Creative Relevant Links

	Creative Relevant Links		Artwork by Marc Chagall: The Dream of Jacob, 1930-32
	updated 9/24/04		Artwork by Marc Chagall: The Dream of Jacob, 1930-32
	Send in your suggestions!		Scroll down for more

	Emerging Worship Initiative		Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
	We are living in a time of overwhelming spiritual curiosity. However, there are few signs of people flocking to churches for spiritual fulfillment. In fact, many people are leaving the church in search of deeper rituals and more mystery...		This particular link joins resources arranged by this remarkable institute whose purpose is to promote the scholarly study of the theology, history, and practice of Christian worship and the renewal of worship in local congregations.
	Congregations Magazine		WorshipHelps
	This links to the magazine of the Alban Institute, Congregations. The destination page is the current issue featuring an article by this website's convener on Worship and Vision.		This website is intended for thoughtful but harried worship planners. Guests are invited to explore the resources available for planning and leading worship. There also invite is the opportunity to contribute. All comments are freely welcomed.
	Survey of Congregations		Method & Theory in the Study of Religion
	This website highlights the most comprehensive survey to date of people in congregations across the United States. The survey was designed to cover a random sample. This sample of people came from all types of religions that are found across the United States. It engaged people in their place of worship to ensure that the responses would be from actual worshipping congregants.		This is a wonderful source of links to method and theory on the study of religion. Sites organized by discipline. This is of particular value for congregational studies.
	School of the Pilgrim		faithasawayoflife
	The School of the Pilgrim was formed to educate individual Christians, congregations, and parishes through the experience of journeying as Christ taught, performing the movements, or the gestures, commissioned by Christ.		This is the blog for Chris Scharen. Chris is the Director of the Faith as a Way of Life/Pastoral Excellence Program at the Yale Divinity School. His passion is the integration of faith and everyday life, a topic chronicled on this blog. His scholarly work centers on the Christian church and its relation to culture. He also works on issues of pastoral leadership and excellence, and the formation of people in lives of faithful discipleship.
	Confronti - English Online Edition		The Network for the Study of U.S. Lifestyles
	This is an Italian website designed to to promote dialogue among the communities of faith in order to produce common actions for peace, justice and the integrity of creation. As such it occasionally touches upon the worship life of a variety of congregations. Confronti (which in Italian means 'face to face dialogue' or 'comparison'— not “confrontation”) is an interfaith ministry and magazine.		This site is managed by Tex Sample, one of the most creative minds examining the daily lives of the American people. He is a faithful Methodist Christian who consistently seeks to integrate his religious vision of life with the realities of our changing culture.
	Ancient Future Worship		Emergent Village
	If you are looking for more knowledge and tools for teaching and leading worship in a converging spiritual world, then you will find what you are looking for here. This site contains a wealth of Christian worship resources, books, and videos which have been prepared for you and your leadership.		Emergent is a friendship. Becoming a part of a friendship is a quite different from being part of an organization. It's more like joining a conversation. Emerging Worship refers to any practice of worship that is expressive, faithful to tradition, and attentive to local context. People from different denominations, liturgical traditions, theological perspectives, musical backgrounds, social and geographical contexts, are included in Emerging Worship. Emerging Worship is intentionally ecumenical and multi-cultural, in purview, celebrating the broad expressions of worship that are continually growing and developing
	The Grubb Institute		Faith on Film
	This British institute studies a wide range of human relationships. The experience of faith in the midst of life is central to their exploration. Of particular interest for our purposes, is a link at their site entitled "Worshipping and Serving God." When you select that link, you will see some other links to "dependency theory." This theory of Bruce Reed's is one of the more comprehensive examinations of a range of dynamics at play throughout the course of a week for those who worship. Especially useful is the link that examines many forces at play in worship and daily life.		TextWeek.com is an invaluable resource for worship leaders online. A wide variety of helps and hints are available linked faithfully for all. Of particular note, we have linked above the page which lists themes and movies available that address those themes. Sometimes it is difficult to articulate in print the dynamics of worship and daily life. The cinema allows us to share with others the dynamics we seek to name.