1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Seven pastoral leaders—pastors, reconcilers, preachers, and scholars—offer insights from their unique contexts on the greatest opportunities and challenges for ministry work now.
Pastor Szabina Sztojka describes the ethnic conflict in Hungary, especially against the Roma people, and reflects on how Reformed church leaders and congregations face both opportunities and challenges in inclusion and welcome for all.
Pastor-scholar Lala Rasendrahasina shares the opportunities and challenges in preparing the next generation for ministry in the context of Madagascar.
Preacher-scholar Brianna K. Parker reflects on the opportunities and challenges pastoral leaders face regarding data on worship practices and on how asking good questions and commissioning good research can be beneficial.
Theologian Jeremy Begbie notes how the unity of the church in worship is a central opportunity and enduring challenge facing the church today.
Author Latasha Morrison reflects on opportunities and challenges churches face in healing, equity, and reconciliation, specifically through the lens of discipleship and spiritual transformation.
Professor Te-Li Lau reflects on the opportunity and challenge of cultivating and nurturing godly emotions in public worship and connecting them to scripture.
Professor Rolanda L. Ward challenges communities of faith to pause and consider the harm in our world and the role lamentation has in helping us work through these tragedies in everyday living.
“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.
Martin Luther frequently called Psalm 118 as his “own beloved psalm,” describing it as a “friend who helped [him] out of many troubles.” This session provides a history of the interpretation of this beloved psalm by looking at the readings of Ambrose, Augustine, Theodoret of Cyrus, Cassiodorus, Luther, and 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.
Martin Luther frequently called Psalm 118 as his “own beloved psalm,” describing it as a “friend who helped [him] out of many troubles.” This session provides a history of the interpretation of this beloved psalm by looking at the readings of Ambrose, Augustine, Theodoret of Cyrus, Cassiodorus, Luther, and Calvin.
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.
