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On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
The church in the United States faces a dilemma: How is it possible for Christ's followers to worship faithfully in a nationalistic environment where religion and politics enjoy a vigorous affiliation while the separation of church and state is celebrated as the standard for the relationship between nation and faith?
When nationalism propagates itself through a cross-pollination of the stories, symbols, and celebrations of the nation-state and religious groups, the stage is set for a national history bearing the character of sanctified legend. Such resulting civil religious activity is likely to create dissonance for Christ's followers between what they understand to be biblically faithful and what nationalistic practices may endorse as religiously valid.
Worship Beyond Nationalism explores faithful worship as a political act by which Christians declare their allegiance to God in Christ rather than to worldly empires, enabling congregations to enact the reality of God's kingdom and embody the gospel for the glory of God and for the sake of the world.
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.
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.
Servanthood of Song: Music, Ministry, and the Church in the United States
By: Stanley R. McDaniel
'Servanthood of Song' is a history of American church music from the colonial era to the present. Its focus is on the institutional and societal pressures that have shaped church song and have led us directly to where we are today.
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.
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.
Servanthood of Song: Music, Ministry, and the Church in the United States
By: Stanley R. McDaniel
'Servanthood of Song' is a history of American church music from the colonial era to the present. Its focus is on the institutional and societal pressures that have shaped church song and have led us directly to where we are today.
Sound Theology
By: Randall Dean Engle
This book surveys the liturgical soundscape during and after the Reformation with regard to the use of instruments in worship in general, and the (dis)use of the pipe organ specifically.
