what we're doing

So, here’s a question.

If you pop by Liturgy Link on Mondays, what do you hope to find?

Are you looking for lectionary discussion? My take on the RCL (and/or the Narrative Lectionary) for this week, in a sort of commentary-type format? space for brainstorming? prepared liturgy so you can finalize the bulletin early in the week? hymn ideas? debriefing from yesterday? Something else entirely?

Or do you not do much on Mondays, or maybe even take Monday off, making the Monday post something to gloss over later in the week?

I’m trying to figure out what works best in this space on Mondays. Often we don’t have liturgy already written to post by Monday, and we keep hoping LL will become a space for collaboration, but so far we’re resourcing, not collaborating, so in the interest of serving YOU, our readers and contributors: What do you want to see on Mondays?

If you’re contemplating this coming Sunday already: It’s Reconciliation Week! We get the Prodigal (who’s more prodigal in that story?), we get Paul’s exhortation to be agents of God’s reconciliation, we get the Israelites celebrating the Passover and entering the Promised Land as God’s redeemed/covenanted people. So many choices! Will you take the traditional interpretation of the Prodigal Younger Son? Will you ponder what Prodigal Love might look like? (hint: it could look like taking the Israelites to the promised land, even after all that…) Will you contemplate what promised land your congregation stands at the threshold of, and how to enter it as God’s covenant people? Will you wonder together how to pick up Christ’s reconciling work? Or something else completely different?

perhaps you’re following the Narrative Lectionary, or doing a Lent Series. Share your ideas in the comments!

on an average sunday, do you write a call to worship? a prayer of approach? a call to confession? a prayer of confession? a declaration of forgiveness? an invitation to offering? an invitation to communion? communion prayers? prayers of dedication? benedictions?

and what order do you put your service in?

When there’s something special (communion, baptism, something else), do you change up the order, or do you just slip the special part into the usual order?

Do you have favorite books or website you use for inspiration or for material?

How many people do you work with when you are creating for worship? Are you out on your own, or working with a staff, or using a virtual community to bounce ideas around in?

What would be your dream for Liturgy Link? How can LL be a resource and a community as you seek to encounter the living Word yourself and facilitate that encounter for others?

okay, yes, that was a gratuitous Spice Girls reference. You can’t blame me, I’m Presbyterian (which is secretly an anagram of Britney Spears, who did not in fact sing that song).

Also, I haven’t had coffee yet.

Anyway: over here at LiturgyLink we are trying to figure out how to be the best we can be–a community as well as a resource, a place for all the brilliant liturgy getting written every week by not-famous-people as well as some new material from the well-known…etc.

So please: tell us what you want! What would you like to see here? What would you like to contribute here? How can we build up this community even as we collect the resources? (or do you really just want easily searchable resources, sans community?)

Do the weekly Sunday’s-Coming posts spark anything for you? Or would something else in that spot help your ministry more? How about the occasional brainstorming conversations?

Feel free to leave your comments, ideas, reactions, etc, in the comments here. We’re also planning a Google Hangout for some real-time-conversation on this topic, and we’d love to have you join us! The Hangout will be on Wednesday November 28th at 9:30pm Eastern Time. More info to come soon.

See you there!