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Our church lives in a rapidly evolving culture and world. Our worship needs to respond to and inspire this world. A new multivolume series from Augsburg Fortress, titled Worship Matters, examines key worship issues through studies by pastors, musicians, and lay people from throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Worship Matters volumes explore worship issues raised by the ELCA's Renewing Worship initiative and consider how worship speaks in today's world.

By concentrating on a single topic per volume, the series provides greater depth of exploration than was possible in the Renewing Worship provisional volumes; it addresses worship themes and issues growing out of or informing the provisional phase of resource development. The ELCA's statement on the practice of word and sacrament, The Use of the Means of Grace, and Principles for Worship (Renewing Worship, vol. 2) are considered foundational documents for the Worship Matters series.

Written for everyone
The books in the Worship Matters series are meant to appeal to a broad audience within the church: both those who already have a strong interest in the church's worship, as well as those who would consider themselves "non-experts" on worship and liturgy will find these volumes readable and fruitful. Members of ELCA congregations, congregational council and committee members, lay leaders, pastors, musicians, bishops, synods and synod staff members, resource centers, seminary professors, staff, and students, chaplains, and churchwide leaders and staff, will all find this series a welcome resource. In addition, this series may be of interest to the ELCA's full communion partners.

Useful features
In addition to providing practical and thoughtful individual study, the volumes of Worship Matters are also perfect for use in discussion groups, committees, and forums. Each book in the Worship Matters series provides discussion questions at the end of every chapter. These can be used in group settings or for individual reflection. In addition, each volume will include a list of related resources for further reading.

Why Worship Matters by Robert A. Rimbo Forward by Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the ELCA Why Worship Matters is the first volume in a series centering on the Renewing Worship project of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This little volume is a conversation-starter for those who want to look at the assembly's worship in very broad terms. It also invites reflection on the needs of the world, individuals, the church, and society in light of the assembly's central activity, worshiping God. Purchase this book
A Christian Funeral by Melinda Ann Quivik In recent years, pressure has come upon North American society to jettison the Christian funeral and opt instead for the services of a funeral business. In the context of such pressures, the church has had a difficult time asserting the promise of the resurrection or even articulating why that promise is crucial at the time of death and burial. Quivik helps the reader explore the deeper meaning of the Christian funeral so that the resources of private businesses in the burial event can be put to their proper use. Purchase this book
A Moving Word: Media Art in Worship by Eileen D. Crowley The graceful and grace-filled use of today's media and media arts in ELCA worship poses many challenges for local pastors and congregations. Whether your church already uses media or is thinking about it, issues related to this worship innovation matter. Use this book to stimulate local reflection. Purchase this book
A Place of Encounter: Renewing Worship Spaces by D. Foy Christopherson One of the four particular dimensions of the church's worship addressed in the ELCA's Principles for Worship (Renewing Worship, vol. 2) is worship space. Using the principles developed in this volume, Foy Christopherson shares with the reader what Lutherans care about when thinking about space for worship, and why they care about it. Centers of liturgical action (assembly, font, ambo, altar-table) and concepts of sacred, formational, and missional space are discussed, as well as architectural, environmental, historical, and local considerations when planning or renewing worship spaces. Purchase this book
A Three-Year Banquet: The Lectionary for the Assembly by Gail Ramshaw A Three-Year Banquet invites the entire worshipping assembly, lay and clergy, to understand and delight in the three-year lectionary. The study guide explains how the Revised Common Lectionary was developed and how the gospels, the first readings and the epistles are assigned. Further chapters describe many ways that the three readings affect the assembly's worship and the assembly itself. Like food at a banquet, the fare we enjoy in the lectionary nourishes us year after year. Purchase this book
Central Things by Gordon W. Lathrop A revised and expanded edition of the 1994 classic. In the 10 years since this book was first published, the ELCA has been engaged in the multi-year Renewing Worship initiative. Lathrop's text has been revised to encompass new developments and directions suggested by this churchwide initiative and its provisional phase of development towards a new core worship resource. Purchase this book
Centripetal Worship: The Evangelical Heart of Lutheran Worship by Timothy J. Wengert Centripetal Worship examines how worship is, and should be, at the center of the assembly. Contributors look at the historical and contemporary factors that influence how and why we worship the way we do. The contributors from Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia include: Timothy J. Wengert, Mark Mummert, Dirk Lange, and Melinda Quivik along with Russell Mitman, Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. Purchase this book
Daily Bread, Holy Meal: Opening the Gifts of Holy Communion by Samuel Torvend Daily Bread, Holy Meal invites Christians to reconsider the significance of eating and drinking with Jesus of Nazareth in a world of great need. Drawing on recent biblical and historical studies, this exploration of the Eucharist asks the seeker in every Christian to consider the ecological, theological, communal, and ethical dimensions of the Lord's supper. Through a careful weaving of biblical passages, medieval poetry, Luther's writings, familiar hymns, and newly-written liturgical texts, each chapter unfolds another "gift" of the Holy Communion and the sometimes troubling questions each one raises for individuals who live in a fast food culture yet seek community around a gracious table. Purchase this book
The Three-Day Feast: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter by Gail Ramshaw Recent decades have witnessed the revival of the ancient liturgies of the Three Days — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil. In this book Ramshaw gives a little history and a lot of suggestions about how these services can enrich the worship life of your entire assembly. Purchase this book
Truly Present: Practicing Prayer in the Liturgy by Lisa Dahill Dahill's book describes the human hunger for contemplative prayer, the need for rediscovering such prayer forms, and introduces Christian liturgical spirituality very broadly. Each chapter is devoted to two prayer practices grounded in the liturgy and shows how each contemplative practice both roots within and in turn also deepens our experience of worship. Purchase this book
What Song Shall We Sing? by John Ylvisaker Many of the best-loved Christian hymns move easily across cultural boundaries. The way they are sung may change from one place to another, but they speak even to worshipers far removed from their origins. How does this happen, and how can we make better use of these treasures of the whole church? John Ylvisaker has given his life to encouraging lively congregational song, and here makes a valuable contribution to the conversation about it. Purchase this book