1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
An index of service outlines from past Lessons and Carols services, performed by Calvin University ensembles.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
This conference, part of CICW’s year of dwelling in the psalms, takes place February 5–6, 2026. Worship services and breakout sessions will explore the many ways the biblical psalms form, encourage, and inspire Christians in their public worship and daily life.
As part of its year of Dwelling in the Psalms, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is providing support to worshiping communities throughout the United States and Canada to host a public psalm festival worship event that features congregational singing based on Psalms. We encourage using the resource Psalms for All Seasons: A Complete Psalter for Worship (Brazos and Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2012) and other psalm resources of your choosing.
Scholar Kai Ton Chau makes the case that churches should support worship leaders by giving them opportunities to learn and grow in their jobs.
A sacred music grant project helped Catholic parishioners from many ethnicities—Anglo, Eritrean, Filipino, Latino, Nigerian, Vietnamese, and more—experience the awe and mystery of faith and God.
Pastors of three Hispanic churches will share what they learned from experiences implementing congregational projects related to the development of new understandings and practices of worship and preaching.
What is creativity, and why do we still need to talk about it? Join Sandra McCracken in a conversation on faith, imagination, and creativity.
Musical collaboration in worship can be rewarding: it can build relationships, enrich the musical life of a congregation, and add more colors, timbres, and textures.
An emerging initiative to translate contemporary Korean worship songs into English is yielding fruitful questions and collaborations. The project is building ecumenical and generational community while introducing English speakers to Korean Christians’ ardent commitment to God, both personally and communally.
Korean Christians worldwide enjoy contemporary worship songs by Korean composers, but these are seldom sung in the main Sunday liturgies of Korean Protestant churches. An emerging initiative to translate Korean heart songs to English can unite different worshiping generations and cultures. This initiative can also help Korean and English-speaking churches identify, appreciate, and question their cultural views on worship.
Not many churches in Africa or elsewhere often include songs about social justice in worship. Kenyan scholar and musician Reuben Kigame believes that re-examining what the Bible says about justice and the good news should shift what we define as music appropriate for worship.
