Worship Resources of the Christian Church in the Upper Midwest
May | 2021
Summer Schedules
Rev. Joshua Patty
Regional Minister and President
Do you make changes in your worship services during the summer?
Some congregations change worship times during the summer. In some churches, the music ensembles take the summer off, which can lead to shorter services.
As a preacher, I usually offered a series of sermons with drawing spiritual lessons from popular movies. These tended to be fun for me to prepare and often created a more relaxed mood in the congregation. (Sometimes we even organized trips to the movie theater to watch films together.)
In many congregations, worship has been unusual for more than a year and many people are craving some sense of normalcy. However, I would also suggest that it has been an unusually stressful year for everyone, including worship leaders like you. And summer offers a built in excuse -- opportunity -- to relax some things.
So it might be the perfect time to shorten your worship services for the season, lightening the planning work. It might be a perfect time to look for "fun" sermon topics. It could be the perfect time to have some "theme" Sundays -- perhaps focused on some of the less well known holidays or just on things people have been missing. And there could be opportunities to even skip the preaching and live out the sermon through shared mission work.
And, if you try to lighten things up this summer, email me to let me know about it. In the coming months, I'd like to share more of your stories in this space in Worship Together.
Invite the Regional Minister to Worship
By the end of May, my COVID vaccine will be fully effective. So I am now accepting invitations to worship with congregations in person, especially to celebrate important congregational events (anniversaries, installations of pastors, etc.). And, if I cannot attend in person, I'm happy to share a video message or note for the occasion.
For worship planning purposes, you should know that I am always happy to preach. And I welcome the opportunity to have time to meet people in the congregation, share ideas, and answer questions.
To make arrangements, please email me (josh@uppermidwestcc.org). Usually, these visits will be planned weeks in advance, so extend your invitations early. Also, so that I can visit in person with more of our 117 congregations each year, I would especially welcome invitations for non-Sunday morning activities.
Hymnary.org is a vast searchable resource for hymns and hymnals (offers copyright or public domain information)
Prayers, Liturgies & More:
Worship Ways from the United Church of Christ (permission granted to congregations to adapt and use in worship)
Worship Planning from United Methodist Church (permission granted to congregations to adapt and use in worship)
Pentecost Special Offering, May 16 & 23
The Pentecost Special Offering supports new Disciples congregations and resources their leaders. Half of the money given helps to plant new churches in our Upper Midwest region.
Disciples Home Missions invites Disciples congregations to celebrate Refugee Welcome Sunday in June, as part of our church's commitment to refugee ministries. (Disciples have helped to resettle refugees for decades, often in ecumenical partnerships.)
Ministries Across Generations, a ministry of Disciples Home Missions, is offering a recorded sermon by their minister, Rev. Dr. Olivia Bryan Updegrove, for any Disciples congregation to freely use.