1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
A worship service from the 2021 online Calvin Symposium on Worship.
Participants:
Opening Words: Emily Brink, Kai Ton Chau, Dale Cooper, Cindy DeBoer, Will Groenendyk, SooA Hong, Satrina Reid, Paul Ryan, Kathy Smith, Noel Snyder, Kristen Verhulst, Joanna Wigboldy;
Opening Song: “No Nothing”: Calvin University Gospel Choir; Nate Glasper, Jr., director; Lisa Sung, music director, piano; Katherine Beidler and Brigid Lally, soloists; Joel VanZanten, reader; Grand Rapids, Michigan
Statement of Unity: Apostles’ Creed, Faith Church, Dyer, Indiana
Song: “Nothing to Fear,” The Porter's Gate
Scripture: Psalm 84, Kathy Smith and Elizabeth Bajema
Psalm Prayer, Beatrice Wigboldy
Song: “Do Not Be Afraid,” Calvin University Capella, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Prayers for the World, Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim, Janice McLean-Farrell, and Leopoldo Sanchez
Choral Response: “Neither Death nor Life,” Virtual Choir for the Calvin Symposium of Worship 2021;
Soloists: Elizabeth Canfield, Ivan Manoraj, Luke DeVries (English); Sa El Lee (Korean); Yvette Lau (Cantonese); Carlos Lemagne (Spanish); Cindy Tuna (Indonesian)
Instrumentalists: Marty Haugen (piano); Glen Okonoski (percussion); Tom Good (guitar); Kevin Panepento (guitar); Jay Round (bass guitar)
Editing: Glen Okonoski and Jay Round
Blessing: Scott Hoezee, Biblical Hebrew, Ann Plantinga Kaptyn, French, Kai Ton Chau, Cantonese Chinese, Elizabeth Conde-Frasier, Spanish, Joanna Wigboldy, English, Kathleen Turner, dance
Location:
Order of Worship and Copyrights:
Opening Words: From the Heidelberg Catechism Question and Answer 27, 28, and June 1-2
Opening Song: “No Nothing”
Text and Music: Regi Stone & Michael Popham © 2003 Experience Worship Music Publishing
Used by permission. CCLI #400063.
Statement of Unity: Apostles’ Creed
Song: “Nothing to Fear”
Text and Music: Audrey Assad, Isaac Wardell, Paul Zach © 2019 Integrity Worship Music
Used by permission. CCLI #400063.
Scripture: Psalm 84
Psalm Prayer
Song: “Do Not Be Afraid”
Text: Gerard Markland © Kevin Mayhew, Ltd.
Music: Philip W. J. Stopford © 2015 Birnamwood Publications, a division of MorningStar Music Publishers
All rights reserved. OneLicense.net A-703303.
Prayers for the World
Choral Response: “Neither Death nor Life”
Text and Music: Romans 8; Marty Haugen © 2001 GIA Publications, Inc.; Korean tr. Chan Gyu Jang; Cantonese tr. Yvette Lau; Spanish tr. Ron Krisman and María Eugenia Cornou; Indonesian tr. Ester Widiasih
All rights reserved. OneLicense.net A-703303.
Blessing
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
