Joyce Borger

It was dark. I found myself in the middle of an industrial complex that seemed entirely vacant, with not a car or living being in sight. The gas gauge of the rental car suggested I was almost out of gas. After passing exit after exit with no promise of a gas station, my not-so-great GPS had led me to this area, and as I drove further and further away from the highway, still no gas station appeared. With my two-year-old asleep in the back seat, I felt vulnerable and alone. The wilderness can be found as easily in the midst of a city as in the most secluded place on earth. It is as much a mental or spiritual feeling of loneliness, isolation, and vulnerability as it is a physical location. Normally we do everything we can to avoid the wilderness, but during Lent we are invited to journey into the wilderness. It is in that place of solitude and vulnerability that we often find ourselves most open to God. It is in the wilderness that important truths about life and death come into sharper focus. Few of us deliberately seek out the wilderness, though we all go through times of spiritual drought, thirst, and great need. But Scripture and our own experience testify to the fact that in these places God often shows up in profound and surprising ways. Normally we do everything we can to avoid the wilderness, but during Lent we are invited to journey into the wilderness. In this Lenten issue you will find “A Table in the Wilderness” (p. 3), a worship series through which you can invite your congregation to take a journey in the wilderness, stopping along the way to hear the testimonies of Jesus, the people of Israel, Hagar, Elijah, David, the hungry crowd, and the disciples, learning how God fed and ministered to them in their wildernesses. Connected with the worship series are resources for setting up an outdoor prayer path (p. 12). Another way to highlight the table provisions of God is through weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper (“Eating More Grace,” p. 16). There are more traditional Lenten resources in this issue as well, including services for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. For Easter we have provided a litany that uses Psalm 118 interspersed with several other Scripture texts to tell the good news of Easter. We continue our recent focus on children and youth with two insightful articles that speak more about older youth and young adults. These two articles appear in reverse order change text to read: The first article, “God Juice and Sticky Faith” (p. 44) reflects on how the faith of young adults is affected by how they participated in worship as children. The second article outlines how different generations speak about sin (“Sin Talk,” p. 47). We also have included another letter, this time addressed to the storytellers in our churches—including preachers (p. 42). Finally, we are grateful for the opportunity to share with you some artwork created by children. Of course, all our worship is meaningless and our creative expressions pointless if we don’t keep God at the center of our worship. “Behold God’s Power and Glory” (p. 40) provides some wisdom for doing exactly that. In case you are wondering, God answered my prayers. I made it back to the highway and eventually did find a gas station—a very different table in the wilderness, but a provision no less.

I’ve been thinking recently about how stories are uniquely human. Though some would argue that animals tell stories too, I’m not sure I agree. They certainly communicate, but that’s not the same as telling a story. Of course, I haven’t studied this, so someone could easily prove me wrong. But I contend that storytelling is part of our being God’s image bearers because God is the author of The Big Story. Already in Genesis 1 and 2 we find God telling a story—a story that reveals the origins of the world not in factual, scientific language but through narrative and poetry. Scripture itself is one long story of creation, fall, and redemption, a story that gets repeated again and again even in modern fiction, and a story in which we find our very selves. Good stories stick in our memories and become a part of us. Good stories reveal something about ourselves or the world. Good stories nourish, heal, inspire, and teach. Stories are uniquely human. They are a gift. Yet so often we ignore that gift. In Western culture, we certainly haven’t paid enough attention to the art of storytelling. We have much to learn from Indigenous cultures that have perfected this art and pass on their history, culture, and teachings through stories. We don’t often make room for stories in our lives or in our worship. We seem to have relegated stories to the realm of children. I wonder if, rather than seeing stories as a medium for truth telling, we have mistaken “story” for “fiction” (in the worst sense of the word). Or maybe stories are suspect because they aren’t directed at the head as much as the heart. Whatever the reason for overlooking our own stories, it’s time that we reclaim them and learn how to tell them well. The teachings of Jesus begin in story and end in symbol—they begin in parable and end in us. These are not Bible stories that we learn; these are our stories. —Leonard Sweet, Soultsunami This issue of Reformed Worship is full of ideas for storytelling. The issue begins with considering how we might best use the digital medium for embodied worship, a unique way of storytelling (p. 3). The worship series “What Is God Like” (p. 12) encourages us to use our imaginations and wonder together about what our great, awesome God is like even as we acknowledge that we can never fully describe or understand God. We tell the story of Christ’s birth through candle-lighting liturgies (p. 19) and children’s dramas (p. 27). We are encouraged to tell disturbing stories (p. 32), including the story of the slaughter of the innocents from Matthew 2 (p. 36). Rev. Scott Hoezee encourages pastors to use stories to pull people into the biblical text (p. 47). We learn about how churches in Scotland allow children to tell their stories through play in worship (p. 44), and we are offered a template for inviting individuals to tell their particular stories in a New Year’s Eve service (p. 40). What is your story? How do you see God in it? What is the story of your congregation? Your community? Where is the Holy Spirit at work in those stories? We hope this issue will spark your imagination as you look for ways to include the beauty and power of story in your worship so your people can confidently claim both God’s revelation in Scripture and God’s ongoing revelation in the life of individuals and communities as part of their stories.

When the coronavirus hit our communities and many worship services moved online, people began asking the question, “What about the kids?” Some churches were adept at answering that question, as it was one they already asked themselves regularly; those churches simply needed to adapt existing practices. For other congregations, it was a new question. Parents who had been taught explicitly or implicitly that they couldn’t worship with kids present or that kids needed their own worship experience found themselves trying to figure out how to engage in online worship alongside their children. Some parents simply didn’t believe it was possible and watched a recorded worship time after their children were in bed, or they stopped watching online services altogether. Other parents were greatly helped by churches that got creative. Some churches adjusted the length of their services, intentionally included elements that were child-friendly, or even experimented with including children in leading worship. Other churches created special worship bags that could be picked up or were delivered to homes to encourage worship participation. And some churches changed nothing. As I watched how congregations responded to this question, I was struck by the disconnect between what we believe and what we do. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to change hearts and lives, to speak to our souls in ways that don’t depend on our comprehension. We believe that the same Holy Spirit is present and active in our worship. Yet many of us don’t want our children present in worship until they can understand it—an argument we would never apply to other aspects of our lives, such as taking our children to sports events. We speak about the importance of the covenant and how everyone belongs, yet our actions often suggest that our children don’t really belong until they are more grown up. We refer to congregational worship as “adult worship,” and then wonder why our middle and high school students don’t feel they belong. There is a disconnect between our belief and our practice. There is a disconnect between our belief and our practice. I will not argue that our children should never be offered age-appropriate worship opportunities, and certainly every parent (and child) has a day when everyone would be better off with some time apart. Churches need to anticipate and provide for these situations. But what is your church’s default stance toward children in worship? What are you intentionally or unintentionally communicating to them? How might you better enfold children and youth so that they know they belong not just to the church but to God, that the Holy Spirit is at work in and through them, that they have gifts to bring and gifts to receive? What about the kids? In this issue of Reformed Worship we want to encourage worship leaders, pastors, parents, and church leaders to engage that question as it relates to worship. The issue contains excellent articles on topics ranging from how to preach with children in mind, to how to help children make meaning of their faith. Along the way, you will find many other practical suggestions and hear what other congregations are doing. In this issue, we have also tried to model the inclusion we’re talking about by including artwork created by children, as well as a thanksgiving prayer written by a young teen. This certainly isn’t the first time we have addressed the question, so I encourage you to spend some time in our digital library or on our website (ReformedWorship.org). We will continue to highlight the inclusion of children in worship in the next several issues of RW, so we invite you to send in your own ideas as well as contributions from children and youth in your church. Let’s keep exploring this important question together.

It’s never the goal to be caught in an in-between time—that time after what came before and before what comes after. The in-between time is a time of uncertainty. You’ve left what was known, but you haven’t quite arrived at the anticipated. It is often a time of anxiety, especially if you don’t know when it will end or how comfortable to get while you wait. It feels like we are living in an in-between time. There was the “before” time—the time before COVID—and there is the anticipated post-COVID time. Right now we are somewhere between the two, with a growing realization that it may be years before we reach a post-COVID state. Thankfully, our Savior Jesus is quite familiar with in-between times. Following Christ’s resurrection but before his ascension, Christ spent forty days in an in-between time. Sure, he had his resurrected body, but not his glorified body. He had risen from the dead but had not yet ascended to heaven to sit at God’s right hand. The disciples lived in an in-between time too as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit following Christ’s ascension. The church has been living in an in-between time since Pentecost: the Holy Spirit has come, but Christ has not yet come again ushering in a new heaven and a new earth. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantor that Christ too will come. The church has been living in an in-between time since Pentecost: the Holy Spirit has come, but Christ has not yet come again ushering in a new heaven and a new earth. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a guarantor that Christ too will come. We live in a spiritual in-between time on a cosmic scale and in a physical and emotional in-between time as we journey through this COVID pandemic. Each of us at different times lives in an in-between time in our personal lives as well: the time between graduation and our first job, for example, or between the medical test and the diagnosis, or between the diagnosis and the recovery. But how are we to live as Christians in these in-between times? This issue provides some possible answers to that question. There are resources focused on Christ’s ascension, how his ascension assures us that we too will one day be in God’s presence, and how in the meantime we have someone sitting next to God Almighty who can intercede on our behalf. This issue also includes a worship series focusing on transitions and several articles focused on prayer and the psalms that provide us with many examples of how to live during this in-between time. We are reminded that it is not only acceptable for us to bring our sorrows and anxieties to God in prayer, but appropriate. As you plan and lead worship during this in-between time, may you be used by God through the power of the Holy Spirit to equip your people with worship experiences and faith practices that will sustain them in their life on earth even as they await Christ’s return.

I am reminded to be grateful for God’s gift of plenty and pray for those in need whenever I see a pumpkin.

If you are a parent, teacher, or person who works with youth, you’ve probably been asked this question: Do I have to apologize? But when a young person offends or hurts someone else and doesn’t really want to acknowledge it and humbly say they’re sorry, most adults insist they recognize and reflect on the effects of their action or inaction, apologize, and make amends. To acknowledge one’s failures and humbly apologize is a vital skill for being in healthy relationships and developing an honest opinion of oneself. If learning the skill of apologizing is important for having right relationships with people, how much more important it is to confess our sin when we are in the presence of our holy God! If we are a Christian, the most important relationship we have is with our triune God, whose purity and holiness illuminate our own failures and those of the covenant community to which we belong. In order to rightly live in relationship with God we must practice confession and ask for forgiveness for our sins against God, others, the creation God asked us to take care of, and even ourselves, as well as for the things we should have done but chose not to. This practice of confession and forgiveness is an encapsulation of the gospel message that we as God’s people need to be reminded of regularly. When we confess our sins in corporate worship, we are also teaching those gathered a spiritual discipline they will need the rest of the week as they struggle to live a holy life. But it goes even deeper than that. Our confession is always followed by God’s words of forgiveness. Indeed, it is because we are assured of God’s forgiveness that we have the courage to come clean. This practice of confession and forgiveness is an encapsulation of the gospel message that we as God’s people need to be reminded of regularly. For many congregations this is a weekly practice with set prayers. For others there is greater freedom in the words used, the mode (spoken by a leader, recited by the whole congregation, prayed silently, or sung), and the placement in the service. Yet in some worshiping communities the act of confession has been neglected. Outside of the weekly rhythm of worship, the season of Lent presents us with another opportunity to practice this discipline. Lent is naturally a season of reflection and penitence, a time to acknowledge how we, both individually and communally, need the perfecting work of a Savior. Within the context of the gift of redemption, our time of confession should not be depressing, but rather uplifting and hopeful. It is with that good news in mind that we’ve chosen in this issue to focus in part on the spiritual discipline of confession. If you are a pastor or worship leader wondering how to lead confession in a politically charged environment, check out Scott Hoezee’s “Let Us Repent,” part of his regular column “For Pastors.” John Witvliet connects the service of confession with the act of entrusting our whole selves to God. Andrew de Gelder offers the Lenten worship series “Good News,” and Deborah Ann Wong writes about fasting, another spiritual discipline related to the humble act of confession. Those are just a few of the many wonderfully thoughtful and creative resources you will find in this issue. May you be blessed by these gifts.

Recently someone asked me what five songs I think are important for every child in the church to know; songs that they would memorize and carry with them throughout life. What a wonderful, thoughtful, question! As I considered my response I wondered if it wouldn’t be more helpful to provide a list of things to consider when choosing songs to sing than an actual list of songs; that way the church could create a list that fit their context. So after some thought, here is a list of things I would consider when creating a core group of songs for children.

I was “today years old” when I learned about the chalking of the doors, and I’m eager to add it to my collection of practices that help connect communal worship with home life and worship. Such practices deepen faith and help us live with a greater awareness of Christ’s presence and the call to be a light in this world.To help those who, like me, may be unfamiliar with the chalking of doors, an explanation is provided. I suggest introducing the concept in a church newsletter or social media post, then using the Epiphany service to further draw the connection between Epiphany and this practice. Also included below is a liturgy that can be downloaded and handed out for congregants to take home and use.Chalking of the DoorsThe practice of the “chalking of the doors” seems to have begun in Eastern Europe or areas of Slavic origin toward the end of the Middle Ages. In Exodus we read about how the Israelites painted blood on their doorframes to protect them from the angel of death, who killed the firstborn sons of all the Egyptians. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told to remember the works of the Lord, to teach them to their children, to talk about them, and to “write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:9; 11:20). There is a two-fold purpose in marking one’s doorframe during Epiphany: to protect and bless those within the home by inviting Christ into it, and to bear testimony to the household’s trust in God. These two themes of blessing and bearing witness fit well with the message of Epiphany. The Magi responded to a sign, a visible symbol, with faith and action. They came, bearing gifts, to worship the Christ-child, and they left blessed. Though Scripture doesn’t say if they told others about their experience, it’s hard to imagine them returning home without testifying to all that they had witnessed.For us today, the act of chalking the door can be both a reminder of Christ’s presence with us as well as a countercultural testimony to all who pass by or enter our homes that Christ is Lord of our lives. In fact, in some places in Eastern Europe when the Soviet government was trying to stamp out Christianity, the act of chalking the doors became a protest as well as a faith statement.Chalking the doors is most often done on the feast of Epiphany, January 6 (the twelfth day of Christmas), but it would be equally meaningful any time in theEpiphany season, especially toward the beginning of the year. Chalk is used because it reminds us of our fragility—that we are dust. It is also simple, accessible, and not permanent, for what is written is not magical, but rather a tool for writing God’s truths on our hearts and searing them in our mind. Of course, painting a wooden sign with the symbol or writing it on a paper would also be fine.In the year 2022, the sign written on the doorframe is 20+C+M+B+22. The outer numbers are the year. The + symbols represent the cross and could be written as such. The C, M, and B carry two meanings: It could refer to the names traditionally given to the Magi—Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar—but there were likely many more than three magi who visited the Holy Family. Better, it reflects the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat—“May Christ bless this dwelling.”When chalking the door, you may choose to spend time wondering about what it would be like if Jesus were physically present in the house. How would Christ’s presence affect how we interact with each other in our words, work, or play? How would Christ’s presence affect how we respond to both invited and unexpected guests on our doorsteps? Write the symbols on the doorframe to remind each other of Christ’s spiritual presence, and offer your own prayer asking Christ to bless the home (or office, or classroom, or hospital room) and all who enter it.For a stronger connection to communal worship, you could encourage your congregants to use the liturgy that follows the Epiphany service below.An Epiphany ServicePreludeBegin this service with notes of joy.Call to Worship[This call to worship should not be read. While there is a script here, much of it could be ad-libbed.]Voice 1 [with great enthusiasm]: Everyone,Christ has been born, the light has come.So join me in celebration!Voice 2 [with consternation]:Celebrate? Celebrate?Have you not heard the news?Where have you been living?[Add the troubling news of the day.]Evil and death are everywhere.There is no hope.Voice 3 [with a gently correcting tone]:Don’t you see it,that light that is growing?The good that is happening right around you?Christ has been born. The Spirit is all around us!Voice 1: Open your eyes and look around you!People are gathered here to worship.The Spirit is at work here.The Spirit is at work around the world.Voice 3:You should see the gifts that areflowing out of God’s people,a testimony that indeed the light has come!There is hope!Voice 1:One day there will be no more evil,no more grief, no more fear.We have hope!Voice 3:So come, join all God’s people in proclaimingthe praise of the Lord!All Voices:“Arise, shine, for your light has come,and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” —Rev. Joyce Borger, based on Isaiah 60:1–6 © 2021 ReformedWorship.org, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.Opening Medley“Arise, Shine, for Your Light Is Come” Glass“Glory Hallelujah” Schoolmeester (English/Spanish)or“Jesus Shall Reign / Psalm 72” Watts  God’s GreetingThus says God, the LORD,who created the heavens and stretched them out,who spread out the earth and what comes from it,who gives breath to the people on itand spirit to those who walk in it:“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;I will take you by the hand and keep you;I will give you as a covenant for the people,a light for the nations,to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,from the prison those who sit in darkness.I am the LORD; that is my name;my glory I give to no other,nor my praise to carved idols.—Isaiah 42:5–8 ESVSong of Praise “O Come, All Ye Faithful”  Wadeor“O Come Let Us Adore Him” Maverick City Music  Prayer of ConfessionWe’ve come today to give praise to our God, to continue to celebrate the gift of God’s Son, the light of the world. We want to give God all the praise and glory, but do we? God may be worthy of it all, but do we give God our all? God has blessed us, but what have we given in return? Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland  Eternal Light,shine into our hearts;Eternal Goodness,deliver us from evil;Eternal Power,be our support;Eternal Wisdom,scatter the darkness of our ignorance;Eternal Compassion,have mercy upon us;that with all our heart and mindand soul and strengthwe may seek your faceand be brought by your infinite mercyto your holy presence;through Jesus Christ our Light. Amen.—Alcuin of Tours (8th century)., P.D. alt. Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland Words of Assurance 1 John 1:5–7Sung Refrain: “Come, Light, Light of God” The Sisters of the Community of Grandchamp, Switzerland  Prayer for IlluminationGod of light and life,open our eyes as well as our ears,so that we may not only hear your Word preached todaybut then see your Word lived out in our lives and in your world,through Christ, our Lord, the light of the world.Amen. —The Worship Sourcebook F.3.1.2Scripture ReadingMatthew 2:1–12Sermon: Signs, Gifts, and TestimonySermon NotesBegin by writing the symbol for chalking the door (for 2022 it is 20+C+M+B+22) with chalk on a wooden cross or another piece of wood. Share that you saw this and are wondering what it could possibly mean. Invite the congregation (especially younger congregants) to wonder with you. What do they think the plus signs are?Chances are that, unless chalking the doors is a familiar practice in your community, the sign will remain a mystery. Wonder together about whom you might ask to help solve the mystery. If you thought this message, this sign, was really important, how far would you travel to find the answer? How much would you be willing to give up, to sacrifice?Talk about how the Magi in the Scripture passage found a sign in the sky: a star. Somehow they knew it was important—it meant a king had been born—but they couldn’t solve the whole puzzle. (You could wonder how many Magi there were. We used to think there were three Magi because there were three gifts named in the story, but now we know that they probably traveled in a large group. Still, people talk about three Magi, traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Could that be a clue to the C, M, and B on our sign?)The Magi sought help from the wisest and most powerful people they could find, but they were no help. The wisest people in the story turn out to be the Magi themselves, who, though foreigners and powerless, because of their faithfulness and humility met the king of the whole universe. The Magi saw the Light when those with power, wealth, and access to information did not. The Magi saw the Light, and they worshiped Christ, the Savior of the world, who died on the cross to save us. (Cross . . . could that be another clue? Are the + signs meant to remind us of the cross?)Explain how “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “revealing.” God revealed himself not to the king and his wise men, as we would expect, but to people outside the ruling Roman Empire and even outside the Jewish community Jesus was born into. Not only that, but God revealed himself through nature: God used the star to communicate. Everyone could see it, but only the Magi were paying attention. They were open and receptive.God also calls us today (another part of the puzzle!) to have our eyes open to what he is doing in the world, and God invites us to join in that work. We don’t need to have power, influence, wealth, or lots of knowledge. We need only a willing heart. Christ is present through the Spirit and desires to bless us so that we might bless others.Mention the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, meaning “May Christ bless this dwelling.” This is the true meaning of the C M B on the sign. Share the purpose and meaning behind chalking the doors.Conclude by wondering what stories the Magi told about their journey and what stories or testimonies we might share about ours. Hopefully our eyes will be open to see God along the way. Sermon Response[Invite people who would like to chalk their doors to pick up chalk and a copy of the liturgy found below in the resource section, or provide other directions that fit your context.]Sung Response Prayers of the PeopleOffering Traditionally on Epiphany an offering is taken for benevolence or missions.Sending and BlessingAs we leave this service of worship,let us go as the Magi left the infant Jesus,rejoicing on our way that we have seen the living Lord,ready to return to our daily life and work,spreading the good news of Jesus, the light of the world.Receive now these words of promise and blessingfrom our Lord Jesus Christ:Remember, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.Do not let your hearts be troubled.Do not be afraid.I am the light of the world.Whoever follows me will never walk in darknessbut will have the light of life.”Amen. —from Matthew 28:20; John 14:27; The Worship Sourcebook F.9.4 alt.Closing SongChoose one of the following or another of your choice:“Glory Hallelujah” Schoolmeesters (reprise)“Hear Our Praises” Morgan, LUYH 302, SSS 414“Jesus, the Light of the World” Wesley, Elderkin, LUYH 100Pastoral ConsiderationsAs you introduce the practice of chalking the doors to your congregation you may need to be pastorally sensitive to certain demographics in your congregation and offer some options. For those who live outside, in shelters, or in their cars, offer to pray a blessing prayer wherever they most often sleep at night. For those who live alone, ask an elder to offer to lead the liturgy or encourage those individuals to invite others over for the blessing or to include their small group. For those living in college dorms, hospitals, or other institutions, pray for Christ to be present in the room and get permission to write on the doorframe of the room. Again, there is nothing magical about writing the symbol or placing it on the door or doorframe, but it is a tool to represent the reality of Christ’s presence and an opportunity to worship and bear witness to Christ’s lordship. 

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of waiting: Waiting for the pandemic to end. Waiting for decisions to be made. Waiting for repairs to my house to be done. Are you also tired of waiting? Are your congregants? We can’t wait to get back to a greater sense of normalcy, to the “before time,” even to the familiar smells of worship. We want to focus on all the good and skip over the challenging and difficult aspects of our reality. I have my suspicions that this desire to escape is a fairly prevalent feeling, so it should come as no surprise to hear the suggestion that maybe this year we should skip Advent. In some ways skipping Advent and elongating the celebration of Christmas seems like a pastoral and appropriate decision given the context many of us find ourselves in. But I implore you to take the countercultural approach. Rather than running from the struggles of this past year, intentionally enter into them. Use the opportunity of Advent to acknowledge all that is not right in the world and in our lives and to yearn together for our coming Savior. Use the opportunity of this Advent to further develop the spiritual practice of waiting. Help your people become more resilient in the face of adversity by showing them how it is possible to hold in tension grief and joy, lament and hope. To assist you there is a reflection in this issue on Blue Christmas / Longest Night along with practical suggestions. We also offer a worship series that asks the question “What Are You Waiting For?” to use as you lead your congregation in the practice of Advent waiting. Several songs of waiting and longing (with suggestions for how to use them) can be incorporated into the worship series or wherever your worship planning takes you. Following that same waiting theme, you will also find in this issue a children’s program, a poem, and a series of Advent candlelighting readings. Help your people become more resilient in the face of adversity by showing them how it is possible to hold in tension grief and joy, lament and hope. This Reformed Worship is part of a number of issues focusing on the connection between our communal worship and our small group and individual faith practices. You will find the story of one individual who applied the practice of the passing of the peace in a tangible way. There’s an exploration of how the spiritual practice of presence is connected to the incarnation of Christ and to preaching. There’s a worship service for New Year’s that connects to the practice of Ignatian Examen, and there’s also a service that leads into the Epiphany practice of the “chalking of the doors.” Reflecting further on Epiphany themes is an article inviting us to practice wonder by embracing the mystery of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. If all of that isn’t enough, I hope you will appreciate learning about the historical practice of holding baptisms at Christmas and gaining insights into Korean worship. This issue is packed with practical resources and new insights and ideas. Read it reflectively, using it not only as a resource, but as a tool for your own spiritual nourishment. If you’ve been eager to receive this issue, be assured it has been worth the wait!

I’ve been thinking about the spiritual discipline of waiting lately as we are working on the next issue of Reformed Worship and waiting is one of its themes. Sometimes our waiting is short lived like when the Amazon package arrives on my doorstep early, even before I had begun to wait. And sometimes our patience is tested as it seems that the waiting knows no end.