1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Participants
Entrance: Longing for Holiness
This section is led by Princeton Seminary Choir from Princeton, New Jersey. The readers are Christina Ong and Colleen Toole. They are led by Martin Tel, director, Michael Gittens and William D. Carter III, accompanists, and William Heard, soloist.
Resting in God’s Presence
The scripture reading is led by members of Thornapple Covenant Church here in Grand Rapids: Elise Hartmann, Bob Kingma, Ashlyn Korpak, Joy-Elizabeth Lawrence, and Casey McIntosh. Music is led by Jorge Lockward, from the New York office of the General Board of Global Ministries for the United Methodist Church, by West Michigan high school string players who have met today to form an honors orchestra led by Calvin faculty members John Varineau and David Reimer. They are joined by soprano Awet Andemicael from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, CICW accompanist Norma de Waal Malefyt, and Calvin College student, Kelsey Stark, oboe.
Cry for Help
The scripture reading is led by CICW staff members Kristen Verhulst and María Cornou. The music is led by David Bailey and the Urban Doxology band from Richmond, Virginia, and Tom Jennings from Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.
Victory and Vindication
The scripture reading is led by current and former CICW staff members Anne Zaki (Cairo, Egypt), Eric Sarwar (Karachi, Pakistan, currently studying at Calvin Seminary), and Kai Ton Chau (Grand Rapids). The prayer is led by Anne Zaki. The music in this section is led by Eric Sarwar, with supporting musicians from Church of the Servant in Grand Rapids: Greg Scheer, Erin De Young, Maria Poppen, Susan Cleveland, as well as by the orchestra.
The Light of Creation, The Light of the Law
The scripture reading is led by members of Thornapple Covenant Church. The music is led by the orchestra, joined by Awet Andemicael and James Buswell, concert violinist who taught for many years at the New England Conservatory of Music, as well as by a student-led choir from the Korean Student Association at Calvin College.
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.
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.
While Christian baptism is predominantly a transcultural practice, distinct faith communities worldwide experience this initiation rite through unique contextualizing elements. Join us in a fascinating conversation with Christian leaders from five continents about the rich cultural diversity reflected in baptismal liturgies, imagery, and practices, and how they shape Christian life in their contexts.
