Call & Response

An essential source for planning throughout the Christian Year.Call and Response: The 2025-2026 Abingdon Guidebook for Worship and Preaching is a trustworthy partner for any pastor, worship planner, laity or staff involved in planning worship services or sermons for their church. It is rooted in the Christian calendar, rich with resources for Advent, Lent, Pentecost, and the other seasons and special days of the liturgical year. Each section provides the full text of all the calls to worship, responsive readings, offering invitations, benedictions, and other prayers and liturgies needed for worship services all year long. Beginning with Advent and moving through the Christian Year, the resource includes sermon development prompts based on thematic and lectionary approaches. Also included are suggestions for children’s messages and ideas for engaging all generations together in worship.Throughout, worship practitioners of every experience level will find sidebars with instructive material related to the meaning, history, and logistics. This resource is ideal for longtime pastors and people new to Christian worship planning. The volume is organized in two main parts: one provides material for planning along themes or topics, based on the Christian calendar; the other provides material for planning lectionary-based services.Features• Full texts of season-specific liturgy for lectionary-based worship• Full texts of liturgy for non-lectionary worship, rooted in the Christian Year• Texts and prompts for liturgy addressing special cases like trauma, natural disasters, current events, and patriotic days• Examples and prompts for sermon series based on general themes rooted in the Christian Year• Examples and prompts for sermons based on the lectionary texts • Includes liturgies for the sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion• Teaching Moments throughout provide foundational information about the meaning, history, and logistics of worship• A wide and diverse pool of contributor voices • Material from ancient and contemporary sources