Many people assume that there has been a steady decline in worship attendance for all the mainline denominations since the mid-1960s—the era when most of them began to see their memberships decline. But trends in attendance—usually thought to be a better indicator of church vitality than trends in membership—have actually followed their own patterns.
Read moreCategory: Protestant Worship
Moravian cup of covenant
In the Moravian liturgical tradition the cup of covenant is not to be confused with Holy Communion, although terminology and form remind us of Communion.
Read morePresbyterians: We are one
For many years Coral Ridge had two very distinct worship services – one contemporary and one traditional. The result was the unintentional development of two different churches under one roof. It wasn’t healthy. So back at the end of Spring we started talking about what we could do to unify our one large church.
Read moreThe Liturgical Year and Average Church Attendance
Could emphasizing the importance of certain seasons and celebrating them with higher quality services actually be lowering average attendance in liturgical denominations?
Read moreThe Neglected Fireplace: Protestantism and the Arts
Here is Matthew J. Milliner at First Things on “The Neglected Fireplace: Protestantism and the Arts.”
Read moreA Plea to the Publishers
Roman Catholics are sometimes surprised to walk into churches of the catholic-but-not-Catholic traditions and find Gather Comprehensive II, Journeysongs, Spirit & Song, and We Celebrate in the pews… My point is this: keep the old settings around, at least for a while — and make them easily accessible on your websites and in your catalogues: don’t make us hunt or beg, like second-class Christians, and don’t make us bust our budgets trying to buy up everything we might want all at once. If there are settings you’re planning on putting out of print, let us — and let our denominational publishing houses — know: we just might buy you out.
Read moreCalvin Symposium on Worship
The 23rd annual Symposium on Worship, sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin Theological Seminary, took place January 28-30 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Over 1,500 attended!
Read moreA Sportive Spirituality?
A “sportive” spirituality is rooted in prayer. It is rooted in daily prayer. Prayer – individual or communal – is one of the ways that we “practice” our baptism (see Luther’s writing on baptism in the Large Catechism, The Book of Concord, page 461).
Read moreOn Praying for Enemies
It is simply a fact of my coming of age in the post-Vietnam era that I look with some skepticism upon our government’s motives and means. The horrific treatment of detainees in the unending ‘war on terror’ including turning ourselves into knots to justify torturing specific detainees is only the most recent example of what produces such skepticism. And as I have grown into adult Christian faith I have edged very near to pacifism because I actually believe that Jesus is our ‘clearest window’ into God, and he taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, not to kill them.
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