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On the campus of Calvin University
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2019 Calvin Symposium on Worship | Vesper
Part of the Liturgy of the Hours (daily prayer), Vespers, or Evening Prayer, fulfills Christ’s teaching in Luke 18:1, where he says, “Pray always.” The Liturgy of the Hours is comprised of several specific times of prayer, most importantly, Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, marked by the rising and setting of the sun. Throughout the day there are the Office of Readings, Daytime Prayer(s), and Night Prayer before bed.
This service of Evening Prayer follows the traditional form for the service, giving thanks for the day and giving praise to God.
The National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) is an association that seeks to foster the art of musical liturgy. The Grand Rapids chapter seeks to do this locally with education, networking, and collegiality of the pastoral musicians who serve within the Diocese of Grand Rapids, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and mutual support of church musicians. NPM members are regularly involved in activities with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and vice versa.
We are grateful to the Grand Rapids Chapter of National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) for participating in the service, along with music ministers Tony Alonso and Robert Batastini, presider Kate Williams, and lector Kimberly Hope Belcher.
This panel will explore the intersectionality between culture and disability. What can we learn from the experiences of people across varying cultures and contexts? What do experiences of racism and ableism in the church have in common? How do they overlap? How does belonging for people with disabilities look different in a variety of cultural contexts?
Teenagers’ desire to encounter God has been realized throughout history as youth ministry has grown and evolved. Indeed, teenagers have expressed needs and desires to practice and grow their faith at church, school, and home as well as at camps and conferences or on short- and long-term mission trips. On the one hand, these worship efforts have been deeply formative. On the other hand, these worship efforts have focused on attracting and keeping teenagers as much as, if not more than, on spiritual formation. This session will identify key historical patterns in adolescent worship and examine how we might engage their wisdom for faithful worship practices with teenagers today.
Songs from the people of Korea can deeply enrich your liturgy whether you have Korean-speaking members in your congregation or not. This workshop will introduce a variety of bilingual Korean-English songs that have been newly translated in the past few years as well as strategies to lead them effectively in your own worshiping context.
This panel will explore the intersectionality between culture and disability. What can we learn from the experiences of people across varying cultures and contexts? What do experiences of racism and ableism in the church have in common? How do they overlap? How does belonging for people with disabilities look different in a variety of cultural contexts?
Teenagers’ desire to encounter God has been realized throughout history as youth ministry has grown and evolved. Indeed, teenagers have expressed needs and desires to practice and grow their faith at church, school, and home as well as at camps and conferences or on short- and long-term mission trips. On the one hand, these worship efforts have been deeply formative. On the other hand, these worship efforts have focused on attracting and keeping teenagers as much as, if not more than, on spiritual formation. This session will identify key historical patterns in adolescent worship and examine how we might engage their wisdom for faithful worship practices with teenagers today.
Songs from the people of Korea can deeply enrich your liturgy whether you have Korean-speaking members in your congregation or not. This workshop will introduce a variety of bilingual Korean-English songs that have been newly translated in the past few years as well as strategies to lead them effectively in your own worshiping context.
In this panel, Hispanic pastors share the learnings and experiences lived by their congregations after completing projects related to the development of their understanding and practices about worship. Together, they represent a variety of Hispanic denominations as well as of "dreams" they were able to realize (learning about the Creeds, bilingual worship, multigenerational worship, worship in non-traditional settings). Their congregations were part of the first cohort of Hispanic congregations receiving "worship grants" under a new initiative CICW launched in July of 2022.
