It is Holy Week. If you haven’t already, take some time to ponder the movement from despair to hope and find your place in the gospel story. May the Holy Spirit be present in powerful ways in each of your services and affect the lives of those gathered. I hope that next week you will enjoy a well-deserved rest.
As I reflect on this common pattern of Lent / Holy Week / Easter Sunday / crash, I wonder if our liturgical practices are a bit backwards. After all the energy given to the Lenten journey and Holy Week, Easter bursts forth and then quickly burns out. For the early church, Lent was the time to prepare new believers for baptism on Easter, for their union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Easter wasn’t the end of a cycle or journey, but the beginning of fifty days of celebration and ongoing discipleship for all believers, culminating in the celebration of Christ’s Ascension.
I can’t help wondering what it would look like for us to live more into that rhythm, to place more emphasis on Eastertide, the season of Easter. How might we focus on discipleship and development of Christian character to help our congregants practice Easter in their daily living? It is my hope that this newsletter will be a place to start.
If you are a church that has intentionally spent more energy on Eastertide than Lent or are interested in doing so, please reach out to me at editors@ReformedWorship.org. I’d love to explore those ideas further.
—Rev. Joyce Borger, Senior Editor | | |  | Practicing Easter:
Good Habits to Keep All Year Round | “Many people are used to the idea of Lenten practices—giving up coffee or chocolate, perhaps, or doing some kind of regular spiritual discipline during the weeks before Easter. The worship planners at All Nations Church took that concept and applied it to Easter. What would Easter practices look like? Why do we do what we do every Sunday? Why do we go through the same motions? These practices are for Easter, but since every Sunday is a little Easter, they are encouragement for all Christians, in every season.”
| | | | | |  | The Great Fifty Days:
Seven Service Plans from Easter to Ascension | | “The early church celebrated Easter Sunday as a 'graduation' day for new converts, and church members used the season of Eastertide to review and deepen their understanding of their faith—a faith grounded in the resurrection. These services attempt to reclaim the focus of the early church—to broaden our understanding of the effect of the resurrection on the church and its beliefs.” | | | | |  | Metamorphosis:
A Five-Week Series on Developing A Christian Character | “This series is especially apt for congregational teaching, as the church itself is one of the core communities in which we develop character. . . . Flourishing as a congregation does not mean that everyone thinks alike, but it does suggest a maturity of Christian formation that turns disagreements into opportunities to learn and grow and become more Christ-like rather than causes of discord and hurt."  | | | | |  | | | Subscribe today
Discover Worship Resources that Inform and Inspire | | Subscribe today for the quarterly print and digital issues and to access premium content on the Reformed Worship website. This content includes ideas for all of Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost and so much more! | | | | | WORSHIP PLANNING RESOURCES | | | | | | | A Dramatic Reading of the Emmaus Story | | | A Scripture Drama Based on the Story of Thomas | | | A Festival Service for Eastertide | | Lectionary Resources from Reformed Worship: Year B | | | | | | CALVIN INSTITUTE
OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP | | | |  | Bilingual Festival Applications | Worshiping communities are invited to apply for support to host a free public festival to celebrate the unity of the church in vibrant congregational song using the hymnal "Santo, Santo, Santo / Holy, Holy, Holy" (GIA Publications, 2019). We are open to receiving proposals from congregations, parishes, campus ministries, summer camps, chaplaincy ministries, and Christian schools. This opportunity could be particularly compelling for schools that offer instruction in choral music, Spanish and English languages, and Christian faith.
Applications are due July 1, 2024. | | | | | Sign up here to receive the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s monthly Web Highlighter and updates about various events and programs. | | | | Subscribe to our award-winning quarterly worship journal and be able to read articles with this symbol:
Renew or manage
800.333.8300 | info@reformedworship.org | You are receiving Reformed Worship updates because you are a current or past subscriber to our print magazine, signed up on the website, or asked to be subscribed to the mailing list.
Copyright © 2024 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
All rights reserved. | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment