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

Livestream concerts, recitals, and worship services from LSM 2023.

A complete schedule and links to archive recordings are available at lsmacademy.org/2023.

Music that Makes Community

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

We take a deep breath of gratitude for the renewed energy and growing connections Music that Makes Community saw in the first half of 2023. We have facilitated vibrant, in-person workshops in Olympia, Columbus, and Nashville, as well as multi-access offerings in Portland, OR and Minneapolis. We hosted our first Intergenerational Worship Webinar in March, and in early June teams of MMC leaders were present at two biennial conferences focused on faith formation and worship for all ages.

Our late summer and fall offerings are now updated on the website, including a special offering at Holden Village, our annual Advent Worship Planning Webinar, a Three-Day Retreat in Albuquerque, and in-person events in Seattle, the Boston area, and Chicago.

Visit the MMC calendar to learn more and register!

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

ALCM SUMMER 2023 WEBINARS

Register to watch live and receive recordings of past webinars.

Members — $25; Non-Members — $39.

One-day workshops for musicians to learn new skills, share best practices, and build relationships.

Workshops scheduled all across the country.  Sign up for upcoming events.

Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources

Augsburg Fortress is an imprint of 1517 Media, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Sundays and Seasons:Guide to Worship Planning

Sundays and Seasons supports comprehensive week-by-week planning with content and ideas for liturgy and music, preaching and visuals, shaped by the Revised Common Lectionary, the church year, and the assembly gathered around word and sacrament. The 2024 volume is now available in print.

Augsburg Summer Music Clinics

Lectionary Mosaics

Sale on ELW Gift and Pocket Editions

Luther’s Small Catechism App

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.

Music that Makes Community

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

We conclude the first half of the year with a One-Day Workshop at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh on Saturday, June 24! Share an enlivening day of singing and learning, and bring new songs and skills back to your community. While we don’t have workshops scheduled over the summer, you’ll find MMC leaders at conferences and gatherings around the country, including the ALCM Biennial Conference, Lutheran Summer Music, and Holden Village, among others. Visit our website to register for fall offerings or to find additional resources and songs.

Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival

LSM 2023 is less than three weeks away! As we countdown the days to welcoming this year’s class to campus, LSM promises to be an exciting four weeks of events, concerts, and worship services. All events are free and open to the public: join us on campus or via livestream.

And recently announced, Artistic Residency & Public Concert with Apollo’s Fire. Musicians from the award-winning Apollo’s Fire ensemble will join the LSM community from June 30-July 2 to work with students and present a public concert on Saturday, July 1 at 7:30pm. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity! Apollo’s Fire is a GRAMMY-winning period-instrument orchestra dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in its listeners. Apollo’s Fire brings to life the music of the past for audiences of today. This residency is underwritten by the Bach Institute at Valparaiso University.

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

Register for Virtual Conference access! All are welcome!

Resources from the Center for Church Music

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

This month it highlights the centenary of Richard W. Hillert (1923-2010), a liturgical composer who served as music editor for Lutheran Book of Worship and whose legacy continues in Evangelical Lutheran Worship, the music for Holy Communion: Setting 3 and parts of Setting 5, and the hymn “Alleluia! Voices Raise” (ELW 828). The feature includes “Profiles in American Lutheran Church Music” video interviews with prominent ELCA church musicians, including Lorraine Brugh (interviewed by Anne Krentz Organ), Robert Buckley Farlee (interviewed by Zeb Highben), and the sainted Scott Weidler (interviewed by the Rev. Jerry Spice).

Journey to Baptismal Living

Journey to Baptismal Living is an ecumenical community of Christians seeking to support formation in discipleship by exploring the meaning of baptismal identity, faith, and mission. The leadership offers training programs and events to develop skills and resources for baptismal preparation and for deepening faith in baptismal living.

How do you meet a seeker where they are? What do they know and what do they need to know? How do you find out their history, discern their questions, and begin to accompany them on their journey with Jesus?  JBL can help you make the successful next steps when approached by a seeker.

Our next JBL community chat, Monday, June 26 at 7 PM (central time), will focus on how to lead a productive initial conversation with a seeker. Julia Acuna, a member of the catechumenate team at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento, will role-play such a conversation with a recent seeker. You don’t want to miss this! The basis for the conversation will be a section from JBL’s new Ecumenical Guide for Accompanying Any Seeker, available soon on our website.

Please register by Friday, June 23, 8 PM (central time). Thank you.

Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources

Augsburg Fortress is an imprint of 1517 Media, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Lutheran Mosaics: Three Readings Juxtaposed for Reflection and Proclamation

Lectionary Mosaics began as reflections made available for those not able to gather in their worshiping assemblies during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet its wisdom extends into our current time and beyond. Holding together all three readings of the Revised Common Lectionary for each Sunday and festival, these brief mosaic paragraphs invite you to faith in the triune God, love of neighbor, and care for our earthly home.

Sunday and Seasons Print Subscription

Sale on ELW Gift and Pocket Editions

Luther’s Small Catechism App

Kids Celebrate All Creation Sings

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

Lutheran Summer Music is pleased to announce the creation of The Eugene and Mary Sukup Church Music Program through a grant from the Sukup Family Foundation of Sheffield, Iowa. The Church Music Program will expand LSM’s curriculum and educational offerings, including the creation of a new Liturgical Composer-in-Residence position, with Anne Krentz Organ serving during this inaugural year, and funding a guest artist residency from nationally known church musician Paul Vasile. The Church Music Program will also respond to enrollment growth (LSM 2023 saw a 300% growth in applications from organ students compared to LSM 2022) by supporting scholarships for organ students, helping LSM further invest in preparing the next – and current – generation of church musicians and organists.

Music that Makes Community

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

MMC continues our focus on intergenerational worship with a One-Day Workshop in Nashville on June 11, followed by worship and workshops at the Intergenerate Conference. And, we just added another One-Day Workshop at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh on June 24! You can view the MMC calendar to find more, including upcoming in-person and virtual learning opportunities.

Association of Lutheran Church Musicians

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

Register at alcm.org/2023-webinar-series/

Augsburg Fortress Events and Resources

Augsburg Fortress is an imprint of 1517 Media, the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Luther’s Small Catechism App

Operation Restoration VBS Starter Kit

Kids Celebrate All Creation Sings

Sale on ELW Gift and Pocket Editions

After perhaps a year or more of not gathering on-site for Ash Wednesday services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, worshiping communities across a large swath of the US are dealing with or expecting severe weather that would prevent gathering on-site. This solemn observance is a treasured one in the liturgical year, a day to be gathered with one another and to have the ashen cross marked on our forehead, reminding us of the dust from which we came and to where we will return. 

Conversations on social media have begun, as fellow worship planners ask one another what they are doing when assembling for worship on-site will not be possible. Below are some ideas to consider.  

Incorporating elements of Ash Wednesday Worship into the First Sunday in Lent Ash Wednesday begins the forty-day journey to Easter, but elements of this service could begin the Sunday worship service on the first Sunday in Lent. Consider beginning the service for Lent 1 with Psalm 51 or another penitential psalm and the Invitation to Lent (Evangelical Lutheran Worship p. 252; Leaders Desk Edition, p. 617). Instead of what you had planned as an order for confession for that day, consider using the extended confession (pp. 252-253) followed by the Imposition of Ashes. 

Following the Imposition of Ashes, the service would continue with the prayer of the day for Lent 1 and then move into the Word portion of the service. It may be desired to use the Lent 1 scripture readings or a combination of Ash Wednesday or Lent 1 depending upon your context. 

Online worship options
Perhaps the best option for your assembly is to provide an online option, just as you may have done during the past few years. 

Although not essential, you may wish to find ashes, soil, or water to mark the sign of the cross on your own forehead, either during an online service, an individual meditation time or family worship at home, or at another point during the day. All three signify death and new life — the ashes from the palm branches of last year; common soil since human beings in Genesis 2 are earth creatures made of dust; and, water which in baptism joins us to the death of Christ.   

You may have access to ashes from a local congregation or by burning palms from a previous Palm Sunday service. Soil can simply be dug from the earth near where you live.  Water can be any water, perhaps from the tap in your home. 

Transferring to another time
Some assemblies might consider offering an on-site worship option at another time prior to Lent 1 if weather conditions have improved.  

Others might look to moving the observance a week later. If doing so, note that the language for the Invitation to Lent (ELW LE p. 617) would need very slight adjustment to acknowledge we have already begun the Lenten season.  

As you begin these days of Lent in many and various ways, blessings as you remember and are remembered by the God who is gracious and merciful, and abounding in steadfast love.

In the fall of 2021, the ELCA Worship Blog began a weekly series entitled, “Prompts for Prayers of Intercession.” Each post included a listing of prayer prompts based on current news and events, as well as a listing of upcoming commemorations and observations and additional prayer and hymn suggestions from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW)/All Creation Sings (ACS) and ELCA resources. 

The goal of the project was to give church leaders a resource for crafting, updating, and contextualizing the weekly prayers of intercession for their worshiping communities. The prompts were intended to be a simple way to remain mindful of world events, in order to add relevant information to the “especially…” and the “Here other intercessions may be offered” invitations in the prayers of intercession published in Sundays and Seasons. 

As we continue to evaluate and evolve this weekly resource, know that we grateful for your ongoing feedback. We are especially grateful for all who responded to our survey this past November. We have learned that many of you are using the prompts to update and supplement the prayers of intercession in worship. Many of you, however, are using the prompts for a wider variety of purposes, whether praying through the list as part of your personal prayer practice, incorporating requests into prayer times at Bible studies or church meetings, or as a resource for prayer teams in your congregation. 

Beginning this Lent, the blog series will be retitled, “For What Shall We Pray?” This new title honors a more expansive understanding of the purpose of this resource. It is not merely a worship planning tool; it is a weekly invitation for individuals, groups, and congregations to remain mindful of the needs of our world, and to lift one another up in prayer. 

Photo credit: Sundays and Seasons

Each week we will offer a list of prayer prompts, a listing of upcoming observances – inside the church and beyond – and additional prayer resources from denominational worship materials. “For What Shall We Pray?” will be posted by noon each Tuesday on the ELCA Worship Blog (blogs.elca.org/worship) and linked on the ELCA Worship Facebook page.  

 We encourage you to find creative ways to use “For What Shall We Pray?” for yourself and for your communities of faith. You might: 

• “Pray the news” as part of your personal prayer practice 
• Incorporate the week’s requests in your opening or closing prayers at church council or committee meetings, or during Bible and small group studies 
• Use the post as a teaching resource or tool for reflection for confirmation class or adult forum 
• Choose items from the post as journaling prompts or focus items for meditation 
• Commit to an act of service, advocacy, or financial support based on the week’s needs 
• Celebrate a new-to-you observance with family or friends 
• Double-check the blog before leading worship (if you are a pastor or assisting minister) for last-minute additions to your congregation’s prayers 

Whether you have been using this resource or are new to it, we hope that you will find it helpful in your spiritual disciplines and your community’s worship life, as together we faithfully ponder the question, “for what shall we pray?” 

Hepatha Lutheran Church Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Pastor Melissa Bills
Melissa Bills currently serves as the Director of College Ministries and College Pastor at Luther College (Decorah, Iowa). She is a native of the Chicago suburbs, a graduate of St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota) and Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, New Jersey), and has served congregations in the Metropolitan Chicago and Northeastern Iowa Synods.

For information on how you can assist the relief effort for the latest earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, connect to the work of Lutheran Disaster Response.

Prayers of Intercession 

These petitions may be added to the assembly’s prayers of intercession. 

God, our refuge, come to the aid of all in need following the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Give strength to those who search and wait, heal the injured, and soothe with your tender care all who cry out in grief. Merciful God,
receive our prayer. 

For those who have suffered loss of home and loved ones in Syria and Turkey; for medical personnel tending all who are wounded; for rescue workers risking safety to help others; for children left without parents and parents mourning the death of children, for all attending to basic survival, especially the work of Lutheran Disaster Response. God, in your mercy,
receive our prayer. 

Prayers 

Praying for those suffering 

Loving God,
in the communion of Christ, we are joined with the trials and sufferings of all.  
Be with those who endure the effects of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
Protect those in the path of danger.
Open the pathway of evacuations.
Help loved ones find one another in the chaos.
Provide assistance to those who need help.
Ease the fears of all and make your presence known in the stillness of your peace;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 

National distress 

Eternal God,
amid all the turmoil and changes of the world 
your love is steadfast and your strength never fails.
In this time of danger and trouble, be to us a sure guardian.
Guide the leaders of the nations with your wisdom,
comfort those in distress,
and grant courage and hope to face the future;
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
(Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 76) 

Time of community mourning 

Our help comes from you, O Lord, you who made heaven and earth. In the midst of grief, you are our comfort. In the face of uncertainty, you are our rock. In the wake of tragedy, you are our hope. So even as we weep, we praise you, and place our trust in you. We pray in the name of the one who suffered and died and was raised for us, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
(from Service after a Violent Event, All Creation Sings, page 66) 

God our creator,
through whose providing care we enjoy all goodness and life,
turn our eyes to your mercy in this time of confusion and loss.
Comfort those who mourn the loss of loved ones because of the earthquake;
shine your light on those whose only companion is darkness;
and teach us all so to number our days that we may apply our hearts to your wisdom; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
(Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship, page 77) 

O God, 
who in Jesus stills the storm and soothes the troubled heart,
bring hope and courage to all who are affected by this earthquake as we wait in uncertainty.
Bring assurance that you will be with us in whatever lies ahead.
Give us courage to endure all that we now face,
for you are our refuge and strength.
You are God, and we need you.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
(Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship Pastoral Care, page 174) 

Prayer after disaster  

Especially for those in areas that were not directly impacted by the earthquake. 

Gracious God,
your word of peace stills the storms that rage in our world.
Bring hope to places that know devastation in the calm after the earthquake.
Bring comfort to those who grieve the loss of loved ones and property.
Let your love be known through those who work to bring order in the chaos.
Help us to shoulder the burden of suffering
and make us bearers of the hope that can be found in you
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. 

Especially for those who were directly impacted by the earthquake. 

Merciful God,
Hear our cry for mercy in the wake of the earthquake.
Reveal your presence in the midst of our suffering.
Help us to trust in your promises of hope and life
so that desperation and grief will not overtake us.
Come quickly to our aid that we may know peace and joy again.
Strengthen us in this time of trial 
with the assurance of hope we know in the death and resurrection 
of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.