58.3 Liturgy in Times of Crisis
Introduction
As I sat down at my desk to compose this introduction, the news of yet another school shooting reached me. This time, it was a high school in Georgia.
Art by Steve Prince
The artwork featured in this issue was created by Steve Prince, director of engagement and distinguished artist in residence for the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. He served as artist-in-residence for the 2023 Montreat Worship and Music Conference.
We Never Dreamed It Could Happen Here
The phone rang in my seminary office on a cold March Monday afternoon. The associate pastor of a nearby church spoke in hushed tones, almost whispering. A staff member had failed to appear for a weekly staff meeting, prompting a call to the police for a wellness check.
Inviting Creation to Worship
Every good superhero has an origin story. Over the last year and a half, one of my emerging heroes is Doug Kaufman, the executive director of the Anabaptist Climate Collaborative.
Preaching in Times of Crisis: Humility, Connection, and Action
Sometimes it seems like every day brings a new crisis: another mass shooting, another war, another famine, another statistic on childhood poverty, another political wedge, another divisive Supreme Court decision. Take your pick.
Climate Anxiety and Liturgy
How does it feel to live amidst climate change? The climate crisis evokes many emotions in people, and it is very natural to feel distressed by it. Terms such as “climate anxiety” and “climate distress” give names for difficult feelings, but more important than the choice of words is the basic fact that people recognize the psychological impacts of climate change.
The Work of Our Hands: Hospes
I try to do one task a day. One day I am painting the paper, finding the right colors, letting it dry. On another day I’m ready to rip it up. Sit and rip, and rip and rip. I rip into similar shapes and sizes, finding a rhythm, making a pile of the pieces.
Hanging Up Our Harps
On that Friday afternoon in late August, I had just finished outlining the church’s events for the upcoming program year, color-coding everything with permanent markers in our denominational calendar. I reread my sermon, printed it, and turned off the computer. The phone rang not an hour later.
Singing in Times of Crisis
Hurricane Mitch was the worst natural disaster in the Western Hemisphere in the twentieth century according to the United Nations. I had just been there with a church group a few months earlier. So, I wrote a new hymn, “The Storm Came to Honduras,” to the tune passion chorale (“O Sacred Head, Now Wounded”).
Seeing God in a New Light
We have all experienced times of crisis, whether we have confronted difficulties, made hard decisions, or gone through significant changes. How we face a crisis varies from person to person; where people turn in times of crisis also varies.
Liturgy in Times of Crisis
In recent years, the struggles of high-profile figures like Simone Biles, Robin Williams, Prince Harry, and Meghan Markle have brought the conversation about mental health to the forefront of public discourse.
Welcoming the Warrior
Several years ago, I was rummaging around in my parents’ storage shed and came across some documents belonging to my grandfather. Frank A. Graham Jr. was a Navy pilot in WWII.
Broken Sestina for the al-Taba’een School
On August 10, 2024, Israeli jet fighters dropped US-made GBU-39 250-pound bombs on al-Taba’een school after the call to prayer, making it the deadliest attack on a school shelter yet because so many gathered in one place to pray.
Liturgies for Times of Crisis
The following liturgical elements appear courtesy of several of our readers: Michael Shuman, Scot Robinson, W. Mark Koenig, and Amy Cerniglia.
On Liturgy: Liturgy in Times of Crisis
Walking alongside college-aged young adults is a gift. It allows me to be present at their formational milestones. Getting a great GRE score, setting a date for marrying their person, planning their big move across country for that dream job, celebrating the joy of winning the conference championship in the sport they love.
On Music: The Healing Power of Worship Music in Times of Crisis
As worship leaders and congregants seek comfort and hope during periods of crisis, worship music emerges as a crucial element in navigating emotionally and spiritually challenging situations. The unprecedented tribulations of the 2020 pandemic, which disrupted communal worship, highlighted the importance of music in offering healing and hope.
On Preaching: Embracing Trauma-Informed Preaching—Integrating Pastoral Care into the Sermon
In today’s world, our congregations are increasingly filled with individuals carrying heavy burdens. A 2020 Barna Group study found that only one in seven pastors feels “‘very’ well-equipped to help with trauma.”
On the Arts: Worship at the Margins: Revival and Freedom
Real Inspiration Ministries (RIM) is a fifteen-year-old church that began as a worshiping community started by Bishop Sonya Williams. Bishop Williams and her wife, First Lady Regina Williams, birthed this worshiping community because there was no place in traditional African American churches for our LGBTQ+ siblings.
The Gifts They Bring: How Children in the Gospels Can Shape Inclusive Ministry
Applying a “childist” lens to the Gospels reorients the reader to learn from children’s often overlooked presence and experience. New Testament professor and ELCA minister Amy Linderman Allen opens the reader’s eyes to new understandings of commonly child-associated Gospel stories and studiously reveals the perspective of the child within stories where they have been previously unnoticed.
