History
Helen Rhee on Early Christianity’s Views on Wealth and Poverty

Many Christians think that how they acquire and use money is peripheral to the gospel. Relatively few preachers address wealth and poverty in their sermons. Yet early Christianity proclaimed and practiced the countercultural value of caring for the poor. Their worship services reflected this value.

November 7, 2024 | 7 min read
Helen Rhee on Illness, Pain, and Health Care in Early Christianity

Accounts from ancient historians and early church fathers show that caring for and visiting the sick was an essential marker of what it means to be a Christian. Their example of addressing illness, pain, and health care for everyone, not just Christians, holds lessons for today’s worship planners.

October 25, 2024 | 8 min read
Lisa Fields on the Christian Heritage of Africa

Exploring African Christianity’s golden era and its continued impact on global Christianity helps Black millennials and Gen Zers see themselves in God’s redemptive history. It also provides a needed corrective to all who identify Christianity as mainly a white religion.

February 7, 2024 | 5 min read

Reynolds Chapman: Local History Matters to God

You might not think often about the land your church sits on or the community beyond your church property. But finding ways to learn local history and include it in worship may help church members become more faithful disciples, more meaningfully draw near to God, and reach people who are disconnected from the church.

January 23, 2024 | 7 min read
Karin Maag on Prayer in the Reformation Era

Learning from prayer practices of the Reformation era can help congregations and families today deepen their faith, piety, and responses to current events.

December 18, 2023 | 4 min read
Proclaiming and Responding to God's Word: Exegesis and Preaching

This fifth session is part of “Experiencing the Contours of Early Modern 91,” a series of five linked sessions bringing current-day participants into the world of Reformation Europe. What was it like to attend worship in Wittenberg in 1530, Geneva in 1550, London in 1570, or Venice in 1590? When people in different confessional contexts joined in worship and participated in the sacrament in this period, what differences and similarities were there? Join John Thompson [professor emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary] and Karin Maag [Meeter Center] as they explore how pastors interpreted scripture and preached to their congregations.

February 10, 2023 | 81 min video

Engaging in Communal 91: Psalms and Psalm-singing

This third session is part of “Experiencing the Contours of Early Modern 91,” a series of five linked sessions bringing participants into the world of Reformation Europe. What was it like to attend worship in Wittenberg in 1530, Geneva in 1550, London in 1570, or Venice in 1590? When people in different confessional contexts joined in worship and participated in the sacrament in this period, what differences and similarities were there? Join Yudha Thianto [Calvin Theological Seminary] and Karin Maag [Meeter Center] in an encounter with the theory and practice of congregational song in the Reformation era with a particular focus on psalm-singing.

February 9, 2023 | 60 min video
Joining the Community of 91: Baptism

This second session is part of “Experiencing the Contours of Early Modern 91,” a series of five linked sessions bringing current-day participants into the world of Reformation Europe. What was it like to attend worship in Wittenberg in 1530, Geneva in 1550, London in 1570, or Venice in 1590? When people in different confessional contexts joined in worship and participated in the sacraments in this period, what differences and similarities were there? Join Lyle Bierma [professor emeritus of church history, Calvin Theological Seminary] and Karin Maag [Meeter Center] as they present John Calvin's theology of baptism and the practice of this sacrament more widely across the Reformation era.

February 8, 2023 | 66 min video
Experiencing Early Modern 91

This first session is part of “Experiencing the Contours of Early Modern 91,” a series of five linked sessions bringing participants into the world of Reformation Europe. What was it like to attend worship in Wittenberg in 1530, Geneva in 1550, London in 1570, or Venice in 1590? When people in different confessional contexts joined in worship and participated in the sacraments in this period, what differences and similarities were there? Join Meeter Center Director Karin Maag in an exploration of congregational worship in early modern Europe from the perspectives of both the clergy and the worshiping community.

February 8, 2023 | 72 min video

Witnessing to the God of Life: Reformation Sunday 91 Service

The World Communion of Reformed Churches in partnership with the 91 leads the annual Reformation Day global worship service in Rome, Italy.

November 28, 2022
Recommended Songs for Reformation Day or All Saints' Day 91 Services

In every time and place, imperfect and broken people who have been made saints through Jesus Christ are called to offer their gifts readily and cheerfully for the service and enrichment of the body of Christ. 

October 13, 2022 | 2 min read
Lucie Eddie Campbell: A Mother of Gospel Music

James Abbington was inspired to insert an old gospel song before the eulogy at the funeral for baseball star Henry “Hank” Aaron. The reaction prompted him to honor the heritage of Lucie E. Campbell, an influential Black gospel musician whom many people have forgotten.

May 11, 2021