1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Welcome and Prayer
Reading by Madeleine L’Engle
Response: II Corinthians 4:8-10
Song: “Trouble So Hard”
Text and Music: African American Spiritual; arr. Aaron Graves © 2018 Imani’s Faith Publishing
All rights reserved. ASCAP #500625384.
Reading by James Baldwin
Response: Psalm 42:7-11
Song: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”
Text and Music: African American Spiritual; arr. Aaron Graves © 2012 Imani’s Faith Publishing
All rights reserved. ASCAP #500625384.
Reading by Christian Wiman
Response: Psalm 40:11
Song: “Surrounded”
Text and Music: Ruth Naomi Floyd © 2013 NaRu Inc.
Used by permission.
Reading by Chinua Achebe
Response: Romans 5:3-4
Song: “Press On”
Text: Frederick Douglass Lyrics Assembled
Music: Ruth Naomi Floyd © 2019 NaRu Inc.
Used by permission.
Prayer of Blessing
“Deconstruction” is a popular term among young people who grew up in the Christian church. In this public lecture, Robert Chao Romero will consider the challenge of widespread deconstruction while offering a hopeful path forward. Expanding on Phyllis Tickle’s analogy of the church having a rummage sale of ideas every few centuries, Romero invites us to consider the contributions of Latina/o theology and the history of the Brown Church as valuable resources for reconstruction on the other side of deconstruction.
Carmen Imes has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the book of Exodus, writing about it for both her master’s thesis and her doctoral dissertation. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens.
Modern song writers are continually setting the psalms to new music for band-led worship contexts. Join Paul Ryan, Nate Glasper, and the Calvin University Worship Apprentices to sing contemporary psalm settings sung in public worship at Calvin.
“Deconstruction” is a popular term among young people who grew up in the Christian church. In this public lecture, Robert Chao Romero will consider the challenge of widespread deconstruction while offering a hopeful path forward. Expanding on Phyllis Tickle’s analogy of the church having a rummage sale of ideas every few centuries, Romero invites us to consider the contributions of Latina/o theology and the history of the Brown Church as valuable resources for reconstruction on the other side of deconstruction.
Carmen Imes has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the book of Exodus, writing about it for both her master’s thesis and her doctoral dissertation. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens.
Modern song writers are continually setting the psalms to new music for band-led worship contexts. Join Paul Ryan, Nate Glasper, and the Calvin University Worship Apprentices to sing contemporary psalm settings sung in public worship at Calvin.
Join this excursion through compositional method, use of text, melodic creation, vocal range, and inner insights. The session includes the presentation of new psalm settings by Rawn Harbor.
