Worship Ways are original liturgies written in English and in Spanish by United Church of Christ pastors, based on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. Look for Sunday, festival and special UCC worship services here, organized by seasons of the Church Year.
Check out the newest feature of Worship Ways, The Living Psalms. The Psalm appointed for each week in the Revised Common Lectionary cycle is reinterpreted in poetry and art as a reflection of God’s work of justice and compassion in our midst today.
COMING SOON: The National Offices have secured licenses for the use of curated recordings of individual compositions that are available for use by the local church setting. No further licenses are required. Please find these recordings here.
NEW MUSIC RESOURCE: Marking the anniversary of George Floyd’s death in custody,the United Reformed Church, our partner in the UK, has published a music resource with themes of racial justice and responses to Covid-19. New words are created for familiar hymn tunes. It is available for free download until April, 2022 in booklet, PowerPoint, and music files. The link to Sunflowers and Thistles is here: https://urc.org.uk/sunflowers-and-thistles
Click here for Mission Moments, which can be used with your newsletter or Sunday worship bulletin.
Seasons
Season after Pentecost, part 1/Temporada después de Pentecostés, primero parte
Season after Pentecost, part 1 Year B, May 30-August 29, 2021
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The Spirit at work guiding the church in our day is the theme for the very long season after Pentecost. In year B, the primary gospel is Mark. The color for the Season after Pentecost is traditionally green, the color of nature’s growth.
Season after Pentecost, part 2/Temporada después de Pentecostés, segundo parte
Season After Pentecost, part 2 Year B, September 5-November 21, 2021
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The Spirit at work guiding the church in our day is the theme for the very long season after Pentecost. In year B, the primary gospel is Mark. The color for the Season after Pentecost is traditionally green, the color of nature’s growth.
Advent is the start of the church year, a season of expectation, four weeks looking forward to celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas. Scriptures give voice to longing for God and searching for the Holy in challenging times. We are challenged to get ready—to recognize and make room for the Holy One in our midst. Seasonal colors are purple or deep blue; the third Sunday anticipates the joy to come with rose, the color of dawn.
Christmas, Year C December 25, 2021-January 2, 2022
Coming Soon–October 1
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The twelve days of the Christmas season celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. The stories tell of the God of all born into a poor family, travelers in need of shelter. We ponder the mystery of how this can be; we celebrate as we seek the presence of God in our world, surprising us with possibility. Traditional liturgical colors have suggested light—white or gold—but expanding the festive color palette is appropriate for celebration.
Season after Epiphany/Temporada después de la Epifanía
Epiphany, Year C January 6-February 27, 2022
Coming Soon–November 1
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The Church explores the identity of Jesus in this season after Epiphany—Gospel story after story challenges us: who is this person of power and Spirit who has appeared in our midst? The season begins and ends with Festival days—Epiphany and Transfiguration—with festival colors; the Sundays in between are green.
The late Representative John Lewis of Georgia talked about stirring up “good trouble” that leads to justice. Jesus stirs up a lot of good trouble in the Lenten Gospels this year; we are called to prepare ourselves and follow. The traditional color for Lent is purple; churches may want to adopt subdued colors such as gray or beige or no color at all to signify the starkness of the season.
The church follows Jesus and the disciples from triumphal procession into Jerusalem through the devastating procession to the Cross. With storytelling, ritual and music we travel all the way to the tomb. Colors for Holy Week may be the purple of Lent, a festival color for Maundy Thursday, and a mourning color for Good Friday.
An empty tomb astonishes Mary Magdalene and the other disciples on Easter morning, and Jesus is soon discovered in the community, alive and present in a new way, especially in the “breaking of the bread”. Easter Sunday begins a season of fifty days celebration of Jesus’ new life. The season ends with Pentecost Sunday, when Jesus sends the Spirit to guide and challenge the church. Festival colors are worn through the season until the last day: Pentecost, when the color is red for the Spirit’s fire.
