When We Gather, Revised Edition: A Book of Prayers for Worship

by James G. Kirk

Book Overview

When We Gather is an essential resource for pastors, worship committees, and others who plan weekly congregational worship. For every Sunday in the church year, James Kirk provides contemporary, theologically solid prayers and other elements for use in worship. Included are prayers of praise and adoration, confession and pardon, dedication, thanksgiving and petition, as well as concise comments on the lectionary Scripture readings for each Sunday...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0664501141
• ISBN13: 9780664501143
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Geneva Press
• Length: 402 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

I have used this for four years ...

First and foremost - this is NOT a single-year resource. It carries suggestions for all THREE lectionary years. Each Sunday contains the following: Lectionary texts and a paragraph of the underlying themes (Very helpful for a quick overview) Call to Worship - based on the Psalm for the day Prayer of Praise and Adoration Prayer of Confession (or litany of affirmation) Assurance of Pardon Prayer of Dedication Prayer of Thanksgiving (can be adapted to Prayers for the People) This book is much cheaper than a quarterly subscription to a service and is much more helpful than the additional lectionary information included in the preaching books. It is among the most helpful books I have in my library for planning the worship service! When I am struggling with putting together a worship service, it is a winner! I strongly recommend this book!

When We Gather

This book provides helpful alternatives for one planning a worship service and following the lectionary.

Graciously Worldly without being Wordy

This book stays within reach as I plan worship. Covering all three years of the New Revised Common Lectionary, James Kirk's "When We Gather" provides a Call to Worship and several prayers or litanies for each week of the Christian year. The Calls to Worship, prayers, and litanies can very comfortably be used "as is" or, even better, could serve as inspiration to those who would like to write their own. The inclusive language maintains the balance between the imminent and the transcendant nature of the Trinity and should serve well in the vast majority of English speaking congregations.I would give this resource 5 stars if either (1) it identified the individual weeks in ordinary time as Propers or by date rather than as Sundays in Ordinary Time. I find the identification by Propers to be the easiest to use. Or, (2) if the resources were provided in electronic format. In this day and age, when bulletins are produced on computers, I see little reason to make our lives more difficult by forcing us to type in what somebody else already has.