1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Is your worshiping community facing change in worship and looking for wisdom and advice? Do you believe change is needed in your worship and wonder how to initiate it in healthy ways?
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One of our callings as Christians is to live as resourceful and redemptive citizens of the countries in which we live—a vexing challenge in an age of political division in so many countries around the world represented at the Symposium.
Preachers know that unless they receive fresh input from good resources, sooner or later their weekly output in the sermon will get thinner and thinner. But where are the solid resources on which the preacher can rely? What best practices exist to enrich preaching?
Join with singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken for contemplative songs and liturgical prayers, while making space within this worship service for both lament and joy.
In the age of the internet, we all have access to hundreds of thousands of songs. Hundreds more are written each week. There are dozens of remarkable songs written that are biblically faithful, musically excellent, theologically robust, liturgically fitting, and singable by ordinary people—but they can be hard to find!
In 2017, churches around the world, both Protestant and Catholic, will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. How we mark this milestone will say as much about us, and our own sense of identity, as it does about the events of five centuries ago.
A worship service from Symposium 2016 led by Frank A. Thomas, preaching, Isaiah 61
This service features the inspiring prayers, songs, and readings from the African American worship tradition, past and present.
Sometimes the Bible rejoices when joined by song and sound! In this workshop, we experience a variety of simple ways music can help us receive the scripture in worship with our heads and our hearts.
Churches have a variety of faith forming activities. It can be difficult to see how they fit together to form the faith of young and older members of the congregation. Worship is one of the few activities that many churches do with all ages.
Whether we know it or not, as worship leaders, we are pastors. The services we plan and lead have a formative effect on the worshipers with whom we gather weekly. The question is not if people are being formed by our leadership, but how.
This session explores the growth of the church behind bars in several Michigan prisons and in Angola Prison in Louisiana.
What does worship look like for a church that is economically, educationally, and culturally diverse?
