experiential worship resources

These pages contain ideas and materials we have created for use in worship. Feel free to do whatever you want with them, we only ask that if you publish them elsewhere you give us a mention.

New Year's Service - Water of Life

Christmas Eve Service - The service is in the “Lessons and Carols” style, based on the Medieval Benedictine practice of chanting the “O Antiphons,” the basis for our hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”  Through this Christmas Eve Service, we proclaim once again the Good News of Jesus’ birth as we reclaim an ancient Christian worship experience and connect with the modern global Christian witness through song and prayer.
O Antiphon Videos:
- Come, O Wisdom
- Come, O Lord
- Come, O Root of Jesse
- Come, O Key of David
- Come, O Bright Morning Star
- Come, O King of the Nations
- Come, O Emmanuel

Palm Sunday Walking with Jesus, A Palm Sunday Worship Experience: On April 1, The Way will observe Palm Sunday by walking through the events in the last week of Jesus’ earthly life. We’ll begin with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and continue through the anointing at Bethany, the moment when Judas agreed to betray Jesus, the Last Supper (including Seder Dinner), and the Garden of Gethsemane. We will conclude the service with a glimpse of Good Friday and the cross.
The link above will provide you with the service outline.
Alabaster Box video - This is a video that played during a performance of Alabaster Box. Right click over link and save target to your harddrive.

Easter Vigil In one single evening, beginning on Saturday night and continuing until the dawning Easter Day, our early Christian brothers and sisters gathered together to proclaim and celebrate the saving acts of God throughout history and in Jesus Christ.  They told the story from Genesis to the Gospel.  Then they baptized new believers, broke bread together, and celebrated the miracle of the resurrection. 
The link above will provide you with the service outline.

NTA Area Event 2009
Be Church... Don't Just Go To Church

Association of Disciples Musicians 2008 Conference

Enhancing Worship with Technology  -      Kristal Seid email
For many modern worship leaders the most daunting part of the job is tackling the growing and ever-changing need for technology in worship. This workshop will give guidance in:

Internet Resources for Emerging Worship Music -          Kristal Seid email
Looking for the latest worship lead sheet or updated hymns? Need a chord chart in G instead of A? Can’t find the right songs to illustrate the sermon? You can find it on the web! This workshop will give you many different online resources, show you how to use them and help you learn to search on your own.

Recruiting and Rehearsing an Emerging Worship Band to Become Theologically, Emotionally, Socially, and Musically Equipped   -            Kristal Seid email
Being a worship leader requires more than just being able to sing, play an instrument, and lead a band. But how do you find and develop team members who not only have musical skill, but also depth of character and a solid spiritual foundation? This workshop will include:

• Recruiting musicians from your church / community
• To pay or not to pay
• Rehearsing your team
• Creating a set that flows
• Finding your congregation’s worship style
• Inspiring your team to offer their best in music and worship
• Shepherding your team

Introducing the Upper Room Worshipbook
The recently published Upper Room Worshipbook (2006, Upper Room Books) is a wonderful resource for your congregation’s worship life.  It includes liturgies for Daily Prayer Services and Communion, along with a small but quality selection of hymns.  It also has an extensive collection of musical Psalm settings and songs from the global Christian community.  This workshop will give an overview of the resources in the Upper Room Worshipbook and how they can be used in your church.

The Great Thanksgiving:  Ancient-Modern Communion Liturgies: For more information and examples
When most Christians gather around the Lord’s Table, they share in a liturgy called the Great Thanksgiving or the great Eucharistic Prayer.  This prayer proclaims our salvation history in the Good News of Jesus Christ.  It can be a powerful instrument for spiritual formation within the context of worship.  This workshop will introduce the Great Thanksgiving and provide resources and ideas for incorporating it into the worship life of Disciples congregations. 

What Is Emerging Worship?
In recent years the term “emerging worship” has been used to describe the newest Christian worship movement.  Perhaps a more useful description would be “ancient-modern worship.”  Emerging worship seeks to reclaim ancient Christian traditions and worship practices while interpreting those traditions through our modern context and with modern resources.  This workshop will explore what emerging worship is and how it can actually enrich all congregations and styles of worship.

Reviving the Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil is one of the most ancient Christian services of worship.  It is a four-fold Service of Light, Word, Water, and Table held in the transitional hours between Easter Saturday and Easter Sunday.  It is also the time when the Church has traditionally baptized new believers into the faith.  This workshop will introduce the basic form of the Easter Vigil and include ideas for how to revive the Easter Vigil in your congregation’s life. 

Creating Sacred Spaces
Creating Sacred Space is an important part of the worship experience.  Why else do you think Exodus would spend ten chapters describing how to make the ark, the tent of meeting, and other liturgical objects?  In this workshop, we will consider how we can transform any space into worship space.  Special consideration will be given to creating designated meditation areas in your church building and establishing intimate worship space in multi-purpose rooms.

Special Liturgical Services in the Emerging Style
If you ask church-going folk which worship experiences are their favorites, most will answer Christmas Eve, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, or Easter Sunday.  What sets these worship experiences apart?  They are more.  More congregational involvement, more symbolism, more engagement of the senses, more music, more passion…more.  In this workshop, we will explore these special liturgical services—and others—as we consider ideas for adding more to our worship lives.

Incorporating the Senses into Worship Experiences
There is a reason we have five senses:  we were made this way in order to experience the depth of God’s magnificent creation.  So why is it that many of our worship experiences touch only a few of our senses?  Our worship should be filled with opportunities to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell God’s wonderful works.  That’s how we’re designed; it should be how our worship services are designed as well.  This workshop will explore ways we can enrich our worship experiences using the five senses.

ADM Resources List