As you make plans for worship in the autumn months, consider the following ways to explore All Creation Sings.
Time after Pentecost-Autumn
Sing “God’s Work, Our Hands” (ACS 1000) on September 8 in worship or at other congregational service events. Set to the tune EARTH AND ALL STARS, singers will readily learn this new text by Wayne Wold. Learn more about the hymn at https://elca.org/dayofservice.
Explore the many creation-care activities in Kids Celebrate Creation. This is especially fitting if your congregation is focusing on care for the earth leading up to the commemoration of St. Francis on October 4.
Read or re-visit the 2020 Augsburg Fortress blog post, “The Animals Will Teach” for more creation-themed song ideas in ACS.
Reformation
Sing one of two short songs based on Psalm 46 as a psalm refrain on Reformation Sunday: “Though the Earth Shall Change” (ACS 1035) or “Be Still and Know” (1083). The verses of the psalm can be sung on a tone or spoken by all or a leader(s) while the whole assembly sings the song as a refrain.
Introduce two new songs with reformation themes, “By Grace We Have Been Saved” (ACS 1006) and “Born, Reborn.” (ACS 956). The introductory videos will assist you with learning and teaching in your context.
Teach your choir a setting of “God Alone Be Praised.” (ACS 1023). Commissioned for the 30th anniversary of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and the 500th anniversary of the reformation
, this anthem setting includes a part for the assembly and violin. You can listen to it as well.
All Saints
Learn the hymn “Death Be Never Last.” This video provides an introduction. If you’d prefer to have a choir sing it first, consider this anthem arrangement. Find additional anthem suggestions for several hymns in All Creation Sings in this curated PDF.
Remember a loved one by purchasing copies of the pew edition in their memory. What a gift it is for people of all ages to open a hymnal, read the name of a fellow child of God, and be connected to the community of saints through song.
Familiarize yourself with several prayers in ACS that address loss and times of transition (see pages 52–55 in the pew edition). As we remember those who have died or those near death, these prayers can give us words when we are struggling to name what is on our hearts.
