Dare to Dive In!

by Kirk-Davidoff, Heather

• ISBN13: 9780687332847
• ISBN10: 0687332842
• Edition: CD
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-01
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

Dare to Dive In!Worship resources to help small to mid-sized congregations make worship more engaging, interesting, and inviting. Mainline churches cannot continue with 'œbusiness as usual' and expect that they will be able to revitalize. Nowhere is this more true, the authors say, than in worship, where too many churches communicate their depression about the fate of their congregation more clearly than they do the joy and hope of the Gospel. There is a tremendous hunger for any kind of worship resources that will help small to mid-sized mainline congregations make worship more engaging, interesting and inviting to new visitors and younger members, and yet it seems few such resources exist. Too often, conferences and workshops on worship revitalization end up discouraging church leaders because the tools used and the methods described are often too expensive and too elaborate. The authors have put together a variety of worship pieces that were rooted in their church's current realities but which gently stretched their congregations to open up to new forms and new ideas in worship. Church leaders can put these skits, monologues, liturgies, and other worship resources to use right away, even if their congregations are small, and even if they've done very little 'œnew' in worship before. These resources have been tested in various congregations, and each congregation where these resources were used has experienced a growth in vitality of worship, increased worship attendance, and increased membership during that time. More important, they raised their congregation's expectations of worship. They no longer expected to be bored, but rather came to worship ready to be engaged, challenged, renewed, and inspired. To read a sample, click here!

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	v
Introduction: Why Dive In?	vii
One Foot Deep: Start the Day with Drama	1	(15)
Sample Resource: Get Moving!	5	(11)
The Gameboy Can Wait! (on CD-ROM)
Two Feet Deep: Story for All Ages	16	(26)
Sample Resource: Making Room	23	(10)
Sample Resource: Not Just for Prophets	33	(9)
Hide and Seek with God (on CD-ROM)
Three Feet Deep: Interactive Sermons	42	(12)
Four Feet Deep: Interactive Confessions and Assurances of Pardon	54	(27)
Sample Resource: Changed and Challenged by Jesus	59	(22)
Five Feet Deep: Communion Liturgies	81	(16)
Innovation in Invitations	86	(3)
Innovation in Communion Prayers	89	(3)
Innovation in Sharing the Elements	92	(1)
Innovation in Prayers of Thanksgiving	93	(1)
Innovation in the Whole Liturgy	94	(3)
Six Feet Deep: Music Heard and Sung in New Ways	97	(12)
Sample Resource: Exodus Lessons and Carols	104	(5)
Seven Feet Deep: Special Services	109	(20)
Sample Resource: Ash Wednesday Interactive Service	115	(14)
Longest Night Service (on CD-ROM)
Burying the Alleluia (on CD-ROM)
Maundy Thursday Tenebrae Service (on CD-ROM)
All Saints' Day Service (on CD-ROM)
Ready for the Deep End: Lay Leaders, Front and Center	129	(11)
Sample Resource: Lay Leader Training Curriculum	133	(7)
Advent Booklets (on CD-ROM)
Conclusion: Out of the Pool and into the Ocean	140