1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Sharing food is fundamental to human well-being.
Rather than attempting unity in our services through a commonality of style or form, how much richer and spiritually nourishing to use a biblical or theological theme as a unifying principle. This approach allows for the use of a rich variety of forms and styles, and gives time to focus on and respond to an aspect of God and his truth in a way that is edifying and serves a catechetical function over the long run.
This session explored some of the Bible's most fundamental teaching about worship, with an aim to equipping participants to teach this material in their own worshiping communities. This session is especially ideal for first-time Symposium attendees, as well as veterans who want to energize their own teaching ministries.
Although sermon preparation involves lots of steps-everything from selecting a text to embodying the sermon on Sunday-the search for meaningful illustrative material during the week is often the most frustrating.
This presentation was a lively conversation between Dallas Willard, professor at the University of Southern California, and Neal Plantinga, president of Calvin Theological Seminary.
Differing circumstances call forth different liturgical, theological and formational questions and inspire different congregational conversations about what we do in worship and why we do it. The workshop began with a PowerPoint presentation on the history of Christian worship and its relationship to spiritual formation in congregational life, concluding with 'where we are now.' Practices for spiritual formation were described in relation to the congregation's worship life.
In this presentation, religion journalist Richard Ostling analyzed trends in American faith and culture that worship leaders, pastors and ordinary worshipers need to be aware of.
A pastor/musician/liturgist from Argentina speaks of the many changes in worship in his country and throughout South America in the past generation, especially with respect to the influence of Pentecostalism. Since many Latin Americans have migrated in recent years to the United States, his perspective may well help North American churches understand better the complex dynamics of worship life in Central and South America.
"Where is God when it hurts?" "Why me, Lord?" For worship leaders, the time to prepare yourself and those who you love for times of disaster is before the disaster strikes. We will examine the impact disasters can have on people's lives and the spiritual preparation necessary to help you plan worship in ways that help you and your congregations face disasters in your own lives and the lives of those whom you love.
Those who work at the intersection of the visual arts and congregational life know from experience how rich, complex, rewarding, and often messy this area can be.
By looking at successfully diverse churches across the nation, this session revealed critical attitudes for cultivating a hospitable church, perspectives on recent immigration and the neighborhood church, and experiments on musical variety and global awareness.
How can we use video clips, pictures, and PowerPoint in ways that are creative, but more importantly, truly helpful for communicating the preached Word?
