Sacramentis offline

It is with sadness that I mark the passing of one of the sites I linked to. Sacramentis was a great resource for people wanting to stay current in how societal trends impact how we do worship. For those wishing to lead the church out of a cocooning trend in which we are prone to ignore culture ... or out of an imitation trend in which we simply mimic culture ... into a tranformative model, Sacramentis was tremendously useful. Sadly, the resources once provided (articles and essays on theology and philosophy of worship) are no longer. Here is the current content of Sacramentis.com

Sacramentis has been a pioneer site on worship and culture for seven years. From the beginning, it has been a gathering spot for the best worship resources available. Sacramentis has also been a place where church leaders could go deeper into what classic Christian worship is and does, and where they could re-imagine worship for communities where church-going is no longer the norm. From your letters of support and encouragement, it seems we were able to accomplish these two goals. For that, we are grateful.

We regret that our site has been down for so long and apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We had hoped to put Sacramentis back on the web this month, and had been working toward that end. However, we have simply come to realize that it is time to move on. Sacramentis still believes strongly that corporate worship is central to the life and vitality of the Church. But we have become convinced that the primary meeting place with our unchurched friends is now outside the church building. Worship must finally become, as Paul reminds us, more life than event. (Romans 12:1,2)

To this end, Sally Morgenthaler and the rest of the Sacramentis team will be focusing on the radically different kind of leadership it will take to transform our congregations from destinations to conversations, from services to service, and from organization to organism.

We have valued our community with you these past seven years. Your support has been integral to keeping Sacramentis vital and responsive to the shifting needs of congregations in the midst of worship change. We can’t thank you enough for your friendship, and for your own pioneering work in thousands of congregations across the U.S. and around the globe.

Sacramentis may be ending, but the crucial work of connecting people with God continues. We invite you to continue the conversation as we explore what new-world leadership looks like at its best.

Please visit us at our new home: trueconversations.com. (Launching in 2006).

Prayerfully hoping that the new site is as thought-provoking and helpful as the old. If it is ... look for a link (if I can remember how to do that on my blog).