Worship Library Essays & Blog
Explore over three hundred curated essays on the Christian year, ancient-future worship, sacramental practice, and sacred music.
An Overview of Worship in the Southern Baptist Convention
The traditional hallmarks of Baptist worship have been the centrality of preaching, fervent singing, and extemporaneous prayer. Worship renewal in the Southern Baptist Convent…
Unity Through Worship
The community of faith is a place of worship. In worship, unity and healing recur as the church remembers that the community was born of a divine act of deliverance. As the ch…
Understanding the Dismissal
The Dismissal consists of those acts of worship that send out people from the assembly to love and serve God and their neighbors in the world. It should retains the celebrativ…
The Functions of Music in the Early Church
The New Testament emphasizes both the human and the divine sources of song. Music flows from human experience, and it no doubt also affects that experience. James seem to sugg…
Selecting Hymns for Worship
Choosing music for the worship service is both a privilege and a challenge. The first step is the selection of hymns that reflect the assigned Scriptures. Hymns are the “prope…
A Summary of Holiness Worship
In 1784 John Wesley recognized the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America and attempted to offer guidance for its worship through the publication of his re…
Building A United Worship Team
A key to building a united worship team is to have a clearly defined statement. This entry suggests ways to go about developing such a statement, including planning a retreat …
An Overview of Mennonite Worship
When I came to faith in Christ, I asked to be baptized into the Mennonite congregation in which I had grown up. In the preparation for church membership, we, the candidates fo…
Understanding the Call to Worship
A call to worship is directed to the people by God through the worship leader. It is an act that brings the worshiping community into being. The call to worship is directed to…
An Overview of Presbyterian (PCA) Worship
The sermon remains central to worship in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and selection of texts is determined by the minister’s choice rather than a church year lect…
Anointing with Oil
The act of anointing has a rich history in the Christian faith. In the Old Testament, anointings frequently accompanied blessings and ceremonies which indicated a passing of r…
The Formative Power of Public Worship
Corporate worship forms a community into the body of Christ and has great influence in shaping the spirituality of its members. Every worshiping community has a great responsi…
The Sacrifice of Jesus, Our High Priest
The word atonement is not found in the New Testament, although a suggestion of its basic meaning is found in Peter’s statement that “love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter …
Personal Preparation for Worship
A constant enemy of worship leaders is busyness, for it takes them away from the all-important time spent with God. Other aspects of personal preparation for worship leading i…
An Overview of Worship in the Reformed Church in America
The Reformed Church in America has been influenced by the liturgical movement, the renaissance in the arts, and the praise-and-worship movement. While most churches observe a …
Some Questions and Answers About Lent
What is the Lenten season, and why is it set apart? It is a period of six weeks preceding the anniversary of the Savior’s death, and is set apart as a special season of fastin…
An Imaginary Conversation About Ash Wednesday, Lent, and "Giving Stuff Up"
What is Ash Wednesday? In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not in…
A Presbyterian View of Ash Wednesday
The church calendar is a tool that is full of the wisdom of the ages. It is a tradition that pre-dates the Reformation and belongs to all of Christendom. God has been sanctify…