Mexico City Symposium
A new master's in liturgy program was the impetus for a recent course and conference on worship in Mexico City, held at the end of May and co-sponsored by the Worship Institute.
A new master's in liturgy program—the first of its kind in Latin America—was the impetus for a recent course and conference on worship in Mexico City, held at the end of May and co-sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW).
The Worship Institute partnered with the staff and students of the Comunidad Teologica de Mexico, a consortium of seven seminaries on a beautiful campus in the heart of Mexico City. An intensive course in biblical worship was taught by the CICW's John Witvliet and Kathy Smith, along with two professors from Calvin Theological Seminary: Mariano Avila and David Rylaarsdam.
Witvliet began with an overview of biblical worship based on the Psalms, and Avila continued with a New Testament perspective from Ephesians. Rylaarsdam provided a historical and theological survey of worship in the early church, and Smith followed with a practical theology approach to worship practices in the church today.
Said Smith: "In spite of the language differences, the discussions in this course were enormously fruitful."
The course was part of the Comunidad’s new master's in liturgy program, an effort that academic dean Moises Perez of the Lutheran Seminary and Dan Gonzalez of the Comunidad Theologica are excited to promote because of its potential to greatly benefit the churches in Mexico.
Following the course, the second Symposium on Worship was held at the Comunidad (the first was in 2008 with other CICW staff). This second Symposium focused on the Christian year and included plenary sessions by Julio Cesar Adam, a Lutheran professor from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and workshops by the four Calvin professors, as well as Argentine ministers Gerardo Obermann and Maestro Horacio Vivares, and Mexico City's Dan Gonzalez, Elizabeth Hernandez and Julian Cruzalta.
The workshops all focused on the Christian year from different perspectives, such as church history, visual art and architecture, liturgical resources, and worship planning.
Students in the master's in liturgy and diploma in liturgy programs were very involved in planning and leading all of the worship services for the symposium. Some of them had previously attended the CICW’s annual Symposium on Worship in Grand Rapids, as had conference organizer, Elizabeth Hernandez.
"The worship services provided a wonderful display of the musical and visual arts gifts of the students and blessed close to 100 conference participants," said Smith. "The closing communion service emphasized and demonstrated the unity of all in Jesus Christ. A Dios sea la Gloria!"