Call and Response: Year A 2025-26 - Print

Call & Response
The Abingdon Guidebook for Worship and Preaching, Year A, 2025–2026

By R. DeAndre Johnson

Transform your worship planning with a rich, year‑long resource of liturgies, prayers, and sermon prompts rooted in the Christian calendar.

This book will help you:

• Effortlessly craft well‑structured, meaningful services throughout the liturgical year.
• Engage diverse congregations using responsive readings, inclusive prayers, and Easter–Pentecost options.
• Blend lectionary and thematic sermoncraft through clear development prompts.
• Navigate pastoral contexts like trauma, natural disaster, and notable civic moments.
• Teach about the meaning and history of worship elements with sidebars.
• Incorporate all ages and generations into authentic participation.
• Prepare sacramental celebrations using provided baptism and communion liturgies.

Features

• Full texts of Calls to Worship, responsive readings, offering invitations, benedictions, and prayers.
• Organized by liturgical season from Advent through Pentecost and special days.
• Sidebar insights on worship elements’ history, meaning, and logistics.
• Sermon development prompts structured for thematic and lectionary preaching.
• Liturgies for baptism and Holy Communion.
• Inclusive planning tools for trauma, disaster, current events, and patriotic observances.
• Contributor voices spanning ancient and contemporary sources.
• Guidance for multi‑generational worship.

Soft cover, 320 pp
8.50″ H × 5.50″ W; approx. 0.7 lb (320 pp)
ISBN 9781791035563
Abingdon Press (2025)

[Publishing 2 September 2025,
then allow 4-6 weeks]

Description

Unlock a year of spiritually rich, thoughtfully structured worship with a resource designed specifically for the rhythms of the Christian calendar.

From Advent's anticipation to Pentecost’s renewal, each section serves as a ready‑to‑use toolkit filled with worship materials tailored to each liturgical season.

Whether you’re standing at the pulpit or behind the scenes in hospitality or music ministry, this guide equips your team to shepherd meaningful, magically disparate congregations week after week.

The first part of the book offers a deep dive into the core elements of worship: the gathering rites, proclamation, thanksgiving, and sending.

Clear explanations and full-text examples illuminate traditional elements – like the Call to Worship, Passing of the Peace, Affirmation of Faith, and Prayers of the People – alongside practices like sacraments and benedictions. These foundational lessons are critical for seasoned worship planners and newcomers alike.

Part Two shifts into practical deployment: worship-ready prayers, litanies, and liturgies neatly organized by season and worship phase.

Templates are keyed to both lectionary and thematic approaches, supplying the flexibility to select the wordings and tone that resonate most with your congregation. Serve up multiple options for, say, Gathering Prayers in Lent or communion liturgies for holy days, all anchored by scripture yet adaptable to local contexts.

Enhancing the utility are thoughtful sidebars throughout: teaching moments detailing liturgical history, guidance for worship under strain (such as during crisis or tragedy), and ideas for building multi-generational engagement.

Sermon prompts also aid preachers in weaving themes through their messages, while resources for trauma, disaster, national observances, and civic life support worship that reflects real‑world needs. Written by a diverse group of contributor voices – ancient and modern – this guide honours tradition while affirming a living, breathing faith.

Support your ministry year with wisdom and confidence. This guide helps you move beyond empty repetition to meaningful worship that fosters spiritual growth, community, and hope in modern times.

About the Author

R. DeAndre Johnson is an ordained deacon in the United Methodist Church serving as Pastor of Discipleship at Memorial Drive UMC in Houston, Texas. A musician, preacher, and author, he has directed music and led worship at United Methodist events including their Exploration Conferences and the World Methodist Conference. He has served as chorus master for the Houston Ebony Opera Guild, contributed to WorshipArts magazine, and authored Yes and Amen: A Prayer Collection and contributions to The Methodist Book of Daily Prayer.

Contents

Part I: Foundations of Worship

1. Gathering
2. Proclaiming
3. Thanksgiving
4. Sending
   (Includes examples like Call to Worship, Passing of the Peace, Affirmation of Faith, Prayers of the People, Baptism, Communion, Benediction.)

Part II: Seasonal Liturgies

• Advent
• Christmas
• Epiphany
• Lent
• Holy Week
• Easter
• Pentecost
• Ordinary Time
• Special Days (e.g., patriotic observances, civic events, trauma/disaster responses)
  (Each season includes liturgies for all worship phases plus sermon prompts.)