Search The Complete Library of Christian Worship
Library Articles & Resources (47)
Adventist Worship
Seventh-day Adventist worship follows in the tradition of free church worship, featuring much hymn singing, expository sermons, and informal atmosphere. Some churches use the Common Lectionary, and the Communion Service is becoming more prominent. A representa…
Lectionary Texts From Christmas To Epiphany
The following are the texts suggested for the Sundays of Advent in the Revised Common Lectionary. Brief descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling the basic theme of each passage. Descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling t…
Lectionary Texts For The Season After Epiphany Part I
The following are the texts for the season after Epiphany in the Revised Common Lectionary. Brief descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling the basic theme of each passage. The calendar during many years may not have eight Sundays after Epip…
Lectionary Texts For Advent
The following are the texts suggested for the Sundays of Advent in the Revised Common Lectionary. Brief descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling the basic theme of each passage. Year A (1995, 1998, etc. ) SUNDAY OLD TESTAMENT PSALM/CANTI…
Lectionary Texts For The Season After Epiphany Part Ii
The following are the texts for the season after Epiphany in the Revised Common Lectionary. Brief descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling the basic theme of each passage. The calendar during many years may not have eight Sundays after Epip…
Preaching Through The Lectionary
Preaching through a series of given passages goes back to the Jewish tradition and to the tradition of the early church. In Christianity, the readings of the lectionary are ordered by the Christian year. Definition. The word lectionary is based on the Latin …
Lectionary Texts For The Season After Epiphany Part Ii
The following are the texts for the season after Epiphany in the Revised Common Lectionary. Brief descriptions of each lesson are provided to aid in recalling the basic theme of each passage. The calendar during many years may not have eight Sundays after Epip…
The Shape Of The Service Of The Word
Broadly speaking, the form of the Service of the Word is similar in both traditional and contemporary churches: Scripture reading, sermon, and response to the Word. Scripture. Two or three Scriptures are usually read, often from the lectionary texts. When le…
Lectionary Readings For The Easter Vigil
These are suggested readings for Years A, B, C from the Revised Common Lectionary. THE VIGIL READINGS Old Testament Readings Psalm or Canticle Genesis 1:12:2, the account of creation Psalm 33 Genesis 7:15, 1118; 8:6-18, 9:8-13, the covenant Psalm 46 betw…
The Problem Of The Civil Year In Worship
Many churches that have rejected the practice of the Christian year follow the secular way of marking time. This article describes some of the "calendars" that churches use to mark time and points out some of the problems with the observance of civil occasions…
The Lectionary As A Guide To Planning Music For Worship
One type of tool that pastors often use to select Scripture readings for a service is known as a lectionary. Although not well known to church musicians in some traditions, this tool can be very helpful in assisting the church musician to select music that is …
Approaches To Preaching
Approaches to preaching are as numerous as preachers themselves. In this section, however, only those approaches that seem most helpful to today's preacher have been included. This section begins with an overview of two approaches to preaching used throughout …
Preaching Lectio Continua
Preaching through a biblical book, also known as lectio continua (Latin, meaning to read continuously) is presented here from the Reformed perspective as a viable option to preaching through the lectionary or preaching topical sermons. The History of Lectio …
Alternative Practice Of The Christian Year In Liturgical Churches
St. Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church in San Francisco draws on ancient traditions of both the Eastern and Western church, as illuminated by modern scholarship, in its innovative practice of the Christian year. In contrast to many modern churches, St. Gregory's …
The Traditional Fourfold Pattern Of Worship
The order below represents the traditional worship of the Western church. With some variation, it is found today mostly among liturgical and mainline churches. The Entrance The Gathering of God's People The Entrance Song The Greeting(s) The Penitential R…
The Environment For Worship During The Season After Pentecost
Trinity Sunday is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Trinity Sunday, a principal feast day in the church, is different from other principal days in that it does not commemorate an aspect of God's saving deed in history. Instead, it celebrates the …
Six Major Emphases Of The Liturgical Movement
The impact of the liturgical movement is felt not only among liturgical churches, but among nonliturgical churches as well. The emphases presented below characterize worship reform not only in Catholic, Episcopal, and Lutheran circles, but also the renewal of …
How To Introduce Responsorial Psalm Singing
The following article elaborates on a form of responsorial psalmody described in the preceding articles, describing how the Psalms can be sung responsorialy and how this practice can be introduced to a congregation not familiar with this practice. The Psalms…
Alternative Practice Of The Christian Year In Pentecostal/charismatic Churches
Many Pentecostal assemblies have begun to discover in recent years that the stability, organization, and connection with historic Christian roots that comes with following the lectionary and church year supports rather than conflicts with spontaneity and enthu…
The Season After Epiphany
As discussed in this section, the time after Epiphany may be as short as four weeks and as long as eight weeks, depending on the date of Easter. The best way to calculate the Sundays of this time is to use a Christian calendar available in any local Christian …
An Anthology Of Hymns And Songs For The Sundays Of Epiphany
The music listed in this article covers a broad range of Epiphany themes. The season of Epiphany can contain four to nine Sundays. It begins January 6 and continues to (but does not include) Ash Wednesday. The season represents Christ's public exposure to th…
How The Practice Of The Christian Year Affects Congregational Life
The way Christians keep time is a way of remembering. In communal worship we remember and celebrate the events that make us who we are. Consequently the celebration of the Christian year forms us into Christ's body in the world. Among the most remarkable asp…
How To Select Hymns
The choosing of hymns relevant to worship requires thoughtful planning and creativity. Here are several principles of hymn selection and use that contribute to an enriched experience of worship. Choosing music for the worship service is both a privilege and …
Planning Worship Around The Church Year
The church year provides a ready-made pattern for worship. The key seasons are Advent and Easter, which not only mark important events in the life of our Lord, but also inform the church's responses to these events in outward and inward worship. In addition, t…
The Public Reading Of The Scripture
Because Scripture is the living Word, it should be read with feeling, inflection, and conviction. Many renewing churches have established a lay readers group-people who have as their specific calling and ministry the reading of the Word in worship. This group …
Guidelines for the Procession
A procession is an act of movement in worship by a group of people for the sake of all. In the Entrance, the procession symbolizes the entire congregation coming before the Lord. General norms for the conduct of the procession are as follows: a. The people…
Basil The Great And Gregory Of Nazianzus (fourth Century)
Christianity changed considerably in the fourth century with the conversion of Constantine, who made Christianity legal and opened the door toward its accommodation with society. Worship developed rapidly through extensive building projects, the development of…
Church Of The Brethren
It was protest against the liturgical formalism of the official church which in part gave rise to the Church of the Brethren in the eighteenth century. However, the Brethren always sought to be an authentic worshiping community, and in the twentieth century th…
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Full observance of the church year is central to Lutheran spiritual life. Lutherans have been influenced by ecumenical developments, as seen in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's adoption of the Roman Catholic calendar and lectionary. They have also …
Evangelical Covenant Churches
Worship in the Evangelical Covenant Church has been shaped by its Lutheran background in Sweden, by the Pietist movement of the seventeenth century, and by the evangelistic awakening of the nineteenth century. It has preserved the lectionary, the feast days, a…
Mennonite Churches
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Mennonites followed the Christian year while most American Protestants did not. In the twentieth century, with the transition to use of English in worship, Mennonites dropped the Christian year, which now seemed …
Presbyterian Church In America
The sermon remains central to worship in the Presbyterian Church in America, and selection of texts is determined by the minister's choice rather than a church year lectionary. While it is customary to preach on seasonal topics at Christmas and Easter, freedom…
Church Of The Brethren
It was protest against the liturgical formalism of the official church which in part gave rise to the Church of the Brethren in the eighteenth century. However, the Brethren always sought to be an authentic worshiping community, and in the twentieth century th…
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Churches in the Progressive National Baptist Convention follow a worship calendar reflecting the African-American experience of God as liberator and sustainer, rather than the conventional Christian year. Annual observances include Christmas and Easter, but mo…
United Methodist Churches
In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, observance of the Christian year by American Methodists was mainly limited to "great festivals" such as Christmas, Easter, and Whitsunday (Pentecost). A movement toward recovery of the entire Christian year gain…
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
Growing interest in liturgical renewal and the Christian year in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is reflected in the recent publication of a new hymnal and companion volume. These publications follow, with some adaptations, the lectionary and calendar…
Alternative Practice Of The Christian Year In Liturgical Churches
St. Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church in San Francisco draws on ancient traditions of both the Eastern and Western church, as illuminated by modern scholarship, in its innovative practice of the Christian year. In contrast to many modern churches, St. Gregory's …
Alternative Practice Of The Christian Year In Pentecostal/charismatic Churches
Many Pentecostal assemblies have begun to discover in recent years that the stability, organization, and connection with historic Christian roots that comes with following the lectionary and church year supports rather than conflicts with spontaneity and enthu…
Alternative Worship In The Pentecostal-charismatic Tradition
Within the Pentecostal-charismatic community, worship renewal may take the form of a reappropriation of more traditional liturgical elements, such as the use of a lectionary and a consistent emphasis on the sacraments. In churches where this is occurring, memb…
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Full observance of the church year is central to Lutheran spiritual life. Lutherans have been influenced by ecumenical developments, as seen in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's adoption of the Roman Catholic calendar and lectionary. They have also …
Liturgical Essays & Blog (2)
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 c…
Read EssayAnnouncing an Exciting New Music Collection: Songs for the Church Year
WorshipLibrary announces SONGS FOR THE CHURCH YEAR, a brand new Christian music resource created by a skilled team of songwriters, led by church music veterans …
Read Essay