Worship is exciting, creative, and enlivening! The resources below will help congregational worship committees and worship leaders who want to go deeper than just wondering what to do this next coming Sunday. (And most are available in our own Bookstore!)
- Worship That Works : Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists, by Wayne Arnason and Kathleen Rolenz is an exciting addition to the literature on worship. Written by Unitarian Universalists for Unitarian Universalists (UUs) it's a book that completely understands UU worship culture, yet which draws on movements in the wider worshipping world. The titles of its three main sections—Visions and Challenges, Qualities of Transformative Worship, and Practical Details—give you a clear indication of the scope of this work.
- The Shared Pulpit by Erika Hewitt is an 8-session guide for small groups of laypeople to develop preaching experience. The book emphasizes the use of personal stories and theological reflection (not writing experience) in crafting sermons, and the process of trusting, non-judgmental listening by group participants.
- The Worship Workshop : Creative Ways to Design Worship by Marcia McFee is a creative workbook version of her extremely popular workshops on modern worship theory. Written from a liberal Christian perspective, there will need to be some "translation" for some of our congregations, yet the theory is superb and the exercises helpful. It's a great resource for worship teams who want to deepen their understanding of why and how we "do" worship, and how worship can be made even more meaningful.
- Come Into the Circle : Worshiping with Children by Michelle Richards is a comprehensive how-to guide for creating meaningful religious experiences for children. The contents include suggestions on the form, style and elements of worship, plus an extensive collection of opening words and chalice lightings, meditations and prayers, stories, songs, sermons, and even complete orders of service to help you get started planning your worship
- Singing Meditation : Together in Sound and Silence, by Ruthie Rosauer and Liz Hill, introduces the spiritual practice of singing meditation, which combines repetitive singing of short, simple, interfaith songs with periods of undirected silence. Suitable for beginners as well as experienced singers, singing meditation uses the power of song to connect the heart and mind.
- Thematic Preaching, by Jane Rzepka and Ken Sawyer, is a fantastic introduction to the art of preaching, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "life passed through the fire of thought." Exploring "The Art and Craft of Preaching," "Preaching as Ministry," and three thorny "Issues in Preaching," it's all in here from ministers who have lived it and taught it.
- A Good Telling: Bringing Worship to Life with Story is Kristin Maier's guide to storytelling in worship, providing techniques for good storytelling, plus practice exercises to help readers learn to employ them. It includes eight stories, ready for telling, with themes and plots ideally suited for multigenerational worship.
- Singing the Living Tradition More than the primary hymnal of our Association, Singing the Living Tradition also contains a large collection of readings. Some congregations have found that the essential elements for their worship are found in this one volume.
- Between the Lines : Sources for Singing the Living Tradition, edited by Jacqui James, provides information on the background of the songs and readings, as well as the authors and composers, of the materials found in Singing the Living Tradition. An extremely valuable resource to help contextualize what we sing and say in worship.
- Singing the Journey is the supplement to our hymnal that is becoming a fast favorite. Filled with seventy five songs in a variety of styles, representing different cultures, this book is stretching some of our congregations and demonstrating how far others have grown.
- Las Voces del Camino presents 75 songs in Spanish, including songs from Singing the Living Tradition plus fresh selections from Spanish-speaking cultures the world over.
- Worship Theory
Worship That Works Theory and Practice for Unitarian Universalists
From Skinner House Books
The second edition of this classic UU text includes revisions and new chapters on multicultural worship, multigenerational worship, and new models of services for contemporary practices.