About the Journal

For more than fifty years, Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts and its precursor publications have sought to advance, interpret, and enliven the theology and practice of Reformed and ecumenical worship. As churches engage in new patterns of worship and contexts for ministry, Call to Worship offers faithful guidance, creative vision, and fresh ideas for liturgical life.

Continuing the tradition of Reformed Liturgy & Music (1971–2000) and Reformed Liturgics (1963–69), Call to Worship seeks to further the church’s commitment to theological integrity, corporate worship, and excellence in music, preaching, and other liturgical art forms.

Call to Worship is published by the Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in partnership with the Presbyterian Association of Musicians.

History

Continuing the tradition of Reformed Liturgy & Music (1971–2000) and Reformed Liturgics (1963–69), Call to Worship seeks to further the church’s commitment to theological integrity, corporate worship, and excellence in music, preaching, and other liturgical art forms.

Reformed Liturgics was first published in 1963 by the Church Service Society of the U.S.A., an organization established “to study the liturgies—ancient and modern—of the Christian Church, and the principles of public worship, to encourage reference, beauty, and reality in worship.” The Church Service Society sought to preserve “the ageless values of the liturgy of the Universal Church and the acute insights of the classical Reformers.” Editors of Reformed Liturgics included Donald K. Welsh (1963–64) and Carl D. Reimers (1964–69).

After a brief hiatus, in 1971 the journal reappeared as Reformed Liturgy & Music, a collaborative effort of the Church Service Society, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and the joint Office of Worship and Music of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. This partnership emerged at the time of the first Montreat Worship and Music conference and the publication of The Worshipbook: Services and Hymns. These decades coincided with the 1983 reunion that formed the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as well as the publication of the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal and the 1993 Book of Common Worship. Editors of Reformed Liturgy & Music included Horace T. Allen Jr. (1971, 1974, 1977, 1980), Lucile L. (Hudson) Hair (1972–74, 1974–76, 1976–80), James G. Kirk (1974, 1976), Harold M. Daniels (1981, 1997), Peter C. Bower (1981–94), Dennis J. Hughes (1994–96), Paul Detterman (1997–2000), and Theodore A. Gill Jr. (2000).

At the turn of the twenty-first century, the journal took a new name: Call to Worship. The past two decades have brought the publication of the 2013 hymnal Glory to God and the 2018 Book of Common Worship. Editors of Call to Worship have included Theodore A. Gill Jr. (2000–03), Paul Galbreath (2003–05), Kimberly Bracken Long (2006–11, 2017–22), David Gambrell (2011–16), and Sally Ann McKinsey (2022–present).