During a worship service at the Presbyterian Association of Musicians’ Worship and Music Conference, the Rev. Cecilia (Ce Ce) Armstrong told those gathered in person and online that she was not going to preach a devotional sermon.
A mostly white group of more than 40 preachers tuned in recently to hear the Rev. Dr. Chip Hardwick — who in turn did his share of listening during an informative 90-minute online session he hosted — lead a webinar with this provocative title: “Preaching about Racial Justice without Losing your Conviction or your Job.” View the webinar here.
I never thought of myself as a crafty person. The small motor skills required for sewing or crocheting make my brow knit in frustration. Coloring books meant to lower blood pressure increase mine. But I confess that there have been weeks where I’ve been crafting some sort of visual aid to go with the sermon I’m preparing.
“Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” American composer George Gershwin clearly wasn’t thinking about life in the church when he wrote his 1930s song “Summertime.” For many congregations, summertime isn’t easy. Blue skies beckon people to mow, garden or hike rather than sit in a pew on a Sunday morning. Weekend getaways and family vacations also mean fewer volunteers available to provide child care, sing in choirs and host coffee hours.
Recently returned from the World Communion of Reformed Churches global gathering in Wittenberg, Germany – birthplace of the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago – Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Stated Clerk the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II recalled a conversation with a local pastor.
One of the highlights of Montreat Conference Center’s year-round programs is the summer worship series in which leading preachers from across the country join with visual and performing art professionals and volunteers in a service of worship open to the surrounding community.
“There are times when God says to us, ‘don’t just sit there, do something.’ At the same time there are certainly times when God says, ‘don’t just do something, sit there.’ Be still, just a minute. Be still and know that I am God,” said the Rev. Jon Brown, pastor of Old Bergen Church in Jersey City, New Jersey—a union church of the Reformed Church in America and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Each summer the hills surrounding the Montreat Conference Center come alive with the sound of organ music, congregations singing, and the Good News shared by special guest preachers Sunday mornings.
