Worship Matters

In this episode, the Worship Team introduces the October Worship Series, Choosing Faith. Faith is a multilayered reality that is part gift and part effort. The October series invites us to consider how we as individuals and a community understand and live out faith in our daily lives. The team also makes note that October has other events for our attention, including World Communion, Children’s Sabbath, and Laity Sunday. Do we set aside the series in favor of these events, or can we somehow blend them together? Then the standalone All Saints Sunday resources can help your local church celebrate this amazing event. Join us for this helpful podcast.

In this episode, Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, has a conversation with the Rev. Dr. Reginald Lee, Senior Pastor of Hartsville Cooperative Parish in the South Carolina Annual Conference, and consultant to Hey Preacher. The main topic of conversation is the upcoming Bridging Visions 2, an event designed to help preachers bridge the prophetic and the pastoral in their preaching. It will be held January 15-17, at the North Georgia Conference Center in Duluth, Georgia. Watch for more details!

I Will Call Upon the Lord is a worship series for the month of September. Based on the lectionary Psalm texts, this series invites us to reflect on what it means to be known by God, to be a people of hope, to reflect the glory of God and to be safe in the shelter of the Lord. Listen in as Dr. Diana Snachez Bushong, Director of Music Ministries, and Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, share some possibilities and opportunities for this busy time in the church year.

Dr. Stan McDaniel is a church musician, professor of music, and writer of sacred music for choirs, handbells and instrumental ensembles. His latest book is titled “Servanthood of Song: Music, Ministry and the Church in the United States.” Dr. Diana Sanchez Bushong leads this wide-ranging conversation on American history, liturgical history, various genres of sacred music, and more. McDaniel writes that he has been a passionate believer in the power of music to witness and the need for church musicians to minister to the communities in which they serve. Join us for this important conversation on music and worship in the church.

Dear Children of God is a three-part worship series designed to carry us through the summer months with a sense of playfulness and encouragement. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t serious and weighty issues in this series. Based on the Epistle texts from the lectionary, Dear Children of God asks us how we might communicate the essentials of the faith with modern technology. Whether texting, email, or snail mail letters the proclamation of the faith is both a responsibility and a joy for every Christian community. Listen in as the Worship Team walks us through this innovative series and invites each worship team to embrace the grace of summer worship.

The third of the high holy celebrations of the liturgical year, Pentecost is sometimes called the birthday of the church. It is certainly a day of empowerment and celebration, as the Worship Team at Discipleship Ministries presents in the two-part series “All Access.” If Easter “rends the veil” and opens God’s heart to the world, then Pentecost is where we are equipped and transformed to be able to fulfill the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Trinity Sunday, then, continues the conversation as we explore our experience of the God who calls and equips and sends. Join us for this lively conversation about Pentecost, Trinity Sunday and our “All Access” pass into a future with hope.

In this episode, Lisa Hancock interviews members of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement who were part of a team that wrote worship resources for our Eastertide series “Believing Into Christ.” They discuss the intersectional perspectives on creation justice that weave throughout the resources and the various ways congregations can engage these materials throughout Eastertide and beyond. Tune in to learn more about these worship resources, as well as tools and ideas for integrating creation justice into worship throughout the year.

Lent and Holy Week and Easter are often times of intense activity and special worship experiences in the local church. The Worship Team from Discipleship Ministries presents an innovative worship series that takes the worshiper from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. Titled Steadfast Love: A Lenten Playlist, this series takes music from a variety of genres to help deepen our experience of the profound themes of this holy season. Listen in as the team shares their excitement about this series and then some highlights of other projects coming from Discipleship Ministries. You won’t want to miss it.

This high and holy season is a favorite in many communities. Join the Worship Team from Discipleship Ministries as they discuss resources for Advent with an experiential emphasis as again we are invited to “Come, Let Us Adore Him” this season. And then hear how we launch a new calendar year with reflections on what it means to be community with “Re-Membering the Body” for Epiphany and Baptism of the Lord Sunday and then “Where You Are” a reflective reorienting of self and congregation for Ordinary Time.

One of the most popular features on the Discipleship Ministries website is the ongoing series History of Hymns. These insightful articles give worship planners and music lovers a deeper look into our favorite hymns for worship. The editor and most frequent writer of the History of Hymns is Dr. C. Michael Hawn, DMA, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Church Music, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He joined Perkins faculty in 1992 and retired from fulltime status in 2017. Previously he was professor of church music at two Baptist seminaries for a total of 15 years. In addition to teaching, he has served churches in Kentucky, Georgia, North Caolina and Texas as minister of music. In addition to over 500 articles, reviews books and curriculum materials, Dr. Hawn began writing the “History of Hymns” in 2004 for The United Methodist Reporter and now for Discipleship Ministries. Join us for this lively conversation, full of stories and music with Dr. Michael Hawn.