You have a lot to navigate - everyday life continues to be challenging as we wonder how we can proclaim resurrection in the midst of so much unrest.
Let us take one thing off your plate… content and creativity!
This ready-to-go and adaptable fully-scripted series can get you excited and on the road to a wonderful Easter Season RIGHT NOW.
- Easy-to-plan vibrant visual and media ideas
- All the liturgy written for you - just adapt for your context
- Theme music for your musicians to play or use our recordings and videos
- Fun and energizing ideas to engage your folks for Easter through Pentecost.
- Recognition of the pain that remains but a theology of resurrection that speaks powerfully to our moving forward.
* This series was originally designed for RCL Lectionary Year B but will work well if your congregation does not follow the lectionary "religiously."
Embrace the rhythm of life, hope, and resurrection this Easter season.
As Easter people, we are called to dance our dances of freedom for all the world to see. Dances of hope. Dances of justice. Dances of love. During this season, post-resurrection stories point to the joy of living in the beloved community and extending that fellowship through our witness as we "dare to dance again!" Let us help you in this moment with content that will take the load of creativity and planning off of you while you do the important work of tending to the lives of your congregants.
Marcia McFee, PhD
Dr. Marcia McFee, seasoned expert on worship design, is here to inspire your plans for your Easter season!
$10 per week for this series gives you content, creativity, and peace of mind. That's equivalent to ONE person's meal from a home-delivery service! And with this, you get to feed your whole congregation every week!
Scriptures and Synopses for Each Week
Easter Sunday | “For All Peoples a Feast: Dare to Dance Again”
On a morning when all seemed lost, a stone had rolled away to uncover the feast of all feasts, the joy of all joys. The shroud of death had become a veil for gladness, for celebration, for dancing. What if we stopped trying to outrun one another in a race for things that do not matter in the end, and instead ran toward life and hope and all the joy we can accomplish together, daring to dance again?
Second Sunday of Easter | “With Great Power: Dancing Together”
Dancing requires that we pay attention to our dance partners. It requires finding a rhythm together. The Sunday after Easter brings the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples and breathing the Holy Spirit on them. Other scriptures this week point to the power of being together, of finding fellowship in the presence of Jesus and the presence of the community. What does it take to dance together?
Third Sunday of Easter | “While in Their Joy: Dancing Sure”
Sometimes we are unsure about our steps in this world. For the disciples, even “while in their joy” at seeing Jesus post-resurrection, they were still “disbelieving and wondering.” But 1 John reminds us that even though we may not know our next steps, we can be sure in them because we are “beloved” children of God and we will be like the one in whose steps we can surely follow — the resurrected Jesus.
Fourth Sunday of Easter | “By This We Will Know: The Dance of Love”
How do we know the rhythm and dance of our lives is faithful? Drummer of the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart, wrote: “To fall in love is to fall in rhythm.” It is love for each other by which we know we are followers of Jesus, the ever-attentive shepherd. In the face of societal rules and attitudes that strive to foster “everyone for themselves,” they will know we are Christians by our love. How can we listen to the music that draws us together, “falling in rhythm” with neighbor in order to build up the whole?
John 10:11-18, 1 John 3: 16-24
Fifth Sunday of Easter | “From You Comes My Praise: Guide My Steps”
The Ethiopian says, “How can I understand, unless someone guides me?” So Philip begins to proclaim the good news of Jesus and the eunuch commands his chariot to stop so that he can go down to the water and be baptized. How has the testimony of the people in our lives and through the generations guided our steps into dances of praise at the good news that we are loved and blessed? What transformation is possible as we abide with God, the vine from which we find our sustenance?
Sixth Sunday of Easter | “Who Can Withhold? Break Forth!”
The Psalm for this Sunday describes everything in creation offering joyful noises to God. Our joy is complete because the joy of Christ resides within us. We cannot help but break forth. This joy is available to all, realizes the community in the Acts scripture. The Holy Spirit finds its way even and especially in what feels like unlikely people and places. Where do we see the Spirit at work? And who can withhold the living water and our living praise? No one!
Ascension Sunday | “Gone Up with a Shout: Clap Your Hands”
As Jesus prepares to leave the disciples, he opens their minds and blesses them. The result after he ascends is their return to Jerusalem with great joy and a desire for “continually” worshiping and blessing God in the temple. What happens when the “eyes of our hearts are enlightened?” We know the hope to which we have been called. As we wait for the Spirit with hope, we celebrate with abandon because we have no other ruler than the One who reigns with love and justice.
Pentecost | “Spirit Poured Out: Dare to Dance Again”
Ezekiel has a vision of a valley full of bones receiving life, breath, sinew and flesh after encountering the word of God. When they arise, they receive Spirit and they dance! As Easter people, we celebrate the Spirit that continues to give life and breath to our dry bones. We dare to dance in the face of fear, in the face of cynicism, in the face of despair. We dare to dance “as long as we live” for we, like the early Christians, are the recipients of the Spirit of God which intercedes even when we think we can’t make it to the dance floor. In hope we are saved!
Materials Included in the Series
Here's what you'll receive when you purchase "Dare to Dance Again":
- 8 full scripts for worship including Easter Sunday through Pentecost
- Original theme music (included) and music suggestions for hymns, songs, anthems and ensembles
- Visual and Media Arts ideas
- Inspirational fodder document with lots of video ideas to incorporate
- A community of churches working together and sharing resources
Watch the Get-Ready Webinar
Wondering if this series is a right fit for your community? Watch the get-ready webinar that explores all the materials included! This live session with Dr. Marcia introduces you to the overarching themes of the series, the flow of worship as designed in the scripts, and provides a look into the supplemental resources that will make this series a multi-sensory joy for churches.
Get the series now!
Click the button below to check out. After purchasing, you will immediately get an e-mail receipt and "thank you for purchasing" e-mail with a VERY important download link and instructions to get access to the materials. If you do not see that e-mail, PLEASE CHECK YOUR JUNK OR SPAM FOLDERS (and if you don't see it there, contact us at [email protected]).
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