“Break of Day” by Ken Duncan © 2021 Divine Guidance Pty Ltd

Project Reconnect provides a series of worship resources based on the Revised Common Lectionary. The Revised Common Lectionary is a planned set of readings over a three-year cycle. Our use of the lectionary is an organisational tool to make it easier for everyone to coordinate planning for any given Sunday.

For more information on the Lectionary see https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/ This website has recently added PowerPoint presentation slides that you may care to use. More about the lectionary later.

The Lectionary contains the readings for each Sunday and you can copy and paste them into your presentation software if you wish. This website has many useful other resources for setting up a presentation for worship such as Christian art and prayers.

Resources have traditionally been distributed on a physical DVD, prepared, packaged and mailed for every Sunday that the participating congregation requires. We make an exception for the five weeks from the first Sunday in September when we use a series called “Season of Creation”.

DVDs are still provided but are a less flexible form, as they need to be ordered well in advance, the content is fixed for each Sunday and much more expensive to produce. We encourage congregations to embrace the online option wherever they have the people to make good use of them. If you can prepare a PowerPoint presentation you can use the download option.

You can download and store any of these resources for as long or as often as you wish.

Filming at the Centre for MInistry, North Parramatta
Adamstown Singers recording

How Do I Download What I Need?

You can select and download any messages, songs or other music from our expanding music catalogue at any time at no cost and keep them on file, along with all future messages. At any time there will be resources for nine weeks on our home page including a sermon, an all-age message and an information sheet based on the lectionary. If you prefer not to follow the lectionary you can select whatever messages YOU want for any Sunday from our previous posts and archives. If you develop a liking for any of our presenters, you can even select their messages as they become available. If you want a message for a specific time you can also search by liturgical season on the “Previous” menu option. For more practical information on How, click on Project Reconnect – How? video below. (You can expand this video to full screen by clicking on the “four arrows” icon at the bottom right corner. (It can be returned to a smaller size by clicking on the same icon.)

Irrespective of whether you want to follow the lectionary or not, once you have found any message or music you would like to include in worship, click on the header and you can preview the content, then download it to your computer and use it in your service. You can also download an information sheet with more useful aids for worship preparation.

Click on this video for a brief guide on how to use Project Reconnect. (Click on the four arrows logo to enlarge to full screen or reduce to a smaller size}

The major benefits of Project Reconnect include:

. The Congregation can actively participate, from meeting and greeting to tea afterwards

. Project Reconnect fills whatever gaps you have – Sermon, All Age message for the young, choir music, prayer ideas and a service of Holy Communion.

. The messages are by a different presenter each week – you can choose a message from any Sunday if you wish

. It went online in 2021

. The only limitation is your imagination

. If you can play a DVD at home, you can use Project Reconnect in church

. If you have the Internet and presentation software such as PowerPoint, the possibilities are endless.

. Downloads of your choice of music and messages can be made 24/7

. We provide a WORSHIP TEMPLATE if you need a place to start

. Discussion Starters to give the congregation a chance to share experiences

. Links to further resources are available on this website (and below)

. It can be used by churches of any denomination to gather and use the content for worship. We also produce an information sheet for each Sunday.

“As a person who is questioning the priority of a 15-20min sermon, the shorter message format with a set of stimulus questions allows for truer liturgy – i.e. work of the people”. – Rev Jon Humphries

Putting it all Together

One of the greatest aids for the lay leader in preparing a service is “Words for Worship”, a quarterly publication of Media Com Education Inc. It is available in both electronic and printed form

“Seasons of the Spirit” is another comprehensive source for worship and is accessible at Seasonsonline.ca.

Step 1 – Readings and Messages 

Project Reconnect is structured on the Revised Common Lectionary, which provides a series of weekly readings over a three-year cycle – years A, B and C. Adherence to this cycle is optional, but many congregations find this an excellent way to organise the church year. We may also offer messages based on the Seasons of Creation

A Link to a summary of Lectionary and Readings is available below for Years A (2002-2003) and B (2003-2004) are available below

For a more detailed Lectionary with the readings, images and other resources CLICK HERE. We have a sermon for each week plus a shorter All-Age message. (Never underestimate the power of the All-Age Message). Links to the 6 most recent messages plus a weekly information sheet are shown on the home page. Past messages are also accessible via the Home Page and are searchable by season, presenter and lectionary.

Step 2 – Getting Started

If you are new to leading worship, the WORSHIP TEMPLATE is a useful checklist for how you can organise your service, including Holy Communion where required. For an explanation of how others are using it see Rev Tom Stuart’s “How to” video. Please do not hesitate to contact us anytime at support@projectreconnect.com.au or 0409 347 616

Video of Music and Messages can be downloaded and imported into PowerPoint or similar presentation software to give continuity to your worship. If you can drag a photo into PowerPoint, you can drag a video just as easily. We have recently added subtitles to enhance the messages for the hard of hearing. This requires one extra step in PowerPoint, but is quite straightforward and is explained on a separate link on our home page and well worth the effort.

Where are the Resources?

  1. Acknowledgement of Country. If you want to include acknowledgement of country in worshipCLICK HERE for some suggested words

2. Readings

  • CLICK HERE for a printable guide to the 2022-2023 (Year A) Revised Common Lectionary.
  • CLICK HERE for a printable guide to the 2023-2024 (Year B) Revised Common Lectionary.
  • CLICK HERE for a link to a more detailed lectionary with readings that can be copied and pasted to your PowerPoint if you wish. This website also includes relevant images, illustrations and slideshows if you want to be more ambitious. 
  • CLICK HERE If you have difficulty with small print? This link gives Bible text suitable to import and adjust print sizes and fonts from the bible of your choice

3. Messages The six most recent messages are posted on the Home Page. Each post contains :        

  • A sermon by a Minister of the Word or a prominent lay preacher (approx. 10 mins), 
  • An All-Age message or animation from a Minister of the Word, lay preacher or animation (approx. 3 mins) and 
  • An information sheet about the readings, messages, some discussion starters and background on the presenter

All these resources can be downloaded and incorporated in presentation software such as PowerPoint for your Order of Service 

4. Holy Communion is a recognised sacrament of the Uniting Church in Australia. Within our varied traditions in congregations, it is also called ‘The Eucharist‘ or ‘The Lord’s Supper. We believe in an open table, where any baptised believer in Christ is welcome. If you wish to share communion, CLICK HERE for a communion service presided over by Rev Tom Stuart at Charlestown/Garden Suburb Uniting Church in Newcastle. This service can also be downloaded and imported into PowerPoint. Uniting Church Congregations may need authorisation from their Presbytery to include worship by this method.

5. Songs. If you do not have your own musician(s) CLICK HERE to access videos of choirs singing 36 songs from “Together in Song” that you can download and import to PowerPoint. This is also good for periods when singing is prohibited – you can hum along or tap your feet

Prayers. If you want assistance in preparing prayers:

The following links are to books that can be purchased that have all the types of prayers included in worship for each Sunday of the liturgical year.  The format is similar to that found in the subscription form of “Words for Worship”

YEAR A

YEAR B

YEAR C

If you need assistance please do not hesitate to contact us anytime at support@projectreconnect.com.au or 0409 347 616