1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Our truest identity isn’t something we create or build ourselves.
It’s a gift we receive.
We live under water.
What does baptism mean? And what do we do with it? Kevin Adams—an experienced pastor and church planter who has baptized people of all ages and spiritual origins—makes the case that baptism isn’t merely a one-time ceremony but something to be lived and affirmed throughout one’s life. In Living under Water, Adams shares stories that illustrate how baptism shapes one’s identity and enters us into an alternate narrative, one ongoing since the dawn of creation, through which we understand our truest selves with all our joy and trauma and by which we are united with a group of people unbound by race or language, continent or generation.
Foregrounding baptism in the lives of Christians means foregrounding baptism in the life of the church. Anchored in both theology and real-world experience, Adams shows how that can happen while engaging honestly with the history (and ongoing reality) of baptism’s corruptions and abuses. This book is for pastors and parishioners of any Christian tradition who long for baptism to be bigger than a set of doctrinal bullet points—nothing less than the gospel story enacted with water.
Worship, Justice, and Joy: A Liturgical Pilgrimage
By: Neal D. Presa
This book connects the pilgrimage of life and faith to parallel movements of worship as communities gather to hear, read, proclaim, receive, and witness to the word of God.
Sound Theology: A Reader
By: Randall Dean Engle
This book brings to life in English for the first-time primary, curated sources associated with the pipe organ controversy in the Netherlands during the Reformation.
Journey to Jesus
By: Rhoda Grever Schuler , Kent Jorgen Burreson
When many Christian congregations are asking, "How can we draw new members into our midst?" the authors reframe the question: "How can congregations make new disciples and deepen the faith of long-time Christians?"
Worship, Justice, and Joy: A Liturgical Pilgrimage
By: Neal D. Presa
This book connects the pilgrimage of life and faith to parallel movements of worship as communities gather to hear, read, proclaim, receive, and witness to the word of God.
Sound Theology: A Reader
By: Randall Dean Engle
This book brings to life in English for the first-time primary, curated sources associated with the pipe organ controversy in the Netherlands during the Reformation.
Journey to Jesus
By: Rhoda Grever Schuler , Kent Jorgen Burreson
When many Christian congregations are asking, "How can we draw new members into our midst?" the authors reframe the question: "How can congregations make new disciples and deepen the faith of long-time Christians?"
Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being
By: Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
In Gratitude, award-winning author Cornelius Plantinga explores these questions and more. Celebrating the role of gratitude in our lives, Plantinga makes the case that it is the very key to understanding our relationships with one another, the world around us, and God.
