By Joel A. Hess - Christians routinely use the word “mystery” when explaining the faith. Often times when a believer is stuck in explaining a teaching, she is quick to conclude, “Well, it’s a mystery.” The Orthodox really love this word. It often times seems impossible to even discuss with them their understanding of things … Continue reading Christian Worship is no Mystery
By Graham Glover - It truly is a profound joy. Actually, it’s perfection. A foretaste of the feast to come. It is the Church’s worship. A gift given by our Lord to His Church, where He freely offers the gifts of grace and forgiveness contained in His Word and Sacraments. And everything about it is … Continue reading The Profound Joy of Worship
By Hillary Asbury - Whether or not we realize it, the visual arts are being used by churches every day. If you were to walk into a Christian church of any sort, there would more than likely be a cross hanging somewhere, if not at the focal point of the worship space. That cross is … Continue reading Reclaiming Liturgical Art
By Joel A. Hess - Looking for Luther to back you up on how worship should be done? Have fun, something for everyone! To sum his thoughts up, I would say he was against keeping things the same for the sake of keeping things the same. Yet equally concerned about people who wanted to change abruptly just because … Continue reading Luther, Friend and Enemy of Us All
By Joel A. Hess - In the early 19th century, Wilhelm III nobly pursued the union of Lutheran and Reformed church bodies. In order to accomplish this task, he commissioned a new common liturgical agenda to be used by all churches no matter their theological persuasion. Uniformity achieved! Of course, a couple heads had to … Continue reading Want Uniformity in Worship? Go back to Prussia
By Cindy Koch - The clouds hung low this last Sunday morning. Already shivering as I stepped outside, I called back to the hustling brood to grab their jackets before we piled in the car. Damp palm trees and lonely puddles hinted that it was about to rain, but only a gray mist colored our morning drive … Continue reading My Daughter’s Song
By Jaime Nava – What do videogames, sports, and church all have in common? Ritual. In fact, so do sleeping, bathing, eating, and a slew of things we do day by day, week by week, year by year and so on. Consider each year we have rituals for Thanksgiving. Each year we do things a … Continue reading Learning Curve
