June 1997

Have you ever filled put one, of those product cards in a card pack or magazine? I ordered a catalog from "Banner Media Services," hoping to get some new banner ideas for use in worship. But the word banner was used in quite a different way than I expected; the company was marketing audiovisual equipment. More catalogs followed from different companies that mysteriously got my address; they offered a dizzying array of sound boards, microphones, video systems, "cassette ministry" systems, and more.

For this issue the questions and answers for Q&A come from the report "Authentic Worship in a Changing Culture" by the worship committee of the Christian Reformed Church. Although the report, which is to , be presented at Synod 1997, is addressed in the first place to CRC congregations, churches from other denominations will have the same or similar questions. And, we trust, will benefit from the answers.

CHRISTINGLE SERVICE
ON ECUNET

I have recently learned of the Christingle Service you published (RW 37, Dec. 95). The service has been discussed on the Ecunet on-line service and has received a great deal of interest from many people, including me. I am enclosing a check... to purchase a copy of RW 37.

Paul H. Bomely
Oxford, CT

LIKED RW 39

Editorial Committee: Robert Webber, Vicky Tusken, John Witvliet, Jack Schrader. Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL, 1995. Singer's Edition: Code No. 1997, paper, 352 pp., $8.95. Accompaniment Edition: Code No. 1998, spiral, 472 pp., $19.95.

CONFERENCES

The Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM) now schedules three annual worship conferences. The 1997 conferences are

Montreat, NC, June 15-21 and 22-28 (two identical conferences)
"Practicing the Presence of God." Contact: Donald Armitage, 845 West Fifth St,Winston-Saiem, NC 27101: (901) 722-8144.

Westminster, PA, July 13-18
Contact: Rebecca Borthwick-Aiken, First Presbyterian Church, 890 Liberty St., Meadville, PA 16335.

THE SERVICE

Preparing for Worship

Prelude

"The King Shall Come MORNING SONG
"Guide Me, O Thou RHONDDA

Silent Prayer

Opening

God's Greeting

Call to Worship

Hymn: "For All the Saints" PsH 505, PH 526, RL 397, TH 358

stanzas 1, 2, 4, 5, 7: all
stanza 3: men and boys stanza 6: women and girls
stanza 6: women and girls

WEEK THREE: BE PERFECT

Text: Leviticus 24:17-20; Matthew 5:14-20, 38-48

Drama (to introduce Scripture themes)

"An Eye for an Eye"

Narrator One

Narrator Two

Mr. Fang, a dentist who also plays Character A

Mr. Squint, an optician who also plays Character B

A Judge

In September of 1996, Hessel Park Christian Reformed Church in Champaign, Illinois, had the pleasure of installing a new minister. As we prepared for the service of installation, the worship committee wanted to try something a little different. We used one of the shorter forms from our church hymnal (Psalter Hymnal, pp. 992-4), but we added a new twist to the section of the form called "Instruction."

My mother seldom let us off with easy answers. After the Bible reading that followed family meals, she would often wonder about the meaning of an obscure text by peppering our family with "why" questions:

Why does God act like a general in an army that is responsible for slaying thousands of Israel's enemies?

Why would God ask for the human sacrifice of Abraham's son, after the manner of pagan religions?

Why does Jesus curse a fruit tree for having no fruit in a season in which it was not meant to bear fruit?

In every issue for the past eleven years, Reformed Worship has included a set of "Songs for the Season," formerly called "Hymn of the Month." The criteria for selecting those songs include choosing something accessible to children, something old and something new, something based on a psalm, and something fitting for the particular season of the Christian year.