The Sounds of Our Offerings

The Sounds of Our Offerings PDF Author: Charlotte Kroeker
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996724
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
The Sounds of Our Offerings is good news about the music of the church. It recounts what has been learned from studying nine congregations where music promotes the full, active, conscious participation of the worshipers and where it has done so consistently and coherently for many years. Pastors and musicians reflect on their work together and offer rich insights about what works and what does not. Lay musicians and members of the congregation also share their experiences with music in worship. Though no site was without its struggles, and at times difficult choices had to be made, for the most part, we see unremarkable, week to week, year to year, faithful rendering of music for prayer and praise. We see that sometimes the nature of the music took a slightly different turn, one that built upon the foundations of the past. The music choices in these churches are not restricted to one particular era or style, but rather reflect the broader church's music repertoire, including the best recently written music. These are the stories of churches with a reputation for their fine music programs, churches that, with their leaders and congregations, have worked out these programs in consistent, coherent ways. In most cases, the programs span multiple priests/pastors and musicians. The Sounds of Our Offerings is about excellent music and how it has found its way into the life and faith practices of these congregations.

The Sounds of Our Offerings

The Sounds of Our Offerings PDF Author: Charlotte Kroeker
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996724
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Sounds of Our Offerings is good news about the music of the church. It recounts what has been learned from studying nine congregations where music promotes the full, active, conscious participation of the worshipers and where it has done so consistently and coherently for many years. Pastors and musicians reflect on their work together and offer rich insights about what works and what does not. Lay musicians and members of the congregation also share their experiences with music in worship. Though no site was without its struggles, and at times difficult choices had to be made, for the most part, we see unremarkable, week to week, year to year, faithful rendering of music for prayer and praise. We see that sometimes the nature of the music took a slightly different turn, one that built upon the foundations of the past. The music choices in these churches are not restricted to one particular era or style, but rather reflect the broader church's music repertoire, including the best recently written music. These are the stories of churches with a reputation for their fine music programs, churches that, with their leaders and congregations, have worked out these programs in consistent, coherent ways. In most cases, the programs span multiple priests/pastors and musicians. The Sounds of Our Offerings is about excellent music and how it has found its way into the life and faith practices of these congregations.

Secular Music, Sacred Space

Secular Music, Sacred Space PDF Author: April Stace
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498542182
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
Easter Sunday, 2009, was the Sunday heard ‘round the evangelical internet: NewSpring Church, the second-largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention and among the top one hundred largest churches in the US, had begun their service with the song “Highway to Hell” by hard rock band AC/DC. They had brazenly crossed the sacred/secular musical divide on the most important Sunday of the year, and commentary abounded on the value of such a step. Many were offended at the “desecration” of such a holy day, deriding Newspring as the “theater of the absurd.” Others cheered NewSpring’s engagement with “the culture” and suggested that music could be used to convert non-Christians. No mere debate over stylistic preferences, many expressed that foundational aspects of evangelical identity were at stake. While many books have been written about religious music that utilizes popular music styles (a.k.a. “contemporary Christian music”), there has yet to be a scholarly treatment of how and why popular, secular music is utilized by churches. This book addresses that lacuna by examining this emerging trend in evangelical and “emerging” churches in America. What is the motivation behind using music that seemingly has no connection to Christian theology, values, or themes—such as music by Katy Perry, AC/DC, or Van Halen—and what can we learn about post-denominational evangelical churches in America by uncovering these motives? In this book, April Stace uncovers several themes from an ethnographic study of these churches: the increasingly-porous boundary between the sacred and the secular, the importance placed on “authenticity” in contemporary American culture, how evangelicals are responding to what they perceive is an increasingly-secular society, the “turn to the subject” of contemporary culture, the desire to leave a space for expression of doubt in the worship service without fully authorizing that doubt, and the individualization of the construction of religious identity in the modern era.

The Church of All Ages

The Church of All Ages PDF Author: Howard A. Vanderwell
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566996503
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
Many congregations today experience collisions between parents who ant to spend time with their children and age-segregated church programming, as well as between the children worshiping in their pews and the increasing number of seniors in the same pew. Among the questions these congregations struggle to address are these: Should we try to hold the generations together when we worship/ Is it even possible? Led by pastor and resource developer Howard Vanderwell, nine writers--pastors, teachers, worship planners, and others serving in specialized ministries--offer their reflections on issues congregational leaders need to address as they design their worship ministry. In addition, numerous sidebars illustrate the diversity of practices in the church today. Contributors do not propose easy answers or instant solutions. Rather, they guide readers as they craft ministries and practices that fit their own community, heritage, and history. Each chapter includes questions for reflection and group discussion, and an appendix provides guidelines for small group use. The thread that connects these varied contributions is the belief that there is no greater privilege for Christians than worshiping God, and there is no better way to do that than as an intergenerational community in which all are important and all encourage and nurture the faith of the others.

Worship Frames

Worship Frames PDF Author: Deborah J. Kapp
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1566997062
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
Worship is a congregation's most important practice. In worship we encounter God's gracious presence and come face to face with the frailty, goodness, and potential of our humanity. We are comforted, corrected, forgiven, healed, challenged, and sometimes even disturbed by the divine and one another. We are morally formed and sent by God into the world. The mysterious and uncontrollable work of the Spirit is at the heart of all genuine worship. Yet worshipers and leaders work hard to worship. In Worship Frames, Deborah Kapp explores how the sociological concept of frames can help us better understand the social and human dynamics of worship. Frames are interpretive schemes or ideas that help people locate, understand, and identify their experiences. For example, opening a service with a period of silent reflection followed by a sober hymn is a different frame for worship than opening with congregational announcements and a loud call-and-response session. She has found that this theory has opened her eyes to dynamics in worship she had not noticed before and best helped her understand differences in worship styles. By understanding our frames, we can learn how to reframe worship to give fuller and richer expression to our faith. Kapp shares her insights with congregations and worship leaders so they will gain new perspectives from which to analyze and design worship, and deepen their perceptions about the role worship plays in faith communities.

Those Amazing Musical Instruments!

Those Amazing Musical Instruments! PDF Author: Genevieve Helsby
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1402208251
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
"Your guide to the orchestra through sounds and stories." front cover.

The Work of the People

The Work of the People PDF Author: Marlea Gilbert
Publisher: Alban Institute, Incorporated
ISBN: 9781566993371
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
Worship is the work of the people of God. Patterns of worship shape how we pray and how we live. Despite its centrality to church life, worship is too often taken for granted as something a congregation experiences rather than collectively creates. The Work of the People simply and clearly explains the structure of worship, the actions and words we use in liturgy, the environment in which it all happens--in other words, what we are doing and why. This book will guide congregations in worshiping in a way that encourages participants' spiritual growth, welcomes new participants into faith, and sends people out as the body of Christ to transform the world. Respectful of local custom and the traditions and practices of the Church as a whole, The Work of the People will help worship leaders make the best use of their congregation's resources and clarify their choices about how they will worship together. Built around a basic service--gathering, service of the Word, Eucharist, and sending--this book is both theological and practical, and encourages all worshipers' active participation in Spirit-led worship of the God of all Creation.

Church and Worship Music in the United States

Church and Worship Music in the United States PDF Author: James Michael Floyd
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317270355
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
This fully updated second edition is a selective annotated bibliography of all relevant published resources relating to church and worship music in the United States. Over the past decade, there has been a growth of literature covering everything from traditional subject matter such as the organ works of J.S. Bach to newer areas of inquiry including folk hymnology, women and African-American composers, music as a spiritual healer, to the music of Mormon, Shaker, Moravian, and other smaller sects. With multiple indices, this book will serve as an excellent tool for librarians, researchers, and scholars sorting through the massive amount of material in the field.

Leading through the Water

Leading through the Water PDF Author: Paul Galbreath
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 156699571X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
In Leading through the Water, Paul Galbreath demonstrates one way of linking baptismal practice to daily life as congregations provide an alternative witness to the cultural voices around us. At the same time, it expands the vision of baptism from a single occasion to a distinctive way of life within a community of faith and a primary metaphor for Christian discipleship. In concert with Leading from the Table, Galbreath continues to explore how the sacraments of baptism and communion connect with the world around us. He is concerned that we too often separate church life from daily life, marginalizing the gospel and the good news that God is with us at all times and places in our lives. Here Galbreath explores Christian discipleship through baptism imagery in Scripture, history, and experience, and identifies patterns of baptismal formation that guide the choices we make each day. He follows the individual's journey through baptism, beginning with inquiry, through the preparation for baptism, the event of baptism itself, and a time of discernment following baptism. This book will prompt conversations in congregations and classrooms about the ways that our distinct communities of faith can embody the gospel in the world and point to God's faithful presence.

When We Gather

When We Gather PDF Author: James G. Kirk
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
ISBN: 9780664501143
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
When We Gather is an essential resource for pastors, worship committees, and others who plan weekly congregational worship. For every Sunday in the church year, James Kirk provides contemporary, theologically solid prayers and other elements for use in worship. Included are prayers of praise and adoration, confession and pardon, dedication, thanksgiving and petition, as well as concise comments on the lectionary Scripture readings for each Sunday. Now expanded and updated to conform to the Revised Common Lectionary, this revised edition of When We Gather combines the original three-volume set into a single handy volume covering all of the Sundays in lectionary cycles A, B, and C.

365 Prayers and Activations for Entering the Courts of Heaven

365 Prayers and Activations for Entering the Courts of Heaven PDF Author: Robert Henderson
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
ISBN: 0768455685
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 698

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Book Description
Your Daily Guide to Entering the Courts of Heaven Because of Jesus sacrifice, every Christian can enter Heavens courtroom to present their requests directly to the Supreme Judge of all! Bestselling author of Operating in the Courts of Heaven and Prayers and Declarations that Open the Courts of Heaven, Robert Henderson is internationally renowned for teaching believers how to enter Heavens courtrooms. More than a devotional, 365 Prayers and Activations for Entering the Courts of Heaven​ is your daily guide to answered prayers, prophetic visions, heavenly encounters, and more. Each entry includes Revelatory Scriptures: Daily Scripture selections offer the opportunity to receive personal, Holy Spirit revelation. Heavenly Encounters: Each devotional passage is written to usher you into Heavens courtrooms through faith. Prayers of Petition: Activation prayers help you to pray according to Gods will, guiding you as you submit your case before the Judge. Verdicts of Breakthrough: As you learn to function within the Courts of Heaven, you will see more victory and more answered prayer! Each inspirational devotional entry features entirely new content from Robert Henderson. Perfect as an introduction to the Courts of Heaven for beginners, or as a handy resource for courtroom veterans, this collection of short, powerful devotions will empower you to make the most out of your daily devotional prayer time. If you are seeking breakthrough in your life, this is your chance to take your request into the very Courts of Heaven! Enter Heavens courtroom today, and start thanking God for answered prayers!