I am very excited to introduce you to Tom Nelson’s newest book, The Economics of Neighborly Love: Investing In Your Community’s Compassion and Capacity. I have had the privilege of meeting and working with Tom over the last few years. His writing and teaching have had a profound impact upon many. Tom Nelson is the president of Made to Flourish,…
Reprinted from Patheos. I spent my Labor Day weekend laboring: I dug potatoes, started a batch of sauerkraut, simmered beef bones to make stock for Vietnamese pho, froze vegetables, and canned sauce. I tried to deal with the weeds in my garden, and then gave up the unequal struggle. I don’t mind that I spend my days off working, though, because…
Reprinted from Made to Flourish. While there is a growing movement of churches around the country working to better educate and equip their congregation members in the area of faith and work, it strikes me as a worship leader that we often overlook one of the most basic opportunities for formation in this area each week – that is, the…
Hopefully you checked out our post a few days ago with worship resources for Labor Day. Bookmark it for your planning next year too! It struck us that it would be good to collect actual examples of churches doing something to bless all vocations and consider the labor of workplace Christians. Theology of Work Project does some of that at…
By Greg Forster: part eight of a series. The title of this post pulled me up short when I wrote it. I was just following the format for all the titles in this series: Just Imagine, God a Farmer! Just Imagine: God a Doctor! But this one’s different. “Just Imagine: God a Father!” It’s amazing. Just imagine it! God .…
I am always looking for books that discuss neglected aspects of the faith and work conversation. Rest is certainly one such aspect and I’m pleased to see an increasing numbers of books (such as Garden City) discussing it. Rest is written for a secular audience, but it has lessons for the FAW conversation. The author, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, is the founder of…
Work-oriented worship songs collected by Made to Flourish Blessings on vocations from Made to Flourish Litany of Labor from an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor Litany for the Ministry of the Laity by Demi Prentiss and J. Fletcher Lowe Songs, prayers, hymns, commissioning services, sermon notes, and the entire book Work in Worship at the Theology of Work Project Prayers for…
We stumbled on this site the other day (thanks to a recommendation from Made to Flourish): A New Liturgy.
They’ve released six 25-minute works: each is a “journey of music, prayer, scripture, and space that helps open us to The Almighty in any location, season, community, or emotion” and create “holy space wherever we find ourselves.”
#5, found here, is specifically a liturgy for commuting: “Carried by piano, string quartet, and some pounding floor toms, “Here are my Hands” invites us to turn our cars, bikes, or trains into rolling sanctuaries that launch us into God’s good work in our jobs and lives.” Other liturgies focus on worshipping God in Creation and in being blessed to be a blessing. The artists describe their musical approach as “What if a piano-based indie rock band led a Catho-Protestant Mass?”
Check it out!
P.S. On their Facebook page, they’re taking suggestions for where the next liturgy is most needed.
By Mary Pezzulo; reprinted from Steel Magnificat. My teacher was a Dominican, and I wanted to be a Dominican just like her. I wanted to teach second graders, wear a frumpy pantsuit with a little Dominican shield pin, and live in a convent. I was sure I had a vocation. By the time I got to college, it was clear that…
By Darrell Yoder; reprinted from the Oikonomia Network newsletter At Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, we are nearing completion of two multi-year projects related to the work of the Oikonomia Network. These two projects have focused on helping students and local pastors develop a biblical theology of work and to pursue faithful approaches to economics and poverty. Local Pastors and Churches…
The Green Room 