Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers in a monthly blog post.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

Missed LSM This Summer? Watch on Demand

The LSM 2026 season may be over, but the inspiring music continues online.

Watch more than 40 concerts, worship services, recitals, and special events from this summer whenever it’s convenient for you. Catch up on the performances you missed or experience your favorite moments. Enjoy the Bach Cantata Eucharist, Festival of Hymns, plus performances by the Festival Band, Choir, and Orchestra, and many more joyful moments from this summer’s season. Visit our website to browse the replays and start watching today with LSM On Demand!

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.

Fall Webinar Series

October 23: Recruiting a Choir in a Post-COVID World, The Rev. Steven J. Basselman
November 13: Choosing Music for Smaller Ensembles, Dr. Marin Jacobson
December 4: Choral Rehearsal Techniques for Aging Voices, Andrew Peters

Vi Messerli Memorial Lectures in Church Music

 For All the Saints
October 18-20
Concordia University Chicago
River Forest, Illinois

Join us for another exiting year of celebrating the Church’s song at the Vi Messerli Memorial Lectures in Church Music. This year’s presenters include: Rev. Dr. Dien Ashley Taylor, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in the Bronx, NY and Atlantic District president (LCMS), Marin Jacobson, director of choral activities at Valparaiso University, the Kantorei from Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, under the direction of Kantor Kevin Hildebrand, and a hymn festival led by Daniel Schwandt, now cantor at Mount Olive Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, plus many practical and thought-provoking workshops.

The event will begin on Sunday afternoon with a stellar piano recital by the director of Concordia’s Preparatory and Community Music Program Katrina Sudman and Vincent Catalano.

The Lectures in Church Music website is www.CUCHICAGO.EDU/LCM26 If you wish, you can access the brochure here. Online registration is available here and within links in the brochure.

Registration fees are provided on page 9 of the brochure. Please note that the early registration fees apply until September 15. A limited number of scholarships are available to college students and those new to church music. Bring a friend to Lectures and get $25 off the registration when each of you registers! Please use the code FRIEND2026.

The Church Music Institute

The Church Music Institute is dedicated to the advancement and stewardship of the best liturgical and sacred music for Christian worship, serving clergy, musicians and congregants. Offerings include educational workshops and courses, inspirational festivals of church music, newsletters addressing current issues in church music, and online and print resources.

Invitation to Early Career Church Musicians: Apply for the Dr. Paul Lindsley Thomas Society

The Paul Lindsley Thomas Society benefits trained musicians who want to further their understanding of church music.  Membership is by application, asking respondents to react to the document “Aspiring to the Ideals of Paul Lindsley Thomas” as they view their own calling as church musicians.

Accepted applicants will enjoy monthly online meetings with other early career church musicians to share and learn about church music, admission to online and in-person CMI events, and complimentary CMI membership to access the 65,000 title choral and organ libraries. Apply at HERE and email a resume to info@churchmusicinstitute.org, include “PLT Application” in subject line.

Submission Deadline:  September 1, 2026

Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers that support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from other partners in a monthly blog post.

Calendar of Word and Season: Sundays and Seasons, Year B 2027

Celebrate the church year through the vibrant art of Kelly Latimore. This beautiful full-color wall calendar combines inspiring contemporary iconography with practical tools for worship planning and daily life. Featuring striking artwork by acclaimed iconographer Kelly Latimore, each month invites reflection on faith, justice, and the presence of God in the world around us. Alongside stunning artwork, the calendar identifies church festivals, U.S. and Canadian holidays, and includes all Revised Common Lectionary readings for Sundays and major church festivals throughout the year. Spiral-bound and punched for hanging.

Around the Circle: Celebrating the Church Year

Around the Circle invites young children to join the journey through the seasons of the church year. Season by season, the rich colors and meaningful symbols help young readers get to know these special times, how they connect to the story of Jesus, and to their own lives.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship Occasional Services for the Assembly

Occasional Services for the Assembly is the second volume of services, readings, and prayers in the Evangelical Lutheran Worship family, complementing Pastoral Care. Commended for use by the ELCA Church Council in 2009, this book contains more than 60 services and 200 prayers relating to congregational life that are normally used in the gathering of God’s people for worship. Featuring a durable hardcover format and ribbons, the volume is designed to be suitable for use in public worship. Also available as an eBook.

Evangelical Lutheran Worship Large Print Text Edition

Make worship more accessible to your congregants! This large-print edition of Evangelical Lutheran Worship provides the pew edition text (words only) of weekly liturgies, daily prayer services, assembly song, psalms, service music, and hymns in standard large-print type (18-point, sans serif font) and formatting. Packaged in three shrink-wrapped sets of pages in an 8 ½ x 11” size, three-hole punched. Each set begins with a title page and table of contents. Designed for storage in three one-inch binders and for assembling selected pages into a single binder for use during worship.

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers in a monthly blog post.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

THIS WEEK! Join us online through Live from LSM and enjoy more than 30 free concerts, recitals, and worship services streamed live from Lutheran Summer Music at St. Olaf College.

Highlights include a special guest performance by Cantus, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Bach Cantata Eucharist, the Festival of Hymns, and joyful performances by the Festival Band, Choir, and Orchestra.

View the full schedule and watch live at LSMacademy.org/calendar

The Church Music Institute

The Church Music Institute is dedicated to the advancement and stewardship of the best liturgical and sacred music for Christian worship, serving clergy, musicians and congregants. Offerings include educational workshops and courses, inspirational festivals of church music, newsletters addressing current issues in church music, and online and print resources.

Invitation to Early Career Church Musicians: Apply for the Dr. Paul Lindsley Thomas Society

The Paul Lindsley Thomas Society benefits trained musicians who want to further their understanding of church music.  Membership is by application, asking respondents to react to the document “Aspiring to the Ideals of Paul Lindsley Thomas” as they view their own calling as church musicians.

Accepted applicants will enjoy monthly online meetings with other early career church musicians to share and learn about church music, admission to online and in-person CMI events, and complimentary CMI membership to access the 65,000 title choral and organ libraries. Apply at HERE and email a resume to info@churchmusicinstitute.org, include “PLT Application” in subject line.

Submission Deadline:  September 1, 2026

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.

ALCM  2026 Conference “Now and Forever”

St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
Celebrating the 1986 ALCM Constituting Convention
Overlapping with Lutheran Summer Music’s Festival Week!
Featuring Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Bach Collegium Valparaiso, Christopher M. Cock, artistic director. (Made possible through generous support provided by Pauline and John Kiltinen.

Day registration is still available.

Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers that support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from other partners in a monthly blog post.

Sing Many Names: Scriptural Images for God in Hymnody

No single word or image conveys the mystery of God; we need many images in lively conversation and even then, all our language cannot capture the fullness of the living God. In Sing Many Names, scholar and musician Zebulon Highben invites the reader into conversation with the abundant images for God in the Bible, dedicating each chapter to an image or group of related images. Drawing on his scholarship and using the “Scriptural Images for God” in All Creation Sings as an organizing principle, this book invites pastors and musicians, teachers and students, and all who sing to reflect more deeply on the song of the church across time and space.

Lectionary for Worship NRSVue Study Edition Year B

This study edition of the Lectionary for Worship contains the Year B Revised Common Lectionary using NRSV Updated Edition Scripture texts. Pronunciation aids and convenient summaries help lectors prepare with confidence. The lectionary includes a helpful introduction with several charts. Artwork from Evangelical Lutheran Worship introduces each liturgical season and a Scriptural Index is included. Keep a copy in your church office and sacristy and gift to a recent seminary graduate!

Hymns Together: Solo and Duet Settings for Piano and Instruments

Hymns Together: Solo and Duet Settings for Piano and Instruments provides twenty-five hymn arrangements for friends and families to play together. Each arrangement may be a solo, a duet, or an ensemble with treble and bass instruments. Difficulty levels and arrangement lengths are intentionally varied to provide a wide range of possibilities, whether the pianists are beginners or more accomplished.

Celebrating Women’s Proclamation and Leadership Resources

We mourn the loss of women’s voices in the Southern Baptist Convention. Explore these resources uplifting women in the church’s history, as well as titles delving into the expansive language present in scripture. Want more? Learn about why the ELCA affirms and celebrates women in ministry leadership in the blog by Deacon Dr. Laura Gifford titled “Poorer Indeed: A Response to the Restriction of Women in Ministry Leadership by the Southern Baptist Convention” linked on this page.

Augsburg Fortress Music Clinics – 70th Anniversary Celebration!

Locations
Columbia, S.C. — July 24-25
Twin Cities, Minn. — July 27-28
Columbus, Ohio — August 3-4
Philadelphia, Pa. — August 6-7
Chicago, Ill. — August 10-11

More information about the event and registration for a FREE music clinic near you is available here.

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources and events from other organizations and institutions. These Lutheran and ecumenical partner organizations work alongside the ELCA to support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers in a monthly blog post.

The Hymn Society

The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada encourages, promotes, and enlivens congregational singing by building supportive relationships and enabling networking and ecumenical cooperation which providing experience in performance practices to help in the introduction and leading of the congregation’s song.

Hymn Society Annual Conference
Rebirth: Singing Death, Singing Life
Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, N. J.
July 19-22

For eighteen years, we have seen Lutherans lead ecumenical worship with theological depth and musical excellence. This tradition continues at The Hymn Society’s 2026 Annual Conference in Princeton, NJ, from July 19–22.

The event features a strong Lutheran roster, including Marcell Silva Steuernagel, Gracia M. Grindal, Maren Haynes Marchesini, Lola Bobrow and Adan Fernandez. From veteran scholars to rising students, our voices are shepherding this year’s song.

Join your colleagues for a week of professional growth and spiritual renewal. Let’s show up and sing together. Watch this video announcement and visit The Hymn Society website to register. Information about registration fees, accommodations, meal plans and other important details are available on the website.

Regular registration is open.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

Get Ready for LSM 2026!

Lutheran Summer Music returns to St. Olaf College for its 2026 season, June 21–July 19, featuring more than 40 free concerts, recitals, worship services, and special events free and open to the public.

Highlights include the inaugural LSM Choral Gathering, guest performance by Cantus, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Bach Cantata Eucharist, and Festival Week concerts featuring LSM’s Festival Band, Choir, and Orchestra. Most events will also be available online via Live from LSM.

View the season brochure, explore events, and reserve free tickets at LSMacademy.org/2026season

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

ALCM nurtures and equips musicians to serve and lead the church’s song.

ALCM  2026 Conference “Now and Forever”

St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
Celebrating the 1986 ALCM Constituting Convention
Overlapping with Lutheran Summer Music’s Festival Week!
Featuring Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Bach Collegium Valparaiso, Christopher M. Cock, artistic director. (Made possible through generous support provided by Pauline and John Kiltinen.

Registration is still open. Day registration is available.
The emphasis of this conference is on practical skill-building. Check out the nearly complete list of presenters and workshops on the conference website. Reasonably-priced, air-conditioned dormitory housing is still available and can be booked at time of conference registration or at a later date. Register now and make plans to envision the future of Lutheran Church music.

Music that Makes Community

Rooted in Christian contemplative and activist traditions, Music That Makes Community envisions a liberative culture that empowers individuals and communities to claim and use the power of singing to heal our spirits, nurture our common lives, and work for justice.

Music that Makes Community will be attending the ALCM Conference. Current and past Board members, Amy Steenson and Liesl Spitz, and a representative from The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery will present a workshop on the Sacred Lands Project partnership, a collection of paperless, aural tradition songs for community singing intended to inspire and compel communities of faith to organize alongside Indigenous communities defending sacred lands from extractive and leading rematriation efforts. Read more about the project and download it here.

Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers that support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from other partners in a monthly blog post.

A Dazzling Bouquet: Songs on the Path of Justice and Community

A Dazzling Bouquet contains 101 songs by Bret Hesla for churches, community sings, and social change movements to sing together. These beautiful, singable tunes lift up our common journey toward a just and beloved community, our call to care for the earth, and a trust in the Spirit who awakens our imagination for change. With a beautiful forward by Mary Preuss and tips for using this collection by Bret Hesla, the songbook includes indexes for topics and themes, scripture references, background notes, performance ideas, and additional resources including prayers and litanies. The book is spiral bound with ample room for notes.

More Days for Praise: Festivals and Commemorations in Evangelical Lutheran Worship

For centuries the church has paired its church year—focused on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection—with a second calendar that uses the lives of saints as a lens to see God’s gracious acts. Evangelical Lutheran Worship has continued that practice with its calendar of festivals and commemorations. In this volume teacher and scholar Gail Ramshaw shows that those whom the church has lifted up are both faithful and fascinating, always pointing to Christ. Here is a guide to help you include these observances in your prayer life. Each day’s entry includes a brief chronology of the person’s life; a summary of why the person is remembered by the church; an image of, or related to, the commemoration; a quote from the person, where possible; and devotional hymn and prayer suggestions for the day.

Indexes to Evangelical Lutheran Worship and All Creation Sings

This revised edition of Indexes to Evangelical Lutheran Worship has been expanded and supplemented with new material from All Creation Sings. Because the Revised Common Lectionary and many hymns and songs are held in common by many denominations, the contents of this volume may be helpful to those beyond the Lutheran tradition.

It provides the prayer of the day and gospel acclamation, citations for appointed readings, listing of hymns and songs suited for the day, and a complete index to the Revised Common Lectionary. Moving beyond a simple planning volume this volume is formatted to allow worship planners to consider hymns and songs from several perspectives at once, including place in the service and relationship to the readings for the day and the season.

Additional Reference Tools Included:

• A complete index to the appointed readings in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary (including Evangelical Lutheran Worship additions for lesser festivals, commemorations, and occasions not included in the RCL) arranged in biblical order.
• Scriptural and topical indexes to the hymns in Evangelical Lutheran Worship and All Creation Sings prepared for the leader’s editions.
• An alternate tune index.

A Lutheran Welcome Booklets

These highly visual and engaging booklets are for everyone. Whether someone is a visitor looking for a church home, a new member, or a life-long Lutheran, these booklets are designed to capture their attention and help them learn more about the Lutheran expression of faith. Place them in a narthex or welcome area display rack, include them in new member packets, or keep them handy for whenever someone may have questions about the basics of Lutheran faith.

Titles in the set include:

• A Lutheran Welcome to Holy Baptism
• A Lutheran Welcome to Holy Communion
• A Lutheran Welcome to Jesus
• A Lutheran Welcome to the Bible
• A Lutheran Welcome to Forgiveness
• A Lutheran Welcome to a Reformation Way

Augsburg Fortress Music Clinics – 70th Anniversary Celebration!

Locations
Columbia, S.C. — July 24-25
Twin Cities, Minn. — July 27-28
Columbus, Ohio — August 3-4
Philadelphia, Pa. — August 6-7
Chicago, Ill. — August 10-11

More information about the event and registration for a FREE music clinic near you is available here.