1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Welcome and Prayer
Reading by Madeleine L’Engle
Response: II Corinthians 4:8-10
Song: “Trouble So Hard”
Text and Music: African American Spiritual; arr. Aaron Graves © 2018 Imani’s Faith Publishing
All rights reserved. ASCAP #500625384.
Reading by James Baldwin
Response: Psalm 42:7-11
Song: “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”
Text and Music: African American Spiritual; arr. Aaron Graves © 2012 Imani’s Faith Publishing
All rights reserved. ASCAP #500625384.
Reading by Christian Wiman
Response: Psalm 40:11
Song: “Surrounded”
Text and Music: Ruth Naomi Floyd © 2013 NaRu Inc.
Used by permission.
Reading by Chinua Achebe
Response: Romans 5:3-4
Song: “Press On”
Text: Frederick Douglass Lyrics Assembled
Music: Ruth Naomi Floyd © 2019 NaRu Inc.
Used by permission.
Prayer of Blessing
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
The last few minutes of corporate worship are critical because they frame the entire purpose of worship and its connection to our lives in the world.
Explore how Christians in the earliest centuries of Christianity engaged topics related to wealth and poverty in their preaching, public prayers, offerings, celebrations of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the shaping of buildings and spaces for Christian worship.
How did early Christians understand their illness and pain in their Greco-Roman context?
Pastors of three Hispanic churches will share what they learned from experiences implementing congregational projects related to the development of new understandings and practices of worship and preaching.
