Worship Wellspring:
A Sampling of Innovative Worship Experiences
from Chicago Area Congregations

Saturday, April 2, 2011
2:00 – 5:00 pm
First UMC Park Ridge

The popular Worship Wellspring format was initiated in 2009 and will again feature outstanding worship leaders and practitioners from the Chicago area. Each of these leaders will briefly present her or his particular passions and insights regarding worship preparation. Then they will engage us in leading a model worship

Rev. Bonnie Beckonchrist is the lead pastor at First United Methodist Church in Arlington Heights. In her preaching and worship leadership, she weaves both historical and contemporary elements into a fusion style of worship. She has a passion for sharing God’s Word in fresh ways to send young and old alike into the world to witness to the love of God and neighbor.

Rev. Magdalena I. Garcia is pastor of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church—“The Church of the Open Door/La Iglesia de la Puerta Abierta”—a multicultural and bilingual congregation in Chicago. She has served as preacher, keynote speaker, and worship leader for regional and national church events. She is a founding member of Chicago Presbytery’s Multicultural Church Ministry Team, and former secretary for the National Presbyterian Multicultural Network Board.

Gary Rand is Associate Pastor of Worship Arts at LaSalle Street Church and Seminary Musician and Adjunct Professor at McCormick Theological Seminary. He is a teacher and leader of worship, liturgy and music with a wide breadth of experience with multicultural worship and diverse music styles in a variety of denominational contexts. He has also worked extensively with electronic media, live sound media and with other fine art forms, especially dance and theater.

Rev. Joy Douglas Strome has been pastor of Lake View Presbyterian Church in Chicago since 1996. She has particular passion for working with drama, media, and music to inspire community worship. She is also highly regard for her dynamic preaching. She spent part of her summer 2009 sabbatical immersed in worship and the spiritual life at the Iona Community in Scotland.

Mark A. Torgerson, Ph.D. (University of Notre Dame), is a professor of worship studies at Judson University, Elgin, Illinois. He teaches in the areas of theology, liturgy and architecture. He is a painter and has particular interest in how visual artifacts impact worship. He has published An Architecture of Immanence (Eerdmans, 2007) and is working on a new title for the Alban Institute concerning sustainable building strategies for church and synagogue design.

NOTE this workship is ONE DAY ONLY
and at a DIFFERENT LOCATION:
First United Methodist Church of Park Ridge
418 W. Touhy Avenue, Park Ridge, Illinois

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