1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
In September 2016 participants gathered at the Universal Design for Worship seminar at Calvin College. Singer-songwriter Ken Medema participated through musical leadership and storytelling.
I wear a multi-color garment;
it is pink, and it is green.
And I long to find a place where eyes are open,
where all of me is seen—
the weaknesses I struggle with,
and all the strengths I own—
to be in a place where I can know,
and where I can be known.
So hurray for the pinks among us,
and hurray for all the greens.
And hurray for a place where we find the grace
to see and to be seen.
We’ve come to learn to build a house,
a house for one and all,
where all giraffes can live,
and where elephants are not afraid to come and call.
We’ve come to learn to build a house
for all the pinks and greens,
a house that is an open place
to see and to be seen.
Hurray for all the pinks,
and hurray for all the greens.
And hurray for a day, hurray for a place,
where we see and we are seen.
And now we come to the table,
for the most sacred part of all,
to share a meal—a love feast—
and God on you we call:
Bless our feast and bless these conversations that we know,
so we will learn and build and grow,
and through this day we go.
So bless the pinks among us,
and bless all the greens,
and bless this feast as we enjoy,
as we see and we are seen.
© Ken Medema
“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.
