“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here.

Prayer Prompts:
For peace and reconciliation among the nations, especially in Iran, Gaza, Ethiopia, Yemen, South Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, and Myanmar…
For an end to genocide across the world…
For flooding in southwestern Ohio and all those affected by natural disasters…
For Luther Seminary and all seminaries navigating reimagination or relocation…
For the United Nations General Assembly and for all agencies working for peace…
For victims of gun violence, especially in Ontario, Canada and Durban, South Africa…
For immigrants and all marginalized populations who live in fear of violence
For those in the path of Tropical Storm Nolo…
For all in need of access to affordable healthcare…

Events & Observances:
September Observances: National Suicide Prevention Month, Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept 15-Oct 15)

September Equinox/First Day of Fall (Sept. 22)
Sukkot begins (Judaism, Sept 26)
Michael and All Angels (Sept 29)
Jerome, translator, teacher, died 420 (Sept 30)
Francis of Assisi, renewer of the church, died 1226 (Oct 4)
Theodor Fliedner, renewer of society, died 1864 (Oct 4)

Prayers from ELCA Resources:
A prayer for responsible citizenship (ELW):
Lord God, you call your people to honor those in authority. Help us elect trustworthy leaders, participate in wise decisions for our common life, and serve our neighbors in local communities. Bless the leaders of our land, that we may be at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

A prayer of Pope Francis (ACS):
Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. The poor and the earth are crying out. O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your kingdom of justice, peace, love, and beauty. Amen.

—

ELW = Evangelical Lutheran Worship
ACS = All Creation Sings: Evangelical Lutheran Worship Supplement

Additional topical prayers are found in Evangelical Lutheran Worship (pp. 72–87) and All Creation Sings (pp. 46–55), as well as in other resources provided in print and online at sundaysandseasons.com.

Crafted intercessions for every Sunday and festival are provided in the Sundays and Seasons worship planning guide published in-print and online by Augsburg Fortress. Further assistance for composing prayers of intercession can be found here: Resources for Crafting Prayers of Intercession

Prayer Ventures, a daily prayer resource, is a guide to prayer for the global, social and outreach ministries of the ELCA, as well as for the needs and circumstances of our neighbors, communities and 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

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.

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.