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Library Articles & Resources (116)
Historical Origins And Development Of Reconciliation In The West
Baptism is the primary means of reconciling sinners to God. But what happens when Christians fall into sin after baptism? In the sacramental traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, the Eucharist itself has been a means of restoring relationship …
History Of The Lord's Supper
One of the most profound events in the life of Jesus was the supper he shared with his disciples on the eve of his death. At that supper, Jesus commanded his disciples to share this meal until he comes again. For centuries the church has followed this command,…
The History Of Baptism
Baptism remains the point of entry into the Christian church. However, the form of baptism has developed through the centuries, as seen in the following entries. Catechism shifted from before baptism to after baptism in the medieval church as infant baptism be…
A Brief History Of Preaching
Preaching has always been a significant moment in the church's worship. During the Middle Ages, preaching became almost completely irrelevant to the people as the consecration of the eucharistic elements became the sole focus of the liturgy. Fewer and fewer pe…
A Roman Catholic Theology Of Worship
The centerpiece of Roman Catholic theology of worship is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated in worship. The whole of Christian life takes its meaning from that which alone gives meaning to everything: the incarnation, life…
The Didache (a.d. 100)
The Didache probably represents the type of small Christian group that met in the region of Syria, perhaps outside of the city of Antioch. By the fifth century, this hilly countryside was dotted with small churches and baptistries, but in the late first centur…
Worship In The New Testament Era
Worship in the New Testament period was ordered around baptism and the Eucharist. Baptism marks the entrance of the believer into the worshiping community, while the Lord's Supper, together with the teaching of the Scriptures, forms the content of the worship …
Introduction To The Eastern Orthodox Churches
The liturgical traditions of the East derive ultimately from the forms of worship used in Antioch and Alexandria. As with all ancient Christian liturgies, the Service of the Word led into the sacramental offering of the Eucharist. The Eastern traditions compri…
What Does A Dismissal Do?
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. The fourth part of worship, the Dismissal, retains the celebrative mood of the Eucharist and adds to it the sense o…
Assembling The People
In both early Israel and the church, the assembly of the people is essential to worship. The act of assembling constitutes the ekklesia, the people of God, who come together in response to the Lord's call and celebrate communally Word and sacrament. This act o…
Seven Styles Of Morning Worship
Broadly speaking, the contemporary renewal of worship in the Western world can be classified as follows: (1) liturgical; (2) traditional Protestant; (3) creative; (4) charismatic; (5) praise-and-worship tradition; (6) convergence; (7) the seekers' service/beli…
An Introduction To The Paschal Vigil Service
The Paschal Vigil is the foundational service of all Christian worship. In this service the great theme of Christian salvation is enacted in recollection of the days of salvation. Inasmuch as the purpose of worship is to celebrate the death and resurrection …
An Introduction To The Secondary Visual Arts In Worship
Because worship celebrates the gospel, the most visual images of worship are those which express the body of Christ assembled around Word, Table and font. Consequently, secondary symbols must serve the primary symbols by pointing to them and never dominating o…
The Heart Of Communion
The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving follows a pattern given to us by Jesus himself, who built upon Jewish models. Although the various churches have different versions of this prayer, a basic, fourfold structure found already in the Gospel accounts of the Last Su…
An Early Church Theology Of The Lord’s Supper
Christian writers of the first two centuries affirmed, without attempting a theological explanation for the fact, that the risen Christ is present in the eucharistic action that transforms those who receive it. Christ's Presence What can be said confidentl…
Historical Origins And Development Of Confirmation
Large dioceses in northern Europe during the early Middle Ages made it difficult for bishops to be present at the baptism of infants. Gradually a two-part initiation process emerged spanning the period from infancy to late childhood. With increased emphasis on…
The Lord’s Supper In The Early Church
The early church established the patterns for the theology and practice of the Lord's Supper that have largely been recovered in our century. Many of the recent developments in the renewal of worship can be understood by examining the early history of the Lord…
An Introduction To Ritual In Worship
All Christian communions, from Orthodox churches to charismatic congregations, participate in ritual when they worship. Whether one makes the sign of the cross or raises hands in worship, a ritual action takes place. Why some rituals are important and how we c…
Historical Origins And Development Of Ritual In Worship
Christian ritual grew out of Jewish ritual-whether the Jewish table rites that provided the setting for Jesus' announcement of his self-sacrifice in what became the Christian Eucharist, or the Jewish ritual of proselyte baptism. Graeco-Roman ritual contributed…
Worship And The Mission Of The Church
The act of Christian worship is itself a witness to the world. Particularly important is the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper, which proclaims the coming kingdom of God. This argument resists two extremes: the denial of the relationship between worship and mission …
A Liturgy For The Long-term Seriously Ill
This liturgy is designed as a communal celebration of the sacrament of the anointing to take place within the context of a eucharistic liturgy. Family, friends, and, if possible, caregivers are invited to gather with the seriously ill in a place suitable for w…
Christological Psalms (Biblical)
Early Christian hymnody was influenced by the tradition of psalm singing in the temple. The hymns of the New Testament church served both a doxological and an apologetic function. Introduction In a useful series of essays titled "Modern Issues in Biblical …
A Western Theology Of Reconciliation
Sin estranges and alienates people from God and each other, but God reconciles the world to himself through Christ. Christians celebrate their reconciliation to God in Christ by means of baptism and the Eucharist. Yet, admission of guilt and genuine sorrow for…
A Theology Of Ordination In The West
The main distinction among Christians in the question of ordination remains the matter of apostolic succession of bishops, who in turn are responsible for ordination of other ministers. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and the Eastern Orthodox believe in a direct s…
Theologies Of The Lord's Supper
From the early church's firm belief in the Real Presence of the risen Christ in the Eucharist have developed a variety of Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant explanations of how this mystery takes place (or, as Radical Reformation Protestants asserted, …
Acts of Entrance In Traditional Worship
Over the centuries, traditional acts of worship have developed in the various liturgies of the Eastern and Western churches, many of them of ancient origin. These actions fall into one or more of the movements of Christian celebration: the gathering of the com…
A Catholic Statement: The Constitution On The Sacred Liturgy Part Ii
On December 4, 1964, when Pope Paul VI promulgated the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, he spoke of worship as "the first [issue] to be examined and the first, too, in a sense, by reason of its intrinsic value and its importance in the life of the church. "…
Worship In The Second And Third Centuries
Worship during the second and third centuries continued to follow the course set by New Testament liturgical traditions. Consequently, the discussion of worship during this period centered on the significance of baptism and of the Eucharist, understood in its …
Biblical Terms For The Service Of The Table
The New Testament uses four terms to describe worship at the Table: Breaking of the Bread, the Lord's Supper, Communion, and Eucharist. 1. Breaking of the Bread (Acts 2:42). The emphasis is on the presence of the resurrected Christ in the feast. The term bre…
Traditional Opening Prayers For Holy Week Services
Many of the prayers below are based on centuries-old texts. They aptly express the themes of Holy Week worship. Adapt these prayers to local usage and style. Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) Almighty and ever-living God, in your tender love for the human…
A Creative Ash Wednesday Service
The service below is intended for us in the free-church tradition, particularly among evangelical churches. It reflects a traditional pattern for worship and a wide range of musical and textual resources. The Basic Pattern Preparation and Reflection: Confit…
The Prayer Of Thanksgiving
Scholars played an important role in rediscovering how central the eucharistic prayer was in the very earliest history of the church. Although the earliest texts of the eucharistic prayers often survive only in fragments embedded in later works, diligent compa…
An Eastern Orthodox Theology Of The Lord’s Supper
Although Eastern Orthodox theology insists as firmly as Roman Catholics in the West that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, Orthodox theologians have not attempted the theological and philosophical explanations of how this happens that are…
The Lord’s Supper In The Medieval West And The Modern Roman Catholic Church
Both the texts of the various prayers and directions for eucharistic practice survive from about the seventh century onward. The early Middle Ages was characterized by growing awe surrounding the sacrificial presence of Christ at the eucharistic altar. Controv…
Sacred Actions In The Early Church
Understanding the sacred actions of the early church requires a short language lesson. Two words, the Greek word mysterion, and the Latin word sacramentum, are important to this discussion. This article describes the history of these terms in early Christian t…
Baptism In The Medieval West
As infant baptism became common, the process of catechizing shifted from before to after baptism. In the Western church, the baptismal anointing with oil (chrism) slowly developed into a separate sacrament called confirmation. First Communion was often delayed…
A Catholic Statement: The Constitution On The Sacred Liturgy Part Iii
On December 4, 1964, when Pope Paul VI promulgated the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, he spoke of worship as "the first [issue] to be examined and the first, too, in a sense, by reason of its intrinsic value and its importance in the life of the church. "…
The Apostolic Tradition Of Hippolytus (a.d. 215)
The Apostolic Tradition, a church order which was compiled sometime in the third century and attributed to Hippolytus of Rome probably contains a text of a complete eucharistic prayer, or anaphora. Although much of the text may have been typical of the euchari…
The Gallican Liturgy
Great diversity evidently existed in the liturgies used in southern Gaul. Lack of documentation, however, makes it difficult to reconstruct some parts of the liturgy. By the ninth century, the Gallican liturgy had become fused with the Roman rite. The spread o…
A Creative Palm Sunday Service
This contemporary Palm Sunday service is appropriate for Protestant congregations who desire a more informal worship. Adapt the order below to local usage and style. Order of Worship Worship Space. You might want to hang Palm Sunday banners, and together wi…
Liturgical Essays & Blog (5)
Praise: The Prelude to Worship
The phrase “praise and worship” is frequently used by Christians, and yet these two words are rarely mentioned together in the Bible. Is there a distinction bet…
Read EssayThe Seven Styles of Morning Worship
Broadly speaking, the contemporary renewal of worship in the Western world can be classified as follows: (1) liturgical; (2) traditional Protestant; (3) creativ…
Read EssayUnderstanding 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…
Read EssayThe Four-Fold Pattern of Worship
There’s an old adage, typically used by educators, that “external order organizes internal experience. ” When it comes to worship, the proper use of order facil…
Read EssayThe Daily Office for March 1, 2012
Scriptures Psalm 119:49-72 Genesis 37:25-36 1 Corinthians 2:1-13 Mark 1:29-45 Reading (Mark 1:29-45) Mark 1:29-45 Reflection Notice in our Gospel re…
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