Worship Matters

In this week’s episode of the Worship Matters podcast, Dr. Cynthia Wilson, executive director of the Worship Team of Discipleship Ministries, and Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, director of Music Ministries, speak with Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker, program coordinator for the National Network of Young Adults, a program of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SBC21), a national plan of th...

In this week’s episode of Worship Matters, Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Executive Director of the Worship Team of Discipleship Ministries, speaks with Dr. Safiyah Fosua, of Indiana Wesleyan Seminary, and formerly part of the Worship Team at Discipleship Ministries, about the Africana Worship Project. This latest worship resource is being written by young practitioners whose vision of the Africana worship e...

The Worship Team was excited to welcome the Rev. Olu Brown of Impact United Methodist Church in Atlanta to our conversation in this episode. The motto of Impact Church is “Doing Church Differently,” and Rev. Brown and the leadership team have modeled that in many creative ways, one of which is the use of technology in all levels of ministry and worship. Consequently, they were uniquely placed for...

As churches have moved to offering more online worship services, the questions keep coming in as to what is legal to stream and what is not. The broader question of copyrighted materials, who owns them, and who can give permission to use them for our worship is discussed with Jay Sudarma, Global Marketing Manager, and Nate Scott, the Director of Publisher and Songwriter Relations, who represent on...

In this episode, the last of the special interview editions of Worship Matters, Cynthia Wilson, Executive Director for Worship Resources & Director of Liturgical Resources is joined by Scott Hughes, Executive Director for Congregational Vitality & Intentional Discipleship, and Director of Adult Discipleship. During the unprecedented time of the pandemic and social distancing, churches are struggli...

In another special edition of Worship Matters, Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries for the worship team invites Ken Sloan, Director of Stewardship and Generosity for Discipleship Ministries to share wisdom on church and finances. This is a tenuous time for many organizations, the church included. What avenues for online giving are available, how do we fund our ministries going forward, a...

In this Episode of Worship Matters, the worship team is joined by Rev. John Thornburg of the Texas Methodist Foundation to discuss his article “When We Return.” Driven by the question, “What are we learning about ourselves and our ministries during the COVID-19 quarantine?” Rev. Thornburg and the team explore possibilities and signs of hope. We shouldn’t miss this opportunity to ask the important...

In this podcast, Chris Wilterdink, Director of Young People’s Ministries discusses the effect of the COVID-19 virus on youth and young adults and gives suggestions on how to proceed with end-of-year services and celebrations during this time of physical distancing.  “Worship Matters” is a podcast from the worship team of Discipleship Ministries, designed to deal with the intricacies of planning wo...

The Worship Team from Discipleship Ministries talks with practitioners from across the country about the wisdom gained from dealing with quarantine and online worship. We also open up a whole new conversation about where we go from here, worship in the "new normal." “Worship Matters” is a podcast from the worship team of Discipleship Ministries, designed to deal with the intricacies of planning wo...

The Worship Team discusses the hope behind the Easter Season Series “Revive Us Again.” Recorded before the “Shelter in Place” that now keeps us from worshipping in person, we discuss how worship should be a means of continuing the joy of Easter in the weeks that follow. Even more now, the community of faith needs a sense of being Easter people every day. Let us call call upon the Spirit to “Revive...

In this special edition of the Worship Matters podcast, the worship team weighs in on worship during the COVID-19 quarantine. Despite being unable to gather as a body, there are ways we can connect as a worshiping community. Listen in as we discuss the struggles and possibilities, and then offers a word of hope and comfort to all those struggling with being the church in this unprecedented time. K...

Palm Sunday and Easter: Holy Week is surrounded by these two grand celebrations in the worship life of the church. The worship team discusses the joy and wonder of creating worship on these high holy days. A Palm Sunday worship without a taste of the Passion, for example, could leave the congregation unprepared for the glory of Easter. No matter what resources are available, the experience of thes...

Holy Week is one of the highest of holy seasons in the life of the church. In this episode, the worship team discusses a variety of ways a congregation might prepare for and create services that are meaningful and culturally relevant. These special services are also a wonderful time to join with other congregations in your community and to share in the power of the story, perhaps even reaching out...

Preaching Doubt: Director of Preaching Ministries, Dr. Derek Weber, and special guest Melanie Bockmann, Ph. D. candidate from Vanderbilt Divinity School, discuss her work in the area of homiletics and Liturgics. Her paper was titled “Preaching Doubt: Toward a Metamodern Homiletic in the Aftermath of Deconstruction.” Considering the shifting landscape of church, what do we need to know about how to...

Selah: In this episode of Worship Matters, the worship team discusses worship in the season of Lent, with a special emphasis on music for the season. Our worship series, Selah – Life in a Minor Key, is based on the lectionary Psalms for the Sundays in Lent and pairs the scripture text with a spiritual from the African American tradition. The team also discusses the mood of worship during Lent and...

The Discipleship Ministries worship team explores one of the six “special days of United Methodism” as a way of setting the tone for the season and the year of worship and service in the life of the church. Bookended by Epiphany and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Human Relations Day sounds a note of unity in a divided world, a way of “seeing all the people” on our way to making disciples of Jesus Chr...

“Worship Matters” is a podcast from the worship team of Discipleship Ministries, designed to deal with the intricacies of planning worship each week. Hosted by Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Executive Director of Worship Ministries and the Director of Liturgical Ministries; Dr. Diana Sanchez-Bushong, Director of Music Ministries; and Dr. Derek Weber, Director of Preaching Ministries, this podcast explores ho...