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Partner Organizations Resources and Events

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.

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. We offer resources, training, and encouragement to individuals, organizations, and communities in the dynamic power of singing to connect others and ourselves.

Introductory Spaces – Meet Music that Makes Community at these events and conferences.

  • Intergenerate Conference at Asbury University, Wilmore, KY: On June 10, Rev. Breen Marie Sipes will be offering a “Taste of Welcome Through Song”
  • The Hymn Society Conference at Wayne State, Detroit, MI: On July 15, Executive Director Conie Borchardt and Organizer Doe Hoyer from the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery will offer a Sectional on “Reckoning with the Doctrine of Discovery: How Our Sacred Songs Can Move Us Toward Indigenous Solidarity”.
  • Sacred Lands SING at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Detroit, Mich: On July 17, Conie and Doe will share more songs from the Sacred Lands Playlist Collection. 7-9 p.m.
  • ALCM Conference at Raleigh, North Carolina, August 4-8.
  • CMP Converging 2025 in Columbus, Ohio, October 16-18.

Training Events — Join us at the following events for continuing education, community building, professional development, and celebrating this practice of paperless communal song-sharing.

  • June 20-21: Two-Part Workshop in Taos, New Mexico
  • October 3-5: Workshop in Madison, Wisconsin
  • October 12: Three-day Retreat in Albuquerque, N.M.
  • November 7-9: Workshop in Waco, Texas (coming soon!)
  • February 6-8, 2026: Two-Day Retreat in Raleigh, North Carolina (coming soon!)
  • More in-person events are being planned. Please stay tuned!

Online Spaces – 

  • Summer Solstice SING – Join us for a celebration of paperless song sharing on Monday, June 23, 5-6 p.m. PT / 8-9 p.m. ET.  Register here.
  • Monday Morning Grounding — This weekly online touchstone continues to offer song, silence, sacred text and community connection, Mondays at 10 a.m. Eastern / 7 a.m. Pacific until July 28. Register for the Zoom link here.

Resources – Read the MMC blog for articles on a variety of topics.  The latest presents Songs for Justice.

Job Postings on Music That Makes Community website.

Sign up for our Monthly Newsletter for regular updates on resources and events.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

Lutheran Summer Music 2025
Valparaiso University,Valparaiso, Ind.
June 22–July 20

Get Ready for LSM 2025!

Join us at Valparaiso University from June 22 -July 20 for our 43rd season. It will feature over 30 free concerts, recitals, and worship services. Can’t make it in person? Watch online via Live from LSM!

Highlights include the beloved Bach Cantata Eucharist, Festival of Hymns, and the debut Faculty Organ Recital. Don’t miss Festival Week with powerful performances from the Festival Band, Orchestra, and Choir.

Read more in our new season brochure using this link: bit.ly/2025season

Additional visitor details and online access.

Let It Be With Me According to Your Word

Seminar on Lutheran Liturgy
Minneapolis, Minn., August 13-15

Register at www.seminarliturgy.org.

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

ALCM Conference 2025
Aug. 4-8
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

There is still time to register for the August conference in Raleigh-Durham. Here are just a few of the highlights:

We look forward to seeing you in Raleigh!

Journey to Baptismal Living: North American Associate for the Catechumenate

An ecumenical Christian community seeking to support seekers, whether baptized or not,  and those who accompany them on their journey of faith through the catechumenal process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vi Messerli Memorial Lectures in Church Music: For All the Saints

October 19-21
Concordia University Chicago
River Forest, Illinois

Presenters include: John Witvliet, plenary; Brenda Portman, organ concert; Hymn Festival: Hymns of David Rogner

Workshops: John Behnke, Stephen Starke, Barry Bobb, Benjamin Kolodziej, Matthew Janssen, Sam and Lois Eatherton, Lisa Clark, Jim Rindelaub

Registration information will be available in mid-July.

Check the website for updates.

 

Worship Resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers

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.

Musicians Guide to Evangelical Lutheran Worship

This practical text examines the various styles of music and features specific suggestions for each piece of service music, hymn, and song with the aim of assisting music leaders to enrich meaningful worship.

 

Praying for the Whole World: A Handbook for Intercessors

In the intercessions, the assembly asks God to respond to the needs of the whole world. Through these petitions, worshipers enact their baptismal calling to intercede for the well-being of all things. In many churches, laypersons prepare the prayers of intercession. In this concise, charming, down-to-earth handbook, Ramshaw proposes seven steps, from Monday through Sunday, to assist your crafting of the prayers of the faithful.

Weekly Bulletin and Lectionary Insert Service

Our beautifully designed bulletins and inserts take a major preparation task off your plate. With their full color images, range of format options, and automated quarterly delivery, each week’s content can bring added depth and meaning to worship, front to back. Choose your back page format: NRSVue scripture readings, Devotional message based on reading, or blank. Select a lectionary insert: Celebrate or Today’s Readings. Pick your size: Regular or Large. Print your announcements and church information right on the page and you are set! Free month trials available!

To learn more about the process of choosing the art for each bulletin, read this blog post.

Together by Grace: Bible Conversations

Together by Grace: Bible Conversations is a NEW series that invites participants to gather together, dwell in the stories of the Bible, and engage with the text and one another. With guided conversations and open-ended questions, everyone is invited to share thoughts, experiences, and similarities in these roundtable discussions that approach biblical stories honestly, wrestle with tough questions, and build community. Together by Grace sessions can be led by anyone, regardless of their level of biblical knowledge. Each study’s 8 sessions are flexible in format and length. Participant Guides and Facilitator Guides for the Matthew Romans studies are available for preorder now!

Summer Music Clinics

Join us this summer for our annual music clinics. This year’s phenomenal clinicians are Jennaya Robison (choral) and Jan Kraybill (organ). Check out our website to read more about these talented practitioners, explore the daily schedule, and register for a clinic in your area!

  • July 18–19, Columbia, S.C.
  • July 21–22, Columbus, Ohio
  • July 24–25, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • August 11–12, Twin Cities, Minn.
  • August 14–15, Chicago, Ill.

 

Partner Organization Resources and Events

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.

Lutheran Summer Music 2025
Valparaiso University,Valparaiso, Ind.
June 22–July 20

Lutheran Summer Music (LSM) is delighted to announce the 2025 Worship Faculty of The Eugene and Mary Sukup Church Music Program, led by Cantor Chad Fothergill (LSM 2000). These gifted and highly respected leaders will guide students and the broader LSM community through a rich tapestry of sacred music experiences during morning and evening prayer, rehearsals, concerts, and more.

Whether you can join us in person or tune in from afar, we invite you to be part of this vibrant, creative community that nurtures the next generation of church musicians and breathes new life into the future of sacred music.

Learn more about LSM@LSMacademy.org

Let It Be With Me According to Your Word
Seminar on Lutheran Liturgy
Minneapolis, Minn., August 13-15

Registration is open now at www.seminarliturgy.org.

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

ALCM Conference 2025
Aug. 4-8
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

There is still time to register for this conference!  For all that is to be describes our effort to equip people in all stages of their love for music of the church. Whether you are a volunteer, part-time or full-time employed, a student, newly employed, or retired, this conference will nurture your passion for the many ways in which we continue to share the gospel message.

Registration is still available  – visit the conference website to register now. We look forward to seeing you in Raleigh!

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. We offer resources, training, and encouragement to individuals, organizations, and communities in the dynamic power of singing to connect others and ourselves.

Training Events — Join us for the following events for continuing education, community building, professional development, and celebrating this practice of paperless communal song-sharing.

Monday Morning Grounding — This weekly online touchstone continues to offer song, silence, sacred text and community connection, Mondays at 10 a.m. Eastern / 7 a.m. Pacific until April 7. Register for the Zoom link here.

Resources – Read the MMC blog for articles a variety of topics.

Job Postings on Music That Makes Community website.

 Monthly Newsletter for regular updates on resources and events.

Journey to Baptismal Living: North American Associate for the Catechumenate

An ecumenical Christian community seeking to support seekers, whether baptized or not,  and those who accompany them on their journey of faith through the catechumenal process.

 

 

 

 

 

Resources from the Center for Church Music

The Center for Church Music is a place where one can tap into an expansive library of resources and perspectives on the music and art of the church, with a focus on a Lutheran context.

“Profiles in American Lutheran Church Music” presents video conversations with prominent church musicians The Life and Career of Richard Proulx, a conversation with Bob Batastini and Michael Silhavy, editors at GIA and The Current Scene, a conversation with Nancy Raabe, president of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, March 2023.

Sundays and Seasons: Guide to Worship Planning Year A

Sundays and Seasons supports comprehensive week-by-week planning with content and ideas for liturgy, music, preaching, and visuals that are shaped by the Revised Common Lectionary, the church year, and the assembly gathered around word and sacrament. Worship planners and leaders, preachers, presiding ministers, worship committees, musicians, visual artists, sacristans and altar guilds, and those who create congregational worship folders will find an indispensable companion in Sundays and Seasons as they prepare for worship each week. Sign up for a print subscription to receive your subsequent S&S materials when they are released!

Worship Resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers

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 Three-Year Banquet: The Lectionary for the Assembly

A Three-Year Banquet by Gail Ramshaw invites the entire worshiping assembly, lay and clergy, to understand and delight in the three-year lectionary. This study explains how the Revised Common Lectionary was developed and how the gospels and the first and second readings are assigned. Further chapters describe the many ways that the three readings affect the assembly’s worship and the assembly itself. Like food at a banquet, the fare we enjoy in the lectionary nourishes us year after year.

 

 

Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Vol 3: Keeping Time

This title in the Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship series delves into why Christians have different ways of looking at time. Explore how the life of the church is ordered and organized by days, weeks, seasons, and years. It provides detailed information about Sundays, festivals, seasons, and commemorations, as well as daily prayer.

 

 

Lutheran Study Bible, Second Edition (NRSVue)

Read and explore scripture with Lutheran Study Bible, Second Edition (NRSV Updated Edition). More than 70 Lutheran theologians and biblical scholars guide this exploration and provide new and updated study notes, articles, and charts. These beautiful tomes also include a section on Martin Luther and the Bible, a 52-week Bible reading plan, and 15 full-color maps. Hardcover and paperback editions are available for preorder now! Publication date is July 1.

 

 

Sundays and Seasons: Guide to Worship Planning Year A

Sundays and Seasons supports comprehensive week-by-week planning with content and ideas for liturgy, music, preaching, and visuals that are shaped by the Revised Common Lectionary, the church year, and the assembly gathered around word and sacrament. Worship planners and leaders, preachers, presiding ministers, worship committees, musicians, visual artists, sacristans and altar guilds, and those who create congregational worship folders will find an indispensable companion in Sundays and Seasons as they prepare for worship each week. Sign up for a print subscription to receive your subsequent S&S materials when they are released!

 

Summer Music Clinics

Join us this summer for our annual music clinics. This year’s phenomenal clinicians are Jennaya Robison (choral) and Jan Kraybill (organ). Check out our website to read more about these talented practitioners, explore the daily schedule, and register for a clinic in your area!

  • July 18–19, Columbia, S.C.
  • July 21–22, Columbus, Ohio
  • July 24–25, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • August 11–12, Twin Cities, Minn.
  • August 14–15, Chicago, Ill.

Worship Resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers

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.

The Three-Day Feast: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter

Recent decades have witnessed the revival of the ancient liturgies of the Three Days—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. In this book Gail Ramshaw gives a little history and a lot of suggestions about how these services can enrich the worship life of your entire assembly.

 

 

Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Vol 2: The Christian Life

This volume of Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship focuses on the formative role of baptism not only for the individual being baptized but the church. After it examines baptism and the related rites of affirmation of baptism, welcome to baptism, and confession, it moves to consider other rites in which the baptismal center is clearly seen: Healing, Funeral, and Marriage. Also available as an eBook.

 

 

Forged: Following Jesus into a New Kind of Family

The Jesus Way calls us into community with others to form a new kind of family— a forged family. In an era when relationships with our families of origin are more complicated than ever, pastor T. C. Moore shows us how following the way of Jesus can lead us to forged families that are authentic and life-giving. Forged weaves together stories from the author’s experience with urban, multiethnic ministry all over the US, principles from Scripture, and his own experience as an ex-gang member turned church planter and pastor. It proposes a way of approaching faith in community that rejects hierarchical, bureaucratic structures in favor of formative, inclusive friendships that last.

Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible

Before the Nazis banned him from publishing, German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer published this book on the Psalms. This classic reveals how the Psalms are essential to the life of the believer and offers Bonhoeffer’s reflections on psalms of thanksgiving, suffering, guilt, praise, and lament. Now with an introduction by Walter Brueggemann and excerpts from the Psalms, Bonhoeffer’s timeless work offers contemporary readers ancient wisdom and resources for the living of these days.

 

Mystery Manifest: The Triune God, Figuratively Speaking

Renowned liturgist and scholar Gail Ramshaw mines the treasures of the Bible, patristic sermons, theological treatises, mystical reveries, liturgical texts, hymns, and poetry to craft a richly textured collection and framework for thinking about the language Christians use to address and describe the triune God. More than a compilation, Mystery Manifest is a volume that liturgists, ministers, and theologians will return to again and again seeking wisdom and insight into the figures of speech humans have developed to express the ineffable. Scholars and ministers alike will want to keep a copy readily available on their shelves for liturgical study, homiletical preparation, worship preparation, and theological reflection.

 

Summer Music Clinics

Join us this summer for our annual music clinics. This year’s phenomenal clinicians are Jennaya Robison (choral) and Jan Kraybill (organ). Check out our website to read more about these talented practitioners, explore the daily schedule, and register for a clinic in your area!

  • July 18–19, Columbia, S.C.
  • July 21–22, Columbus, Ohio
  • July 24–25, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • August 11–12, Twin Cities, Minn.
  • August 14–15, Chicago, Ill.

Partner Organization Resources and Events

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.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

Lutheran Summer Music 2025
Valparaiso University,Valparaiso, Ind.
June 22–July 20

Grades 8-12 | Learn more:
LAST CALL for LSM 2025! Enrollment for this summer is over 80% full, but there’s still time for young musicians to apply and for you to nominate students. Lutheran Summer Music is the nation’s premier faith-based music academy for high school musicians. Students come together from around the country for a joyful summer of music-making through large ensembles (band, choir, orchestra), chamber music, private lessons and elective classes (conducting, composition, jazz, musical theater, handbells, pipe organ) and use their musical gifts in performance, and in worship.

 

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. We offer resources, training, and encouragement to individuals, organizations, and communities in the dynamic power of singing to connect others and ourselves.

Training Events — Join us for the following events for continuing education, community building, professional development, and celebrating this practice of paperless communal song-sharing.

More in-person events near Kansas City, Detroit, Lexington, Ky., Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta. Please stay tuned!

Monday Morning Grounding — This weekly online touchstone continues to offer song, silence, sacred text and community connection, Mondays at 10 a.m. Eastern / 7 a.m. Pacific until April 7. Register for the Zoom link here.

Resources – Read the MMC blog for articles a variety of topics.

There are also new Job Postings (including one ELCA) on our website.

Please join our monthly newsletter for regular updates and we’ll see you at an event soon!

Institute of Liturgical Studies

An ecumenical conference on liturgical renewal for the church today.

Rites of Passage: Engaging Occasional Practitioners in a Secular Age
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.
April 28–30, 2025

There is still time to register!

The American religious landscape is characterized by declining participation in religious institutions, increasing uncertainty about matters of faith, and a growing population identifying as non-religious. Nevertheless, many people continue to turn to churches at some of the most significant moments in their lives—such as the birth of a child or the loss of a loved one—and many others show up to support them.

Most of our planning resources are directed at the Sunday assembly. Yet, baptisms, weddings, and funerals are liturgical events rich in their potential for service and outreach. How might we more fully consider the possibilities of these occasions to be better prepared to serve a decreasingly churched culture?

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

ALCM Conference 2025
Aug. 4-8
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

The conference theme, For all that is to be, describes our effort to equip people in all stages of their love for music of the church. Whether you are a volunteer, part-time or full-time employed, a student, newly employed, or retired, this conference will nurture your passion for the many ways in which we continue to share the gospel message.

Registration is still available  – visit the conference website to register now. We look forward to seeing you in Raleigh!

Hearts • Hands • Voices are local half- or full-day skills-based workshops organized and hosted by ALCM members. These events are opportunities to learn new skills, share best practices, build relationships and support systems among musicians in your area, and introduce others to the ALCM community.

Events are now being scheduled for 2025. If you are interested in hosting one of these events or would like more information, contact Adam Lefever Hughes at education@alcm.org.

NOTE: Additional events will be added throughout the year, so check this page regularly to see if an event has been scheduled in your area. Check out the table below to view events sorted by date or state or check the Calendar of Events to find events scheduled near you.
 

Resources from the Center for Church Music

The Center for Church Music is a place where one can tap into an expansive library of resources and perspectives on the music and art of the church, with a focus on a Lutheran context.

“Profiles in American Lutheran Church Music” presents video conversations with prominent church musicians The Life and Career of Richard Proulx, a conversation with Bob Batastini and Michael Silhavy, editors at GIA and The Current Scene, a conversation with Nancy Raabe, president of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, March 2023.

Journey to Baptismal Living: North American Associate for the Catechumenate

An ecumenical community seeks to support seekers and those who accompany them. The process is an enlivened journey of spiritual formation for those either exploring Christianity or seeking to renew their faith.

The board of Journey to Baptismal Living, formerly North American Association for the Catechumenate, has been very busy, during and since the pandemic, working on producing updated catechetical and liturgical resources as well as updating our website.

Now we would like to connect with parishes interested in the catechumenal process. If you already have a process, we would like to discuss our new resources and also learn from you about your experiences. If you are interested but not active, we are available to do online training. Our new website can provide you with information about who we are and what we do. Or contact us for further information.

The Hymn Society & The Center for Congregational Song

The mission of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada is to encourage, promote, and enliven congregational singing. The Center for Congregational Song is the resource and programmatic arm of The Hymn Society, connecting resources, leading deep and vital conversations about the church’s song, and collaborating with our partners.

Back in 2020, The Center for Congregational Song hosted a 12-hour broadcast of music and pastoral moments on Election Day in an effort to provide a space for peace in a time of great anxiety. Four years later, the political discourse in the United States is not all that different, and, in some ways, even more charged than it was before. If you find yourself in need of a break from the news, we invite you to recharge by watching our broadcast from four years ago.

Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources

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

Music Sourcebook for Life Passages: Healing, Funeral, and Marriage

Once the life of faith is begun through the waters of baptism, no subsequent passage is made alone. The resource assists in planning for services of life passage including marriage, funerals, and healing services. It contains music originating in different cultures, varying accompaniment styles, and includes reproducible pages, an appendix of additional resources, and a CD-ROM of files to assist in the creation of service folders.

 

Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Vol 1: The Sunday Assembly

Addresses the general principles that have guided the shaping of Evangelical Lutheran Worship, considering that central liturgy of Christian worship, Holy Communion. This text examines how worship interacts with environment, music, and the preached word, and features useful and practical suggestions for all those who lead the assembly in communion.

 

Join us this summer for our annual music clinics. This year’s phenomenal clinicians are Jennaya Robison (choral) and Jan Kraybill (organ). Check out our website to read more about these talented practitioners, explore the daily schedule, and register for a clinic in your area!

  • July 18–19, Columbia, S.C.
  • July 21–22, Columbus, Ohio
  • July 24–25, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • August 11–12, Twin Cities, Minn.
  • August 14–15, Chicago, Ill.