Ordinary Time

Bringing you relevant inspiration, right for this moment AUGUST 2024 View this email in a browser One of the challenges worship leaders face are the multiple calendars we need to pay attention to. Front and center is the Christian Year that follows Christ’s life and covers the arch of salvation history from creation to new creation. Then there is the national calendar, our denominational calendar, cultural calendar, and the rhythms of life. How do we go about balancing all of those interests and what do we attend to in worship and what don’t we? The answer to those questions is highly contextual.  Reformed Worship struggles with those same questions when considering what we publish and what we don’t. While the Christian Year is always front and center, attending to other calendars  is a consistent struggle, especially given our ecumenical and global audience. For many in our audience, we are entering the time when kids of all ages are returning to school after a long break and we are starting to think about the new church education season. Some of our congregations are also preparing for the Season of Creation. Whether your congregation finds itself in those seasons or not, I hope the articles and resources highlighted in this enews may help you think deeper about the place of children in our communities and our place in creation. These themes are important regardless of where we find ourselves seasonally or culturally. While this enews is a place to start, you will find many other resources at ReformedWorship.org typing in key search words like creation or children or by clicking on the tab “All Issues”.   Whatever season you find yourself in, may you find a good rhythm of work and worship.    —Rev. Joyce Borger Senior Editor, Reformed Worship  feature article   For All God’s Children Nine Practices for Engaging God’s Word and Forming Faith   By Karen DeBoer   How can we help our children not only engage more deeply in worship, but learn practices they can use the rest of the week in their walk with God and relationships with others? More specifically, how can we make the reading and preaching of God’s Word accessible to children rather than have them leave or be present but disengaged? In this article you will find nine practices around the reading of Scripture and preaching that can help children engage more fully. These practices can also serve as a model for all ages of how to engage Scripture outside of communal worship. Not all of the practices will work in every context, and some Scripture passages and sermons might lend themselves better to one practice or another, but each is flexible enough to customize. Read more magazine   Thank You, God, for Water, Soil, and Air  Four Services Celebrating Creation Read more   Growing in Grace A Four-Week Series to Get Your Church Education Off to a Great Start Read more worship planning resources   Praying for Students of All Ages: Marking Milestones in Community  Blessing the Children: A Blessing Adaptable for Church, Home, or School Settings  Called to Teach: Two litanies for the commissioning of church school leaders The Heavens Declare the Glory of God: Resources on the Theme of Creation  The  Glory of Creation: A Prayer from West Africa Lectionary Resources from Reformed Worship: Year B and Year C for subscribers     Reformed Worship 153 advent/christmas issue The Advent and Christmas issue is posted in the digital library and available on the web. Print copies should arrive in your mailbox by the end of this month.  Big thanks! A word of thanks to those who met with RW staff back in June. It was a wonderfully generative discussion and a joy to get to know some of our subscribers better.  calvin institute of christian worship   Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Through the Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Program, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) seeks to foster, strengthen, and sustain well-grounded public worship throughout Canada and the United States. CICW welcomes grant proposals on a wide range of Christian worship practices. In particular, we invite proposals related to universal design, cultural engagement, preaching, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Our next application deadline is October 15, 2024. Read more Reformed Worship Calvin Institute of Christian Worship 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA Preferences | Unsubscribe View in browser   Subscribe to our award-winning quarterly worship journal and be able to read articles with this symbol: Renew or manage 616-526-6088 | 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.