Christian Year

Jonathan A. Powers on Teaching Hymns Appropriate to Context

If your congregation experiences hymn singing as dull and lifeless, then try Jonathan A. Powers’ advice on finding, introducing, and teaching hymns that will resonate with your worshiping community.

March 6, 2023
Lent Resource Guide

This list of Lenten art, music, devotions, liturgies, books, and sermons will help you plan worship for Lent and includes resources for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday.

February 20, 2023 | 2 min read
For God So Loved the Cosmos . . . A Service of Lessons and Carols

The Old Testament unfolds the cosmic nature of God’s promised redemption “far as the curse is found.” Reflecting back on the coming of Messiah, Paul not only testified that it was in Jesus Christ that all things were created, but also that in Jesus Christ, God was at work to “reconcile to himself all things.” [Col. 1:15]. In this service of lessons and carols, sung by the Calvin University choirs, hear texts celebrating this all-creation vision of redemption.

November 7, 2022 | 94 min video

Recommended Songs for Reformation Day or All Saints' Day 91 Services

In every time and place, imperfect and broken people who have been made saints through Jesus Christ are called to offer their gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the body of Christ. 

October 13, 2022 | 2 min read
Toronto Designers on Visual Cues to God's Time

First Christian Reformed Church of Toronto, Ontario, planned a worship grant connecting color and the liturgical year. They invited the congregation into the biblical story by collaborating on a permanent artwork. Then the pandemic prevented them from entering the church building. The landscape architect and the architect who led the grant say that this pivot turned out to be a good thing.

April 19, 2022
Tenebrae Service: A Service of Shadows for Holy Week

The service of Tenebrae, meaning “darkness” or “shadows,” is a prolonged meditation on Christ’s suffering. Readings trace the story of Christ’s passion, music portrays his pathos, and the power of silence and darkness suggests the drama of this momentous day. As lights are extinguished, we ponder the depth of Christ’s suffering and death; we remember the cataclysmic nature of his sacrifice as we hear the overwhelming sound of the “strepitus”; and through the small but persistent flame of the Christ candle which departs until Resurrection morning when we celebrate the ultimate victory.

April 13, 2022

Brandon Helder on The Gift of the Cross Holy Week Devotional for Children

Brandon Helder's elementary students and his own children responded to tactile Jesse Tree devotionals during Advent, but he couldn't find similar Holy Week resources. To help children and families anticipate Easter, Helder wrote The Gift of the Cross: Celebrating Christ Through Holy Week and designed Resurrection Blocks.

December 9, 2021
Christ the King Sunday 91 Planning

Marking the kingship of Christ makes a healthy transition that leads directly from Ordinary Time into Advent, the Christmas cycle, and the remainder of the Christian year.

November 17, 2021 | 11 min read

The Christian Year and Spiritual Wholeness

Approaching the Christian Year through the lenses of Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, and Spiritual Formation. In this discussion, we will explore how ordering our worship and devotion around the life of Jesus has the potential to shape our whole selves, both individually and communally. This is a YouTube Video Premiere panel discussion.

November 16, 2021 | 55 min video
3 Songs of the Resurrection from Latin America / 3 Cantos Latinoamericanos de Resurrección

Carlos Colón demonstrates and talks about three songs for Easter, as part of the series "Songs from the hymnal / Cantos del himnario Santo, Santo, Santo / Holy, Holy, Holy.'"

March 31, 2021 | 2 min video