Hymn Festivals

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is providing support to worshiping communities across North America to host Hymnfests. The purpose of this program is to promote learning about what it means to sing the whole of God’s story.

Who is participating?

Over 70 worshiping communities in North America are participating. These participants were selected through an application process (now closed). See the full list of participants. 

Why is this happening?

To promote singing the whole story of God and God’s people through vibrant congregational song and participation of all ages.

The 900+ songs in the new hymnal Lift Up Your Hearts will help you select songs from several styles and several periods of church history, including songs from contemporary songwriters from a variety of cultures and contexts around the world.

What are the requirements?

The HymnFest must

• be a public worship event free of charge (perhaps a Sunday evening or mid-week service);
• feature congregational singing following the Festival template (PDF) provided and using songs from Lift Up Your Hearts;
• be planned by a team (at least three people) from the worshiping community; and 
• be held between September 2013 - May 2014. 

What does the support include?

• Five copies of the hymnal Lift Up Your Hearts for the planning team.

• One copy each of The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama (Faith Alive, 2009), Dwelling: Helping Kids Find a Place in God’s Story (Faith Alive, 2012), The Worship Sourcebook, 2nd edition (Faith Alive, 2013), and the June 2013 issue of Reformed Worship.

• The Lending Library (70 copies of the hymnal) for use at the Festival and/or purchase afterwards. Free shipping and instructions will be provided.

• Access to guest musicians and leadership (Worship Institute staff and associates) with costs covered by the Worship Institute.

LOGOS:
For the Festival printed program, use a downloadable program headers in color or black and white (right click the link and select "save link as" to download the image to your computer).   

Email Kristen Verhulst with any questions.

HymnFest participants include