towners worshipping at Christmas and perhaps seeking, if only unconsciously, a church home.
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Tags: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, evangelism, hospitality, worship 1 Comment »
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