Can a fuller understanding of the heroes of the faith and the great cloud of witnesses help us rediscover the purpose and focus of Reformation Day?

This kid-friendly litany is intended for use at the beginning of a new church school year.

This is an excerpt from an article written by Joan Huyser-Honig about baptism—which happens once yet takes a lifetime to complete.

As worship leaders we serve as guides. We can take the safe, pleasant, straight and flat path or we can chose something more challenging. The flat path is known and even relaxing; you can enjoy your environment without exerting much energy. The challenging path requires all our senses; it makes us feel alive, and gets the adrenaline pumping. It offers great vistas, many rewards, but yet demands work; it isn’t easy. I think in general churches need a mix of the two sometimes in the same service. There are times for stability and there are times for challenges.

What we consider as normal has everything to do with our context. In conversations about worship I am increasingly trying to excise any statement that suggests a norm such as, “this song is familiar” or “everyone is doing x, y or z.” For every normative statement we try to make there will be examples where it is false...

Between the gifts, the Grinch, and the jolly elves, it’s tough for Christian parents to help kids focus on the true reason we celebrate: heaven’s come down to earth! Here are some helpful ideas you can pass on to families.  

Singing of a Christ who challenges us to love our enemies including those of different faiths or ethnic backgrounds, to forgive the worst of sinners and then enfold them into our community, to take care of the orphan even those with HIV/AIDs, to be willing to give up some of the comforts in life in order to bring comfort to those who need it most; to sing of such a Christ puts us outside our comfort zone. 

Thank you for all you did that we never saw...

Take a deep breath, a good look at your family and friends, and dive right in to emerge some time during the first week of January. 

Is Reformation Day a thing of the past that doesn’t relate to those who haven’t grown up in the “Dutch church”?   Is it something that we should re-energize or let fade away?  If we stop celebrating this defining moment of the Reformation do we risk losing our historical roots which help ground us theologically?  What do you think?

Whatever your committee’s or team’s name or function it is easy to get in a rut, to do things a particular way because that’s the way it has always been done (even if it’s only the second year you have been doing it).  So how do you get out of a liturgical rut? How do you discern when a once helpful practice has become unhelpful or when a 100 year old practice needs to be retained?  How do you lead your congregation to grow in the area of worship?