All Creation Sings Resources for Lent, The Three Days, and Easter
As you are planning for Lent, the Three Days, and Easter, All Creation Sings provides several resources for your assembly’s worship. Lent Explore the collection of “short songs” in All Creation Sings. These could be incorporated into a weekly Service of Word and Prayer (ACS pp. 42-25) for a Lenten midweek service or during communion, gathering, or other times in Sunday worship. This blog post provides video links and tips for using these songs in ACS. Enrich your use of Setting 12 in All Creation Sings with the Ensemble Setting arranged by Anne Krentz Organ. You don’t need a full…
H.A. Ironside and Karl Barth On: “There is no Man Behind the Back of Jesus”
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 What does it mean to be genuinely human? This is a question philosophers, world religions, little kids, and others have been pondering for the millennia. Rather than speculate though, as Christians we have the more accurate way, the more concrete way; God’s way for answering said question. As is the case with everything in the Christian kingdom, our…
Partner Organization Resources and Events
Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. Music that Makes Community Music that Makes Community (MMC) practices communal song-sharing that inspires deep spiritual connection, brave shared leadership, and sparks the possibility of transformation in our world. Music that Makes Community announced a leadership transition in November. After 8 years of serving as MMC’s Executive Director, Paul Vasile discerned it was time for a new adventure. We are…
A first-of-its-kind education for Indigenous leaders: Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders program launches
The following is cross-posted from Living Lutheran. The original post can be found here. The inaugural cohort of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary’s (PLTS) Theological Education for Indigenous Leaders (TEIL) launched on Oct. 9 with an opening ceremony and shared celebration attended by leaders from across the ELCA. Photos: Courtesy of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary Larry Thiele, a pastor in the Eastern North Dakota Synod, teaches a TEIL course as one of the program’s wisdom keepers. Some of the Indigenous leaders and wisdom keepers of the TEIL program with Moses Paul Peter Penumaka, director of Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (far…
Blessed Assurance: Reasoning Away Doubts About Salvation
I thought I would share a little theological exegetical reasoning I engaged in, almost 28 years ago now. This was before I had ever received any formal theological training; read any deep theology books; learned the original biblical languages, so on and so forth. But I had been a Christian since a young child; I had grown up in the home of a spiritually sensitive pastor’s home (my dad); and was around ‘biblicist’ churchy thought my whole life. So, it wasn’t like I had no theological resource, indeed, we operated with what today might be called Free Grace theology. I…
January 7, 2024–Tear It Open!
Alex Zuber, Harrisonburg, VA Warm-up Question What is the most urgent or pressing thing in your life right now? (It could be a good thing or a challenge) Tear It Open! For all the build-up, Christmas just flies by too fast! Some of us (me included) may have been singing along with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” since November 1, but Christmas is still over too soon. I know I could slow down and savor the moment more, but I’m always far too delighted by the frenzied rush of Christmas morning. It doesn’t seem to matter…
God, Our Father; Not Our Judge: The Judge judged
When God is understood as the unmoved mover, the Great Law-giver in the sky; when God is known to work through decrees, in a God-world relation; when God is understood as a pure being (or pure act actus purus); when God is known to have ad hoc favorites among the massa of humanity; there is no place for disobedience. The above is to say the following: if God is first understood as the Judge rather than the Father, if He isn’t known as the Judge judged, as the Father of the Son by the Holy Spirit, then all that is…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For peace among nations, especially between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine… For victims of and responders…
Luther Against the neo-Thomists and Performance Based Salvations
Performance based theories of salvation continue to plague the evangelical Protestant landscapes. Whether that be funded by a Reformed background (inclusive of Reformed proper, and Arminianism et al.), or Lutheran (either orthodox, and/or mainstream). When people are offered a notion of God wherein He is understood as a juridical God, one who relates to the world through a covenant of works/grace, or other like frameworks, at which point law-keeping sublimates grace into its image, those under this specter live a life of deep angst, always wondering if they are going to finally measure up (or persevere) unto the final reward:…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For peace among nations, especially between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine… For peaceful resolution to post-election…