I don’t like to talk about things I am not doing because of COVID. I prefer to talk about how I am keeping busy, how I am staying ok. It’s much more constructive. But it isn’t always true. Last week, I loaded up the church livestream on YouTube, and they were singing. Not only were […]
Posts in the worship category:
Feelings of Belonging in the House of God
Today in my church, a person took time to tap me on the shoulder and say, “Here’s the plate,” when the offering was being taken. I took the plate and passed it to the next person. I happened to not have money in hand today, but I appreciated the opportunity to participate in the passing […]
Worship Wars and the Content of Music
This morning I read a post whose point was about worship becoming performance-oriented rather than encouraging participation. The post began with a powerful anecdote concerning an elderly lady who could not hear the lyrics. I identified with this dilemma. Of course, I would I cannot see the lyrics printed on screen. If the instruments drown […]
thinking about prayer
Sometimes I feel guilty for identifying with songs that have nothing to do with what I pray about personally… But at other times I realize that this is what we do when we come together in worship. It is especially true when we come together in large groups that we don’t know all of the […]
discovering the power of hymns
Throughout my childhood, adolescence, and much of my young adulthood, I spent so much time trying to puzzle out the words while other people worshiped in song that I really did not understand the depth of the music–no time to ponder the theological implications when you are one, two, or even three steps behind and […]
what takes courage
Yesterday in church, we spent a couple of moments discussing with people near us a moment when we did something that required courage. The people near me all said that they thought I need courage every day just to get out of the house. After all, I could choose not to leave the house. I […]
why I stay in Church
Yesterday, I ran across a link on Facebook: 10 Surprising Reasons Our Kids Leave Church. It made me truly sad–perhaps that isn’t what the author was after, but that is the response I have. A few years ago, when I was teaching an adult Sunday school class and we were studying Jim Wallace’s book, A […]
What are we singing?
It has become fashionable to rewrite the words to songs so that they are gender inclusive or otherwise politically correct. Sometimes this has a fairly neutral effect. Sometimes it destroys a song’s theological meaning; and sometimes it is quite powerful. As a songwriter and a minister, and also as a person who is a member […]
communion: a communal worship experience
In a href=”https://amzn.to/3xa29yA” target=”_blank”>Exploring the Worship Spectrum, Sally Morgenthaler makes the statement that “The celebration of the Eucharist is not simply a private participation in God’s saving work through Jesus Christ; it is an intensely horizontal, bonding, communal rite.” (p. 51) My church shares communion at least once a month; and I often ponder the […]
hospitality in worship
Why am I going on about access to worship, the need for clear sound in worship, etc? Because the worship community is, for many people in postmodern America, the first stop on the way to the encounter with the Holy Spirit on the road to meeting Christ. I have written a chapter about Christian education […]
sound worship
Sound ministry… I am not talking about ministry based on sound biblical principles, though I certainly think this is important. I am talking about the ministry that occurs through your church’s sound technicians. If you send recordings to people who are homebound, offer them at a nominal cost to people who missed the service, or […]
Does it matter what we sing?
Because I am blind, I have spent a great deal of my worship time unable to participate fully. Unless I know the words by heart or have a braille copy of the lyrics, I am unable to sing along with the congregation. This has several implications for me and for the people around me. I […]
speaking of worship
The encounter with Christ begins with an awareness of the application of the death and resurrection of Jesus to our personal circumstances, sin and shame. Our response to that encounter moves us into the community of the people of God. We become a people of God, one people with a shared heritage, when we celebrate […]
meditation on a piece of choral music
Last week I went back to choir after numerous weeks at home with migraines and respiratory infections. One of the songs we are working on is called, “This Is My Word.” It is a very powerful song based on a passage from Isaiah. A friend, Marshall, is in the choir and is working on sign […]
It Is Well
Hebrew… The gift that keeps on giving… I love it when that happens! Last week in church, we sang “It Is Well”–all three verses. Singing “My sin, not in part but the whole / Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,” I was deeply moved and thought back to my discussion […]
Through
When I saw what lay before me, “Lord,” I cried, “what will I do?” I thought He would just remove it, but He gently led me through. Without fire there’s no refining; without pain, no relief. Without flood there’s no rescue; without testing, no belief. –Gloria Gaither, “Through” This song always tears me up when […]