The following resources are offered to help worship leaders and others in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada to enrich their ministry and to assist them in the spiritual formation and nurture of those whom they are called to serve.
The fall, 1998, issue of Lutheran Forum was devoted to the
subject of The Baptismal Catechumenate. With the permission of the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau
two articles have been posted at Lift Up Your
Hearts. They are Frank C. Senn's A Catechism on the Catechumenate and Donald W. Johnson's Learning to Use the Catechumenate in the
Parish.
Every so often, a pastor or other worship leader needs to know the date of Easter or of some other festival day, for a particular year. "When does Easter fall in 2008?" "What day of the week was Christmas in 1947?" Marcos J. Montes has provided a tool to make such determinations in the Gregorian Calendar. A variety of dates for fixed and moveable feasts is provided for any given year through his Ecclesiastical Calendar.
Based on material by Donna Seamone and Paul Bosch [e-mail] in the ELCIC's Gathered for Worship (1995), Crafting and Praying the Prayers is a practical guide designed to help those whose calling it is to compose and pray The Prayers for Sunday worship.
Every couple of years, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Anglican Church of Canada host a National Worship Conference. A terrific conference called Order and Chaos and featuring Gordon Lathrop and Karen Ward was held in Montréal in 2008. The event is jointly sponsored by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Anglican Church of Canada. Keep in touch here for news about the conference for 2010, Vancouver, BC, July 4-7, Taking Care of the Neighbourhood.
Prepared by ELCIC pastor Wendell Grahlman [e-mail], the ELCIC's Worship Planning Calendar contains full
lectionary citations for all Sundays, festivals and days of special devotion.
Publications which reflect ELCIC use and elaboration of the Revised Common Lectionary are based
upon this calendar. ELCIC's Worship Planning Calendar is available in several
formats:
Now discontinued, a similar document called Worship Planning Calendar with Hymns, included hymn suggestions. An older version for Year C remains available here:
One of the Joint Anglican Lutheran Commission's mandates from Commitment Seven of the Waterloo Accord (2001), is to nurture our growth in communion. The Commission believes that a very important part of what we do for one another is to pray and has prepared an Anglican/Lutheran Cycle of Prayer (Canada) to encourage all of our congregations in this very important mutual ministry. It is the hope of the Commission that every congregation in our two churches might take advantage of this offering in a very intentional way, and uphold both of our churches through the sacred work of prayer.
Canadian Church Bulletins is a Revised Common Lectionary bulletin resource available for congregations. The bulletin cover includes the texts for all three scripture readings, and the psalm in a pointed version for congregational singing/reading. Each week's cover includes artwork that has been created especially for this resource and is an artistic reflection upon the readings for each week. Bulletins are shipped twice a year and are available in multiples of 25; seasonal variations are available in the number of bulletins desired.
Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass, is a marvellous pastoral letter published by Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in September, 1997. This ecumenically accessible document received a great deal of attention across North America.
The full text of Liturgy, Justice and the Reign of God (PDF), by J. Frank Henderson, Kathleen Quinn and former ELCIC pastor, Stephen Larson, has been posted to the Web. This volume (Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1989) is available together with many interesting and timely articles at Henderson's web site. Great stuff!
In 1991, following several years of study and reflection, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada adopted a Statement on Sacramental Practices. Highly regarded in the international Lutheran community and beyond, this statement has been widely circulated and studied. In 1997, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America also adopted a statement on sacramental practices called The Use of the Means of Grace.
Shortly after the publication of the Statement on Sacramental Practices, several pastors were invited to produce Pastoral Essays related to issues entertained in the Statement. These essays make excellent small group study material and many congregations have republished them as a series of newsletter pieces.
Juliette Trudeau, pastor of Holy Name Lutheran Parish [e-mail], an ELCIC mission congregation located in Edmonton, Alberta, has written a helpful piece entitled For all The Baptized. In this article, Pastor Trudeau describes the benefits derived from regular communing. Her essay represents a fine addition to the above-mentioned series.
