Ruth Ann Schuringa

Worship is so much more complicated and nuanced and important and rich! We cannot reduce it to the generalizations or categories of (old) hymns against newer modern songs, or youth v. seniors. Because even in trying to find labels (so we can find ourselves on one side or the other of this argument) we fall short.

In RW 139:11, the Sing 10 column introduced fourteen congregational songs for Ascension and Pentecost. Ruth-Ann Schuringa, one of the contributors for the resource article, provides background information and performance practices on the three songs that she recommended. —editors

This service was originally planned in 2016 for the first-ever Ash Wednesday service at CrossPoint Christian Reformed Church of Brampton, Ontario. I planned it with Scott Post—then CrossPoint’s youth pastor—and a young member of the congregation. In 2019 I amended and adapted the original service for our context at Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Brampton, a congregation that hadn’t observed Ash Wednesday for many years.

On February 18, 2003, a Tuesday morning, Immanuel Christian Reformed Church of Brampton burned down almost completely. Many of us stood that morning watching the firefighters struggle to control the flames as we struggled to comprehend what was happening. The congregation experienced mixed emotions. Erick and I had been in Brampton for less than a year, so we hadn’t yet become attached to the building; others struggled, knowing that the building had been in need of expansion or revamping to become a more functional space.

In the Fullness of Time” was the third annual Christmas drama we wrote and produced. This year we decided to present the drama on two consecutive nights: not only for space reasons, but also to give actors a chance to have the satisfaction of performing twice after all their hard work at rehearsals!