Psalm Festival Program
As part of its 2025-26 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.
November 2, 2026
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2 min read
Come, O Emmanuel: A Service of Lessons and Carols
Since at least the eighth century, Christians have prepared to celebrate the birth of Christ by singing the O Antiphons. These seven songs, or antiphons, function as prayers asking for the Savior to come soon. Each employs a different name for the Messiah found in the Old Testament. In modern times, the O Antiphons are most commonly sung as the seven verses of the Advent hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The seven O Antiphons and their names for the Messiah guide this Lessons and Carols service.
November 2, 2026
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8 min read
Thinking about Catholic Diversity as a Migrant Church (Salsa Style!)
How does one think about diversity as a Christian or as the church? How might working with and among—or even just thinking about—migrant neighbors contribute to our ecclesial identity? The language of catholicity allows us to imagine the unity of the church not in a monocultural way, but rather as a community inclusive of people of all languages and ethnicities. Migration and migrants today especially remind the church of its own catholic identity. How does the church's identity as a migrant church foster a healthy catholicity in the church's worship? This session will include the use of salsa music to invite participation in a more catholic way of life, asking what multicultural, cross cultural, and intercultural ways of being a church on the move might look like in worship.
September 14, 2026
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79 min video
Bilingual Korean-English Songs for Congregational Singing
Songs from the people of Korea can deeply enrich your liturgy whether you have Korean-speaking members in your congregation or not. This workshop will introduce a variety of bilingual Korean-English songs that have been newly translated in the past few years as well as strategies to lead them effectively in your own worshiping context.
September 14, 2026
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70 min video
Q&A with Worship Leader Kimberly Williams
Join us after the University worship service (chapel) for a conversation with worship leader Kimberly Williams. We will explore topics related to worship leading and planning for diverse congregations, leading teams, songwriting and recording, and mentoring women in ministry.
September 14, 2026
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68 min video
Psalms We Love to Sing
Modern song writers are continually setting the psalms to new music for band-led worship contexts. Join Paul Ryan, Nate Glasper, and the Calvin University Worship Apprentices to sing contemporary psalm settings sung in public worship at Calvin.
August 7, 2026
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85 min video
My Soul Speaks Out to the Living God
Join this excursion through compositional method, use of text, melodic creation, vocal range, and inner insights. The session includes the presentation of new psalm settings by Rawn Harbor.
August 7, 2026
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90 min video
O Rest, My Soul: Campus Choir & Woodlawn Choir
This chapel service is a festival of psalms centered on Psalm 42. This service originally took place as part of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship’s “Dwelling in the Psalms” year. This event was a partnership between the Calvin University Campus Choir, under the direction of Dr. Mark Stover, and the Woodlawn Church choir, directed by Chan Gyu Jang.
July 28, 2026
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1 min read
The Voice of the Psalms: Sounding Scripture in Contemporary Contexts
This panel considers the psalms as a source of artistic and theological engagement, exploring how musicians and songwriters draw from these ancient texts to navigate the emotional complexity of the human experience. Through diverse musical approaches and cultural perspectives, the panelists will consider how the psalms continue to resonate in modern contexts by offering language for lament and praise, shaping liturgical practice, and fostering resilience in both personal and communal experience.
July 28, 2026
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71 min video
Singing the Psalms as a Spiritual Practice for Resilience
In this workshop, the McGrath family and Kiran Young Wimberly will discuss how spiritual practices, particularly singing the psalms, can build resilience in our lives. In a retreat-like experience, interwoven with psalms set to Celtic music, we will sing together as we reflect on what brings us joy, strength, and hope so we can flourish in the face of daily challenges.
July 27, 2026
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75 min video
Deeper Church: Preaching and Worship to Shape Us as Communities of Tenderness (A Jazz Homily)
An evening of music and spoken word with Mark Glanville, accompanied by a jazz trio, reflecting on how preaching and worship can form deeper churches in a post-Christian context.
July 8, 2026
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78 min video
Local Songwriting as CSA: Support Your Local Psalm Grower!
Riffing on the themes of community-supported agriculture (CSA), Cardiphonia and Bellwether Arts have been partnering with homegrown liturgical artists to create local, organically produced fruits of the psalms through song, art, and prayer—community-supported artistry. Since 2015 they’ve been on a journey of seasonal engagement through which they have lovingly harvested almost two hundred songs, dozens of original artworks, and other liturgical produce. In this workshop you will hear from a variety of growers who sow and reap in West Michigan in various soils and sediments.
May 28, 2026
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81 min video
