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2018 Calvin Symposium on Worship | Vesper
This Vesper Service
We cannot escape the grasp of sin and death. In this service, Urban Doxology responds to events of hate and racism, death and tragedy through song, with words of both lament and hope. This service will include songs such as “Come by Here,” “Holy Spirit,” “Shalom,” “Spirit Pour Out,” “Isaiah 58,” “Purge Me,” “Speaking,” “We Are Good,” “Who Has the Final Say,” “Say Yes,” “Declaration of Dependence,” “Without You,” and “Get Up and Dance.”
What does “Urban Doxology” mean?
An “urban doxology” is any liturgy, preaching, music or art that crosses boundaries in ethnicity, race, and class and prepares God’s people for the city of God.
The Urban Doxology Story
Urban Doxology is a ministry that writes the soundtrack of reconciliation in the racially diverse and gentrifying neighborhood of Church Hill, Richmond, Virginia. The band evolved out of the Urban Songwriting Internship Program that is a partnership with Arrabon and East End Fellowship. Most of band members are an active part of East End Fellowship, a community that endeavors to be a faithful presence, seeking God’s joy and justice for their neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia, out of love for Christ. Urban Doxology is a ministry of Arrabon through worship formation. Urban Doxology creates worship experiences and resources to equip Christian communities with the spiritual formation needed to faithfully practice reconciliation. You can find out more about Urban Doxology, their mission, and their music on their website: www.urbandoxology.com.
What is “Arrabon”?
The word arrabon means “a foretaste of what is to come.” The ministry of Arrabon (www. arrabon.com) believes that the church should be a “foretaste of a reconciled heaven to our divided world.” Arrabon works to equip Christian leaders and their communities with the resources needed to increase their cultural intelligence to effectively participate in reconciliation.
“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.
