Six New Things – Week of 09.01.25
This is ridiculously late, but hopefully still timely and helpful as we accompany one another in grief, step into this shoulder season of summer-to-school, and look ahead with growing uncertainty and fear – yet a faithful hope that God is at work in the midst of it all.
ONE
In these days of grief and anxiety, For Such a Time As This: An Emergency Devotional (Eerdmans) ‘offers both challenge and comfort… with practical wisdom for navigating our uncertain times, a deeper understanding of Christianity’s resources for resistance, and renewed energy for the urgent tasks that faithful discipleship demands today’.
Youth Ministry Leaders – two important resources:
- Peer Ministry just came out with Crisis: A Ministry of Presence.
- Learn more about the one-session curriculum here.
- See below for the training session with the creator, Faith Formation Leader and First Responder Chaplain, Jim Lewis,Sept. 23.
- If you are looking for ‘affirming, thoughtful spaces online’: find support in, Progressive Christians on TikTok: Content Creators Youth Need to Know (Illustrated Ministry blog), which asserts, ‘When teens search TikTok for faith, they often find conservative voices and harmful theology. But progressive Christian creators are offering alternatives.’ Learn how you and your Youth can find them.
Find more in our Contemplative Activism, Youth Ministry, and Healthy Relationships & Boundaries: Technology lib guides.
TWO
Looking back can help us build resilience and hope for looking forward. What Can We Learn from The Great Depression? Stories of Ordinary People & Collective Action in Hard Times (Beacon) ‘shows us how we might look to the past to think about how we can shape the future of our own failed economy… build movements to challenge such an economy—and to transform the state as a whole—in service to the common good without replicating racism and patriarchy.’
Some folx are building that more equitable future, now: Transfarmation: The Movement to Free Us from Factory Farming (Beacon), is ‘the story of factory farmers, rescued farm animals, and rural communities standing up to big corporations and constructing their own new world that will change the way we eat.’
Find more in our NEW Community Organizing and our Agriculture & Food and Reclaiming Rural/Small lib guides.
THREE
Bill McKibben identifies ‘the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind–and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay’, as he ‘traces the arrival of plentiful, inexpensive solar energy… [and] shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds’, in, Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (W.W. Norton & Company).
Congregations ready to celebrate the sun’s role in supporting life on this planet are encouraged to Celebrate a Season of Creation! An Invitation into a Four Week Worship Series. You’ll find introductions to the newly emerging Season of Creation, worship, preaching, and study prompts, and a community of support.
Find more in our Faith Formation: Climate Care, Adults Bible Study – Creation & Science Lenses, and Worship: Season of Creation lib guides.
FOUR
As always, Advent resources take me by surprise: Yes – they are already emerging!
For worship:
- Illustrated Ministry’s The Will to Dream ‘invites [you] into an Advent rooted in prophetic imagination… in the sacred practice to see beyond what is and move toward what could be… [with] tools to help communities confront despair, embody justice, and claim hope as a radical act’. The package now includes:
- Commentary and Preaching Guide
- Worship Liturgy
- Children’s Moments
- Interactive Bulletins
- Children’s Mini Curriculum
- Youth/Intergenerational Curriculum
- Advent for Families
- Advent Devotional
- This Is the Day’s One Christ. Many Cultures: A Worship Series for Advent, invites congregations to ‘honor the ways that many cultures celebrate the birth of Christ’ and wonder, ‘What can we learn about God through their traditions? How can we examine our own biases and privileges?’ The series includes:
- Six Original Liturgies – including Christmas Eve and Epiphany
- Las Posadas Christmas Pageants (traditional & pick-up)
- Series Graphics
- Children’s Messages
- Sample Sermons
- Additional suggestions of music, decoration, books, etc.
- A Sanctified Art’s What Do You Fear? Insisting on Hope This Advent, ‘takes seriously the angels’ message and trusts that Christ’s birth truly is good news of great joy for all people. The resources look closely at the fear and terror looming in the background during the time of King Herod and invite us to consider the fears we hold now. Might we catalyze our fears into love and action? What if naming our fears helps us see more clearly how God is breaking in and where God is at work?’ The series includes (click each for a downloadable sample):
Find more in our constantly updating Worship: Advent & Christmas lib guide.
FIVE
Advent devotionals and calendars are out, too:
Cokesbury’s Kids’ Advent Calendar of Devotions includes:
- Four Weekly Family Devotions
- Full-Color Activity Pages
- Flexibility for Any Setting – home, Sunday school, Advent outreach
Pair it with their adult Advent: A Calendar of Devotions 2025, which promises ‘a transformative Advent journey’ – from the First Sunday in Advent through Christmas Day, with:
- Brief Daily Readings
- Suggested Scripture
- Short Devotion
- Short Prayer or Practice
- All based on the RCL
- Great for the congregation and outreach gifts
Matthew Skinner’s, Voices of Advent: the Bible’s Insights for a Season of Hope (Abingdon), invites folx to ‘hear the voices that shape our season:
- Jesus’ Promise to return, which ‘brings hope for the future that transform how we wait today’
- John the Baptist’s Call, in which we ‘experience the urgency and preparation… that clear the way for the Messiah’s arrival’
- Poets and faithful souls ‘who saw magnificence coming’
- Angelic Praise, full of ‘wonder as heavenly messengers and visionaries burst into celebration’
- The series incluedes:
- the book
- leader guide
- Video on DVD
SIX
With deep gratitude for the community of saints who are wrapping Annunciation, South Minneapolis, and all who have ‘survived’ gun violence, we continue to update offerings of spiritual support, worship elements, and community engagement in the wake of the Annunciation shooting. Please find offerings from the broader community here.
