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On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Weekly worship prepares congregations for the work of the week ahead in many different jobs and places. We all carry different burdens throughout the week and are given different tasks. This series of prayers written by Calvin University faculty and staff for people working in various professions can be adapted to fit the different occupations present in your congregation. As a Christian liberal arts institution, Calvin University prepares students not only for their different fields of calling, but to live as agents of renewal and citizens of God’s kingdom in their everyday work and living.
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.
Weekly worship prepares congregations for the work of the week ahead in many different jobs and places. We all carry different burdens throughout the week and are given different tasks. This series of prayers written by Calvin University faculty and staff for people working in various professions can be adapted to fit the different occupations present in your congregation. As a Christian liberal arts institution, Calvin University prepares students not only for their different fields of calling, but to live as agents of renewal and citizens of God’s kingdom in their everyday work and living.
Dozens of Vital Worship, Vital Preaching grant awards will support worship renewal projects for teacher-scholars and worshiping communities.
Experienced academic, church, and business leader will guide CICW into its next chapter by expanding its ongoing work and partnerships in the study and practice of worship.
An annotated research guide from the field of geography, exploring the relevance of place, space, and human/environment interactions for the study of worship practices.
Daily work, paid and unpaid, consumes our lives, energy, and minds—even when we are in church. Here are ways to plan worship so people see themselves and their work as instruments of God.
Universal design and Vertical Habits help create church worship that touches all our senses and is accessible to all worshipers.
Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants support worship renewal projects for worshiping communities and teacher-scholars.
A Bethel University grant project blessed Catholics and Protestants in the greater South Bend area of Northern Indiana. It used Richard Foster’s six streams of Christian tradition to create Via Crucis, an experience of the stations of the cross with visual art, music, poetry, and more.
Want to help your community spend more time with the psalms? With so many resources to choose from, how do you find the right ones for your context? The team at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) is here to help. We keep this page updated with our top recommendations.
Scholar Kai Ton Chau makes the case that churches should support worship leaders by giving them opportunities to learn and grow in their jobs.
