1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
James Falzone explains why being both a professional musician and church music director makes him better at each.
Residents of senior living facilities often are treated as recipients of worship services presented by visiting groups. Nancy Foran offers an alternative design to receive and honor the wisdom of older adults.
Your students or small group can use hymns and Christian songs to design meaningful personalized worship for older adults living in their own homes or in care facilities.
The infamous “worship wars” typically pit “traditional” versus “contemporary” worship and music. But what if “tradition” and “innovation” actually belong together?
The Psalms—the Holy Spirit’s inspired songbook right in the middle of the Bible—are a rich source of insight and inspiration for songwriters, singers, and worshipers of all kinds.
Musicians who lead worship are not merely performers, directors, coordinators, or music industry peddlers. We are primarily pastoral people—priestly leaders who shape the prayers and acclamations of God’s people.
In the age of the internet, we all have access to hundreds of thousands of songs. Hundreds more are written each week. There are dozens of remarkable songs written that are biblically faithful, musically excellent, theologically robust, liturgically fitting, and singable by ordinary people—but they can be hard to find!
Volume in worship can be a touchy subject, one full of tensions. However, by looking at it through the lens of Universal Design and applying this principle to volume, we can see the many tensions in play and work together to glorify the Lord and lead God's people in song.
Sometimes the Bible rejoices when joined by song and sound! In this workshop, we experience a variety of simple ways music can help us receive the scripture in worship with our heads and our hearts.
This workshop is designed to explore the riches of Lutheran hymnody for those, like Professor Noll, who are not themselves Lutherans. We take a quick historical journey to note important landmarks.
Explore musical settings of the biblical Psalms shaped by a black gospel idiom, the power of call-and-response approaches to singing, and a deep commitment to engage the full congregation in singing as prompted by soloists or choirs.
So many worship conversations go awry because people and congregations don’t know how to talk about what they do or value in worship. Both Christian and non-Christian scholars can help.
