Here at Augsburg Fortress, the question “How can we support your ministry?” guides our development and publication of an extensive catalog of print and digital resources. One family of resources that has been an essential support for worship planners is Sundays and Seasons.
The Sundays and Seasons family is not static but has evolved by continually adding and refreshing content. If you are new to Sundays and Seasons or have not mined the depths of sundaysandseasons.com, you should know that the library is continually expanding. Here are a few content sources that have been added in the first half of 2021:
- All Creation Sings pew edition content; liturgies, assembly song, additional resources, and art
- Brief descriptions of all assembly song in All Creation Sings
- Lesser festival prayers of intercession
Beginning in 2020 “Connections with Creation” ideas were added both in print and online. Worship leaders seeking guidance linking the lectionary with care for creation consult these for insight and inspiration. These “Connections,” as well as “Ideas for the Day” and “Let the Children Come,” are added quarterly on sundaysandseasons.com.
Several music collections were added to the music library in 2019, including:
- Music Sourcebook for Life Passages: Healing, Funeral, and Marriage
- Assembly song collections by Susan Palo Cherwien, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, and Bret Hesla
- Liturgical content from Of the Land and Seasons
These additions are just a slice of the annual resources you depend upon. Contents from Evangelical Lutheran Worship and its supporting resources such as Pastoral Care and Prayer Book for the Armed Services are readily available. If you became more familiar with Readings for the Assembly through the publication of the ELCA’s “Worship in the Home,” these emended versions of the NRSV lectionary texts have been a downloadable option both in the Sundays and Seasons planner feature and through the library. Of course, there are more than words! Visuals in the library, including PowerPoint slides, are a unique offering for online subscribers. A Deluxe subscription expands these visual resources to include the Worship Videos module. In addition, Deluxe subscribers can access the Preaching Module, which features content from Sundays and Seasons: Preaching and New Proclamation.
As we move into fall of 2021, weekly Advent and Lenten services based on the Service of Word in Prayer in All Creation Sings will be available online. You will also want to check out “Marking Earth’s Seasons: Celebration and Lament in Song,” a seasonal rite that uses hymns from All Creation Sings and Evangelical Lutheran Worship rooted in our care for earth. As you approach All Saints, especially in this year of such tremendous loss, consider using the “Vigil of All Saints.”
We appreciate the excellent feedback we received on our early 2021 survey and on previous Sundays and Seasons surveys. Our trusted users help us to develop and prepare useful content and delivery methods. As always, we are grateful to support your ministry. To learn more, visit www.sundaysandseasons.com.
