PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS

Liturgy in the valley of the shadow of death

A PASTOR AND HER CONGREGATION LET LITURGY LEAD THEM AFTER THE DEATH OF A PREVIOUS PASTOR

"Can you call me? I have some difficult news to share."

It was a voicemail last March from my friend and former colleague Jeff Krehbiel. For 16 years, we had worked together at Church of the Pilgrims (PCUSA) in Washington, D.C. Only a few weeks earlier, he had left for a beautiful new job in Chicago.

When I called Jeff back, his words punched me in the gut: "I've been diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. It's spread to my liver."

My head felt hot.

We talked for a few minutes about his tender spirit and how that would help him in the days to come. I adamantly assured Jeff that Pilgrims, though far away, would be with him as he faced his life-threatening illness.

But the truth was, once I hung up, I had no idea what to say or do. How exactly would Pilgrims be with Jeff in his dying? How would I lead? More urgently, what would I possibly say to the people who had known and loved him for so many years?

For 16 years, Jeff and I created liturgy together with the feisty folks at Pilgrims. In our liturgical work, we learned to tell biblical stories by heart. We created beautiful,boundary-pushing liturgies, rooted in biblical texts and our Reformed tradition.

Over the coming weeks, as all of us at Pilgrims wrestled with our grief, I let liturgy lead me and ultimately the congregation through truth telling amid death and dying.

Read more from Ashley Goff Â»

A NEW OPPORTUNITY FROM LILLY ENDOWMENT INC.

Lilly Endowment is pleased to announce its Thriving in Ministry Initiative 2018, a competitive grant program open to any charitable organization committed to the support of pastoral leaders in congregations and located in the United States.

Charitable organizations are invited to submit proposals for up to $1 million that may be used for up to a five-year period to develop new or strengthen existing programs that help pastors build relationships with other clergy who can serve as role models and exemplars and guide them through key leadership challenges at critical moments in their ministerial careers.

While the Endowment is interested in supporting a variety of approaches, it is especially interested in supporting efforts that: 1) attend to key professional transitions in a pastor's career and/or 2) focus on challenges posed by particular ministry contexts and settings.

IDEAS THAT IMPACT: LITURGY, THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE

D.C. church changes worship from passive to participatory

At Church of the Pilgrims, vulnerability is a virtue and worship is an innovative and deeply collaborative experience between clergy and congregants.

The mourner as leader

Jewish liturgy shows us that the one who mourns should lead the rest of us in praising God.

Read more from Lisa Fischbeck Â»

FROM THE ALBAN LIBRARY

With All Thy Mind: Worship that Honors the Way God Made Us

by Robert P. Glick

The worship terrain has changed, but a consensus has yet to emerge even about what worship is, let alone how we should worship. Increasingly, however, people are hungry not just to know about God, but to experience God with all they they are-mind, heart, body, and soul. Worship must engage all of the senses.

Recalling the biblical and early church's witness regarding worship and denominational worship traditions, Robert Glick examines the place of words, songs, sacraments, and symbols in worship-in light of what we now know about the complexities of the human brain. He also examines roadblocks to more balanced worship and identifies the characteristics of a "well-tempered worship service." Glick expresses how our understanding of the wonders of our God-given brains can lead us to worship that is fuller, richer, and more truthful, and thus more receptive to the Spirit.

Learn more and order the book Â»

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