1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
A panel of Calvin Seminary faculty with a variety of research and ministry experiences will reflect on the practice of lament. What are the different faces of lament? What is the goal of lament? How can pastoral leaders facilitate lament? What does lament reveal about the nature of God and what it means to be human? Those attending the panel will also be able to raise questions and join the discussion.
Come learn and sing through a selection of choral pieces for use in worship. Packets provided by GIA Publications, Inc.
In this session, Te-Li Lau will contrast the current culture's understanding of shame with the biblical framework, suggest ways to rehabilitate our fractured understanding, and draw out the implications of a renewed understanding for public worship.
How can mentors help students discern the leadership roles God has called them to in the church and on campus? In this seminar, Joanna Wigboldy will walk through the process she uses in the ministry leadership class at Calvin University to help students find ways to practice leadership, build community, and love the church. The seminar will center the voices and stories of Calvin students who have been through this discernment process and will honestly explore the ways it helped them enter specific leadership roles as well as what learning gaps they had when they entered those roles. Responses by Angela Williams Gorrell.
Join the twenty-minute University worship service and then gather with the Calvin University Worship Apprentices, who will reflect on their chapel planning process and share lessons learned about leading congregational singing.
Every Sunday, thousands of worshiping communities in the United States and all over the world rely completely or partially on contemporary praise and worship [CP&W] in corporate worship. How has CP&W evolved, what are the movement’s main trends, and how is it experienced around the world? How is CP&W shaping Christians’ understanding of God, themselves, and the world? Join us to learn from renowned scholars in the field.
This panel will discuss ongoing research on the practice of lamentation in the Black church tradition as a formative pedagogical tool for both theological education and the broader community. Special attention will be given to the value of embodied learning with a cohort of seminarians, religious practitioners, scholars, and faith leaders who have visited sites where massacres and atrocities against Black life have occurred.
The psalms were written to be sung. But if your church favors guitar and band-led modern worship, how do you sing the psalms? Songwriter Wendell Kimbrough answers this question through the use of short antiphonal psalm refrains that are singable and memorable for his congregation and provide a musical entry point into a psalm. They have become a beloved staple in his home congregation’s worship. In this workshop, Wendell will share some favorite psalm refrains, discuss the mechanics of their use, and respond to questions from attendees. The goal is for all attendees to go home with a plan for regularly incorporating musical psalms into their worship services.
What makes a song singable? Meet with Paul Ryan and Wendell Kimbrough as they discuss the morning worship service held in the chapel [10:30–10:50 a.m.] and the qualities of congregational song that help the church join its voices as one.
This session is for organists, aspiring organists, the curious, and the inquisitive. No one person has as many sounds at their disposal [or as many keys and buttons!] as an organist. Let's discover new sounds together in this session by listening to new organ music for worship, learning ways to incorporate the organ into your services [even if you don't have a regular organist], and exploring some of the many tonal possibilities the organ has to offer.
This panel discussion will explore misunderstood or neglected scriptural and theological themes related to Christian formation.
What have we been learning about ministry through the pandemic? What benefits, strengths, virtues, and gifts have surprised us? Our panelists for this session are listeners and learners—people listening for what local ministry leaders are saying and for what is going on under the surface, even things not explicitly spoken. We'll learn from their listening and then receive some tips about how all of us can be more attentive in our listening practices.
