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.

Music Sourcebook: All Saints through Transfiguration

This Music Sourcebook greatly expands the repertoire of resources for the song of the assembly and its leaders from All Saints through Transfiguration including the Advent and Christmas seasons. Most materials are reproducible and are newly composed in a broad range of styles. Accompaniments for this resource are available through the Music Leader Module on sundaysandseasons.com.

Seasonal Devotional Bundle and Save!

Easter is very early this year with Ash Wednesday falling on February 10th! With such a small window between Advent and Lent, we have a special bundle promotion of the beloved seasonal devotionals! From Oct 1 until Jan 6, order 100+ mixed and matched Comfort and Joy and On the Way devotionals and get free shipping! Ordering now prevents a panicked and potentially delayed order in mid-January.

Fall Webinar Series

 Singing for a Lifetime: Rediscovering and Cultivating the Potential of the Aging Voice
October 22, 11 a.m. CST
Jennaya Robison, presenter

Singing is an athletic endeavor, and like any physical activity, it can bring concerns about changing vocal capacity as we age. But there is good news: singers have far more agency than they realize to strengthen, refine, and even improve their voices over time. In this session, Jennaya Robison will share practical, research-informed strategies for maintaining healthy vocal function at every stage of life. Participants will explore exercises that build efficient vocal coordination, techniques for developing consistency, and rehearsal approaches that help singers thrive. Music directors will leave with concrete tools and regimens to support their ensembles, empowering singers to enjoy a lifetime of healthy, expressive music-making.

November 10, 11 a.m. CST, A Dazzling Bouquet: Songs on the Path of Justice and Community
Bret Hesla, presenter

Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Leaders Desk Edition

The Leaders Desk Edition includes all the content from the Ritual Edition in a more convenient size for worship planning and study, plus additional reference materials from the Pew Edition.

In 2024, ELCA Worship provided “Worship Resources for a National Election” to assist congregations. These readings, prayers, and assembly song suggestions can be used in settings such as prayer vigils, as part of Morning or Evening Prayer, as part of regular weekly worship in the weeks preceding or following an election, or for devotions at home or in other settings. This is available in both PDF and DOC formats.

Newly added to this resource is the “Affirmation of Vocation in Civic Life” (see p. 5 of the document). This brief affirmation may be made as part of the sending rite of the whole assembly, or it may be made by individuals or groups. Such an affirmation acknowledges the holy calling we live out in our public life among neighbors near and far.

As you are seeking other resources to ground you in these moments, you may find helpful “For the Common Good: Prayers and Resources for Congregations in Public Life” curated by the Northwest Intermountain Synod of the ELCA. See also the 2025 ELCA Social Statement, Faith and Civic Life: Seeking the Well-being of All. Another resource you may find helpful as you consider public witness is the “Blessing and Sending for Public Witness” available from ELCA Worship.

For additional material related to election advocacy, see ELCAvotes and the ELCA’s social message, “Government and Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy.”

We are encouraged to pray without ceasing for the life of the world. See this encouragement to join with congregations and communities across the ELCA to gather for weekly, community prayer. https://praywithoutceasing.world/

As a reminder, the ELCA Worship Blog includes a weekly posting, For What Shall We Pray, that invites timely prayer for places and people around the world.

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.

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.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

Transforming and connecting lives through faith and music since 1981.

New Free Sheet Music from Lutheran Summer Music
Download Kingsfold, a new set of theme-and-variations for solo instrument and keyboard by Anne Krentz Organ. The third offering in the LSM Hymn Tune Project, Kingsfold is based on the beloved English folk tune associated with a wide range of hymn texts. Available for a variety of solo instruments and keyboard, the work may be performed in its entirety or as individual movements.

 Preview and download for free.

Center for Church Music

The Center for Church Music, on the campus of Concordia University Chicago, provides ongoing research and educational resources in Lutheran church music.

 Introduction to the Center for 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.

What is Music that Makes Community?

Music that Makes Community focuses on fostering connection, spiritual engagement, and shared leadership through the practice of singing together. The organization emphasizes paperless song leading, a method where participants learn and share songs without printed music, promoting oral tradition and active participation. Explore the website to learn about workshops and retreats as well as online and community events. Song resources for singing in community are available for public use.

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. 

Sundays and Seasons Music Leader Module

Deluxe subscribers may now enhance their SundaysandSeasons.com experience by adding the Music Leader Module. This module allows subscribers to download accompaniment files for the hymns in Evangelical Lutheran Worship and All Creation Sings, and the accompaniments for Psalter for Worship (A, B, and C) and Psalm Settings for the Church Year. At launch, the accompaniments for ELW’s ten settings of Holy Communion will also be available. The accompaniments for Holy Communion liturgies from All Creation Sings and the Service of the Word and Daily Prayer liturgies from ELW will soon follow.

Outside the Lectionary

Many music planning tools are built around the lectionary, helping worship leaders select music that complements the appointed Scripture readings. Yet the life of the church includes many meaningful occasions that do not fit neatly within the lectionary calendar. To support those services, we’ve gathered choral, organ, and piano suggestions for six themes that regularly arise throughout the year. Use code MOREMUSIC26 to receive 15% off these titles!

Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Pastoral Care

This compact volume contains prayers, readings, and rites for use in a variety of situations and occasions, including expanded prayers and resources for life passages. Lay persons as well as clergy will find support here for their ministries of caring. Also available as an eBook.

Embodying Confidence and Grace: A Handbook for Presiding Ministers

In a grace–filled manner, Callista Isabelle offers wise counsel on how presiding ministers plan, prepare, preside, and then reflect on the assembly’s worship. The author encourages presiding ministers to carefully prepare their voices, bodies, and spirits as a sign of respect to the assembly to whom they have been called. They are invited to approach this calling with care and humility so that they can be fully present and confident in their abilities to lead and serve.

Fall Webinar Series

September 22, 11 a.m. CST,
Small Choir Toolkit: Versatile Music for Unison, 2-part and SAB Choir
David Sims, presenter

October 22, 11 a.m. CST,

Singing for a Lifetime: Rediscovering and Cultivating the Potential of the Aging Voice
Jennaya Robison, presenter

November 10, 11 a.m. CST,
A Dazzling Bouquet: Songs on the Path of Justice and Community
Bret Hesla, presenter

This post gives the background and practical implications for an addition to the church year calendar. “Creation in Christ” (or “Feast of Creation”), to be observed on September 1 or the Sunday following, is supported with lectionary readings and worship resources.

This post was updated on July 21, 2026 with links to new worship resources . See below under “Worship Resources.”

A New Ecumenical Observance

Following several years of study, prayer, and collaboration, a new ecumenical observance is encouraged in the church throughout the world. Grounded in the ancient liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church, “Creation in Christ” (or “Feast of Creation”) celebrates God as Creator and ponders the great mystery that everything was created through Christ. And, as a result, it also inspires us to care for the gift of the created world. Although the rich theme of Christ’s activity in creation abounds throughout the liturgical year, setting aside this day brings an important focus to this mystery.

As summarized on the feast of creation website, “since the 1989 invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to pray together on September 1, many churches and ecumenical networks have adopted the Creation Day observance and collaborated to encourage its celebration. In 2023, various global Christian bodies began to dialogue about the ancient roots of Creation Day in the Byzantine liturgical calendar and its potential to enrich non-Byzantine calendars even more meaningfully. Since then, a series of theological dialogues have taken place in what came to be known as “The Assisi Process,” with the participation of 13 Christian world communions and various ecumenical bodies.”

ELCA Worship shared a blog post written by Dr. Benjamin Stewart  in September 2024 that introduced this process to ELCA congregations, specifically noting the churches that convened in Assisi in March of 2024. You can learn much more about the process at www.feastofcreation.com and more about its theological grounding here.

The ELCA is a member of both the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), two of the more than thirteen Christian communions that have encouraged the adoption of this festival. LWF shared helpful information in March 2026 and the WCC offered a helpful webinar on March 19 and it is still available for viewing.

For the past two years, the Consultation on Common Texts—of which the ELCA is a member– has worked with the ecumenical conveners of this proposed celebration, namely in the task of selecting lectionary texts. See a listing of the proposed texts and the methodology report approved by the Consultation on Common Texts. The CCT also suggests the name of the day be “Creation in Christ (or Feast of Creation)” for Christological clarity, ecumenical breadth, and alignment with the Revised Common Lectionary naming conventions. For example, “Creation in Christ” is similar to “Christ the King (or Reign of Christ)” or “Baptism of Our Lord.” See pg. 5 of the methodology report for further background.

Observing “Creation in Christ”

What does this mean for the ELCA? Supported by the Lutheran World Federation and World Council of Churches, ELCA worshiping communities are encouraged to celebrate the day, using the lectionary texts provided by the Consultation on Common Texts. The date to observe “Creation in Christ” will need to be determined locally. Although celebration is encouraged on September 1 or the Sunday following, with the observance of Labor Day in the United States, some communities may opt to celebrate in late August or later in September, perhaps aligning with the autumnal equinox. Yet others may keep a Season of Creation, beginning on or near September 1 and ending with the commemoration of Francis of Assisi on or near October 4.

We anticipate that adopting this new date on the liturgical calendar will be an evolving process, just as the process to get to this point involved much thought, prayer, and deliberation. You are encouraged to discern what works best in your context, knowing that resourcing and support for this day will be available over time and will be renewed and refined along the way.

Worship Resources for “Creation in Christ”

Some resources are already available to assist you in preparation and planning and more will follow in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

The ELCA and Augsburg Fortress now have resources online. The resource “Creation in Christ Worship Resource- Year A” is available from the ELCA in both PDF and DOC formats from the ELCA. This resource includes liturgical texts, music suggestions, and preaching guidance.

 “Creation in Christ” has been added to SundaysandSeasons.com as both a day and a Sunday, following the practice for Reformation and All Saints. The available resources are identical on both days, including Day Texts, Day Resources, Music Suggestions, and Preaching. They are also available via Library/Sundays and Seasons/Seasonal Worship Texts/2026 Year A Creation in Christ. 

In addition, an ecumenical call was put out to submit resources to be considered for wider sharing. These are being reviewed and compiled and will be accessible later this summer on the feast of creation website.

This is an exciting time, as the last time there was an addition to the liturgical calendar was Christ the King (Reign of Christ) in the 1920s (though it was only adopted by Western churches). It is the first time a new feast/festival has been adopted since the release of the common lectionary in 1983. To be in communion with the Eastern church in celebration of Creation in Christ (Feast of Creation), holds great promise, even in this time of global crisis and uncertainty.

On July 4, 2026, the US will mark the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Worship resources are now available for this specific occasion that both celebrate and lament this nation’s history, affirm the reality of the current moment, and seek to unite the diverse body of Christ for the life of the world. These resources may be used at a special service or on Sunday, July 5, and are available as a PDF or DOC. The resources are also available on SundaysandSeasons.com. 

These resources include liturgical texts: confession and forgiveness, prayers of the day, prayers of intercession, offering prayer, thanksgiving at the table, invitation to communion, prayer after communion, blessing, and dismissal. An Affirmation of Christian Vocation in Civic Life included in the sending rite could be used in other contexts beyond this semiquincentennial observance.

This set of liturgical texts was developed in the context of the readings appointed in the Revised Common Lectionary for Lectionary 14, year A, complementary series (Zechariah 9:9-12; Psalm 145:8-14; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30), and within the broader national context of the US Semiquincentennial. If your worshiping assembly uses the semicontinuous series of first readings and psalms, you are encouraged on this occasion to use the complementary series so that the connections among the scriptural and liturgical texts are most evident.

In addition to the liturgical texts, a preaching help will guide preachers navigating the juxtaposition of the Lectionary 14 texts with the national observance. Rev. Angela Denker poses important questions about how to meet the moment, with the important reminder to attend to the needs of your particular context alongside scripture study.

A resource for church musicians by Wayne Wold presents suggestions for assembly song, choirs, piano, and organ. But just as helpfully, it assists musicians and other worship planners to frame the choices that need to be made, asking the “why” and “how” questions. Pastors and musicians would benefit by reading Wold’s commentary together as part of their planning process.

If you access these as a Sundays and Seasons subscriber on SundaysandSeasons.com, you will see that the day texts, preaching help, and portions of the music resource are accessible in the Day Texts, Music, and Preaching tabs. Select “Lectionary 14: US Semiquincentennial” in the Planner. The full resource is also available in the Library/Other Resources.

We hope you find these new resources helpful as you consider how you might mark this occasion in your congregation. As you do so, it is good to be reminded that we are grounded in the central things: “We gather around word, water, and meal by Christ’s invitation: ‘Come to me, all you that are weary.’ Here we find rest for our souls and hope for life in the beloved community” (Introduction to the Day).