Recent research about Gen Z from the Springtide Research Institute suggests that a combination of three things leads to young people, aged 13-25, feeling like they belong in school: being noticed, named, and known by a community. Paying attention to someone, noticing rather than ignoring them, increases that person’s sense of connectedness. Greeting someone, holding the door for them, blessing them after a sneeze—all are simple ways to notice.
Read MoreAll 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)
Read MoreJesus 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.
Read MoreA 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.
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