John D. Witvliet
John D. Witvliet is a featured instructor and contributor at Worship Training.
Videos, Audio & Articles by John D. Witvliet (24)
downloadA Traditional Protestant Epiphany Service
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship on Epiphany. It will be of particular help for those who plan more formal Epiphany worship. For others, the commentary included with this service will provide a gui
downloadThe Apostolic Tradition Of Hippolytus (A.D. 215)
The Apostolic Tradition, a church order which was compiled sometime in the third century and attributed to Hippolytus of Rome probably contains a text of a complete eucharistic prayer, or anaphora. Although much of the text may have been typical of the euchari
downloadA Traditional Palm Sunday Service
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship on Palm Sunday. It will be of particular help for those who plan more formal worship. For those in nonliturgical churches, the commentary included with this service
downloadA Traditional Ash Wednesday Service
The service below draws on many traditional Ash Wednesday texts and is designed for use in liturgical and traditional churches that do not already have a prescribed liturgy for Ash Wednesday. It also provides a model for planning worship in other styles and tr
downloadAn Introduction To Tenebrae Worship
The word tenebrae means "darkness" and refers specifically to a service of worship in which the progressive extinguishing of candles represent the snuffing out of the life of Christ. It is becoming an increasingly popular devotion for Holy Week and is celebrat
downloadA Traditional Service Of The Paschal Vigil
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for the Easter Vigil. It will be of particular help for those who plan a more formal Easer Vigil service. For others, the commentary included with this service will provide a g
downloadChristian Cultural Engagement And Liturgical Inculturation
The following essay situates the issue of liturgical inculturation in terms of the larger question of the relationship between the church and culture, attempting to highlight both the inevitable shaping of the church by its cultural environment and the importa
downloadA Liturgy For Anointing Of The Sick
This service allows for a local congregation to focus on the needs of its members who may be suffering physically, emotionally, or spiritually. The outline of the service follows a traditional order of service, with entrance, proclamation, confession and assur
downloadA Traditional Service For The Sundays Of Lent
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship in the season of Lent. It will be of particular help for those who plan more formal Lenten worship. For those with nonliturgical backgrounds, the commentary include
downloadA Liturgy For The Renewal Of The Baptismal Covenant
The following service invites worshipers to recall their own baptism, to renew their promises of faith to God, and to hear again God's promises and provisions for them as his people. The text is based on a service in Holy Baptism and Services for the Renewal o
downloadA Traditional Service For Advent Part I
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship in the season of Advent. It will be of particular help for those who plan more formal Advent worship. For others, the commentary included with this service will pro
downloadThe Eastern Orthodox Baptismal Liturgy
The following text is one example of a twentieth-century baptismal liturgy from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is based on an English translation of a Greek Orthodox liturgy found in An Orthodox Prayer Book, edited by Fr. N. M. Vaporis and translated by Fr
downloadA Reformed Baptismal Liturgy
The following baptismal liturgy is an approved form for use in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, a denomination in the Reformed tradition with roots in the Dutch Reformed Church. This particular form is intended for the baptism of children. It wa
downloadA Service Of Tenebrae
The Tenebrae service is one of prolonged meditation on the suffering of Christ. Various readings trace the story of Christ's passion, the music expresses his pathos, and the darkness with the accompanying silence suggests the drama of this momentous day. ENTRA
downloadThe Roman Catholic Baptismal Liturgy
Since the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic church has been active in promoting liturgical renewal in its parishes throughout the world. The following liturgy for baptism was written in 1969 in response to the directives of the Second Vatican Council
downloadA Methodist Baptismal Liturgy
The baptismal rite presented here is found in The United Methodist Hymnal as approved by the 1988 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. The 1992 General Conference approved a forthcoming United Methodist Book of Worship in which the essential text
downloadAn Ecumenical Baptismal Liturgy
Some church historians have already labeled the twentieth century as the ecumenical century, noting the wide variety of institutional and attitudinal openness toward ecumenical expression. Similarly, some liturgical scholars have described the twentieth centur
downloadAll Saints' Day
In the early church it became customary to remember the martyrs of the church in worship. When the list of martyrs became too great, a special day was set aside to remember their commitment to Christ, a commitment that led to their suffering and death for the
downloadA Psalm/Tenebrae Service
The Tenebrae service that features the extinguishing of lights to represent the fading life of Jesus may take many forms. The Tenebrae service that follows is reading or singing of the Psalms. Order of Worship (People enter in silence) Procession Psalm 69 Cant
downloadA Traditional Easter (Pascha) Service
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship on Easter. It will be of particular help for those who plan more formal Easter worship. For Christians in nonliturgical churches, the commentary included with this
downloadA Traditional Service For Pentecost
The following service is a creative adaptation of the traditional pattern and texts for worship for Pentecost Sunday. It will be of particular help for those who plan a more formal Pentecost service. For others interested in worship renewal, the commentary inc
downloadThe Apostolic Tradition Of Hippolytus
Hippolytus was an important church leader in the Roman church in the last years of the second century and early years of the third century. In the following passage, his famous Apostolic Tradition is reconstructed and translated. According to most scholars, th
downloadA Believer's Baptismal Liturgy
Church traditions that practice the baptism of believers tend not to prescribe specific texts for various liturgical acts and sacraments. Thus, the following service is only one possibility from among the variety of approaches to a service of believer's baptis
downloadA Liturgy For Confirmation
Many church traditions which practice infant baptism also celebrate confirmation, public profession of faith, or reception into the church—that is, a service in which those baptized at an early age publicly affirm their faith and declare their acceptance of th