Every year around this time, the debate rages among clergy and worship leaders: Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday? Repeatedly, someone will argue against the "recent liturgical emphasis" on observing both the Triumphal Entry and the Passion on the last Sunday in Lent. They will draw on childhood … [Read more...]
Christmas Eve Candlelight Reading
At Christmas Eve Candlelight Worship, as the lights are turned out and candles are lit, we encounter the Word of God. A few years ago I put together this reading in two parts that merges together Genesis 1 and John 1. Reader 1: In the beginning was the Word, Reader 2: When God began to … [Read more...]
Pentecost: Call to Worship
Preparing for Pentecost a few years ago I couldn't find a piece of the liturgy that fit well with what we were doing at Spirit of Joy! Lutheran Church, so I wrote this call to worship. Perhaps it may be useful in your setting as well: Welcome in the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy … [Read more...]
Pirate Creed
In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I give you the Pirate Creed: We believe in one God, the Almighty Admiral, Maker o’ heaven and ‘arth, and o’ all things natural and ghostly. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, T’only Son o’ God, says I, eternally begotten o’ the … [Read more...]