liturgy Archives | Reformation 4.0

March 18, 2020March 20, 2020

Making Corporate Confession Count

Unless you live under a rock, your Lent is probably turning out somewhat . . . differently than imagined.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are sheltering-in-place. Last night, I took a walk downtown (we’re still allowed out for exercise). For all the traffic and pedestrians out, it might as well have been 2am.

I am acutely aware that COVID-19 is also throwing churches into turmoil. Last week, I wrote an article on digital ministry. And I’ll continue to write articles on apocalypse-related topics.

Livestreaming on phone — Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

But I’m also keeping up with the confession series. Corporate confession might have a negative connotation for you, especially if you’ve experienced it surrounded by guilt and shame. Even if it doesn’t hold those associations for you, it probably does for some of your congregation.

Yet confession, done well, takes away the guilt and shame we carry. It represents a central tenet of the Christian faith–that our mistakes are wiped away by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, leaving us with a clean slate.

Done well, confession doesn’t shame us for being human. It brings light to our darkest places and reminds us that we are forgiven. For my generation, struggling with the pressures of social media and mental health, this process is especially important.

Now, let’s get down to some practicals.

There are two main forms confession takes, depending on your theology/denomination: corporate or individual. This week, I’ll focus on the more common form among mainline Protestants: corporate.

Here are six key pieces that can help your corporate confession meet the spiritual needs of our time and place.

1. Change your attitude around corporate confession.

How do you feel about corporate confession? If it’s just in the service for tradition’s sake, and/or if you’re not very enthusiastic about it, it will show.

Your congregation is looking to you to set the tone. They won’t take confession seriously unless you approach it reverently and enthusiastically.

This change in attitude might have some practical implications. Maybe you have confession more frequently. Perhaps you move it to a more crucial point in the service. Maybe you preach a sermon on its importance.

Either way, hopefully, you are feeling convicted about the transformative potential confession can hold. Let your congregation know.

Pastor preaching about corporate confession — Photo by Richie Lugo on Unsplash

2. Make the language work for you.

What’s your theology around confession? Maybe there are certain precepts your denomination holds. Perhaps your notion of salvation lies in Jesus’ birth. Or perhaps in his life and mission. Maybe your church focuses on his death and/or resurrection.

This is your chance to make the theological language exactly how you want it. If you or your congregants have been wounded by guilt-and-shame language, or “angry God” language, this is your chance to exorcise it completely.

Make the absolution really work for you, too. I might suggest leaning heavily on the forgiveness-and-mercy part of the equation and focusing on reassurance.

In the end, create a confession and absolution that you feel really good about. Create one that makes you feel unburdened, like you’ve breathed a sigh of relief after it’s over. Then, talk about your theological and liturgical choices with your congregation, so they can share that experience with you.

Person praying in nature — Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

3. Make it personal.

Have you ever rattled off a corporate confession, without really thinking about it? I have. Often, the confession seems way too vague, mentioning generic sins that often don’t feel like they apply.

That’s why it’s important that corporate confession be personal, especially important if you aren’t offering individual confessions. If your corporate confession talks about generic sins in a vague manner, it’s more likely that congregants won’t let it sink in.

Try thinking back to a confession that really touched you. When has confession unburdened you and inspired you to be a better follower of God in the coming week?

Perhaps there was some silence. Maybe you were asked to think about one or two things you were really sorry for during the last week.

Or, maybe it simply included language about specific groups of sins (eg. “thought, word, and deed”). Or invited you to reflect on specific groups of people that you might have sinned against.

Create a confession that touches people and stirs them to repentance in the context of their lives.

People holding hands in worship — Photo by Pedro Lima on Unsplash

4. Normalize confession.

If you’ve ever told someone an embarrassing secret or confessed a mistake to a loved one, you know that confessing is a deeply vulnerable thing. And we know that people usually won’t do vulnerable things. Unless, that is, it’s part of their communal culture.

That’s why it’s so important that you normalize sinning, confession, forgiveness, and grace.

So, at some point during the confession or absolution, try including language that reminds people that sinning is normal. Confession and absolution are deeply tied to the Church’s central story of crucifixion and resurrection.

Remind your congregation that they are not the first nor the last people to have messed up in the specific way that they did. Connect them to our Biblical heritage–basically one long story of individuals and communities sinning and then reconciling with God.

Emphasize that confession is both a crucial and a normal part of being in relationship with God, particularly in the Christian tradition. This will help to eradicate shame and encourage confession as a normal part of church life.

People sharing with each other in a small group — Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

5. Make the absolution count.

Maybe, in your tradition, the clergy actually forgives on God’s behalf. Maybe they simply reassure the congregation that forgiveness has happened. It doesn’t matter.

Word your absolution in such a way—and in such an enthusiastic tone—that they understand the enormity of what they have received. Again, think back to that time that confession really worked for you. Hopefully, it made you feel as though a weight was lifted off of your shoulders.

Give your congregation the gift of a similar experience every week.

Maybe this is expressed through a short joyful refrain. Maybe it’s all words. Maybe there are certain physical signs (eg. sign of the cross) that help reinforce this concept.

But use the absolution to help people breathe a sigh of relief—their sins are forgiven, they are a child of God, and they are called to go out and make a difference in the world.

Someone at a march — Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash

6. Let it be known that there is help.

This doesn’t need to be done during confession time (although it can be). But practical opportunities for growth are a necessary extension of true confession.

Publicize how to meet with the pastor. Put up posters for spiritual directors or therapists in the community. Have small groups for people with addiction, parenting, or simply ordinary groups for people trying to be good Christians.

Talk about all of these things as though they are a part of church culture, that this is something most people do on their walk with God. You could even ask church members and leaders to talk to the congregation about the time that they met with the pastor, saw a therapist, or went through a 12-step program.

Again, normalizing things takes away shame, encourages participation, and facilitates actual reform.

Signs saying "don't give up," "you are not alone," and "you matter." — Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash

A Case Study

As a final note, I wanted to offer a case study of a corporate confession that exemplifies everything above.

House for All Sinners and Saints uses a unique style of confession that is both corporate and extremely personal, while providing space for necessary anonymity. I want to share it with you in case it makes sense for your congregation or inspires you to create something similar.

Here’s how it works: after the sermon, there are ten minutes of quiet. During this time, congregants get up from their seats and wander around. There’s an iPad where they can donate money. There’s a healing prayer station. Sometimes, there’s a piece of artwork to reflect on. Or they can just stay in their seats.

Person writing in a journal — Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

There’s also a petition station. People can grab a pencil and paper, kneel down, and write their prayers.

Often, these prayers become a confession. The Sunday that I was there, someone prayed about their addiction, asking that they would make it through their first week sober. Others asked God for forgiveness after they spoke harshly to a partner or child.

The worship leaders then put these prayers in a basket and read the prayers allowed, anonymously. This method allowed for deeply personal things to be confessed in a corporate setting.

Community standing together in silhouette — Photo by Mario Purisic on Unsplash

It also allowed the pastor to direct people toward specific resources. At the end of the service, the priest stood up and asked everyone in the congregation who had overcome an addiction to raise their hand. His went up, also. He told whoever had written that prayer that they could talk to any of these people.

People at House for All Sinners and Saints confessed their sins in this method regularly. For them, it was normal to share these intimate concerns.

My interviews showed that it was working. People told me that this method of corporate confession truly removed shame and turned the focus to grace, encouraging them to truly reform their behavior.

House for All Sinners and Saints practices only one of many possible versions of healthy, effective corporate confession. What are you envisioning? Comment below and let me know!

February 5, 2020February 5, 2020

Liturgical Education: Making Your Liturgy Come Alive

One of Martin Luther’s biggest legacies is biblical accessibility. In the 1500s, printing the Bible in the vernacular opened up a radical new possibility: relationship with God on a personal basis, not one mediated by the clergy.

Today, of course, it’s a given that our Bibles will be in English. But many Protestant churches have continued to open the Bible to believers through Bible studies and book groups exploring theology and Biblical scholarship.

English Bible — Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash

That way, congregants can experience God through the Bible on their own.

In my research for this article on liturgical education, then, I found it rather surprising that we don’t cultivate that same openness with our liturgy. Given the Protestant emphasis on accessibility, I thought I would find at least a few resources to educate children and/or adults on Protestant liturgy.

I came up pretty empty-handed. The one lesson plan I did find in progressive Protestant circles was from the Presbyterian tradition. It’s in the form of a three-day retreat for newly elected elders and Session members—not something the average layperson can experience.

Catholic liturgy — Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash

Rather ironically, on the other hand, Catholic resources abounded. My searches there turned up a parade of results for both children and adults to sink deeply into the liturgy, understanding each and every part on an intellectual and sensory level. Moreover, there was a deep appreciation for the importance of liturgical education in the average person’s faith.

Protestants, on the other hand, apparently haven’t given as much thought to the subject. Liturgical education is mostly left, instead, to clergy with seminary degrees. This leaves the average believer without the formation necessary to get the most out of the liturgy.

This pattern is the very opposite of our distinctive Protestant emphasis on direct connection and accessibility between God and humanity. So, this week, we’re talking about liturgical education, both for kids and adults.

Liturgical Education for Kids

Liturgical education becomes especially important as children grow old enough to transition into part or all of the service. If they don’t understand what’s going on and why, they’ll probably be bored. That will make the liturgy harder for them to sit through (and hard for their parents).

On the other hand, a solid foundation in the liturgy means they will come into worship equipped to understand the sacred-ness of that time in the sanctuary. Hopefully, they will gain an understanding of both the things that the pastor is doing and things that the congregation does in response—and how these pieces work together to worship God and teach us how to follow the Spirit.

If they can connect with these elements from an early age, they will have a head start in developing a personal relationship with God through the liturgy.

Providing this liturgical education in a Sunday School setting allows them to slow down and experience each part of the service individually, at their pace and in language and images they can understand. They can explore the liturgy through all their senses, as well as intellectually.

This Catholic curriculum, for example, expands upon the Liturgy of the Word. It focuses heavily on re-creating worship in an environment where kids can go through it more slowly or take time to reflect on individual pieces.

Of course, kids copy their parents. If the adults in the congregation aren’t engaged in the liturgy, their kids probably won’t be, either. Which brings us to our next topic.

Liturgical Education for Adults

In liturgical education classes for adults, you’ll probably be speaking to a committed group of members who are familiar with the basics of the liturgy. This is both easier and harder than discussing liturgy with children.

On the one hand, adults already know all of the different parts. They’ve probably experienced God at one point or another in the liturgy, and they may even have favorite parts where they reliably feel a sense of connection. All of these provide easy talking points that can jump-start a conversation on any given part of the liturgy.

However, a lifetime of experience with the liturgy also means adults come to the table with assumptions from previous experiences, either at their current congregation or at previous ones. In my article on sermon series, I talked about some ideas for addressing these previous experiences.

Here’s a quick summary:

Look at the most difficult, boring, and controversial parts of the service, the ones that are most often a stumbling block (eg. creeds, confession, “body and blood” language).
Explain and/or redeem potentially hurtful parts of the liturgy (eg. exclusion from the Eucharist).

Since they’re adults, they’ll be able to share what parts of the service are most difficult for them, which parts are most boring, and which parts come with a painful history. Hopefully, this will eliminate the need for guessing and allow you to immediately identify which parts of the liturgy to discuss.

Unlike in a pulpit, religious education allows you to introduce pictures, video curriculum, and other props. These cards by Kyle Oliver lay out each step of the Episcopal liturgy with beautiful pictures, incorporating both quotes from the liturgy and explanations of each part’s function. Even if you’re not Episcopalian, you can take this idea and re-do it with your own liturgy in mind.

Adults in class — Photo by Antenna on Unsplash

Props like these can facilitate discussion and draw in your less verbally-oriented students.

In the end, Protestant accessibility to God must include the liturgy, not only the Bible. Access to God through liturgical education and understanding can’t be limited to the clergy and a few lay leaders.

This kind of education leaves more breathing room in weekly worship, too. If your congregation comes prepared to find God in the rhythm of the liturgy, it won’t matter so much if your sermon is lackluster, if the choir is off-key, or the technology fails.

Rather than being reliant on the pastor each week to show the way to Christ, congregants will be able to find God for themselves, too.

I like to think that Martin Luther would approve.

January 22, 2020January 21, 2020

Liturgical Sermon Series: Bringing Your Liturgy Alive

Welcome back to Week 2 of the Liturgy series! Last week’s installment focused on worship leaders reconnecting with the liturgy. This week, we’ll talk about taking those insights to your congregation in the form of a sermon series.

If you’re not someone who gets to write a sermon every week, this article might not be directly applicable for you (hopefully you’ll still get something out of it). But even if not, come back next week—we’ll be talking about reconnecting with the liturgy through religious education, something usually led by laypeople.

Why preach a liturgical sermon series?

If you’re a mainline pastor, chances are, you use the lectionary. Maybe you use it exclusively.

Most of the time, from a personal standpoint, that’s what I prefer. I love it when sermons are rooted in Scripture.

That being said, I’m going to make the case for setting aside my beloved lectionary for a few weeks in favor of a sermon series on the liturgy. Here’s why.

Pastor preaching from the Bible on a sermon series — Photo by Nycholas Benaia on Unsplash

A sermon is the only time during the week that you have the attention of your entire congregation. Talking about the liturgy during optional events will only reach a core, committed group. While that group will certainly benefit from an insightful new look into the liturgy, they’re a limited number—and not necessarily the people who need the most extra help connecting with God.

Not only will a sermon reach the entire regular membership, it will reach visitors, as well.

During college, I used to bring my friends to church, often for special occasions. My congregation did liturgy well. On special Sundays, we had bagpipes, banners, and celebratory hymns.

Experiencing and understanding the regular liturgy set our congregation up for true celebration on special Sundays. But when I brought my friends to these liturgical feasts, they’d often come away with disappointingly “meh” reviews.

At first, I was miffed. But then, I realized I couldn’t blame them. They didn’t understand the significance of liturgy on ordinary Sundays or extraordinary ones. Singing “Alleluia” instead of “Kyrie eleison” meant nothing to them.

In the end, it didn’t really feel like a celebration for them—at least, not to the degree it was for the rest of us. The whole liturgical beauty was (mostly) lost on them.

These are the kinds of visitors who would really benefit from happening to drop by on a Sunday during a liturgical sermon series. Your sermon can help them connect with an otherwise obscure or opaque part of the liturgy, ushering them into an experience of God that they wouldn’t have known how to have.

Person having an experience of God — Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

In other words, preaching about the liturgy in a sermon can break down stumbling blocks for visitors and more loosely affiliated members.

What does a liturgical sermon series look like?

So what would a sermon series look like? If you read the article last week you’ll remember that I asked you to break down your liturgy into parts, assigning a chief aim to each one.

Is the main purpose of the Liturgy of the Word to convince the congregation of Biblical truths? To encourage them to change behaviors that are ungodly? Or is it something else?

There are probably multiple aims for each part of the service, but try to find one main one that the others are supporting. This aim can become the thesis of each sermon.

Your sermon series can easily take the form of one section of worship per week. Or, you could preach on themes or emotional arcs through the service—moving from lamentation to joy, for instance. Maybe you want to preach a sermon on redeeming parts of the service that can seem judgemental.

Maybe you’re from an evangelical-style church, with only two or three parts to the service and no standard words week-to-week. You’ve still got liturgy to preach on! Liturgy includes formulated prayers, sure. But it also includes the flow, the emotional and theological arc of the service from one section to the next.

Pastor with a clerical collar — Photo by Eber Devine on Unsplash

As you’re writing the sermons themselves, think back to the most frustrating conversations you’ve had as a pastor or person of faith. What are some of the most annoying, eye-opening responses you’ve gotten to your collar, stole, or cross?

When you go to a party and tell someone secular what you do, what do they tell you to explain their lack of religiosity? “I don’t go to church because they do ________.” Maybe it has to do with eating the Body and Blood of a human being. Or perhaps the Confession feels like it heaps too much shame on them.

Think about each section of the liturgy through the eyes of someone who’s never been to church before. Someone who’s never heard of the doctrines in the Nicene Creed or about Jesus’ body and blood.

Hone in on those most difficult or controversial parts of the service. The most misinterpreted parts of the liturgy. The ones most likely to create a stumbling block, most likely to keep someone from feeling like they’re welcome or included.

Bible on a stand with candles — Photo by Stephen Radford on Unsplash

For instance, if you recite a Creed, I think that’s a part of the service people often have questions about. If you do confession, same thing. Along with, of course, the main building blocks like Communion or the sermon.

How did the Church Fathers and Mothers (or Reformation leaders) envision this part of the service connecting us with God? Why do we continue to do them all these centuries later? How is it still valuable to us, with our spiritual needs in this time and place?

For those congregants who can’t really connect with ancient figures, perhaps you can create a personal access point to the liturgy through the eyes of a relatable contemporary: you. How do you connect to God during that part of the service? What made you say “yes” to this liturgy when you last thought it through?

Finally, think about each section of the liturgy through the eyes of someone who’s been wounded at their previous church because of the theology around that part of the service. When I traveled to South Bend and Denver, interviewing congregants about their spiritual lives, I learned about many harmful or downright traumatic theologies around different parts of the liturgy.

Person recovering from trauma — Photo by Larm Rmah on Unsplash

In some cases, my interviewees were still recovering from them decades later. I’d had no idea these theologies existed—and thus, that those parts of of the liturgy needed redemption.

So, redeem the liturgy for them. Acknowledge the ways that this part of the service can be confusing, boring, or hurtful. Breathe new life into difficult or traumatic experiences.

What’s the effect of a liturgical sermon series?

After the sermon, I encourage you to take note of the result. What was it like to recite the Nicene Creed after you’d reinvigorated it and redeemed it for your congregation? What was it like to give the absolution to a congregation that truly understood the significance of having their sins forgiven?

God continues to imbue fresh meaning in the ancient practices of the Church. Sometimes, though, it can take a little nudge for the average attendee or visitor to see what God’s doing there. In the coming months, I encourage you to be that nudge for your church, to expose God’s work in the liturgy visibly and fruitfully for your congregation.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment on reinvigorating the liturgy through religious education!

December 11, 2019December 11, 2019

3 Important Rules for Using Technology in Church

Looking for a quick fix that’ll bring more Millennials into your church? Technology might seem like the best answer. It seems like everyone, not just young adults, is glued to their smartphones nowadays.

The problem is, technology in church can become a trap. If you google it, you’ll find blogs like this one, which lists a number of ways your congregation can become more tech-savvy.

This article lists many potentially good ideas for certain churches. But it suggests that these strategies can or should be applied indiscriminately. Most churches use technology like that, implementing the most popular technological trends as a way to conform to postmodern culture.

And when they do, that technology can become a liability, not a boon.

As a pastor, you’re working hard to meet the spiritual needs of the community you serve—to facilitate connection with God during worship, or to connect people to one another in fellowship, for example.

Used properly, technology in church should be just one tool in your toolkit to achieve those ends. It’s certainly not a tool you should ignore. But ultimately, it’s a means, not an end.

So here are three basic rules for seamlessly integrating technology into your worship service—while avoiding the pitfalls that can hinder connection with God and others.

Rule 1: Let technology in church serve you, not the other way around.

Whatever technology you use, it needs to be concretely meeting the spiritual needs of you and your congregation. In worship, this will probably mean facilitating focus on the service. For instance, if people in your congregation are distracted by bulletins, you may want to use screens instead.

Or perhaps, you may want to use technology in church to directly facilitate a connection with the Holy Spirit. Dimmed lights or electronic music are common examples.

But it’s important to think carefully before installing anything, because there’s a key difference between conforming to the culture and creatively responding to the culture’s spiritual needs. Obviously, we’re aiming for the latter.

Conforming to tech culture means creating glitchy or distracting technological experiences for the sake of technology itself. Ultimately, this approach draws attention away from the sermon, Eucharist, or overall connection with the Holy Spirit.

To use technology in church to meet the spiritual needs of your community, you need to get a sense of your goals. Not just goals for worship in general but for your worship, specifically.

What’s the reason you’re here every Sunday? Why do people come to your church instead of the one across town? A small, contemplative church will have very different answers to those questions than a megachurch, and for good reason.

Once you have your answers in mind, you can ask how technology will further that specific identity and your unique worship goals.

For instance, perhaps you are expanding pastoral care to the sick and homebound. Live-streaming your services could help you do that. Or, maybe you want people to be focusing on the altar rather than leafing through bulletins during Eucharist. Screens could help keep people’s attention at the front instead of down at the floor.

This article from Tithely and this article from Christianity Today lists a number of reasons why technology could be helpful for you.

There’s an important caveat: they assume that every church should be pursuing all of their technological ideas. As I said above, I don’t think that’s a thoughtful approach. But you can use the articles to get some ideas about what your specific goals are and then think about how technology can serve you.

Once you have thought through the purpose of technology in your church, you’re ready to think about the specific form it will take in the service.

Rule 2: Simplify

Simplification is a key difference between technology in the secular world and technology in church.

Technology in the secular world is created to make us more efficient. To help us do more things, faster. It usually ends up cluttering our brains and our calendars to the max. Which often draws us away from God.

As a result, we live in a society that is often distracted and distractable, two qualities which hinder a relationship with the Holy Spirit in our midst.

If you put up technology in church as a way of conforming to society, you might continuing that trend. You could put up screens with announcements that advertise church events before and after worship. Or maybe you could create images to go along with each part of your sermon so that no one gets bored.

Most of the time, these uses of technology in church will just continue damaging cultural trends.

Instead, make your technology simple. Minimize visual and audial busy-ness.

If you’re using slides during your sermon to emphasize a point, only use a few words or images at once. Make sure they don’t distract attention from your sermon, but rather draw attention back to your words. Create lots of white space on the slide. Rotate through slides very slowly.

If you’re projecting music, try not to cram a whole hymn onto the screen. Instead, you could consider putting up only the words to a familiar tune. Before and after the service, don’t put up announcements—instead, leave the screen blank or put up a calming image to help people settle in to worship.

And size is important too. Too big, and it will distract people from what you’re doing up front. Too small, and people will be squinting. Make it the Goldlilocks size for your sanctuary space.

And, most importantly, remember that technology in church is serving the purpose of worship, not the other way around.

Rule 3: Be good at it.

You know that sound of nails on a chalkboard? That’s how it feels to this Millennial, at least, when technology in church goes awry.

Recently, I sat through a service that involved a slideshow, with pictures accompanied by music. The idea of the slideshow was wonderful—it served the purposes of worship that day. And the effort was there, put in by the pastor and other dedicated lay volunteers.

But ultimately, the technology was glitchy and the presenters didn’t know how to create a high-quality presentation. In the end, the execution undercut the wonderful idea and effort that had been put in.

The slideshow kept reverting to the home screen of the PC. People kept having to jump up and adjust the audio, which fluctuated between too loud and too quiet. The music did not taper off at the end of the slideshow, but cut off abruptly in the middle, ruining the atmosphere.

I had to deep-breathe my way through the service.

The advancements in technology mean that newcomers to your church will expect smooth, professional quality. When the equipment is glitchy and old or the presenter is technologically inexperienced, the intention backfires.

Rather than focusing on worship, people are cringing

As you’re creating a tech presentation, use two basic rules of thumb, one for standard weekly performances and one for important services.

For weekly services, as you prepare any kind of technological presentation, ask yourself: if you were in an office and using this technology in an important presentation to your boss, would you be happy with the quality?

Before important services or if you’re rolling out a whole new kind of technology in your service, it’s time to kick it up a notch. Find someone in their twenties, preferably a professional, and have them sit through the presentation. If they’re cringing, it needs work.

Maybe you can’t afford technology that runs well. Or maybe you don’t have anyone in your church who can use it at a semi-professional (or at least Millennial) standard. That’s okay.

If that’s the case, you’re better off not using technology at all. If it’s impossible to create a technological experience that passes the rules of thumb above, then the consequences outweigh the benefits. It’s better to have a technology-free, smooth worship service than one full of technological glitches.

Once you create a presentation that lives up to the standards above, it’s imperative that you practice multiple times. This is especially important if you’re unfamiliar with any aspect of the tech usage that day. This way, you can work out the glitches and decide if it lives up to your quality standards.

In the end, technology in church can be like any other worship aide—it can help or hinder connection with God and the Body of Christ, depending on its design. Technology may have taken over everywhere else, but it shouldn’t get a free pass in your sanctuary. Rather, it needs to meet your needs, and those of the people you serve.

Have you recently used technology in your church? Comment below and tell me how it worked out—and if you’re doing anything differently next time!

1. Change your attitude around corporate confession.

2. Make the language work for you.

3. Make it personal.

4. Normalize confession.

5. Make the absolution count.

6. Let it be known that there is help.

A Case Study

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Liturgical Education for Kids

Liturgical Education for Adults

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Why preach a liturgical sermon series?

What does a liturgical sermon series look like?

What’s the effect of a liturgical sermon series?

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Rule 1: Let technology in church serve you, not the other way around.

Rule 2: Simplify

Rule 3: Be good at it.

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