1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
The music for this worship service comes from One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, a new ecumenical hymnal that pulls together songs from historic African American traditions and denominations.
Opening Greeting
Scripture Reading: Psalm 150
Songs: 16 “Total Praise”
67 “Holy One, We Worship Thee”
Prayer of Response
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:7–12
Songs: “Shall Tribulation or Distress"
(choral anthem based on Romans 8 by Mary Louise Bringle & Sally Ann Morris)
473 “Be Still, God Will Fight Your Battle
455 “Beams of Heaven”
Prayer of Response
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11–32
Songs: 418 “I Am Redeemed”
238 “Jesus, You Brought Me All the Way”
(choral anthem arr. by Kenneth W. Louis)
Prayer of Response
Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1–5
Songs: 121 “I Will Make the Darkness Light”
113 “The Solid Rock”
108 “It Is Well with My Soul” (choral anthem arr. by James Biery)
Prayer of Response
Announcements
Blessing
Sung Blessing: 472 “Let the Church Say, ‘Amen’”
Leaders: James Abbington; Doug Brouwer; Choir, Liturgical Movement, and Scripture Arts Teams;Norma de Waal Malefyt; Duane Kelderman; Eron Lauchie; Hannah Barker Nickolay; Jackson Nickolay; Debra Perry; Lisa Sung; Kathleen Turner; and Lisa Weaver.
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
