Leading Worship for Workers: How to Design Liturgies for All of Life - Paperback

by Matthew Kaemingk (Author), Kathryn Roelofs (Author)

Designing Worship Services That Speak to Our Daily Work Lives

People spend approximately one third of their lives at work. Whether paid or volunteer, blue collar or white collar, workers experience tremendous joys and significant challenges in their daily work. It should be no surprise that their spiritual questions, frustrations, and longings are often directly connected to their various careers and callings. But when they gather for corporate worship, services rarely acknowledge or mention their working lives.

In Leading Worship for Workers, two innovators in the global faith and work movement encourage church leaders to think critically about the congregations they serve. You'll discover

● how to audit current worship practices and assess your congregation's work-life realities to create more relevant, engaging Sunday services;
● step-by-step guidance for every element of worship--from gathering and singing to confession, testimony, communion, and sending--with specific applications for workers in all vocations;
● prayers, songs, liturgies, and blessing ceremonies for various callings, including students, parents, retirees, and workers transitioning between careers; and
● innovative worship ideas and resources to help ministry teams integrate faith-at-work themes into weekly services.

This comprehensive resource offers pastors, worship leaders, and ministry teams an array of creative ideas and practical methods to help them craft worship services that speak directly to workers and the realities they face throughout the week.

Back Jacket

"A valuable resource for every worship leader"

People spend approximately one third of their lives at work. But when they are gathered for corporate worship, services rarely acknowledge or mention their working lives.

This book offers church leaders an array of creative ideas and practical methods to help them craft worship services that speak directly to workers and the realities they face throughout the week.

"A book with transformative potential for worship ministries."
--John D. Witvliet, Belmont University; senior consultant, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

"A valuable resource for every worship leader who seeks to help extend worship beyond the walls of the church."
--Matt Rusten, president, Made to Flourish

"Leading Worship for Workers is practical. It is theological. And when practiced, it is transformational."
--Nelson Cowan, Center for Worship and the Arts, Samford University

"This is a handbook filled with biblically grounded, practical examples and exercises that help address the persisting bifurcation between the sacred and the secular."
--Constance M. Cherry, Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies; Indiana Wesleyan University (emeritus)

"The insights and suggestions in Leading Worship for Workers are wonderfully grounded in the realities of local church life."
--Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, worship correspondent, Christianity Today

"A much-needed resource for helping the church reclaim a robust theology of work in its weekly liturgies."
--Jordan Raynor, bestselling author of The Sacredness of Secular Work

Author Biography

Matthew Kaemingk (PhD, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) is a public theologian whose research focuses on the intersection between faith, work, and the marketplace. He is the founder of the Worship for Workers Initiative and the coauthor of Work and Worship: Reconnecting Our Labor and Liturgy. He lives in Ballwin, Missouri.

Kathryn Roelofs (MDiv, Calvin Theological Seminary) is the managing director of the Worship for Workers Initiative. She has decades of experience in worship leadership and design and provides worship resources and consulting services to congregations around the country. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.