1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Three church groups started out as separate congregations sharing one building. Now regularly-scheduled joint worship helps them see themselves as members of one body in Christ.
Worshiping regularly with a congregation culturally dissimilar from yours is challenging but worth it. Understanding these challenges can also help you change worship to better include different cultural groups within your church.
In June 2018 Vital Worship Grants recipients gathered at Calvin College for three days of worship, learning, and sharing together.
A growing multitude of lively conversations rapidly drowned out the live jazz music as a crowd of clergy, academics, and community members poured into Prince Conference Center’s Great Hall.
John 17 records Jesus’ prayer for unity “so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them.” It is a powerful witness when churches model unity within diversity. This witness requires intention and prayer.
Preachers who interpret scripture without paying attention to cultural, ethnic, and other differences in their congregation miss out on opportunities to build bridges to their listeners’ lives.
To become more multicultural, congregations must help members discern differences between biblical doctrines and cultural biases.
Sometimes it is easier to use the Bible to look back at what God has done than to see what God is working toward. First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, includes testimonies in worship so that people can see how their lives are part of a story God is still telling.
Celebrating its 150th anniversary led First Baptist Church of McMinnville, Oregon, into a practice of storytelling and testimony in worship. They learned how stories cross boundaries and time and connect people with God’s big story.
After becoming a seminary professor in Egypt in 2013, Anne Zaki discovered two things about preaching that she hadn’t learned in the North American context.
How and where a church choir enters, stands, and moves can make a difference in how deeply a congregation engages in singing and other parts of worship.
A list of presenters from the 2018 Symposium on Worship.
