We are blessed with a wealth of hymns that are suitable for funerals and memorial services. As you select music for your loved one’s funeral – or as you help a family choose music for a service – it can be helpful to see a list of hymns to select from. This post gathers together …
What language does God speak, and how can the metaphor of language help us better understand our relationship to God? Dr. Jean Kidula, Professor of Music at the University of Georgia, shows how thinking about dialect expands our ways of thinking about the music we use to worship God.
Here’s how to lead a productive, generous annual review process – and why you should.
In this conversation with Dr. John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, we talk about making change in our churches in a week-by-week process, the importance of resources to validate aspects of ministry that aren’t currently supported, and – the big one – how important teachability and curiosity is to leadership.
Earlier this summer I read Leah Schade’s book Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide, then interviewed her for my current book project. Preaching in the Purple Zone was also one of my “reads of the week” on the Called podcast, and it’s the only book I’ve ever mega sticky-noted TWICE (a …
How do our families connect with our church ministries? And how can we alleviate some of the pressure on our “preacher’s kid” families? As a pastor and a musician, Bill and I have encountered very different expectations and experiences.
Big news! I’ve signed a book contract! Professional Christian: Integrating Personal Faith and Public Ministry in a Fragmented, Filtered World is a leadership book for church staff and other people in Christian ministry. It’s under contract with Westminster John Knox. What a joy and privilege to have years of work begin to come to fruition! …
Want to avoid dead air and awkward pauses in worship services? Planning for flow can help. Bill and I share how we plan for a smooth flow in worship services, plus the small steps we take that make a big difference.
I think church staff members fall into two categories: those who attend “extra” church events in addition to ones for their job, and those who don’t. People that I know in the first category attend services to worship as part of the congregation. It gives them a break from focusing on leading the service and …
It’s that time of year: the program year has been begun, and it’s time to look back at the summer and debrief. I used these questions to guide my summer debrief: