Worship leaders "share a common challenge: to provide quality, integrated, creative worship week after week for congregations hungry for meaningful and fulfilling connections with God. We are honored to offer this resource as part of your journey to help your congregations grow in faith. Many of our readers also find it helpful as a weekly devotional guide or a prayer resource as they gather for lectionary study groups." (From the Introduction) Alternative ideas for Praise Sentences and Contemporary Gathering Words are offered for those who work in contemporary worship settings. Now more than ever, The Abingdon Worship Annual is a must-have sourcebook offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship.
Ecologies of Faith in New York City examines patterns of interreligious cooperation and conflict in New York City. It explores how representative congregations in this religiously diverse city interact with their surroundings by competing for members, seeking out niches, or cooperating via coalitions and neighborhood organizations. Based on in-depth research in New York's ethnically mixed and rapidly changing neighborhoods, the essays in the volume describe how religious institutions shape and are shaped by their environments, what new roles they have assumed, and how they relate to other religious groups in the community.
A Legacy of Love is the story of a Southern Indiana farm family and the trials and tribulations of raising children during the Great Depression Era. This family, like most people during this era who lived in agricultural communities, did not have central heat, electricity nor indoor bathrooms. Most farm families raised (or made) most of their own food including chickens, eggs, butter, milk, beef, pork, and vegetables from their own gardens. They relied on each other, their extended families, neighbors, and their church community to survive. Ora and Ann Wolfe raised seven children who became productive adults, on 64 acres of land (of which 30 were not tillable) in a three room clapboard house. Supplemental income came from intermittent work in the coal mines by Ora and the selling of butter and eggs by Ann to stores in the city and to neighbors who did not have their own. They faced personal challenges with the loss of a young child to scarlet fever, years where farming efforts barely produced enough to feed them all and family members who left the nest to go off to war or to work in the factories, or elsewhere, to support the war effort. Every day was a challenge, but their belief that an all wise God ruled the affairs of mankind kept the family grounded in its Christian Faith. Church was the center for community and social life. Sunday services, church potluck dinners and singing in the churchs Glee Club were activities enjoyed by this family. The strict observance of the Sabbath was celebrated with a large dinner served around the noon hour that would be enjoyed by every family member and often, with friends of the family. A Legacy of Love will provide the reader with an understanding of life in America during difficult economic times - a time when many people lost hope and some left their homes and farms, never to return. Others gained strength though family, hard work and their churches. The average farm family had little or no money, but nearly everyone faced similar challenges. Adults and children alike learned ways to enjoy the simple things in life at practically no cost. These difficult times not only instilled a good work ethic in children but a strong commitment to each other. This commitment is the legacy of love that bound this family so tightly together with a rich family heritage. It is the fabric that builds strong communities.
The Abingdon Worship Annual 2013 offers fresh worship planning resources for all who plan and implement weekly worship. Worship leaders "share a common challenge: to provide quality, integrated, creative worship week after week for congregations hungry for meaningful and fulfilling connections with God. We are honored to offer this resource as part of your journey to help your congregations grow in faith. Many of our readers also find it helpful as a weekly devotional guide or a prayer resource as they gather for lectionary study groups." (From the Introduction) Using a Theme Idea based on the lectionary readings, each week's offering of prayers and litanies follows a basic pattern of Christian worship: Invitation and Gathering Proclamation and Response Thanksgiving and Communion Sending Forth Alternative ideas for Praise Sentences and Contemporary Gathering Words are offered for those who work in contemporary worship settings. Searchable Online Extras! Available exclusively to Abingdon Worship Annual users and accessible purchase of this print version. Along with the entire print text in PDF format for ease of navigation and use, the AWA 2013 offers these great extras: Song suggestions for each week, hyperlinked to the text Annotated Resource List with links to helpful worship planning Web sites (NEW!) Prayers and Liturgies for Baptisms Now more than ever, The Abingdon Worship Annual is a must-have sourcebook offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship.
With interactive online access, The Abingdon Worship Annual 2014 offers fresh worship planning resources for pastors and worship leaders. Using a theme Idea based on the lectionary readings, each week’s offering of prayers and litanies follows a basic pattern of Christian worship: Invitation and Gathering Proclamation and Response Thanksgiving and Communion Sending Forth. Alternative ideas for Praise Sentences and Contemporary Gathering Words are offered for those who work in contemporary worship settings. Searchable online extras, along with the entire print text in PDF format for ease of navigation and use, are available with the purchase of the print resources. Now more than ever, The Abingdon Worship Annual is a must-have sourcebook offering countless opportunities for planning meaningful and insightful worship.
