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On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
You might not think often about the land your church sits on or the community beyond your church property. But finding ways to learn local history and include it in worship may help church members become more faithful disciples, more meaningfully draw near to God, and reach people who are disconnected from the church.
Learning from prayer practices of the Reformation era can help congregations and families today deepen their faith, piety, and responses to current events.
Anabaptist Worship Network used a Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship to host a songwriting retreat. A diverse group of Anabaptist songwriters gathered for three days to collaboratively write songs, raising questions around copyright justice and remuneration.
Even when denominations try their best to compile culturally sensitive hymnals, not every congregation can or should use that hymnal. That’s why Anabaptist Worship Network works to include more people and cultures in creating new songs for use in worship.
En un ambiente de confianza, respeto, y celebración, culminó el Programa de Becas para Congregaciones Hispanas que organizó el Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) en la ciudad de Orlando, Florida.
Have you ever gone home from worship disappointed that the preacher or Sunday homily didn’t seem very effective? Recent research reveals that listeners can help preachers help their peers grow closer to God.
Whether churches call it a message, teaching, homily, or sermon, there’s often a big gap between what preachers think they are saying and what listeners hear. Preaching can become more effective when ministers, priests, deacons, and laypeople learn how to talk together. This two-way preaching conversation requires a cultural shift.
Hacer un culto de adoración trascendente para un grupo compuesto por personas de diferentes etnias, culturas, y generaciones fue el desafío que se enfrentó el liderazgo de la Iglesia Metodista Unida Nuevo Pacto de Sebring, Florida.
La Iglesia Comunidad Cristiana Nuevo Pacto CBF (Compañerismo Bautista Cooperativo), es una comunidad emergente que inició de sus actividades en abril del 2020, justo cuando el mundo entero detuvo sus actividades por la pandemia de COVID-19.
When a congregation in Long Beach, California, designed a psalms retreat as part of a worship renewal grant, they had no idea how it would grow and blossom. Engaging with psalms of confession, praise and thanksgiving, lament, and hope and trust has helped hundreds of Christians develop a new language of prayer.
Church retreats, church governance meetings, and church small groups require honesty, vulnerability, and transparency to collectively draw closer to God. Psychologist Keith M. Douds explains how and when to step in with grace and preserve safety so that everyone has a chance to share and be listened to.
Dwelling in the Word is a tool for helping people of all ages—even children—to read and reflect on the Bible together. Doing so helps them to see the Bible as an ongoing story in which God invites us to participate in God’s mission for the world.
