Late-night Hymn Sings at Convention 2009

Featuring our two most recent hymnal supplements, Sing the Journey and Sing the Story, two late-night hymn sings on Wednesday and Saturday evenings at Convention 2009 in Columbus, Ohio, will offer opportunity for learning new songs. Bring your own songbooks or purchase them at the hymn sing. Leaders will be Marlene Kropf, Ken Nafziger, Randy Spaulding.

Ecumenical stewardship resources available

Mennonite Church USA is a member denomination of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center, which produces a number of stewardship resources for congregations in the United States and Canada. Annually they provide the Giving magazine, which is an excellent stewardship resource. Check it out atwww.stewardshipresources.org.

Special worship resources in Leader magazine

Be sure to look for the weekly worship resources included in this summer’s issue of Leader magazine, which are connected to the summer Gather ’Round Sunday school curriculum on the theme “Letters to the Early Churches.” If your congregation holds worship first, classes may explore the worship themes in greater depth through the activities provided in the curriculum. If your church has Sunday school before worship, children and youth can be invited to share their gifts of music, reading and drama during worship—leading prayers or litanies, or presenting skits used in the curriculum to go along with the biblical texts. If your church doesn’t have regular Christian education in summer, these resources will bring Gather ’Round themes into worship.

Each week’s guide follows a basic order of gathering, praising, confessing and reconciling, hearing, responding, and sending, using content from the summer Gather ’Round curriculum, Hymnal: A Worship Book, Sing the Journey, and Sing the Story. Suggestions for children’s time and “sermon seeds” are included.

Plan now to use these connecting resources by ordering Leader magazine and the summer Gather ’Round materials: the Multiage teacher’s guide, Together (Multiage student book), Preschool teacher’s guide, My Bible Storybook (Preschool student book), Connect (Parent/Caregiver guide), Youth/Junior Youth Supplement (for use with Connect or the Multiage teacher’s guide), and the Talkabout. Be sure pastors and worship team members are aware of and have access to these resources. To order, call 1-800-245-7894 or order online at www.mpn.net.

Worship to go!

This summer, help busy families grow in faith by giving them a Gather ’Round Talkabout and a copy of Connect (the parent/caregiver guide) to use at home or on vacation. Offer a “Summertime Blessing” during worship in late May to introduce families to the summer Gather ’Round theme “Letters to the Early Churches.” Show everyone the Talkabout—a series of colorful postcards with brief Scripture readings, discussion ideas and prayers—some of which are designed to be mailed to others. Pray that through using the Talkabout postcards families will encourage one another and their friends to grow in love for God through Jesus Christ, just as Paul encouraged the early churches through his letters.

Coming soon: Words for Worship 2

Words for Worship 2, (include WordsforWorship2 graphic) edited by Diane Zaerr Brenneman, offers fresh prayers, litanies and other worship resources prepared for use throughout the church year. A do-it-yourself appendix has templates for worship and congregational prayer and three extensive indices guide planners to find resources fitting a theme. Also included is a section featuring elements for morning and evening prayers, praying in public places and for special times within regular worship such as blessings and dedications, and commissioning. Sample services provided include the Longest Night, Christmas Eve, Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and All Saints’ Day.

More creative worship resources from Mennonite Publishing Network:

Word of Mouth: Creative Ways to Present Scripture gives tips on how to present Scripture more effectively, and 29 ready-to-go reader’s theatre scripts from the book of Mark.

Through Laughter and Tears: The Church Celebrates—Nineteen complete worship services provide fresh ways to draw together the whole church family in acknowledging significant life events such as parent/child dedication, baptism, retirement and church anniversary.

With Heart & Hands, a collection of 18 piano arrangements of hymns from Sing the Journey and Sing the Story, offers new options for offertories, preludes and other worship times. Selections are also adaptable to accompaniment.

Proclamation by Design offers practical ideas and inspiration for using visual arts to enrich worship.