It is my great pleasure to be here at the Earl Lectures produced by Pacific School of Religion. My history with PSR goes back a LONG way from the days when I came here every summer and winter interim to take classes in worship and the arts to supplement my studies at […]
Read MoreCategory (Blog)
Songs have verses. Books have chapters. Movies have sequels. The logic is that we move from one verse, chapter or sequel to the next because we want to deepen our experience of a story or idea. So it is with the spiritual journey called worship series. This month I’ve […]
Read MoreThis month I’ve been talking about the benefits of thematic–or series–worship design. Besides the cognitive and artistic reasons I’ve already written about, I think there are spiritual implications. I had a conversation with a preacher (well, a Bishop no less) […]
Read MoreCognitive scientists have long touted the advantages of repetition for making memory. “Cells that fire together, wire together!” The more our synapses literally connect around the same thing over and over, the more those things become “common knowledge” or “second […]
Read MoreStep into an art gallery at a curated show of an artist’s work and you will probably see series of paintings that are all different but may have a common theme. Artists have told me that this is a commonly desired format–the series–that seeing variations on a […]
Read MoreMany of you know that I have coined the term “threshold moment” as it relates to the transition at the beginning of worship from “ordinary” getting-underway-things (announcements, greetings, etc), to an extraordinary ritual moment full of anticipation, awe and […]
Read MoreI write this as many of you are probably preparing many, many candles for the moment when strains of “Silent Night” will begin at your Christmas Eve services. Preparing candles for any ritual action at any worship experience feels like a sacred duty to me. As I […]
Read MoreAnchor Images: When Words Fail This month I am focusing in this blog on what I call “anchor images”–those symbols that can help us live with a core message throughout a worship series. I believe strongly in the power of symbols to help us express sometimes what […]
Read MoreLast week’s blog was about “anchor images.” This term describes a strong metaphor, a symbol, that can anchor a worship series and give us a focal point throughout. In this week’s FAQ blog, I want to visit the question that inevitably comes up in the afternoon […]
Read MoreThe two previous blogs this month talked about our worship bodily “behavior”–namely clapping. One aspect of this discussion didn’t crop up yet–I think some of our discomfort with the conversation is the fact that many of us are ambivalent about whether or […]
Read MoreWorship Design Studio
Worship Design Studio
Dr. Marcia McFee
28 E Dartmouth Rd.
Kansas City, MO 64113
Toll free 888-725-5202
Copyright 2024 Worship Design Studio