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On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Roman Williams is a former pastor and church planter who now teaches sociology at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He specializes in using visual methods to research the sociology of religion.
Praying for the worldwide church was a priority at the 2014 Calvin Symposium on Worship in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Leaders from many nations described how to pray for their churches and fellow citizens. Three of them, all Presbyterian pastors, also gave brief interviews.
Want a no-cost, non-controversial way to renew worship for all ages in your congregation? Start praying for the worldwide church.
These resources will help you combine songs and prayers so your whole congregation can pray together for global Christians and international issues.
God's Word makes a breath-taking confession about followers of Jesus: they have become resurrected with their risen Lord.
Language that folks wouldn’t dream of using in face-to-face conversation has now become, sad to say, a normal part of their careless, coarsened interaction. How do you reduce the level of shrill and inappropriate talk and behavior?
St. Paul commended it as a resurrection virtue. A humble person is within a millimeter of becoming like Christ himself, who “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped… but humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross!”
You might picture COCHUSA and Vineyard congregations as too different to find common ground. But Cudjoe, Park, and Rethmeier found productive ways to discuss worship together.
Gentleness ought to be an obvious character quality of every person who bears the Savior’s name. Christian leaders are not exempt. Wielding power over others as they are called to do, leaders are susceptible to treating their followers harshly and inappropriately. But Christian leaders who are gentle know that leadership is best expressed by those who show they care about those they lead.
An annotated bibliography of resources useful to reach all ages of a congregation.
Patience-filled Christian saints keep cultivating their relationship with the Spirit and keep praying continually for his help in showing makrothumia everywhere and always toward all others, no matter how impatient and rude, no matter how grumbling and irritating those others at times may be.
Forgiving: it’s a challenging practice—perhaps no other command of Jesus is more difficult to obey. And it’s so counter-intuitive. Why give anyone a fresh start after he’s hurt you deeply? Why not just retaliate by knocking his block off?
