Cultural Diversity

Ethnodoxology: Calling all peoples to worship in their heart language

The new field of ethnodoxology affirms that there's no single best way to worship. A feature story about how God has gifted each culture with heart language and heart music rooted in a particular place, ethnicity, or experience.

February 10, 2009 | 11 min read
Paved Roads

“Be still and know that I am God.” That is the exhortation we hear from God in Psalms 46:10. But how possible is this in our modern technological world? What does it mean to be still before God? I used to think I understood

January 1, 2009 | 7 min read
Postmodernism, Worship, and Evangelism

While we often associate "postmodernism" with the explosion of communications technology or the outlandish claims of "deconstruction," this workshop suggested that postmodernism might also mean a return to symbols, icons, and ritual. With this in mind, this workshop explored the shape of worship as evangelism in postmodernity.

January 1, 2009 | 59 min listen

Symposium 2009 - Leadership from Inside Out

In this session, RCA general secretary Wes Granberg-Michaelson explored congregational leadership that is built on and extends from the inner spiritual lives of leaders, and explored how this relates to the dynamics of organizational change. The presentation drew from his book Leadership from Inside Out.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen
Worship, Suffering, and Justice

This workshop explored the phenomenon of vibrant worship in communities in which there is much suffering, and engages participants in discussions around meaningful worship in such settings. It also explored how social justice can be part of worship while keeping the focus on God.

January 1, 2009 | 56 min listen

Worship that Renews the Me and Transforms the Us

Drawing from their diverse ministry experience, Jim and Rose Dekker --in Latin American ecumenical and spiritual direction-- and Jonathan Bradford --in a U.S. urban context-- explored the biblical concepts of knowing Christ the servant and serving Christ the Sovereign Lord. All of life must really be worship.

January 1, 2009 | 55 min listen

Contextualizing Worship: My Journey to Worship God as a Navajo Christian

When the first Christian missionaries came to the Navajo people they unfortunately brought more than the Gospel. They also brought the message that God could only be worshiped through the Western culture. This workshop contained a collection of stories and lessons learned in my journey to understand what it means to be Navajo and Christian.

January 1, 2009 | 75 min listen
Why Read Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) on Worship?

Abraham Kuyper's accomplishments were many and he had a stellar career. He served as pastor, theologian, founder of the Free University in Amsterdam, chief organizer of a Calvinist political party, prime minister of the Netherlands. He is, however, less well-known for another major contribution-his writings on worship and liturgy which are still relevant for the church today and now appear in an English translation as Our Worship.

January 1, 2009 | 61 min listen