Lectionary Worship Workbook

Book excerpt: If you're looking for ways to add excitement to your Sunday morning services while continuing to follow the lectionary texts, look no further! This remarkably inventive volume includes all the core liturgical elements of worship and introduces your congregation to innovative ventures into the fine arts -- yet everything revolves around each week's assigned lectionary passages. Whether you choose to use the stately calls to worship, litanies, and prayers, or try your hand (and those of your congregants) at dance, art, or drama, all can be done to bring glory to God and a fresh sense of his blessing to your services. There's also a wealth of musical suggestions reinforcing the main themes and ideas of the prayers, including hymns chosen from a wide variety of denominational hymnals, psalm settings, and appropriate anthems for the choir. The Lectionary Worship Workbook is a comprehensive library of creative material that will enable you and your congregation to encounter the living God -- and keep your worship services fresh, passionate, and stimulating. Amy C. Schifrin is currently the interim pastor at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in York, Pennsylvania. A former Seminary Pastor/Dean of the Chapel at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, Schifrin has also served congregations in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, California, and Saskatchewan (Canada) during nearly three decades of parish and campus ministry. Schifrin holds degrees in music theory and composition from Arizona State University (B.Mus.) and Northwestern University (M.Mus.), as well as degrees from Luther Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley (Ph.D. in the Arts, Worship, and Proclamation). Her published works include hymns and psalm settings as well as articles and book reviews in Currents, Word and World, Dialog, and The Lutheran. Martha Shonkwiler is an artist and former elementary schoolteacher whose work encourages healing through art and spirituality. Her current emphasis is on developing spirituality through walking labyrinths. Shonkwiler is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, where she earned her M.A. degree in Christian ministry, and she has also studied art therapy at Sonoma State University and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Now a resident of Grants Pass, Oregon, Shonkwiler serves as a volunteer chaplain, labyrinth facilitator, and occasional art therapist at Three Rivers Community Hospital. Her artwork is also featured in local galleries.