A disciple has asks Jesus how he will reveal himself to the disciples when the world cannot see him, as Jesus describes in John 14:19. It’s a good question. They have never experienced anything like what Jesus describes. Of course, Jesus gives a very Jesus-y answer to that question. Love. Love is the way the disciples will know Jesus.
Read More“Scatter the Imagination of our Hearts,” at St. Olaf College, Northfield Minn., July 25–July 28 2022. Under the theme “Scatter the Imagination of Our Hearts” (Luke 1:51), St. Olaf College's Conference on Worship, Theology, and Arts (CWTA) invites you to reflect on how the people of God can challenge, change, and inspire others, especially as faith communities imagine new responses to the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism.
Read MoreValparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind., June 26–July 24 2022. Did you know that few Lutheran Summer Music students actually pay full tuition? Thanks to scholarships and congregational support through programs such as the Young Musicians Partnership, many LSM students receive matching grants that reduce out-of-pocket costs. Scholarships are still available for LSM 2022; nominate or encourage a young musician you know to apply today!
Read MoreIn this gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. As I have loved you, you should love one another.” This is a commandment that calls us into a relationship, with both God and one another. It calls us into a relationship of love.
Read MoreMMC is excited to announce an event exploring paperless singing, to take place in Eugene, Ore., on June 25. In preparation for the Annual Conference of the Hymn Society, join us in Washington, D.C., on July 16.
Online programs continue, including the new song-writing workshop “Composing Ourselves,” a webinar with Jorge Lockward exploring creative liturgical composition, Morning Grounding, and more. Visit the MMC website for additional details and to register.
Read More“Hindsight is 20/20,” the old saying goes, meaning that it is easier to see the meaning of things when you are looking back. Perhaps that is why today’s gospel reading is a flashback to John 10, a time well before Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is as if to say, now that we have encountered the Risen Jesus, we are finally ready to make sense of what he was saying.
Read MoreLooking for information about topics related to worship? ELCA Worship’s Frequently Asked Questions page offers guidance, including additional resources, that may be considered within your local context. Visit elca.org/worshipfaq.
Read MoreThe Easter season is seven weeks long. Nearly every week the gospel lesson includes disciples encountering Jesus and failing to recognize him. This week’s gospel encounter is crammed with significance. There is a miracle and allusions to Peter’s failure to stand firm during the horrible events of Holy Week, as Jesus asks him repeatedly, “Do you love me.” Both are important and theologically significant, yet by focusing on them we may miss what is most significant. Namely, Jesus is in the world today if we have eyes to see.
Read MoreAll Creation Sings includes a fully bilingual setting of Holy Communion (Setting 11/Liturgia 11). To support use of this liturgy as well as Evangelical Lutheran Worship Setting Seven: Santa Comunión, Sundays and Seasons now provides many more hymns and songs in Spanish.
Most hymns from Libro de Liturgia y Cántico are available for download to Deluxe subscribers. Service music (#181-274) is available to both Standard and Deluxe subscribers.
Read MoreALCM Webinar Series “TuneUp: A Way to Recruit Singers by Teaching Them to Match Pitch,”
Friday,4/29/2022, 11am MST/PDT, 12pm MDT.
The Association of Lutheran Church Musicians invites you to join its webinar to “help people sing with confidence.” This session offers ways to “recruit people to TuneUp” as well as useful techniques to get them to quickly and easily match pitch.” Register as part of the spring or full-year webinar series.
Read MoreKristen Berthiaume and her family live in Alabama. They wanted to promote racial justice in their community. Seeing that nationwide protests and demands for justice were often met with open racism and ignorance, the family decided to create an Anti-racist Little Library in front of their home.
Read MoreThe April, 2022 newsletter from ELCA worship is available, featuring All Creation Sings, events, and resources in English and Spanish. Read the newsletter here.
Read MoreIn my part of the world, dogwood trees bloom at Easter. My Sunday Church School teachers told an old Christian legend to explain why.
Read MoreThere are so many ways to be engaged in Spirit and Action for Earth Day! Lutherans Restoring Creation provides ideas and resources to celebrate as an individual, youth group, Bible study or whole congregation.
Read MoreAn online worship service for Earth Day (4/24/2022) is being finalized by Lutherans Restoring Creation and they are excited to share it with all. If you want to integrate it into your worship service be sure to register now as private/preview links will be sent soon. Click here to register.
They are honored to have the Rev. Dr. Carmelo Santos sharing the message of the day according to the Readings for April 24th. The service — in English, Spanish, and ASL — will be available to all via YouTube and Facebook starting Friday April 22, 2022.
Read MoreOne famous chef who wasn’t in L.A. for the Oscars was Chef José Andrés. Chef Andrés could have been in L.A. or comfortably resting at one of his restaurants in New York or Washington D.C. But he wasn’t. Chef José Andrés was on the border between Ukraine and Poland serving up thousands of meals for the Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.
Read MoreFrom the first-fruits offering of Deuteronomy to the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, our reflections have pointed to how God continues to “make a way in the wilderness” and calls us to be part of that journey for ourselves and our neighbors. Read more in this post in English and Spanish.
Read MoreAs we approach Holy Week and the Easter season, you may desire worship texts that hold in tension the joy of the resurrection with the reality of violence and suffering in our world in Eastern Europe and around the globe.
Below are three newly composed worship texts by Gail Ramshaw — For Good Friday, For the Easter Season, and an Eastertide Lament — available for use in your context during Holy Week. Guidance for use precedes each selection.
Read MoreTo plan and plant a garden is an act of faithful preparation. To nurture and tend to tiny stems is to have hope for a time when those same stems may grow into something large enough to nourish another being.It’s a practice that can bring us closer to the divine.
Read MoreAfter 106 years of searching, a ship lost miles below the icy water near Antartica was recently found! Explorer Ernest Shackelton’s ship, Endurance, was exploring these frigid waters when it became trapped by ice and could no longer move. Scientists say that because it sank in such cold water the ship is almost perfectly intact, as if it sunk yesterday! Such a discovery!
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