These resources are available as free downloads at http://www.thepresbyterianleader.com/Pages/About/Worship-Resource-Library.aspx However, it would be best to have them in Logos. If Logos is unable to provide these resources, someone should request permission to share them as PBs.
Companion to the Book of Common Worship
Published on the tenth anniversary of the Book of Common Worship (1993), The Companion to the "Book of Common Worship" is a practical guide that answers questions such as "How do I use the Book of Common Worship to its fullest advantage?" and "How can the Book of Common Worship form a congregation into a community that glorifies and enjoys God?"
Presenting a variety of possibilities for enacting services in the Book of Common Worship, The Companion will stimulate the imagination of worship planners and leaders. Sections in The Companion parallel those in the Book of Common Worship and include Service for the Lord's Day, Resources for the Liturgical Year, Baptism, Daily Prayer, the Psalms, Marriage, and the Book of Occasional Services.
Book of Confessions
The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) consists of two volumes. The first is the Book of Confessions which contains the official texts of the confessional documents. Included documents consist of:
- The Nicene Creed
- The Apostles' Creed
- The Scots Confession
- The Heidelberg Catechism
- The Second Helvetic Confession
- The Westminster Confession of Faith
- The Shorter Catechism
- The Larger Catechism
- The Theological Declaration of Barmen
- The Confession of 1967
- A Brief Statement of Faith-Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)
The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion
This volume supplements the hymnal by indicating sources, backgrounds, and primary information about each of the pieces. In most cases, information is presented about the hymn itself, its publication history and any special notes; the author, with biography given with the first of the author's hymns; and the tune, with mention of its origins, translators, arrangers, or harmonizers. In some instances stories about the hymn or someone involved with it are included to give a fuller picture. This companion is the perfect resource for church pastors, musicians, and laypersons who wish to know more about the splendid hymns that help them praise and glorify God. Scholars and others interested in Christian hymnody will find resources here for their further studies as well.
Complete Concordance and Indexes
Finding hymns appropriate to a wide range of sermon topics is often a challenge. The purpose of this book is to assist pastors and church musicians in selecting the most appropriate hymns for worship. This book begins with a key word index, which provides a means of searching for hymns appropriate to a topic that may not be found in the Topical Index. The Key Word Index and the Topical Index have been constructed to complement each other. It is hoped that between the two indexes worship leaders will be able to find those special hymns that will complete and enhance a congregation's worship experience. The third and fourth indexes are of scriptural allusions. The third index leads from scripture to hymn, and the fourth index leads from hymn to scripture.
Handbook for the Revised Common Lectionary
All congregations using the Revised Common Lectionary will welcome this new handbook. Convenient and user-friendly, this one-volume guide provides resources for the entire three-year lectionary cycle, including midweek festival days. Brief comments on each of the three daily biblical texts identify themes for the day; musical settings for the appointed Psalm are offered; organ music appropriate for the day is suggested; anthems for the day are graded according to difficulty; and hymns of the day are keyed to several hymnals.
Pastors, music leaders, and worship committees will find much practical assistance for worship planning in the Handbook for the Revised Common Lectionary.
Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews
Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson provide a commentary on the Revised Common Lectionary Gospel readings, demonstrating how the lections are continuous with the theology, values, and practices of Judaism and also identifying and reflecting on points at which the lections caricature Jewish people, practices, and institutions.
Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law
This unique commentary helps preachers see how knowledge of first-century Judaism can help them avoid incorporating misunderstandings and stereotypes into their sermons on the letters. Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson explore insights from recent Christian-Jewish dialogue, continuities between Judaism and the theology of Paul, and the Roman occupation to help preachers understand the Jewish context of the letters. As in their previous book, Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, they also suggest how today's preacher can deal with issues or comments in the text that are inappropriate or controversial in today's context.
Preaching the Old Testament
In this third and concluding volume of their lectionary commentary collection (Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews and Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law), Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson encourage the church and its preachers to rediscover the Old Testament as a vibrant wellspring of Christian faith and life. Preachers often neglect the Old Testament, misrepresent it, or regard its theological content as superseded by Jesus and the New Testament, Allen and Williamson claim. The authors help preachers avoid these traps by explaining how a text was understood before the Common Era without any reference to Jesus or Christian doctrine, mentioning representative New Testament passages or themes that are informed by the older material, and commenting briefly on the relationship between the lections in those cases when readings from the Old Testament are paired with readings from the New Testament.
When We Gather
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 reading for each Sunday.
Prayers, Devotions, and Resources for Study
Growing in Christian Faith: A Book of Daily Readings
This volume by William Barclay is a collection of meditations fostering Christian discipleship drawn from The Daily Study Bible. The meditations focus on God's love for the world, our responsibility to care for one another, and being a faithful witness to God.
The William Barclay Library is a collection of books addressing the great issues of the Christian faith. As one of the world's most widely read interpreters of the Bible and its meaning, William Barclay devoted his life to helping people become more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ.
Prayers for the Lord's Day
In this vivid, honest, and compelling collection of liturgical prayers, James S. Lowry provides an excellent resource for preaching pastors. Correlating with the Book of Common Worship, this book includes prayers of confession, pastoral prayers, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers before meetings, prayers for weddings, and prayers for funerals.
Let Us Pray
This practical book for use in Reformed worship boasts a collection of highly engaging prayers written by current Presbyterian pastors and theologians. Unique amidst most prayer books, the language of these prayers is conversational in tone, rather than formal, and their concerns represent a diversity of approaches. Divided into sections by seasons of the liturgical year, Let Us Pray includes prayers of confession, petition, intercession, and thanksgiving, as well as assurances of pardon, litanies, and calls to worship.
Contributors include Thomas W. Currie III, Curtis A. Kearns Jr., James S. Lowry, C. Eric Mount Jr., John M. Mulder, Donna Schaper, N. Graham Standish, Susan R. Tomlinson, and Louis B. Weeks.
Diary of Daily Prayer
J. Barrie Shepherd carries forward a rich tradition of Christian prayer and devotion in this outstanding book. The book contains sixty-two theme-based prayers: thirty for morning, thirty for evening, and one each for Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Opposite each prayer is a blank page suitable for journaling, recording Bible verses, or writing other prayers.
