1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Individuals and congregations sometimes despair while working for justice. Sometimes they forget that although God invites us to join in justice work, God remains in charge of changing the world. That’s why it’s crucial for justice seekers to stay rooted in Christian community and worship.
Jesus said, "You will know the truth, and truth will make you free [John 8:32]. Yes, truth will set us free—but only if it is the whole truth, the whole story. Honor-and-shame culture teaches us that there’s no story of honor if there’s no story of shame. You don’t bring honor to someone by erasing shame, but by bringing shame into the light.
David Lemley’s book "Becoming What We Sing: Formation through Contemporary Worship Music" recognizes that contemporary worship music [CWM] helps Christians around the world feel close to God. Lemley looks at whether or how CWM moves worshipers from adoration to participation in the mission of God’s church.
In this conversation, Lena Crouso, vice president for Intercultural Learning and Engagement at Southern Nazarene University, talks with Elizabeth Tamez-Mendez about building a culture of inclusion for young people that aims for shalom and provides places and spaces for young people to ask questions and experience courageous conversations in their faith exploration.
Congregations become more relevant and biblical when they follow the Bible’s lead in bringing lament into worship. Rebekah Eklund’s book "Practicing Lament" shows churches, small groups, and individuals how to voice penitential lament and protesting lament. Learning to practice lament can reconnect people with God and help churches grow in “members of one body” solidarity.
In this conversation, Dr. Cristian De La Rosa, national director of the Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, talks with Elizabeth Tamez-Mendez, executive director of New Generation3, about models of communication that accompany youth in a process of mentorship, leadership, Biblical interpretation, arts exploration, and more so that youth find their agency to share what is meaningful and relevant for their lives and ministries.
A bibliography of resources about children and worship
In this conversation, practical theologian Hosffman Ospino [Boston College] talks with Elizabeth Tamez-Mendez about Latino Catholic youth who constitute the largest sector of the young Catholic population in the U.S. They reflect on how understanding the realities and experiences of this group will help parish and congregational leaders to build a church that is more dynamic and more inclusive in terms of culture and language.
A showcase highlighting the importance of including children in meaningful ways in worship, both in the main worship space and in other age-appropriate, unique worship spaces.
Splitting into age-divided worship each Sunday doesn't necessarily result in kids who go on to choose worship as adults. That's why pastors are talking about intergenerational worship.
In this conversation, Chris Schoon, director of Faith Formation Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church of North America, explores with Elizabeth Tamez Méndez the importance of equipping congregations and parents to embrace children and youth as full image bearers and active participants in worship, for the well-being of the intergenerational community.
Nicholas Thomas Wright, known as N. T. Wright or Tom Wright, is an English New Testament scholar, Pauline theologian and Anglican bishop. He was the bishop of Durham from 2003 to 2010. He served as research professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at St Mary's College in the University of St Andrews in Scotland until 2019, when he became a senior research fellow at Wycliffe Hall at the University of Oxford.
