1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Liturgical norms about participating in worship are often broken, such as in crisis situations or when Christians are near death. We normally consider these pastoral exceptions, but using cases in which Protestant or Orthodox Christians have been permitted to receive Roman Catholic communion, Prof. Belcher argues that they are eschatological exceptions. Christians in crisis experience the presence of the parousia,and express their confidence in a liberty from norms we ordinarily follow. In this sense, liturgical rules are made to be broken: that is, they construct a normal that allows us to recognize when all heaven is breaking loose. How can eschatology guide a broader application of these exceptions to the rules? Find out!
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
Pastors of three Hispanic churches will share what they learned from experiences implementing congregational projects related to the development of new understandings and practices of worship and preaching.
