Published on
February 14, 2013
In December 2012, Robert Nordling gave an extended interview. In this edited excerpt, he talks about humility as a key to Christian leadership and formation during college.

Robert Nordling is a conductor, composer, arranger, and educator who says, “Music has been a central part of my life since age three.” He has held music ministry positions in churches in California, Washington, and England. Nordling also serves as resource development specialist for orchestral music for Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

From 2002 through 2007, Nordling and his wife, Cherith Fee Nordling, worked as co-directors of Christian formation at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also served as Calvin’s orchestra conductor from 2002 through 2012. Nordling left Calvin to join his wife in metro Chicago, where she teaches theology at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.

In December 2012, Robert Nordling gave an extended interview. In this edited excerpt, he talks about humility as a key to Christian leadership and formation during college.

Nordling says that Christians have for centuries debated whether music is inherently powerful or whether powerful response to music comes from learned experience in a particular context. In this edited excerpt, he explains why humility and authenticity have always been necessary to resolve church music and worship disagreements.

Read about how Robert Nordling and Cherith Fee Nordling nurtured spiritual formation at Calvin College.

Also in this Series

Robert Nordling on Orchestras as Models of Christian Formation
Chris Snyder on Adoro Music Publishing

Showcase – Leadership in Times of Change

Recent Media Resources

Preaching and Peacemaking

What is the role of preaching in situations of deep conflict and division? How can preaching participate in the Christian call to peacemaking? This panel will explore the connections between gospel preaching and peacemaking efforts.

June 30, 2024
Receptive Ecumenism in Neighborhoods, Soccer Fields, and Workplaces

This session will explore how to talk about differences in Catholic and Protestant worship. Every time we talk with a neighbor, teammate, or coworker from a different Christian tradition about what we do in worship and why, we are practicing liturgical theology. 

June 30, 2024