Doug McKelvey on Rites of Passage and the Sacredness of Ordinary Life

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Mar 18, 2026

Doug McKelvey, Nashville writer, songwriter, and liturgist behind Every Moment Holy, discusses creating liturgies for everyday and transitional moments. He talks about how prayers for writers grew into a larger project. They explore rituals in family formation, rites of passage for emerging adults, awkward social moments, and using Psalm-like prayers for honest emotion.

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ANECDOTE

Using A Liturgy To Bury A Beloved Pet

Russell Moore buried his dog Waylon using a liturgy from Every Moment Holy to express grief and theological meaning.
The liturgy framed the pet's life as a created good and helped Moore articulate shared gratitude and sorrow with his children.

INSIGHT

Liturgy Can Reorient Ordinary Work

Douglas McKelvey began writing liturgies as a practical reorienting practice for creative work, starting with a prayer for fiction writers.
That single exercise revealed a wider pastoral potential: distilled prayers can theologically shape ordinary activities as part of God's story.

ADVICE

Bring Prayers Into Family Rhythms

Integrate specific prayers into family rhythms so children encounter consistent liturgical formation.
McKelvey shared an anecdote of a 16-year-old reading the first Every Moment Holy book cover to cover, showing formative impact.

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Every Moment Holy author Douglas McKelvey on writing prayers for the moments both sacred and mundane.

Watch the video of this episode on YouTube here.

There are moments in life when something significant is happening, but we don’t quite know how to mark it. Not a wedding, not a funeral—just one of those in-between spaces when we feel that words ought to be said but don’t know how to say them. In this episode, Russell Moore talks with writer and liturgist Douglas McKelvey about the Every Moment Holy series of prayers and the newest volume focused on marking the unique experiences of young adulthood in the new book of prayers, Rites of Passage.

Their conversation explores why people often need help finding words for prayer in the most human experiences: grief over a beloved pet, awkward encounters with a former relationship, the anxiety of measuring oneself against impossible standards, or the transitions of young adulthood. McKelvey reflects on the long process of writing these prayers and the sobering responsibility of crafting words that others might speak to God in their most vulnerable moments.

They also talk about the unique pressures facing emerging adults today and why the church must learn again how to shepherd people through these seasons. Drawing from the Psalms and the rhythms of historic Christian prayer, McKelvey argues that liturgy doesn’t remove pain or uncertainty. Instead, it helps people remember a deeper truth: that God is present in every moment, even when we don’t yet see how the story will resolve.

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