Summary

A History Professor Shows How Historical Case Studies Can Help Us Gain Perspective and Rethink Ministry

Listen Online

Details

In the late 19th century, African American Baptists had organized the National Baptist Convention as a means to facilitate foreign missions, home missions, and higher education. Out of the home missions agenda, came forth a publishing concern that would be called the National Baptist Publishing Board led by Richard Henry Boyd. Boyd’s vision was to produce Sunday school literature and a hymnal specifically for African American Baptists. When the first edition of the National Baptist Hymnal appeared in 1906 the hymns reflected the heritage of English hymnody as there were no Spirituals or other Public Domain songs included. This workshop explores the context of this hymnal, and possible reasons why it is a product of English hymnody.

Recent Media Resources

Exodus Through Egyptian Eyes

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. 

August 10, 2026 | 82 min video
Roadmap for the Rummage Sale: Latina/o Theology for Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Faith

“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.

August 10, 2026 | 80 min video
Psalms We Love to Sing

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. 

August 7, 2026 | 85 min video