Summer Worship Ideas

Summer offers unique opportunities and challenges when it comes to Worship! Find resources for this season. 

Articles and Blogs for Summer Worship:

• Canceling the Summer Slump: A summer series based on the Apostles' Creed, by Laura Smit
• A Summertime Thanksgiving: Celebrating the gifts of the garden, by Kathleen Prince
• BBQ, Preaching, and a Little Handbook, by Chris Schoon
• Consider the Birds of the Air, Four service plans featuring God’s aviary, by Edgar Boeve, Randall D. Engle
• First Steps for Including Teens in Planning and Leading Worship, from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, by Joan Huyser-Honing
• How to Plan Worship for a Family Reunion, by Marilyn Glover
• Planning Ahead: Worship during July and August, from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
• Rivers of Song, by Katie Roelofs
• Summer Festival of Praise, by Ken Baker and Bert Polman
• The Pastoral Challenges of Summer, by John D. Witvliet
• Why Youth Need to be Leading Worship Regularly NOW, by Eric Mathis

Service Planning  Resources:

A Call to Worship (especially mindful of children)

God makes the sun rise and set.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God makes summer and winter come and go.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God helps plants grow and flowers bloom.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God gives us food to eat, places to live, and people to love us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God is always with us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
God keeps his promises to us.
He is faithful from generation to generation.
Let us praise our faithful God.
[The Worship Sourcebook. 2nd edition, pg. 397]

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

God, giver of all good,
you continually pour your benefits upon us.
Age after age the living wait upon you and find
that your faithfulness has no end,
that your care is unfailing.
We praise you that the mystery of life
is a mystery of infinite goodness.
We praise you
for the order and constancy of nature,
for the beauty and bounty of the earth,
for day and night, summer and winter,
seedtime and harvest,
for the varied gifts of loveliness that every season brings.
We give you thanks
for all the comfort and joy of life,
for our homes, for our friends,
and for all the love, sympathy, and goodwill of all people.
Amen.
[The Worship Sourcebook. 2nd edition, pg. 417]

Closing Prayer

O Creator and Mighty God,
you have promised strength for the weak,
rest for the laborers, light for the way,
grace for the trials, help from above,
unfailing sympathy, undying love.
O Creator and Mighty God,
help us to continue in your promise. Amen.
[The Worship Sourcebook. 2nd edition, pg. 364]

Sending

Go into the world:
dance, laugh, sing, and create.
We go with the assurance of God’s blessing.
Go into the world:
risk, explore, discover, and love.
We go with the assurance of God’s grace.
Go into the world:
believe, hope, struggle, and remember.
We go with the assurance of God’s love.
Thanks be to God!
[The Worship Sourcebook. 2nd edition, pg. 360]