1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Bringing daily joys and struggles into worship helped renew worship for Gerardo Oberman and others in Reformed Churches in Argentina.
Many Latin American countries, such as Bolivia and Peru, have large indigenous populations. Argentina has few indigenous people left. The vast majority of people in Argentina trace their family ancestry to Europe, especially Spain and Italy.
Sunday after Sunday, year after year, young people across the country participate in worship.
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.
Worship change works best when worship and education leaders work together, and studying worship together can lead more people to participate fully in worship. A feature story about worship formation and education in the church.
The session presented several practical tools for building a church community that welcomes and embraces diversity in membership. Highlighting examples from churches including members with disabilities, this session offered ideas that allow people to see one another through God's eyes.
The Psalms have been a great source of inspiration for generations of Christians but children seldom get the chance to interact with more than a handful of Psalms in a meaningful way. This workshop will explore how we can help children do this and why it matters.
This panel of Worship Renewal Grant recipients --from First Christian Reformed Church, Hamilton, Ont.; Eliot Presbyterian, Lowell, Mass.; Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, Rehoboth, N.M.; and Bridgeway Community Church, Haledon, N.J.-- told their stories of how they are bringing together worshipers of different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. They offered practical ideas of how visual art, music, and testimony can help people honor their heritage and grow in unity.
This presentation addressed some of the wonderful possibilities of working well together as well as some of the pitfalls in the assumptions we make about sound in worship.
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.
This session featured stories, prayers, and insights from the first year of the Stockbridge Boiler Room, a simple Christian community that practices a daily rhythm of prayer, study, and celebration while caring actively for the poor and the lost.
Practical suggestions, strategies, and resources to encourage vibrant, meaningful worship with teens were presented in this session.
