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.
Association of Lutheran Church Musicians
ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.
Ponder Anew: a continuing education conference for church musicians, pastors and worship leaders
July 22-25, 2024 at Valparaiso University
With an emphasis on practical skill-building, you will be able to attend workshops and in-depth learning sessions on a variety of topics. This conference will also celebrate the 300th anniversary of the St. John Passion by J.S. Bach, which will be sung by the Bach Collegium Valparaiso and led by Christopher M. Cock, artistic director and conductor.
Additional information about the conference, including pricing, scholarships, and accommodations, is available on the ALCM website.
Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival
Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.
Introducing two FREE compositions from Lutheran Summer Music 2023 by Anne Krentz Organ: Holy Manna, for solo instrument with keyboard accompaniment, and Be Thankful, for SATB chorus, descant, keyboard accompaniment, optional: assembly, handbells (full or condensed). You can download the free sheet music at LSMacademy.org/resources.
Institute of Liturgical Studies
An ecumenical conference on liturgical renewal for the church today.
In its 75th year, the Institute will turn its attention to “Creation, Not Commodity: The Church’s Liturgy in a Consumer Culture” and will be held April 9-11, 2024 (note start date is one day later than usual). Sign up for registration updates and other news from ILS.
Journey to Baptismal Living (JBL)
JBL announces the launch of its new website journeytobaptism.org on Nov. 15. Founded as the North American Association for the Catechumenate in 1993, JBL remains an organization committed to providing training and resources for those who guide formation in Christian discipleship with individuals both unbaptized and baptized. The redesigned website offers insights and strategies for facilitating discernment, worship, instruction, and reflection, as well as advice on how to form a team and mentor sponsors. Primarily, the new website is a place to connect: to arrange for practitioner training and for ongoing development through monthly blogs and frequent community chats.
Community Chat: Celebrating Reception:
Every seeker who comes to JBL is unique. Some have a great deal of Christian formation, and some have almost none. Some have had long experience of being part of a Christina community, and some are trying out something new. Those who were baptized and perhaps raised in another Christian denomination present their own challenges and require us to use great sensitivity.
- How do we discern where they are coming from?
- What is motivating them to this change?
- How much is this just a shift in membership, and how much is it a conversion experience?
- How do we integrate them with the unbaptized into a catechumenal process?
The Rev. Dr. Larry Ehren, Episcopal priest from Kansas City and a longtime practitioner, and Dr. Kyle Schiefelbein-Guerrero, professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon and a former practitioner, will address these topics on Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7 PM, Central Time. To participate, register at enews@journeytobaptism.org. Include “Community Chat” in the subject line along with your name and phone number in the message. We will send you a Zoom link nearer the date of the Chat.
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.
As church pastors and staff move towards gatherings of gratitude and the busy seasons of Advent and Christmas, Music that Makes Community pauses its in-person programming. If you’re still looking for ideas, songs, and resources for the upcoming season, you can purchase the recording from this year’s Advent Worship Planning workshop from September here and review past posts for Advent I (Hope), II (Peace), III (Joy), and IV (Love) on our blog.
Our hearts continue to ache hearing the news in Palestine and Israel and how it is affecting our friends, family, and community. Here’s a couple of MMC blog posts from past Board members Nancy McLaren and now-saint Scott Weidler about their past experiences with paperless music in the Holy Land.
In December, Music that Makes Community is offering two online gatherings. Monday Morning Grounding meets every week through December 11 and is a touchstone that includes singing, silence, sacred text, and community connection. On Thursday evening, December 21, MMC Board members Revs. Breen Sipes and Nancy Willbanks will be hosting a Winter Solstice SING.
Programming for 2024 is getting finalized now so keep watch on the calendar page of our website for workshops, practice groups, and community events in your area.
Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources
Augsburg Fortress is an imprint of 1517 Media, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sundays and Seasons: Preaching, Year B 2024
Sundays and Seasons: Preaching is an annual resource in the Sundays and Seasons family that considers the sermon in the context of the assembly gathered around word and sacrament on a particular day and within a particular season of the church year. Sundays and Seasons: Preaching provides new commentary and ideas for proclamation, contributed by practicing preachers as well as scholars, together with succinct notes on each day and its readings.
How can churches do the work of becoming allies for the leaders they call? In belonging to a predominantly white denomination, ELCA members are called to listen and learn from its leaders of color to recognize the assumptions, biases, and harmful actions that result when congregations don’t do the work to become allies. Authors offer wisdom, storytelling, and concrete suggestions for churches preparing to call a leader of color. Call to Allyship is a must-read for call committees, church councils, social justice teams, and anyone prepared to do the work of understanding, welcoming, and celebrating these leaders.
After the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, a passionate uprising erupted, with the intersection of 38th and Chicago at its epicenter. One block away stood Calvary Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation whose members had engaged in racial justice work for years.
In Ashes to Action, Shari Seifert provides her riveting first-person account of the events following May 25, 2020. Shari joined others in the Calvary community to show up, listen, and ask what was needed in the moment. As the lines between her congregation and neighborhood blurred, the way toward a faithful response because clearer. This personal narrative stays rooted in the context of community, immersing readers in the days, weeks, and months following the uprising.
Unscheduled Grace: 40 Reflections and Prayers for College Students
A collection of devotions and prayers. This book can accompany students through the changes, challenges, and joys of college living, including homework, relationships, stress, vocation, and more. Through all its entries, the authors assure readers that no matter what they face, their lives are blessed by the unscheduled grace of God. Authors Matt Marohl and Katie Fick are campus pastors at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Remind Me Again Facilitator Guide
Rev. Jia Starr Brown has developed 41 lessons based on Joe Davis’s poems in Remind Me Again. Each lesson helps you have meaningful discussions about Joe’s poetry as well as helping guide you to form more meaningful connections with your own community.
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
An interdisciplinary study and ministry center that promotes the scholarly study of the theology, history, and practice of Christian worship and the renewal of worship in worshiping communities across North America and beyond.
The Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Program at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is designed to foster, strengthen and sustain well-grounded worship in congregations Grants to worshiping communities stimulate thoughtful and energetic work that will result in worship services that exhibit renewed creativity, theological integrity, and relevance. Learn more about Worshiping Communities Grants. Future dates for submissions include Feb. 15 and June 15, 2024.
