Apply for the Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Program to support and enhance Christian worship practices. We encourage proposals on universal design, cultural engagement, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and more. Two grant streams are available.
Join us for our Symposium on Worship and Summer Seminars. Engage in inspiring sessions, workshops, and intensive seminars to deepen your understanding and practice of Christian worship.
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. She’s also written articles, books, and other resources for laypeople exploring this Old Testament book, including Bearing God's Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Illustrated Exodus in Hebrew, and Encounter God in Exodus. Her commentary on Exodus for Baker Academic is expected to be published in 2027. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens.
The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin University advances Christian worship through resources, events, and grants. Since 1997, we have partnered with congregations and organizations to fulfill our mission.
Opportunities and Challenges for Pastoral Ministry in 2023
Published on
April 12, 2023
Video length
3 mins
Seven pastoral leaders—pastors, reconcilers, preachers, and scholars—offer insights from their unique contexts on the greatest opportunities and challenges for ministry work now.
Pastor Szabina Sztojka describes the ethnic conflict in Hungary, especially against the Roma people, and reflects on how Reformed church leaders and congregations face both opportunities and challenges in inclusion and welcome for all.
Preacher-scholar Brianna K. Parker reflects on the opportunities and challenges pastoral leaders face regarding data on worship practices and on how asking good questions and commissioning good research can be beneficial.
Author Latasha Morrison reflects on opportunities and challenges churches face in healing, equity, and reconciliation, specifically through the lens of discipleship and spiritual transformation.
Te-Li Lau on the Cultivation of Emotions in Worship
Professor Te-Li Lau reflects on the opportunity and challenge of cultivating and nurturing godly emotions in public worship and connecting them to scripture.
Professor Rolanda L. Ward challenges communities of faith to pause and consider the harm in our world and the role lamentation has in helping us work through these tragedies in everyday living.
Roadmap for the Rummage Sale: Latina/o Theology for Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Faith
“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.
The Voice of the Psalms: Sounding Scripture in Contemporary Contexts
This panel considers the psalms as a source of artistic and theological engagement, exploring how musicians and songwriters draw from these ancient texts to navigate the emotional complexity of the human experience. Through diverse musical approaches and cultural perspectives, the panelists will consider how the psalms continue to resonate in modern contexts by offering language for lament and praise, shaping liturgical practice, and fostering resilience in both personal and communal experience.
Singing the Psalms as a Spiritual Practice for Resilience
In this workshop, the McGrath family and Kiran Young Wimberly will discuss how spiritual practices, particularly singing the psalms, can build resilience in our lives. In a retreat-like experience, interwoven with psalms set to Celtic music, we will sing together as we reflect on what brings us joy, strength, and hope so we can flourish in the face of daily challenges.
Roadmap for the Rummage Sale: Latina/o Theology for Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Faith
“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.
The Voice of the Psalms: Sounding Scripture in Contemporary Contexts
This panel considers the psalms as a source of artistic and theological engagement, exploring how musicians and songwriters draw from these ancient texts to navigate the emotional complexity of the human experience. Through diverse musical approaches and cultural perspectives, the panelists will consider how the psalms continue to resonate in modern contexts by offering language for lament and praise, shaping liturgical practice, and fostering resilience in both personal and communal experience.
Singing the Psalms as a Spiritual Practice for Resilience
In this workshop, the McGrath family and Kiran Young Wimberly will discuss how spiritual practices, particularly singing the psalms, can build resilience in our lives. In a retreat-like experience, interwoven with psalms set to Celtic music, we will sing together as we reflect on what brings us joy, strength, and hope so we can flourish in the face of daily challenges.
Singing the Psalms as a Spiritual Practice for Resilience
In this workshop, the McGrath family and Kiran Young Wimberly will discuss how spiritual practices, particularly singing the psalms, can build resilience in our lives. In a retreat-like experience, interwoven with psalms set to Celtic music, we will sing together as we reflect on what brings us joy, strength, and hope so we can flourish in the face of daily challenges.
