ELCA 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.

Register for Augsburg Fortress Summer Music Clinics

Join clinicians David Cherwien and Mark Sedio for Augsburg Fortress’ free summer music clinics this summer in any of our five locations! Register here:

July 16-17 in St. Paul, Minn
July 19-20 in Columbia, S.C.
August 1-2 in Philadelphia, Pa.
August 5-6 in Columbus, Ohio
August 9-10 in Chicago, Ill.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

Lutheran Summer Music announces its 42nd season, offering over 30 free and open-to-the-public concerts and recitals. All events take place this July at Valparaiso University, and most will be livestreamed. Performances and services are shared by over 250 students, faculty, fellows, worship staff, and guest artists who come together to create a vibrant community of music-makers.

The LSM 2024 season will culminate during Festival Week (July 21-28), featuring the LSM Festival Band, Choir, and Orchestra, a Festival of Hymns, and closing each day with sung Evening Prayer. Of special note, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM) will join this year’s LSM community and offer an intergenerational performance of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion. Visit LSMacademy.org/2024 for a complete listing of events and to access the livestream.

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

Ponder Anew: Serving and Leading the Church’s Song
July 22 – 25
Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Ind.

Registration for In-Person is still available. Cannot be in Valparaiso for the conference? Registration for Live Streamed participation is available!

Music that Makes Community

Music that Makes Community (MMC) practices communal song-sharing that inspires deep spiritual connection, brave shared leadership, and sparks the possibility of transformation in our world.

Music that Makes Community is delighted to share a number of upcoming workshops and events, more details on the “Sacred Land” Call for Songs, and a reflection on the ongoing virtual gathering Monday Morning Gathering.

First, here are some upcoming in-person gatherings!

Saturday, July 13: Ana Hernandez, Monica Oneydika, Adam Michael Wood, and Executive Director Conie Borchardt will be leading a 1-Day Community Singing Workshop in Atlanta, Georgia right before The Hymn Society conference.
Stay tuned for registration to open for a Friday night Community SING and Saturday morning workshop in Northwest Synod of Wisconsin on October 11-12.
Many local practice groups and community sings are meeting monthly! Check out when Albuquerque, Chicago, Brownsburg (IN), Ellensburg (WA), Minneapolis-St. Paul, and more are meeting here!

Have you wondered about this gathering called Monday Morning Grounding? Please read more about this virtual point of connection and reflection for clergy and musicians on our blog here. The summer session starts June 10 and concludes July 22. Join us! Register here for the Zoom link.

Please visit our website to discover the song resources on the A-Z list, do a deep dive into the blog post archive, check out what it takes to host a worksho

p, make a contribution to support this non-profit organization, or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

May song accompany your gratitude and lament, your grief and your praise.

Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources

Augsburg Fortress is an imprint of 1517 Media, 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 Music Sourcebook for Life Passages assists church musicians and leaders in planning for services of life passage including marriage, funerals, and healing services. This resource contains music originating in different cultures and varying accompaniment styles. This volume 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 3: Keeping Time
This title in the Using Evangelical Lutheran Worship series explores why Christians have different ways of looking at time, at 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.

Build a Longer Table
John Helgen crafts a moving setting of a hymn of justice found in the worship supplement All Creation Sings. The text speaks of healing divisions and caring for those in need rather than shutting them out. The anthem is based on the hymn tune NOËL NOUVELET and the choral writing is accessible with comfortable ranges for all parts.

worship bible The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) is a joint American and Canadian ecumenical body that is responsible for the Revised Common Lectionary, a schedule of biblical passages read on Sundays and major feasts in congregations of multiple denominations in North America and other parts of the world. The ELCA is one of more than 20 member denominations.

The CCT held its annual meeting in April. See the full press release below. Of note is continued work on Anti-Jewish interpretations in the common lectionary. The CCT conversation is one way that the ELCA continues to respond to a synod resolution to Church Council to consider such matters (see II.A, pg. 7 in the attachment). Several ELCA resources are available to help guide worship planners and preachers in navigating these important concerns. Preaching and Teaching “With Love and Respect for the Jewish People” is available from the ELCA Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations. An essay titled, “The Jews” in John’s Passion, was published in the 2020 edition of the Sundays and Seasons worship planning resource from Augsburg Fortress. This essay includes an emended translation of the passion according to John for use on Good Friday. This essay and emended text are available both on SundaysAndSeasons.com and on ELCA.org.

The Consultation on Common Texts Press Release

April 16, 2024—The Consultation on Common Texts (CCT) concluded its annual meeting at St. Andrew’s United Church, Bloor Street in Toronto on April 16. The Consultation is a joint American and Canadian ecumenical body that is responsible for the Revised Common Lectionary, a schedule of biblical passages read on Sundays and major feasts in congregations of multiple denominations in North America and other parts of the world. Denominations and church bodies represented at the recent meeting included the Anglican Church of Canada, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA, North American Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), The Episcopal Church, The United Church of Canada, The United Methodist Church, and United Church of Christ.

The CCT received a draft statement about the use of passages of Scripture in John and Acts of the Apostles that have historically been used to justify discrimination and violence against Jews; a further draft of that statement is expected in August and will be circulated to member denominations for comment. The CCT also established a committee to consider lessons for a feast celebrating God’s work in creation. The idea of such a festival, proposed by the Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios in 1989, has gained support in recent years from western churches. An ecumenical seminar held in Assisi earlier this year endorsed the idea of adding such a feast to the Church calendar, but inclusion of the festival will be dependent on the actions of individual denominations.

The CCT heard reports on use of the Revised Common Lectionary and on the activity of member denominations in relationship to worship. It learned that a recent project, the Revised Common Lectionary: Expanded Daily Readings is scheduled for print release this summer; it increases the number of daily lessons to include a psalm and three other biblical readings, matching the Sunday pattern. The CCT also elected the Rev. Dr. Eileen Scully as Treasurer for the CCT in Canada and elected representatives to the English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC), an international body composed of representatives of churches in the English-speaking world.

Finally, the CCT celebrated the work of Dr. Fred Kimball Graham, who has been a participant in the CCT for 35 years and was one of the drafters of the Revised Common Lectionary. Fred announced that this year would be the last meeting in which he would be able to participate in person, but indicated that he would join in later meetings remotely.

The CCT meets in person annually. Next year’s meeting is scheduled for Louisville, Kentucky on April 7^th and 8^th.

Deacon John Weit, Executive for Worship represents the ELCA on behalf of the Presiding Bishop to the CCT. Deacon Jennifer Baker-Trinity, Program Manager for Worship Resource Development is also a member of CCT in her joint role with the ELCA Worship team and 1517 Media/Augsburg Fortress.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

It’s not too late to join Lutheran Summer Music 2024!

We’re looking forward to an incredible year at LSM, and we’ve been able to add extra spots for this summer! Final openings are available for the four-week Full Session (June 30-July 28) for students in grades 8-12 who play clarinet, flute, horn, oboe, trumpet, euphonium, violin, or string bass. Contact LSM Admissions for questions or to refer students: admissions@lutheransummermusic.org. For more information or to apply, visit LSMacademy.org.