Singing during Communion is an ancient practice that has been restored in renewal worship. Here are some common guidelines for the restoration of Communion song....

Christian worship from the beginning has been characterized by a variety of styles. Contemporary scholarship suggests that there was no single original style of worship, but rather that worship patterns varied from place to place in the early church. Knowing this fact, we can see the current range of worship practices as a positive characteristic that enriches the church....

Worship in the Church of God draws on both the holiness and ecumenical traditions. There is a strong emphasis on the “altar call” for conversion and the use of the “public altar” during congregational prayer for healing of relationships and emotions. Currently worship is being influenced by both the praise-and-worship movement and liturgical renewal....

A collect is a prayer that “collects” the prayers of the people in summary fashion, places them in a context appropriate to the seasonal or thematic focus of the day, and offers them to God....

Since the celebration of the funeral bring together family and friends who are experiencing deep grief, the ritual itself should minister to these people. Therefore, the ritual should be attentive to all the senses; be marked by beauty, dignity, and reverence; and with simplicity invite the participation of the assembly....

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 facilitates how a church tells and acts out the story of salvation so that the congregation’s internal experience of being encountered by the story will be maximized. The ancient order of worship, one that is still practiced by liturgical churches today, was a unified four-fold action 1) Preparing to worship; 2) Celebrating the Word along with a response; 3) Celebrating the Lord’s Table along with a response; 4) The dismissal...

1) REFLECT on the stunning reality that God doesn't hide - He reveals Himself. This is the very nature of true love – self-revealing. In Christ, God gave the world an epiphany of Himself, His Personality, robed in vulnerability. 2) REMEMBER that Christ's revealing to the Gentiles was a cataclysmic fulfillment of the Genesis mandate. God's Story reaching every tribe of humanity was always the point; a people (the Jews) were designed to carry that revelation to the entire of the human race, for all time....

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 Dennis and Nan Allen. The songs are easy-to-learn and easy-to-sing. The collection is based on the Revised Common Lectionary of Scripture lessons and Bible readings for the whole year....

It’s one of our most popular carols. Yet few know that the verses of The Twelve Days of Christmas are based on the season of Epiphany, or the period between December 25th and January 6th....

On a recent chilly morning as I walked home from my neighborhood coffee shop, I received a phone call from a friend who’s a worship pastor. With the holidays approaching, the conversation soon turned to Christmas....