1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
We live in an age of mass incarceration. Although the United States makes up approximately five percent of the world’s population, the U.S. incarcerates nearly 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. As Christians, how should we address mass incarceration in the U.S.? This seminar explored the powerful effect two ministries are having at the Richard Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan.
Ten years ago, Celebration Fellowship Church was planted behind bars at Handlon. For a decade, this church has grown in numbers and in Christian community, helping to transform Handlon from the inside out. Nearly five years ago, Calvin Seminary and Calvin University started the Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI), which offers inmates a chance to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Faith and Community Leadership and provides Christian and moral leadership in prisons. Together these ministries allow inmates to move from worship to the classroom and back again and build a Christian worldview that equips them to be agents of renewal across the prison, powerfully transforming the prison culture. Additional participants joined the discussion, including author and pastor Dominique DuBois Gilliard, and others from Celebration Fellowship and the CPI program.
Explore the compelling beauty of the Bible's covenantal vision of the divine-human relationship and the transformative difference this makes for how we worship the triune God. This session will feature insights from the authors of two influential books: Esther Lightcap Meek's Loving to Know: A Covenantal Epistemology and Daniel Block's Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption.
While Christian baptism is predominantly a transcultural practice, distinct faith communities worldwide experience this initiation rite through unique contextualizing elements. Join us in a fascinating conversation with Christian leaders from five continents about the rich cultural diversity reflected in baptismal liturgies, imagery, and practices, and how they shape Christian life in their contexts.
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?
Explore the compelling beauty of the Bible's covenantal vision of the divine-human relationship and the transformative difference this makes for how we worship the triune God. This session will feature insights from the authors of two influential books: Esther Lightcap Meek's Loving to Know: A Covenantal Epistemology and Daniel Block's Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption.
While Christian baptism is predominantly a transcultural practice, distinct faith communities worldwide experience this initiation rite through unique contextualizing elements. Join us in a fascinating conversation with Christian leaders from five continents about the rich cultural diversity reflected in baptismal liturgies, imagery, and practices, and how they shape Christian life in their contexts.
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.
