1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
This vesper service offers a journey through the psalms in a jazz style. Music is adapted from the album Connexion: A Jazz Psalter, produced by Wally Brath. Brath (piano), Nikki Lerner (voice), Greg Tardy, (saxophone, clarinet), and a Calvin University chamber orchestra lead the congregation through God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration, exploring the full emotional depth of the psalms. The jazz-inspired soundtrack offers rich musical expression that complements the divine poetry.
This service was originally recorded at the 2025 Calvin Symposium on Worship.
Rob Linton, David Lerner, Greg Tardy, Maria Stapert Vanden Berg, Nikki Lerner, Shana Brath, Lisa Meyer, Kate Snow, and Wally Brath
“Psalm 96”
Text: Psalm 96; New Genevan Psalter © 1972, 2007 William Helder
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 8”
Text: Psalm 8; English Standard Version Bible © 2002 Crossway
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 13”
Text: Psalm 13; versified, Isaac Watts
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 90”
Text: Psalm 90; Christian Standard Bible © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 4”
Text: Psalm 4; New Genevan Psalter © 1980, 2017 William Helder
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 142”
Text: Clarence P. Walhout, 1982 © 1987 Faith Alive Christian Resources
Music: Walker’s Southern Harmony; arr. Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath and under CCLI #400063.
“Psalm 23”
Text and Music: Nikki Lerner; arr. Wally Brath © 2015 Nikki Lerner Music
Used by permission of Nikki Lerner.
“Psalm 126”
Text: Michael Morgan © 1999, 2011 Michael Morgan, admin. Faith Alive Christian Resources; refrain Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Music: HITIKVAH; traditional Hebrew melody; refrain and arr. Wally Brath © Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath and under CCLI #400063.
In this session Terry Wildman will share the vision, process, and outcomes of the First Nations Version (FNV) New Testament. Why was this translation needed? Who was involved in the translation? What were some of the cultural challenges faced by the translation council? What does it say about the translations done in Native languages in the past? How did the translation council decide on more than 185 key words and terms? What are some of the unique qualities of the FNV versus other English versions? How has the FNV affected the worship expressions of some Native believers? What is the future of the FNV?
How does one think about diversity as a Christian or as the church? How might working with and among—or even just thinking about—migrant neighbors contribute to our ecclesial identity? The language of catholicity allows us to imagine the unity of the church not in a monocultural way, but rather as a community inclusive of people of all languages and ethnicities. Migration and migrants today especially remind the church of its own catholic identity. How does the church's identity as a migrant church foster a healthy catholicity in the church's worship? This session will include the use of salsa music to invite participation in a more catholic way of life, asking what multicultural, cross cultural, and intercultural ways of being a church on the move might look like in worship.
As inhabitants of the modern age, we are deeply marked by skewed ways of thinking that thwart our humanness, our involvement with the world, and our spirituality. This is a philosophical tune-up that directly challenges and dispels modernity’s implicit philosophy. My philosophical proposals in my 2023 book Doorway to Artistry target the creative process, but they positively affect and bring healing to all arenas of life and work and worship. I pose that we as human persons are meant to live out a joyous “yes” to the real, and our involvement with the real takes the form of intimate encounter and communion. My approach reflects especially on God’s creative act and God’s created things. It taps epiphany, the redemptive encounter, and the Eucharist as paradigms for our knowing, our artistry, and all our everyday involvement with the world, so it should make us better at our stewardly dominion and voicing creation’s praise in worship.
In this session Terry Wildman will share the vision, process, and outcomes of the First Nations Version (FNV) New Testament. Why was this translation needed? Who was involved in the translation? What were some of the cultural challenges faced by the translation council? What does it say about the translations done in Native languages in the past? How did the translation council decide on more than 185 key words and terms? What are some of the unique qualities of the FNV versus other English versions? How has the FNV affected the worship expressions of some Native believers? What is the future of the FNV?
How does one think about diversity as a Christian or as the church? How might working with and among—or even just thinking about—migrant neighbors contribute to our ecclesial identity? The language of catholicity allows us to imagine the unity of the church not in a monocultural way, but rather as a community inclusive of people of all languages and ethnicities. Migration and migrants today especially remind the church of its own catholic identity. How does the church's identity as a migrant church foster a healthy catholicity in the church's worship? This session will include the use of salsa music to invite participation in a more catholic way of life, asking what multicultural, cross cultural, and intercultural ways of being a church on the move might look like in worship.
As inhabitants of the modern age, we are deeply marked by skewed ways of thinking that thwart our humanness, our involvement with the world, and our spirituality. This is a philosophical tune-up that directly challenges and dispels modernity’s implicit philosophy. My philosophical proposals in my 2023 book Doorway to Artistry target the creative process, but they positively affect and bring healing to all arenas of life and work and worship. I pose that we as human persons are meant to live out a joyous “yes” to the real, and our involvement with the real takes the form of intimate encounter and communion. My approach reflects especially on God’s creative act and God’s created things. It taps epiphany, the redemptive encounter, and the Eucharist as paradigms for our knowing, our artistry, and all our everyday involvement with the world, so it should make us better at our stewardly dominion and voicing creation’s praise in worship.
Explore the compelling beauty of the Bible's covenantal vision of the divine-human relationship and the transformative difference this makes for how we worship the triune God. This session will feature insights from the authors of two influential books: Esther Lightcap Meek's Loving to Know: A Covenantal Epistemology and Daniel Block's Covenant: The Framework of God's Grand Plan of Redemption.
