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On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
You probably gather for worship with both lifelong worshipers and those new to the Bible. Jerry Sittser mines the history of Christian spirituality for nuggets that give life to all levels of worshipers.
Visual artists can help us start talking about major life issues that we don’t often acknowledge in worship.
Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. What does that mean for conversations about injustices, including racism, both in the U.S. and around the world. Steve Prince creates visual art that can help us start talking.
You’ve probably sung his “Shine, Jesus, Shine” and “Knowing You.” But his worship leading has changed since he wrote those songs.
As in the second century, people come to churches today not knowing much about Christianity. Discoveries about early church worship can help Protestants and Catholics disciple newcomers.
A few years ago, East End Fellowship, a multicultural Presbyterian congregation in Richmond, VA, started an urban songwriting internship and a gospel choir to reflect its congregational values of incarnation and reconciliation.
Maybe you heard her song “Try Again” on the TV drama Parenthood or NPR’s Morning Edition.
Twenty artists from North America and South Africa created “Between the Shadow and the Light: Artists’ Prophetic Responses to South Africa Today.”
The learning went both ways when two school communities decided to “dwell in the Psalms” for a year. Their Psalms-based creations revealed that the Spirit can work through kids and adults of any age to nourish faith.
Usually teachers give the homily during daily worship at Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, New Jersey. When the school asked every eighth grader to give a homily, the results surprised and blessed the whole community.
People who know how to make beautiful things with their hands are being welcomed to use their God-given gifts in worship and congregational life.
When strokes, illness or other challenges keep people from attending worship, they often fall off the congregation’s radar. Here are ideas for using visual arts to reconnect and include such people in worship and church life.
