1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
This syllabus is for a course that deals with leading praise bands. Students will be introduced to contemporary worship of all styles, learn how to build quality congregational repertoire, build skills in worship planning, gain expertise in arranging music for contemporary worship ensembles, and develop skills in rehearsing and leading worship groups.
This course was shaped to mirror the way that a music minister experiences his or her involvement with the church, from searching for a job to the nuts and bolts of the ministry to leaving a position. Each step along the way the students completed projects that dealt with a different area of ministry.
This course syllabus follows a broad overview of both world music and ethnomusicological methods.
This syllabus follows the outline of the required text, focusing on the movements of worship and spirituality in the various paradigms – the ancient, medieval, Reformation, and modern. Special attention is given to the cultural context of each paradigm and the impact of culture on the worship and spirituality of the period.
This course teaches the fundamentals of guitar-playing to those worship leaders with little or no experience. It started with simple chords, because most guitarists in praise bands and pop music focus on playing chords, and then moves on to more difficult techniques.
This is a syllabus for a study of prominent theological writings from the Reformed tradition on nature and purpose of public worship. A course like this might include study of documents by Zwingli, Calvin, Hodge, Nevin, Barth, and von Allmen with an examination of how the enduring themes in these writings might be reflected in the practice of public worship in today’s cultural environment.
The course that follows this syllabus would introduce the students to the interdisciplinary field known as liturgical studies. The course would explore liturgical history, liturgical theology, the place of ritual in the life of faith, as well as the application of a praxis-theory-praxis model to liturgical issues.
This course prepares students to design and lead worship services in a variety of contexts. Building on a foundation of establishing a philosophical framework in which to design and implement worship, specific elements and design forms or structures will be presented, experienced, analyzed and evaluated against the philosophical framework.
This course guided by this syllabus would explore the notion that worship and spirituality correspond with Christian truth. The Scripture and common creeds of the early church are studied to reveal the overarching Christian narrative of creation, incarnation and re-creation. Worship and spirituality are understood within this context, the meta-narrative of faith, commonly known as the Christian world view.
This is a syllabus for a study of prominent theological writings from the Reformed tradition on nature and purpose of public worship. A course like this might include study of documents by Zwingli, Calvin, Hodge, Nevin, Barth, and von Allmen with an examination of how the enduring themes in these writings might be reflected in the practice of public worship in today’s cultural environment.
This course prepares students to design and lead worship services in a variety of contexts. Building on a foundation of establishing a philosophical framework in which to design and implement worship, specific elements and design forms or structures will be presented, experienced, analyzed and evaluated against the philosophical framework.
This course guided by this syllabus would explore the notion that worship and spirituality correspond with Christian truth. The Scripture and common creeds of the early church are studied to reveal the overarching Christian narrative of creation, incarnation and re-creation. Worship and spirituality are understood within this context, the meta-narrative of faith, commonly known as the Christian world view.
