Dr. Mike Graves, William K. McElvaney
Professor of Preaching & Worship, Saint Paul School of Theology
“Thanks be to God there have always been experts in the worship life of the Church with creative ideas to share with the rest of us. But every once in a while a person comes along with more than creative ideas, who helps the Church to rethink worship from the ground up, the why and what behind the how to. Teresa Stewart is one of those rare souls whose creative ideas are matched only by her keen theological insights and in-depth probing. She knows full well that there is more to reforming our worship than re-forming it, that if we want to renew our worship, rethinking is the place to start.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Rev. Ashlee Alley
Clergy Recruitment and Development Coordinator, Great Plains Conference, UMC
“Teresa Stewart’s worship series on Call not only provides a pastor and worship team with excellent resources, but also invites both preacher and congregation into deeper discipleship. She presents a solid theological, spiritual, and biblical foundation for understanding Call and provides tools that will help create a robust worship experience, drawing people into an understanding of how they might live more fully into God’s call in their lives. I whole-heartedly recommend it to churches of all size.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Anonymous Student Evaluation of Faculty
St. Paul School of Theology, Course of Study: Worship & Sacraments, July 2012
“Teresa opened up the possibility of dramatic and lavish worship in our own ministry settings.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Anonymous Student Evaluation of Faculty
St. Paul School of Theology, Course of Study: Worship & Sacraments, July 2012
“I appreciated her gentle push to learn things in a new and different way.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Rev. Cyd Stein
Hoxie United Methodist Church in Hoxie, Kansas
“Teresa Stewart is a breath of fresh air for the worshiping community. She empowers pastors to appropriately experiment in “lavish” worship for congregations of any size and budget. Teresa is gifted in organically creating ways for congregations to engage in worship by engaging their senses. Her passion for crafting worship honors God’s word and cultivates joy for pastor and community. Spot on suggestions for children’s time has grown into a spirited call and response between the generations at Hoxie UMC. Now, I begin my sermon prep by first designing a children’s time which narrows the spiritual need. Thanks Teresa for sharing your gift to so many!”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Rev. Jason Collier
Ainsworth Community Church & United Church of Crawfordsville, Iowa
Teresa Stewart is an amazing instructor. She gives her heart and soul freely to her class and each and every student. Never before have I had a class that was taught in a way that you could feel what she was describing. She was expressive and intentional about helping each of us understand exactly what she was teaching. During my class time I had no doubt that Teresa genuinely cared about each one of us and our ministries. During one-on-one time Teresa was incredible to talk to a wonderful listener. Teresa was able to key in on places of struggle in my ministry was struggling. She helped me see what was happening and provided excellent insights that years later are still affecting my ministry today. I feel like I could call her at any moment because of the amount of care and passion she brings to the classroom. I thank God for our time together and I know that my life has been blessed by her valuable input.
[/vc_cta][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Rev. Micki McCorkle
Small Membership Church Ministries Coordinator, Great Plains Conference, UMC
“Teresa Stewart weaves a solid theological foundation into every worship experience she creates. Her teaching skills are a great asset to all in small churches. Not only does she know her subject matter well, she transmits it with exuberance and passion, engaging all who encounter her. Both laity and clergy alike left our conference encouraged and filled with hope because of the ideas Ms. Stewart shared and the worship experiences she created with small church congregants in mind. I recommend Teresa and her skills to all conferences, judicatories, presbyteries and churches who want to design and implement excellent, meaningful worship without having to go to a lot of expense.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Anne Gahn, Student
Saint Paul School of Theology, Trinity United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE
“I had the privilege of working with and learning from Teresa during her time as curator of weekly chapel services at Saint Paul School of Theology. Teresa has an amazing gift for listening to people’s hearts and ideas while being attentive to the movement of the Spirit in the creative process of designing worship. Teresa comes to her work with a deep spirituality, tremendous scriptural insight, and a heart for social justice. She has the ability to weave together just the right words to bring ancient traditions into conversation with present day life with intentional space for God to speak. She communicates with words, music, image, movement, textures, silence, and drama to invite people into the beauty and complexity of worship that nurtures, challenges, and transforms the people of God.
With Teresa’s spiritual guidance and encouragement I have been able to cultivate my worship leadership presence and voice. Through my work with her I have developed a rich understanding of the process of worship planning as spiritual practice, and can see the potential for designing contextual worship that is creative, relevant, and authentic to the life of the community.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Anne Gahn, Student
Saint Paul School of Theology, Trinity United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE
“I had the privilege of working with and learning from Teresa during her time as curator of weekly chapel services at Saint Paul School of Theology. Teresa has an amazing gift for listening to people’s hearts and ideas while being attentive to the movement of the Spirit in the creative process of designing worship. Teresa comes to her work with a deep spirituality, tremendous scriptural insight, and a heart for social justice. She has the ability to weave together just the right words to bring ancient traditions into conversation with present day life with intentional space for God to speak. She communicates with words, music, image, movement, textures, silence, and drama to invite people into the beauty and complexity of worship that nurtures, challenges, and transforms the people of God.
With Teresa’s spiritual guidance and encouragement I have been able to cultivate my worship leadership presence and voice. Through my work with her I have developed a rich understanding of the process of worship planning as spiritual practice, and can see the potential for designing contextual worship that is creative, relevant, and authentic to the life of the community.”
[/vc_cta][vc_cta h2=”” style=”outline” color=”grey”]Matt Vaughn
Regional Director for Youth Ministry Institute Midwest
“Teresa Stewart is our “go-to” facilitator for teaching our students and interns about creative worship. Her depth of knowledge and preparation in theological traditions, communal worship, and personal spirituality are a great fit for our theological education and training programs in Youth Ministry Institute. Teresa inspires our participants to “think outside the box” in their approach to planning worship. She shares appropriate models for traditional and alternative worship styles, for student retreats and trips, and for senior adult gatherings. Teresa is an excellent listener, a capable speaker, and a wonderful instructor.”[/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row]