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Beauty, Silence, and Culture Care: An Interview with Makoto Fujimura

Theologian Neal Plantinga engages with artist and author Mako Fujimura on his vision for complementing recent work on creation care with what he has termed “culture care”—a redemptive approach to artistry and other forms of cultural engagement which seeks to contribute to “the healing of the nations.”

March 14, 2017
Many Colors Paint the Rainbow: A Service of Scripture Proclamation, Choral, and Congregational Song

The Calvin College Alumni Choir collaborates with members of Coro Polifónico from the Seminario Internacional Teológico Bautista in Argentina and Artists Creating Together, a Grand Rapids-based choir that empowers individuals with disabilities to learn, grow, and celebrate through the arts to lead songs, hymns, and anthems which express our profound solidarity as members together of Christ’s body.

March 13, 2017

Singing Psalms: An Outpouring of Contemporary Song for Congregational Use

Remarkably, even since the publication of Psalms for All Seasons just a few years ago, over 30 new Psalm-based songwriting and recording projects have emerged from a variety of contemporary worship leaders across North America and beyond. While some of these settings are designed for solo voices, many are well-suited to congregational use, and are worthy heirs to the legacy of congregation-based Psalms re-established by Luther and Calvin.

March 10, 2017

From Generation to Generation: Many Voices Singing the One Body

Two hymn writers and collaborators, one Roman Catholic and one Protestant, representing different generations, explore how the demographic, ethnic and denominational differences of contemporary American culture offer challenges and opportunities in crafting new, relevant and faithful song for Christian communities.

March 8, 2017
Bringing Hymns to Life on Guitar

We’ve heard many of the great old hymns played beautifully with organs, pianos, and choirs, but their journey into the world of guitar-led worship can be awkward. Old tunes are often abandoned or significantly altered in the name of modernization, but such revision is not always necessary.

March 8, 2017

Singing Our Savior's Story: Songs for Congregations, Choirs and Worship Teams

This seminar explores a rich variety of music that reflects deeply on the life of Jesus, and it is appropriate for any service based on one of the four New Testament gospels, including some songs that focus on "telling the story," others that are adept at "unpacking the meaning of the story," and still others that "help us see ourselves taken up into the story."

March 7, 2017
Designing Worship from the Bottom Up: Practical Ethnographic Tools for Worship Leaders

The “Faith and Work” movement has become popular in many churches in North America in recent years. Many have sought to bridge the gap between Sunday worship and Monday work by showing how Christian liturgy and theology affect how we approach our weekday work. But our weekday work also affects how we inhabit Sunday worship in profound ways, and those who lead and craft liturgies do well to be attentive to this reality.

March 7, 2017
Short Songs: Deepening Our Participation in Worship

Read this viewing guide to find out how you might benefit from watching a one-hour session by Alison Adam, “Short Songs: Deepening Our Participation in Worship.”

March 7, 2017