Posts in Worship Resources
ELCA Worship: Responding to recent acts of violence
ELCA Worship: Responding to recent acts of violence

All Creation Sings includes several for lament including “Lamenting Gun Violence” (Leaders Edition, p. 107) and “Service after a Violent Event” (Pew Edition p. 64-66, Leaders p. 110-113) as well as several collect prayers including the one below. This content is also available on SundaysandSeasons.com in the Library. (All Creation Sings/Prayers, Thanksgivings, and Laments/Resources for Lament)

Lord Jesus Christ, your own mother looked on when your life ended in violence. Our hearts are pierced with grief and anger at the [death of / mass shooting in_________]. We commend the slain to your wounded hands, and their loved ones to your merciful heart, trusting only in the promise that your love is stronger than death, and that even now, you live and reign forever and ever. Amen. (ACS, p.49)

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ELCA, Worship Resources, ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, Gun ViolenceComment
Faith Lens: Unity not Uniformity
Faith Lens: Unity not Uniformity

Jesus repeatedly prays that “they may all be one,” that through the communion of God and Jesus, we all may be one. This oneness is rooted in God’s immense love which goes beyond all time and space.

Even in that upper room, the reality of this oneness rooted in love is hard to conceptualize. The folks who fill that room are far from perfect, they will mess up some in pretty significant ways in the days to come, as they struggled to understand and cope with Jesus’ death and resurrection. Yet, knowing all this, Jesus prays for them and, in that moment, Jesus prays for us too.

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Worship Resources, ELCA, ResourcesBrian FlatgardFaith Lens, Youth and Young Adult, 2022 Holy WeekComment
Conference on Worship, Theology, and the Arts
Conference on Worship, Theology, and the Arts

“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.

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ELCA, Worship Resources, ResourcesBrian FlatgardSt. Olaf CollegeComment
Lutheran Summer Music: Investing in future generations of leaders
Lutheran Summer Music: Investing in future generations of leaders

Valparaiso 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!

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardLutheran Summer MusicComment
Music that Makes Community in-person and online summer opportunities
Music that Makes Community in-person and online summer opportunities

MMC 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.

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ELCA, Worship Resources, ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, Music That Makes CommunityComment
Faith Lens: Whose Voice Are You Listening To?
Faith Lens: Whose Voice Are You Listening To?

“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.

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Worship Resources, ELCA, ResourcesBrian FlatgardFaith Lens, Youth and Young Adult, 2022 Holy WeekComment
Faith Lens: Glimpse of the Kingdom
Faith Lens: Glimpse of the Kingdom

The 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.

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Worship Resources, ELCA, ResourcesBrian FlatgardFaith Lens, Youth and Young Adult, 2022 Holy WeekComment
Spanish resources available at Sundays and Seasons
Spanish resources available at Sundays and Seasons

All 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.

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA WorshipComment
TuneUp: A way to recruit singers by teaching them to match pitch
TuneUp: A way to recruit singers by teaching them to match pitch

ALCM 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.

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardAssociation of Lutheran Church MusiciansComment
Lutherans Restoring Creation provide creation-focused worship service for Earth Day
Lutherans Restoring Creation provide creation-focused worship service for Earth Day

An 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.

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardLutherans Restoring Creation, Climate ChangeComment
Additional worship texts for Good Friday and Easter
Additional worship texts for Good Friday and Easter

As 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.

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ELCA, Resources, Worship ResourcesBrian FlatgardELCA Worship, 2022 Holy WeekComment