1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Worshiping regularly with a congregation culturally dissimilar from yours is challenging but worth it. Understanding these challenges can also help you change worship to better include different cultural groups within your church.
How can churches be ready to both disciple and learn from people who come to faith in parachurch ministries?
What are the times proclaiming? What are the demographic shifts clamoring for our ministries?
Led by Erik W. Carter, this session focuses on ten dimensions of belonging and their salience to the inclusion of people with intellectual disability, autism, and other developmental disabilities in the full life of the church.
In this seminar, veteran practitioners discussed how mission-shaped preaching and sacramental life function as means of grace in their communities. Audience engaged a discussion that sees evangelism and robust worship as beautifully integrated elements of every congregation’s ministry.
This session featured insights from a variety of people who love to teach in ways that help people in ordinary congregations learn about worship, the arts, inclusion, and, ultimately, Jesus himself.
In this session, a panel of experienced mentors shared the models of mentoring used in their contexts, explored the implicit and explicit goals of each model, and explained how each model trains and equips mentors.
We hear a lot about using person-first language. Yet it is still common to label people with their mental health diagnosis. Christians and churches can offer another way to describe our common human identity.
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.
Worshiping outdoors and bringing nature into worship helped one church experience more connections between God’s creation, worship, and neighbors.
This once-aging, now-thriving Lutheran congregation became more comfortable with worship changes by using visuals and stories, reading books together, and sharing over meals.
Here are helpful suggestions for congregations who strive to include people across the full spectrum of abilities in their small group settings and beyond.
