Worship Matters

Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching for the Worship Team, meets with Dr. Kimberly Wagner of Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago to talk about her work in trauma and preaching. Kim helps us understand what trauma is and what it does to individuals and communities, and gives suggestions to preachers on how to preach both trauma-responsive and trauma-informed sermons. “Trauma often takes away l...

The worship team sits down with newly named General Secretary Jeff Campbell to discuss his path through the agency and ministry in The United Methodist Church, as well as his hopes and dreams for the future of disciple-making in the UMC. Even in the midst of so much change and turmoil in our denomination and the world around us, Campbell manages to keep a hopeful approach to doing ministry and sha...

Former executive director of Worship Resources, Dr. Cynthia Wilson, rejoins the Worship Team to talk about her new venture as the founder and director of the Junius B. Dotson Institute. Listen in as Cynthia shares vision and plans of the Institute and how it figures to be both innovative and historical, archiving a rich tradition for the whole church and at the same time grounding and training new...

The shape of worship as the pandemic ends continues to change. Many congregations, preachers, and worship leaders are talking about moving forward with what they are calling “hybrid worship,” a blending of online and in-person worship. But is it really hybrid? And what does the future of “hybrid worship” hold for the church? Dr. Scanlan-Holmes, with a background in media and technology as well as...

The Worship Team spoke with Rev. Dr. ST Kimbrough about his new book with Dean McIntyre titled: A Theology of the Sacraments Interpreted by John and Charles Wesley: Including Hymns for Baptism and Holy Communion with Commentary and New Musical Settings. Focused on the Wesleyan Theology of the sacraments, this book introduces Wesley hymns on baptism and communion. Dr. Kimbrough suggests that in an...

The Worship Team spoke with the Rev. Dr. Nelson Cowan about his article in Ministry Matters, “Lent: The Original Quarantine” https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/11173/lent-the-original-quarantine, and planning for worship during the waxing and waning of the pandemic. Dr. Cowan shares historical reflections of the meaning of the Lenten season and contemporary applications for worship today. Y...

New Dean of The Upper Room Chapel, Dr. Amy Steele, and Dean Emeritus, Rev. Beth Richardson join the Worship Team for a lively conversation about worship in The Upper Room and beyond. Like most local churches, The Upper Room Chapel had to navigate the pandemic and the shift to virtual worship and now is looking to become a hybrid worship community. Come and meet Dr. Steele and Rev. Richardson in co...

The Worship Team is joined by Rob Hutchinson and Mike Symonds of Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, and Steven Adair from United Methodist Communications to talk about the perils and pitfalls, but mostly about the joy and possibilities of digital media for worship today. We hear about the cohort of churches in North Carolina learning together about “Both/And” worship...

In this episode of the Worship Matters podcast, the Worship Team shares favorite resources they find helpful in worship planning. From books to websites and videos, Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, and Dr. Derek Weber offer suggestions on how to deepen both understandings and practice of designing and presenting worship in your local church. Especially important today are resources t...

In this wide-ranging conversation, the Worship Team – Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, and Dr. Derek Weber – remember together their personal highlights of Worship Matters podcasts in 2021. We remember special guests and topics that challenged and stretched us and themes such as multiculturalism and hybrid worship that recur again and again. Then we end with a peek into the future an...

Chris Wilterdink, Director of Young People’s Ministries of Discipleship Ministries, joins the Worship Team for a wide-ranging conversation about youth and worship. Chris advocates for intergenerational worship that draws from the giftedness of all and finds worship leaders from young people to work alongside other generations in enlivening the worship experience. We also discuss the National Youth...

The Worship Team concludes this miniseries on grief and loss with an amazing conversation with the Rev. Dr. Heather Murray Elkins. Dr. Elkins shares her wisdom gained from indigenous cultures and ancient texts that help us find ways of breaking through the walls of grief and the numbness that is often an instinctual reaction to loss, by waking others into life. In part this is paying attention to...

In this episode, the worship team is joined by the Rev. Stephen Handy, Senior Pastor at McKendree UMC in Nashville. Rev. Handy shares from his own personal experience of grief as he was leading a congregation through loss during the pandemic. He also shares about the unique opportunities of communal sharing in a multicultural setting for healing and for wholeness. Join us for this lively and perso...

All Saints Day is coming soon, and we are still faced with overwhelming loss from the pandemic, both in terms of lives lost and economic devastation. How can worship respond to this ache in the hearts of so many of our congregations and community? Listen in as the worship team discusses worship as pastoral care, covering themes such as lament and joy; and naming and altar building in special servi...

That might seem like an odd question; worship just is! But the worship team suggests in our new resource “Forming Disciples Through Worship” (available https://store.umcdiscipleship.org/shop-all/) that worship has the intent of forming disciples. Listen in as Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, and Dr. Derek Weber present this resource and discuss how worship teams and leaders might use...

This episode, the worship team presents the upcoming worship series posted on UMCDiscipleship.org. Bring your calendar and note pads as Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, and Dr. Derek Weber talk worship planning, lectionary series, music, and liturgy for the rest of Year B and the beginning of Year C. They also cast a vision for worship beyond the confines of culture and traditional p...

A Conversation with Raymond Trapp Director of Music Ministries, Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, welcomes Raymond Trapp, Director of Music/Organist for Vanderveer Park UMC in Brooklyn, New York, and Music and Worship Director of the UMC General Conference 2022. As well as navigating all the shifts and changes of the pandemic, Trapp has been shepherding the preparations for General Conference and bringin...

A Conversation with the Rev. John Thornburg Director of Learning at the Texas Methodist Foundation and a frequent guest on Worship Matters, John Thornburg shares with Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, what it means to decenter power in worship. How can the preacher and worship leader make sure that other voices are heard, and other wisdom is shared during an act of worship which c...

Worship Team Executive Director, Dr. Cynthia Wilson invites Pastor and Musician the Rev. Marilyn Thornton to share about her wide-ranging ministry in the local church, as editor of African American Resources through the United Methodist Publishing House, and as Director/Campus Ministry at the Wesley Foundation at Fisk University. It is there that Rev. Thornton developed, with the Wesley Foundation...

Bishop Cynthia Fierro-Harvey, Resident Bishop of the Louisiana Area and the President Designate of the Council of Bishops, joins Worship Team members Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong and Dr. Derek Weber to consider the future of The United Methodist Church. While Bishop Harvey claims no ability to read the future, we can share hopes and glimpses of the kin-dom even in this difficult time. While change is...

The impact of the year-plus-long pandemic on singing in the church and on choirs in particular is difficult to overstate. Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, Director of Music Ministries, gathered a panel of church musicians for a conversation on where we go from here with the church choir. Kevin McBeth, Director of Music and Worship Arts, Manchester UMC, St. Louis, Missouri; Rev. Amy Martin, Minister of M...

This week, Executive Director of Worship Ministries, the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Wilson has a conversation with former student and newly Ordained Elder Rev. Brittney D. Stephan about her work for diversity in the Michigan Conference of the UMC. Rev. Stephan is a member of the Indiana Conference, but works as Associate Director for Multicultural Vibrancy in the Michigan Conference. Join us as she explains...

In this episode of the Worship Matters podcast, the worship team discusses things to consider in the time of transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic. What questions ought we ask as we make our plans, or continue our task of shifting into in-person worship? The team raises both logistical and pastoral issues for consideration as churches continue to take the next steps. The emphasis is to be intent...

Dr. Kim Harris joins Drs. Cynthia Wilson and Diana Sanchez-Bushong of the Worship Team to discuss the tradition and use of African American Spirituals in worship today. Dr. Harris is Assistant Professor of African American Thought and Practice in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. She is a liturgist, composer, and expert in spirituals and freedom songs. To help c...

The Rev. Lydia Munoz joins the Worship Team for a conversation about her work with the Latinx UMC community in the U.S. and beyond. Rev. Munoz, Pastor of Swarthmore UMC in Pennsylvania, has teamed up with Alma Perez, who serves as the Director of Hispanic/Latino Resourcing with Discipleship Ministries, to envision a multilingual worship resource for Spanish and bilingual congregations within the U...