1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Some of the worship practices of early Christians --100-400 A.D.-- were strikingly different but perhaps more biblical than ours today.
The rhetorician James Winans once wrote, "A speech is not merely an essay standing on its hind legs." Yet many speakers—including preachers—write their messages in a style better suited for reading rather than hearing. To be an effective oral communicator, one must learn to write for the ear, not the eye.
Paul's letter to the Ephesians demonstrates that worship is an excellent way of expressing the deepest theological teachings and also of integrating them to everyday life. Actually, Ephesians shows that life is an act of worship. This session opened up this compelling book not only for preachers and teachers, but for all who long for a deeper biblical perspective on worship.
The way we talk in worship affects the way we talk in the rest of our lives, and vice versa. Worship and daily life are integrally connected—a connection which is fundamental for developing healthy approaches to both worship and preaching.
How engaged are the worshipers in your congregation? Do they tend to function as observers or active participants?
In this Symposium session, we explore cultural and liturgical issues our brothers and sisters are addressing, especially in Africa and Asia - for example, intergenerational and multicultural worship; use of indigenous songs, instruments, and dance; use of technology; challenges of religious pluralism. We explore how God is building his church in ways that move us all closer to the unity we have in Christ even as we celebrate the gifts of cultural diversity.
This workshop provided practical ideas for including persons with disabilities in Sunday School classes, youth groups, and adult small groups, based on the speaker's book of the same title.
This session drew upon biblical passages and confessional and liturgical texts from the Reformed tradition to demonstrate how Christian baptism is a communal, not an individual, sacrament.
This conversation between spiritual friends explored the art of writing, hospitality, and the pastoral life. Presented at the 2006 Calvin Symposium on Worship.
The small choices preachers make provide hearers not only with a better understanding of the text, but also with a keen understanding of the preacher.
Preaching extemporaneously, without a manuscript, can enliven delivery and improve communication. This session will explain and demonstrate how to carefully make the transition from text to outline, and then from outline to embodied delivery.
Becoming a worship-centered congregation is a profound cultural shift for some congregations and often takes as much as ten years. Using leadership theory and theories of transformational learning, this workshop explored the dynamics of congregational change, resistance to change, and the role of congregational leaders in always pointing toward the worship of God as the church's highest calling.
