59.2 In Life and In Death
Introduction
Many articles in this issue recognize the personal significance of the line referenced in its title, taken from the first line of A Brief Statement of Faith, “In life and in death we belong to God.”
“In Life and in Death We Belong to God”: A Brief Statement of Faith
In the church where I worship, the congregation sings a song as the children come down to the front of the sanctuary for the “time with children.” One of the songs says: “I belong. You belong. We belong to God.”
Will Your Dying Be Holy?
This article aims to prepare you for a graceful end of life on this sweet, troubled planet. No matter how the door of your “one wild and precious life” closes, whether by accident, terminal illness, cognitive decline, or withering age, every inching step toward readiness will pay a hundredfold for you and your beloved. Please begin now.
Funeral Preaching: Holding Memory and Promise, Grief and Hope
Between the time that I was invited to write this piece and the submission date, several significant death-related events occurred. One was the death and global grieving of Pope Francis. Another was a request from a former congregant to provide a simple graveside service for her stepfather.
Perhaps the World Ends Here: Art and Table
The world begins at a kitchen table. No matter what, we must eat to live.” So begins one of Joy Harjo’s most notable poems.
Lament and Hope in Black Sacred Music: The Soundtrack of Suffering and Liberation
Black sacred music has always been a vessel for both lament and hope. It is the sound of a people who have endured centuries of suffering and yet have never relinquished their pursuit of freedom.
Natural Burial and the Christian Story: A Review of Two Books
Did you know . . . you can use dryer lint to make an urn for human cremains and purchase a bookcase that readily converts into a coffin?
Belonging to Each Other: Supporting Young People in the Midst of Loss
We declare in A Brief Statement of Faith, “In life and in death we belong to God.” In life, in death, and in every moment between, until our baptisms are complete, we also belong to each other. To support each other and to grieve together as a community is a faithful way to fulfill our baptismal vows to one another.
Congregational Life Cycles: From Scarcity to Opportunity
We can be honest, right? Countless articles with titles like “Fifteen Signs of a Dying Church and How to Revitalize Your Ministry” tell us about how the church is dying. Most of the time these articles seek to raise the levels of fear and anxiety in ourselves and our pews.
Joyful Voices: Ideas for Engaging Children in Worship and Music
Music ministers, educators, and pastors hold the sacred responsibility of fostering worship that reflects the full body of Christ, including our youngest members. From a Reformed perspective, children are not future participants in the church; they are present and active members of the covenant community. Therefore, engaging them in worship is not optional—it is essential.
We Belong to God: An Improvised Affirmation of Faith
Born out of an intergenerational exercise in improvisation, “We Belong to God” has become a beloved heart song for the people of Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky.
On Liturgy: One Conviction to Summon
In life and in death we belong to God”—to be perfectly frank, it’s the only thing I’m sure I believe all the time.
On Music: We Belong to God
In the mid-to-late 90s, I had only been in Delaware a few years in my first academic music job and was also serving a downtown, scrappy PC(USA) congregation that had made a clear choice to open its doors wide and not be a fortress against its changing neighborhood, but a place of true welcome and support.
On Preaching: Proclaiming Death Unfinished
These days most places seem to have hospital waiting room vibes. The usual noise of ordinary places—grocery store lines, school parking lots, traffic jams, sidewalks and lobbies, pews before worship—even places that celebrated the last election, sounds different.
On the Arts: An Inclusive Burial Liturgy
Like funerals and memorial services, liturgies at the graveside, vault, or columbarium are opportunities for the living to remember and mourn the person who has died.
A Requiem Remembered: Catharsis, Lament, and Hope in Sacred Song
Throughout the centuries, varied liturgical expressions have served as tools by which spiritual catharsis with the holy can be embraced. Just such an event occurred on March 22, 2025, at the Judson Memorial Church in New York City.
Word and Sacrament: Tracing the Theological Movements of Reformed Worship
I knelt on the floor in front of the class as my seminary professor generously poured water over my head in triplicate, soaking my head and drenching my clothes. While this was not a “real” baptism, the presence of the Holy Spirit was palpable.
