Why do we sing hymns in Christian worship? Is the singing of hymns optional? Is it something churches do simply because it is an enjoyable to affirm biblical truth that way? If a congregation or an individual doesn’t want to …
Category: Essay
Risk of Infection Is No Reason to Stop Singing
As churches begin to reopen after over a month of quarantine, leadership are wisely asking questions concerning what kinds of social distancing measures remain important as they take steps to regain some semblance of normalcy. One such question asks whether …
Including Disabled in the Church: More Than a Ramp
Automatic doors, elevators, ramps, and even hearing loops have become common in public buildings in the United States. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has created and is still creating access to public spaces. Even the church, at least our …
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Five Simple Steps to Make Sunday Worship More Accessible for the Disabled
Download a PDF Handout All are welcome. This sentence adorns the signs and websites of countless churches throughout America. We invite our friends and neighbors as well as those living in our communities to join us for worship. Our hospitality …
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Glory and Beauty
Psalm 19 begins by telling is that “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” Glory is a word we use a lot on our worship. We have a short hymn that we recite or sing numerous times in every …
Teaching, Admonishing, and Harmoniously Singing
Today, I want to begin with a passage in the New Testament that refers to the music that we employ in worship, music which gives us an opportunity to experience music through our ears. This is from the third chapter …
More to be Desired Than Gold
When we look through the Bible to learn something about beauty, we need to think about how the Bible teaches about other things with beauty standing nearby. What do I mean by describing beauty as standing nearby? Let me read …
Beauty, Gift, Love
I’ve been asked to give a series of brief talks about lessons from the Bible on the relationship between worship and beauty. Even though the Bible doesn’t give us a lot of specific teaching about what beauty is, or a …
How to Teach a New Song to a Congregation
Download a handout (PDF) A vital aspect of most church services is congregational singing, a centuries-old tradition. In order for new songs to be added to a church’s order of service, church members need to learn the songs to sing. …
Changed from Glory into Glory: The Liturigical Formation of the Christian Faith
Imagine a dense forest separating two cities. In order to engage in commerce between these cities, merchants must pass through the forest. For the earliest of these merchants, this was a very difficult task, wrought with many mistakes and casualties. …
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