1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Presented at the 2012 Calvin Symposium on Worship.
Betty Grit, Worship Renewal Grants Manager, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Introduction: “What are Vertical Habits?” Download slides.
Deborah Lemmen, New City Church, Jersey City, New Jersey. To explore the Psalms with children, youth and families through art, music and memorizing Scripture to shape a posture of hope and give words to express doubts, questions and fears. Download slides.
Young Kim, Cornerstone CRC, Ann Arbor, Michigan. To help participants learn about Vertical Habits in Sunday worship and carry them into daily life through an eight-part sermon series and multi-sensory worship which included congregational art and multimedia components, a series of articles by church leaders, and the development of an online web log of daily devotions which includes artwork of children.
Jessica Garcia, Grace Brethren Church, Long Beach, California. To express the broad range of worship expressions that appear in the Bible through workshops to create liturgies, prayers, responsive readings, music, poems and art with a focus on the Psalms and Revelation.
Betty Grit. Questions and discussion.
Mike Cosper, Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky. To encounter and practice Vertical Habits as a significant part of spiritual formation through an interactive art exhibit, a month-long devotional written by church leaders and a lecture series taught by pastors from the church or local community. Download slides.
Laura Keeley, 14th St CRC, Holland, Michigan. To engage the congregation in a study of the Psalms and Vertical Habits as a framework for worship throughout the liturgical year and to create visual arts and language that reminded the congregation that worship is a dialogue with God that can be carried into their daily lives. Download slides.
Henry Belin, First AME Bethel Church, New York, New York. To encourage personal and public prayer practices in worshipers of all ages by creating a language for prayer through Lectio divina, praying the Psalms, and media that included Twitter and Facebook.
Kris Moore, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio. To create a common language for worship among staff and clients through lament, Psalms and the Vertical Habits at an adolescent residential psychiatric treatment facility that led to corporate and personal worship that promotes spiritual healing. Download slides.
Betty Grit. Final questions and discussion. Conclusion.
This panel will explore the intersectionality between culture and disability. What can we learn from the experiences of people across varying cultures and contexts? What do experiences of racism and ableism in the church have in common? How do they overlap? How does belonging for people with disabilities look different in a variety of cultural contexts?
Teenagers’ desire to encounter God has been realized throughout history as youth ministry has grown and evolved. Indeed, teenagers have expressed needs and desires to practice and grow their faith at church, school, and home as well as at camps and conferences or on short- and long-term mission trips. On the one hand, these worship efforts have been deeply formative. On the other hand, these worship efforts have focused on attracting and keeping teenagers as much as, if not more than, on spiritual formation. This session will identify key historical patterns in adolescent worship and examine how we might engage their wisdom for faithful worship practices with teenagers today.
Songs from the people of Korea can deeply enrich your liturgy whether you have Korean-speaking members in your congregation or not. This workshop will introduce a variety of bilingual Korean-English songs that have been newly translated in the past few years as well as strategies to lead them effectively in your own worshiping context.
This panel will explore the intersectionality between culture and disability. What can we learn from the experiences of people across varying cultures and contexts? What do experiences of racism and ableism in the church have in common? How do they overlap? How does belonging for people with disabilities look different in a variety of cultural contexts?
Teenagers’ desire to encounter God has been realized throughout history as youth ministry has grown and evolved. Indeed, teenagers have expressed needs and desires to practice and grow their faith at church, school, and home as well as at camps and conferences or on short- and long-term mission trips. On the one hand, these worship efforts have been deeply formative. On the other hand, these worship efforts have focused on attracting and keeping teenagers as much as, if not more than, on spiritual formation. This session will identify key historical patterns in adolescent worship and examine how we might engage their wisdom for faithful worship practices with teenagers today.
Songs from the people of Korea can deeply enrich your liturgy whether you have Korean-speaking members in your congregation or not. This workshop will introduce a variety of bilingual Korean-English songs that have been newly translated in the past few years as well as strategies to lead them effectively in your own worshiping context.
In this panel, Hispanic pastors share the learnings and experiences lived by their congregations after completing projects related to the development of their understanding and practices about worship. Together, they represent a variety of Hispanic denominations as well as of "dreams" they were able to realize (learning about the Creeds, bilingual worship, multigenerational worship, worship in non-traditional settings). Their congregations were part of the first cohort of Hispanic congregations receiving "worship grants" under a new initiative CICW launched in July of 2022.
