Worship Planning Resources – Unwrapping the Gifts

Feast of the Purification of Mary

Pastors, this is one of the feasts that (sadly!) tends to be mostly observed only when it falls on Sunday, as it does this year. That means that many are tempted to speak the unfamiliar Proper Preface. If you’d like a little practice learning to sing it, listen here to Pr. Sean Daenzer as he sings it for you.

A meditation for Epiphany

The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Epiphany from Is. 60:1-6, Eph. 2:1-12 and Matt. 2:1-12.

A meditation for Christmas Eve

The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Christmas Eve.

A meditation on John 1:1–14, the Gospel for Christmas Day

The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship and LCMS International Center chaplain, offers a meditation for Christmas Day.

The Kalends for Christmas

The following were anciently read on Christmas Day in the Daily Office, but they may also serve as an introduction to the Divine Service on Christmas Day, read by the pastor from the entrance to the nave and leading directly into “O Come All Ye Faithful” as the processional hymn.

Pastors: Learn to chant the prefaces for Advent and Christmas

Listen as Pastor Sean Daenzer of Trinity Lutheran, Great Bend, N.D., and Peace Lutheran, Barney, N.D., chants the Advent and Christmas prefaces. Listen a few times through and you will have them down in no time!

Keeping Advent

The Rev. Larry Peters of Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, Tenn., encourages the Church to avoid being like a theme park and to slow down and keep the focus on Christ this Advent season.

It’s beginning to look a lot like … Advent

The Rev. Henry Gerike offers a few ideas for congregations to mark the season of Advent, a time for focusing on the gravity of the human predicament.

Does the Reformation still matter?

The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship, asks several church leaders and pastors whether the Reformation still matters today.

Abiding in the Word: A Daily Lectionary from the 17th Century

Matthew Carver shares a daily lectionary from the 17th century.

Celebrating Reformation with Divine Service, Setting Five

The Rev. Will Weedon, LCMS director of Worship, offers some advice to help a congregation sing the Divine Service, Setting Five, for Reformation Day or any other Sunday.

The Liturgy of Baptism & Daily Prayer Offices

Four interviews with the Rev. William Weedon, director of Worship and International Center chaplain, on “The Liturgy of Holy Baptism” as well as eight interviews on “The Daily Prayer Offices.” These two series delve deeply into the history, practice and theology of the Church’s liturgies of Baptism and Prayer.

When Disaster Strikes: Worship Resources with Litany

Here are a number of brief resources you may find useful in addressing the sorts of questions that arise among God’s people when faced with disasters in this fallen world. They all seek to refresh the weary with the wonderful promises of God’s Word related to suffering, the end of this age, and the joys of the age that will dawn at our Lord’s return.

Bidding Prayer

Unwrapping the Gifts is a bimonthly publication of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Worship Ministry devoted to providing resources for worship.

The Reformation: Questions and Answers

Unwrapping the Gifts is a bimonthly publication of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Worship Ministry devoted to providing resources for worship. Everyone involved in planning worship is encouraged to subscribe to the Unwrapping the Gifts RSS feed.

Unwrapping LSB: Service of Prayer and Preaching

Unwrapping the Gifts is a bimonthly publication of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod Worship Ministry devoted to providing resources for worship. Everyone involved in planning worship is encouraged to subscribe to the Unwrapping the Gifts RSS feed.