Planning Worship

Lindsay Wieland Capel on Disability and Universal Design

Many ideas for welcoming and including people with disabilities are remarkably simple. These changes turn out to be good for everyone in church worship and congregational life.

February 21, 2024
Lindsay Wieland Capel on Recognizing and Overcoming Ableism in Churches

Many congregations don’t realize that the way they arrange their space, talk in worship, or define giftedness and leadership speaks volumes to people with different bodies and minds. The message is: “We don’t see you as a welcomed and valued member of Christ’s body.”

February 21, 2024

Decades-Long Spiritual Formation

An international pastoral leader, a public theologian, and a young scholar explain how the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship has impacted them—and made room for them to influence CICW and others.

February 1, 2024
Sarah Kathleen Johnson and Andrew Wymer on Worship and Power

Sarah Kathleen Johnson and Andrew Wymer, two Free Church scholars in worship and liturgical studies, break new ground in “Worship and Power”, a book edited with other scholars in this tradition, and celebrate what these insights offer for ecumenical conversation and learning around liturgical authority.

December 18, 2023

Luke A. Powery on Living the Questions of the Bible

Luke Powery encourages preachers and worshipers to embrace the space and place the church provides to ask questions as a faithful way of Christian discipleship and engaging with God.

December 18, 2023

Anneli Loepp Thiessen on Collaborative Songwriting and Copyright

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.

November 28, 2023
Anneli Loepp Thiessen on Creating Non-Hymnal Songs

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.

November 28, 2023