At worship at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, during the Octave of Easter, Rev Dr Robert Kelly, preached a parting sermon. Dr. Kelly will retire this summer. Click here to read the sermon Easter Chapel 2013 .

The way of God is the way of life and that way leads right through the folly and weakness of the crucifixion of Jesus. When we say “Jesus is risen!” we can immediately follow that with “Alleluia!” because God has proven all our notions of what is right and proper, what ought to be, wrong by raising the crucified Jesus from the dead and vindicating the victim we sacrificed. By exposing us for what we really are God has actually immersed us in grace and mercy. By defeating our self-created idols, God has opened to all creation otherwise unimaginable possibilities.  – Robert Kelly

Music Makes Community
May 15 – 17, 2013
Waycross Conference Center, Morgantown, IN

You are invited to attend Music That Makes Community, a three-day event with workshops in song leadership and participatory liturgy at the beautiful Waycross Camp and Conference Center in Central Indiana. From May 15-17, 2013, an diverse group of skilled musicians and liturgists will come together in the scenic woods of Brown County to lead participants in a practice of singing together that is grounded in welcome and generosity. Learning together by ear and by heart frees us to sing without fear and supports full engagement of the heart, mind and body in liturgy. We hope you will join us to recharge and invigorate your work and your spirit with three dynamic days of singing, worship and spirited learning with some of the best musicians (and people) you’ll ever meet. To find out more, email Rachel Pollak, MMC Program Director, at rachel@allsaintscompany.org with any questions, or to inquire about scholarships being made available by our generous donors to Indiana congregations with operating budgets under $250,000. We hope you will join us!

Several people from the Eastern Synod (including me!) participated last year in a workshop at St Peter’s Lutheran Church, Kitchener, and found it was very formative. I even wrote a piece of music! Check out All Saints Company website for more information on this and other All Saints events.

Here is a piece by Dr Canon Juan Oliver, Director of the Mercer School of Theology in Garden City, Long Island.
Eight signs of a healthy liturgy — towards ‘doing’ what we proclaim.

Worship-Eight Signs of a Healthy Liturgy

This year, the ELCA is celebrating its 25th Anniversary centered in the theme – We are a church that is deeply rooted – and always being made new. Worship Resources have been prepared with newly composed liturgical texts by Gail Ramshaw. You can find these resources here: Liturgical Texts by Gail Ramshaw , and adjust them as suits your setting. Note especially new texts for the Thanksgiving at the Font and Variable Thanksgiving at the Table.

Pray for the ministry of the ELCA in this 25th Anniversary year.

Praise and thanksgiving be to you, O God of plenteous grace, for the waters you provide for the earth: for snow and dew, for oceans and wells, for the rain that nourishes plants and trees, for the streams that enliven the animals, great and small, for the [Allegheny, the Monongahela, and the Ohio Rivers]. [insert appropriate references]

We praise you, O God, for water. We praise you, O God, for water.

Blessing and glory be to you, O God of abundant mercy, for your word that flows with life-giving waters: for the story of the fountain that gushed from the rock, for the memory of the Jordan that immersed your Son in our sorrows, for the living rivers that flow from the cross, for the reconciling waters of baptism around which we gather.

We bless you, O God, for water and the word. We bless you, O God for water and the word.

At this font we pray: Pour upon us yet again the Spirit of our baptism. Our roots are dry: shower us with divine blessing. Our fruits need moisture: renew us for vibrant growth. Wash away the sin within us, and drown the evil around us.

We beg you, O God, for water and the Spirit. We beg you, O God, for water and the Spirit.

You, O God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you are the Water we crave; you, O God, are Rain and River and Fountain, life for us all, now and forever. Amen.

If you use this or other texts, please refer to the ELCA website for the proper citation. This example is from the Liturgical texts for the 25th anniversary of the ELCA © 2013 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Used with permission.

A day-long worship conference entitled “Re-discovering liturgy in a Post-Christendom culture” will focus on Emergent Church vs. Liturgical Tradition, and  also the Challenge of the Lectionary.  This event will take place on April 27 at  St. John’s Anglican Church, Mississauga. A variety of workshops, refreshments, and lunch are included. Click here for more information Re-discovering Liturgy

This event is hosted and planned by Liturgy Canada, an organization of Lutheran and Anglican clergy and laity committed to the ongoing renewal of worship and mission in the church.  Since 1995, Liturgy Canada has published annual and semi-annual newsletters for a membership of over 300 Canadians across Canada.  Since 2011, we have been offering day-long workshops in Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto for parish worship teams.  These workshops are co-sponsored by the Kanata Centre for Worship and Global Song, and the Renison Institute of Ministry.  The Liturgy Canada website is www.liturgy.ca

Primary Contact Person:  Marilyn Malton, registrar for this event.  Marilyn’s office is at Renison University College, University of Waterloo; 519-884-4404 x28628; mmalton@uwaterloo.ca

Website:  http://uwaterlo.ca/institute-ministry/rediscovering-liturgy

Uphold the Rights of the Poor and Oppressed (Psalm 82:3)

Rev. Mark Brown, Regional Representative of The Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem, invites us to join with Christians around the world in the Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East on the 24th of every month. See attached resource.Peace Prayer . For more information on the Prayer Vigil, and other resources, see www.actpalestineforum.org .

We urge people to see this prayer vigil as an outpouring of concern for Palestinians and Israelis – Christians, Muslims, and Jews – whose lives are overtaken by broken relationships and the conflict that flows from these divisions. — ACTPalestine Forum

The LWF Jerusalem Program is part of World Service, the internationally recognized humanitarian and development arm of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). LWF is a founding member of the actalliance.

Wild Goose Publications has published a list of Lent and Easter resources, both paper and digital.  Click here Lent and Easter resources from Wild Goose .

Opening and Closing Responses for Sundays in Lent (Digital download) Worship resources Ruth Burgess Digital download: Responses for cycles A, B and C for five Sundays of Lent, taken from the book Eggs and Ashes by Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill. 15 pages

Working with the Labyrinth (Book) by Ruth Sewell, Jan Sellers & Di Williams Paths for exploration

This book from Wild Goose Publications offers ideas and examples of the use of the labyrinth in various contexts: arts, community and social settings; schools, colleges and universities; a hospice, and a secure hospital; counselling, psychotherapy and well-being; churches, retreats and interfaith contexts. For more information, click here Working with the Labyrinth .

Did you know there is an indoor labyrinth at St Peter’s Lutheran Church, downtown Kitchener, and an outdoor labyrinth at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary?

The  Joint  Anglican-­‐‑Lutheran  Commission  has  designed  this  cycle  for  use  in  Canadian  Anglican  and  Lutheran  congregations  and  communities  in  Sunday  liturgies  throughout  the  year. For  each  Sunday  there  are  intentions  for  specific  dioceses/synods/groups  in  both The  Anglican  Church  of   Canada  and  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  Canada.   The ELCIC announcement reads, “The Prayer  cycles  can  be  overwhelming  and  ‘crowded’  pieces  of  liturgies.    Care  needs  to  be  exercised  in  setting  a  context  –  we  are  intentionally,  as  churches  in  ‘full  communion’,  holding  each  other  in  prayer  –   some  words  of  explanation  may  be  needed  to  set  this  cycle  of  prayer  in  context.”

For introductory words and the prayer cycle, download here Anglican-Lutheran Prayer Cycle 2012 – 2013