I hope you have had a wonderful beginning to your music and worship arts ministry year. Do you have your music selected for the next few months? Have you started to think about what you will do for those special worship services coming up -- like World Communion Sunday, Reformation Sunday, All Saints Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christ the King Sunday, Advent, Christmas Cantatas or Concerts, and Christmas Eve? Believe me, I have been thinking about them and have been making plans all the way through January.
I'd like to share with you some of the special plans that our worship ministry has made for the next couple of months. And maybe it will help you if you are struggling with adding some special elements to your upcoming worship services.
September
For Sunday, September 22nd, the Gospel Lectionary reading is Luke 16:1-13 -- The Parable of the Shrewd Manager. Here's a skit that we will be doing in place of the reading of the Scripture. (This link has several skits for other parables, too.)
October
World Communion Sunday:
- Choral Introit: "Ukuthula," a Zulu song that means "Peace." You can order the music from JW Pepper.
- Opening Hymn: "Come To the Table of Grace," Worship & Song #3168. Check out my previous post on candles that I made to accompany the theme of "Come To the Table of Grace."
- Offertory Anthem: "A Place At the Table" by Mary McDonald.
- Invitation to Communion: If you attended this past summer's Fellowship Convocation in Kansas City, you will remember the Invitation to Communion that was written by Todd Pick and used the hymn text "Look Who Gathers at Christ's Table" by Thomas H. Troeger with the tune: Nettleton. Each part of the responsive invitation is followed by a verse of the hymn. The first verse is a solo soprano voice on the melody. The second verse, adds an alto voice. And the third verse adds a tenor voice. After the final responsive reading, the congregation & choir (SATB) join together to sing the final verse.
- The Gospel Lectionary reading for this Sunday is Luke 17:5-10 - the Parable of the Mustard Seed. I am making Mustard Seed Key Chains to give out to our congregation. The supplies needed are:
Sunday, October 13th: One of the suggested themes for this Sunday is Peace. At our church, we have a Peace Pole. To end our worship service, we will recess outside to stand around the Peace Pole and sing "Let There Be Peace on Earth."
Well, that's enough to digest for one post. So I hope this will inspire you to do some additional planning for your upcoming September & October worship services. Watch for my next blog sometime next week for more inspiration for the rest of October and into November.
