1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Ensemble:
ONE: Hallelujah!
TWO: Hallelujah!
ALL: Hallelujah!
ONE: Praise God in the holy temple;
(THREE create a temple tableau.)
TWO: praise God in the mighty firmament.
(FOUR circle around the temple tableau, turn outward, and raise their arms to the sky.)
ONE: Praise God for mighty acts;
(One member of THREE steps forward and parts the circle of FOUR as if they are the Red Sea. The remaining members of THREE walk through the “dry ground.”)
TWO: praise God for exceeding greatness.
(FOUR take on various positions of being struck with awe and compelled to worship.)
ONE: Praise God with trumpet sound;
(THREE pretend to play trumpets while making trumpet noises with their mouths.)
TWO: praise God with lyre and harp.
(FOUR pretend to play harps and lyres while the piano does a slide.)
ONE: Praise God with tambourine and dance;
(THREE do various dance moves. A twirl. A leap. A skip.)
TWO: praise God with strings and pipe.
(FOUR pretend to play flutes, recorders, etc. while whistling, if able.)
ONE: Praise God with resounding cymbals;
(THREE mime clashing symbols, complete with vocalized cymbal noises.)
TWO: praise God with loud clanging cymbals.
(FOUR clash their own imaginary symbols, trying to out-do THREE with their volume.
Some from FOUR continue to clang symbols. Others gradually join in with their own motions and sounds of praise until it becomes a worshipful cacophony—cymbals, trumpet, harp, dance, pipes, temple, firmament, mighty deeds, awe, etc. ONE and TWO speak scattered refrains of “Praise the Lord!” All members of THREE and FOUR that do not have an instrument also speak their own “Praise the Lord!” refrain.
Once it reaches full worshipful cacophony, one by one each member begins to slowly breathe in and out until they are breathing in unison as they continue their motions of worship.
When it is time, everyone freezes.)
ALL: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah!
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.
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.
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?
