Music/Song

Renewed: Mary’s Song (Our King of Peace)

Wendell Kimbrough’s setting of Mary’s Song captures the wonder, fear, and obedience of Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message. The song is a perfect fit for Advent, Christmas, and Lessons and Carols services.

December 6, 2017 | 11 min video
Born to Die, Born to Rise 2017

This service of Lessons and Carols from 2017 celebrates Christmas by proclaiming the Easter Gospel: "Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!"

December 1, 2017 | 13 min read
Renewed: Ready My Heart

What if we thought about Christ’s birth as an ongoing reality, rather than a one-time event? That’s just what Lois Shuford’s haunting Advent song “Ready My Heart” does: it helps us prepare our hearts for Christ to dwell in us every day.

November 27, 2017 | 10 min video

A Conversation with David Crowder

View this conversation with pastoral musician David Crowder and Noel Snyder, program manager at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.

November 14, 2017 | 27 min video

Praise or Noisy Gong?: A Musicologist's Vision for Loving Your Neighbor

Differences in musical tastes, aesthetics and priorities are notoriously contentious issues for congregations and ministries to navigate.

July 6, 2017 | 55 min listen
Worship Songs about Care for Creation

Caring about God’s good creation includes lamenting whatever harms it and joining God’s mission to make all things new. Songs from around the world explore these ideas.

June 15, 2017 | 5 min read
Worship Resources for Creation Care

We confess that God created heaven and earth and everything in it. We sing that this is our Father’s world. Yet, billions of people suffer in places where so much is no longer bright and beautiful. This worship resource guide will help your community plan services that honor our Creator, who invites us to join in caring for the whole creation.

June 14, 2017 | 17 min read

Worship Resources for the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church on October 31, 1517. This worship resource guide will help your community plan services of grace and truth as you commemorate the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation or plan worship for a Reformation Sunday.

March 31, 2017 | 13 min read
Introducing Songs from Other Cultures: Alfredo Colman

Ethnomusicologist Alfredo Colman encourages musicians who lead congregational songs from other cultures to engage with someone from that culture in order to understand and find ways in introduce songs in worship that respect and honor God and the culture.

March 27, 2017 | 3 min video