Sessions

Where is the manual for this? How does your ministry respond appropriately when events happen? Move from fear to freedom as you are empowered with creative ideas, inspiration, and safe conversation that will help you know how to lead effectively during divisive times.

Over the last decade, churches across the ecumenical spectrum have shown increasing interest in welcoming the gifts of people with disabilities. However, congregations often face practical, pastoral, and theological challenges to receive those gifts, particularly from people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In this workshop we will consider the stories of people with intellectual disabilities in relationship to their experiences of baptism, baptismal vocation, and Christian identity. We will unpack key insights from this population and explore liturgical practices (including catechesis and baptismal reaffirmation) as ways to affirm baptismal identity and vocation regardless of disability. We will also discuss baptismally-rooted practices that provide increased opportunities for liturgical participation among people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Headlines about millennials and Gen Z are everywhere, and many written about them (not by them) are critical, fearful, or frustrated about these generations. Is it possible to get beyond typecasting and stereotypes to discover unique opportunities and challenges for encouraging them to be formed into the image of Christ? In this workshop we will go beyond superficial tips about technology and work/life balance to explore the ways in which churches and Christian schools can create worshiping communities that engage these generations and the culture in which they live.

There are a number of wonderful children’s books that help church school leaders, educators, parents, and grandparents teach children about worship. These books focus on the sacraments, the Christian year, the psalms, and prayer. Children’s books provide another means to welcome and engage children (and adults!) in worship as full members of the body of Christ. At the beginning of this session hear from the coauthor and illustrator of the new children’s book En la escuela de los Salmos/At Psalms School.

How much intentionality comes to bear on the collection of congregational songs your church sings over time? As worship leaders, we are responsible not only for choosing excellent songs, but also for providing for the overall balance and appropriateness of the church’s body of song.

Led by Western Theological Seminary; Cornelius Plantinga Jr., preaching

Who are the minor prophets? What do they have to say? Why should any of us care? This delegation of twelve strange men has arrived at our church from their obscure biblical backwaters. Should we let them in? This seminar will explore the contours of these biblical books with an eye toward teaching and preaching them vibrantly

All around the world, Christians sing together before, during, and/or after celebrating the Lord’s Supper and baptism. Learn from the richly varied practices of communities all over the world. Explore memorable, deeply loved heartsongs for these occasions in a variety of cultural contexts. Reflect on your own context and the heartsongs you already know, love, and use regularly. Discern how your own congregation’s diet of heartsongs might grow over the next few years as a way of entering even more deeply into the beauty of these celebrations.

Learn with the members of The Psalm Project how to play and sing Psalms. Old hymns, Genevan tunes and other psalm arrangements (Taizé) in contemporary settings. Explore how can you use psalms in your service to let people participate, educate, contemplate and sing praise!

Speaking in parables was Jesus’ preferred form of teaching. Both his world and ours are drawn to these concise, poignant stories. This seminar will analyze the parable in its ancient cultural context, illustrate how parables can be interpreted, outline a few pitfalls, and provide a case study using one of Jesus’ most difficult stories, The Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:1–13).

Led by Calvin College Worship Apprentices; Meg Jenista Kuykendall, preaching

John Ferguson will explore concepts from registrations to basic improvisational techniques to help organists nurture congregational song during worship and encourage singing with greater understanding and spirit. Organists interested in being coached during the seminar are encouraged to prepare a hymn from Lift Up Your Hearts, including an introduction, as if it were for a worship service.

Our best praise team rehearsals prepare our hearts, hands, and voices to lead the community in song. In this workshop, we’ll explore the goals and techniques of effective and life-giving rehearsals by considering personal preparation, repertoire, team dynamics, and the pastoral needs of our teams.

WorshipArts at Rainbow Mennonite Church in Kansas City is a program for K-5th grade congregants. Influenced by the Reggio Emilia teaching and learning approach, this program offers children the opportunity to respond to worship, ask questions, and become more aware of the language, ritual, movement, sound, and art incorporated in worship. A Vital Worship Grant from the Calvin Worship Institute in 2014–15 provided the resources to expand awareness and integration of the program more fully into the worship life of the Rainbow congregation.

What role do young people have in leading worship in your congregation? In this session, participants will learn from the experience of ministry leaders from multiple church contexts. This session will provide a framework and practical tips for adults interested in starting or honing their practices of mentoring middle and high school worship leaders in their congregation.

This session is designed for anyone curious about dance as well as those with dance experience. Participants will engage in conversation around the questions “What IS liturgical dance?” and “How can I equip my congregation with the tools to feel comfortable moving?” Learn how to encourage movement with choreography to the Lord’s Prayer that’s accessible to those of all abilities, and understand how to cultivate an atmosphere of trust.

One of the greatest gifts we have is the ability to worship our Lord together as the body of Christ. But with the global church at our doorstep, many worship planners and leaders in English-speaking congregations face questions of how to embrace a global liturgy. How can we sing songs from the global church well, especially when we don’t know the language or the correct rhythms? How do we find resources for leading worship that is both local and global? This seminar will include worship leaders, choir directors, and resource publishers from a variety of worshiping communities, denominations, and cultural backgrounds addressing the different ways global singing is done in their communities, why their communities sing in multiple languages, and practical tips for gradually introducing the songs of the global church into worshiping communities.

Those of us who feel Psalm 33’s call to write new songs must remember that the psalm also tells us to play skillfully. In this seminar we will focus on the skills of songwriting for congregations, digging into what it means to balance inspiration and perspiration. Join these singer-songwriters as they speak about their approaches to creating new texts, new tunes, and the combining of texts and tunes. The afternoon will be spent discussing participants’ song submissions. Attendees of all levels and musical styles will benefit from this seminar.

What does it mean for any of us as one person—a person with particular quirks and gifts and blind spots—to offer the prayers of the people? How do we voice prayers that move toward generosity without sliding into the generic? How do we craft prayers that offer up our firstfruits as writers or orators without letting them become showy? How do we pray without furthering or ignoring the divisions that run through our congregations? This workshop will weigh these questions as well as explore some provisions for the person called upon to pray on behalf of all God’s people.

Led by Western Theological Seminary

Explore a rich variety of music that reflects deeply on the life of Jesus, and 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.” Examples will include historic texts by Watts and Wesley, music from African-American, Asian, Latino, and Anglo contexts appropriate for use in both contemporary and traditional contexts. Come ready to transcend stylistic divides as we focus our attention on the life-giving ministry of Jesus.

Hymn and song authors across generations and cultures have given us rich expressions with which to shape faith, heal brokenness, transform lives, and renew peace. In this workshop we’ll look at and sing some great examples, and we’ll discuss how best to help our worshiping communities sing poetry with appreciation, enthusiasm, and artistry.

Do you ever feel as if your leadership is something you “put on” for particular occasions rather than a dynamic that emerges from deep within you? Is the pressure to perform compromising your own experience of worship? Do you find yourself manufacturing emotion as you lead others because your own intimacy with God has grown cold? In this workshop we will share honestly about the challenges of spiritual leadership in a high-performance culture. Ruth Haley Barton will help you assess the state of your soul and then explore crucial disciplines for strengthening the soul of your leadership.

Almost every church affirms engagement with Scripture as a vital—even central—element of their worship services. Yet preachers and worship leaders are increasingly aware of the need for “remedial” work to be done for worshipers to engage well with Scripture. In a post-Christendom context, no assumptions can be made about basic biblical knowledge and understanding. This seminar will explore strategies for engaging Scripture in worship in a culture marked by low biblical literacy.

The gifts and treasures that have emerged from African American churches in North America are a blessing to so many churches all over the world. These gifts come from many different traditions within African-American Christianity. This session will explore the similarities and differences in these different traditions, some of the current needs and opportunities within these traditions, and reflect on how Christians from all over the world can learn from the treasures and gifts of these traditions.

It is a remarkable Christian claim that God is active not only in receiving our worship, but also in inspiring, prompting, and perfecting it—drawing us into communion with God and each other. It is also remarkable that God would do this through embodied, material human actions of washing, eating, and drinking. Yet often this central Christian vision is forgotten, ignored, or distorted, and all sorts of believers are never given the opportunity to taste and see God’s beauty in this vivid and nourishing way. This session will be a doxological session, full of praise to God for this gift. It will also be instructive, pointing to key resources in the Christian tradition for further exploring this vision. And it will be practical, suggesting ideas for teaching, preaching, and public worship that live into this rich vision.

Would your church, school, or organization benefit from a year of learning how to revitalize your worship? Come and learn about the Vital Worship Grants Program, which seeks to foster vital worship in congregations, parishes, and other worshiping communities in North America through projects on a variety of worship-related topics. Meet some former grant recipients, hear about their experiences, and learn how you might develop your own grant proposal.

A fundamental task of worship leadership is giving witness to God. Although we do not see God, we do see evidence of God’s work in the world. We bear witness to God’s work in worship through songs, stories, prayers, and words, and we prompt the congregation to do the same as they embody each action of worship. In this seminar, we will explore the ways worshiping communities name, or give witness to, those things that are seen and unseen. Then, we will imagine how communities similar to or different from our own might teach us about our own faithful witness.

What skills are needed for faithful worship leadership? How does an aspiring worship leader develop these skills? In this seminar we will introduce two essential practices: leading in prayer and leading in song. For each practice, we will explore multiple drills that emerging worship leaders can repeat in order to grow in confidence and ability. This seminar is designed especially for emerging worship leaders and those who mentor them.

All pastoral leaders, including worship leaders, are called to make decisions with discernment about culture. We are called to “not conform to this world” (Rom. 12) and yet to “be all things to all people” for the sake of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:22). At its best, Christian worship is richly contextual. It is also countercultural. To make discerned choices about how worship relates to culture, we need the wisdom of believers from many different cultural contexts to teach and guide us, to keep us from rejecting what should not be rejected and embracing what should not be embraced. We must learn from the church’s tragic mistakes over the centuries as well as from its examples of faithful witness and contextual adaptation. Panelists will offer reflections on massive historical problems such as colonialism, but they also will highlight cultural discernment decisions that present opportunities for faithfulness in individual churches. Our aim is for a global conversation that also feels very local.

How do children worship best? How can worship help young people through the teen and young adult years? What practices of worship resonate most with adults and elderly people? And how can we include people of all abilities in worship? This seminar will look at the human life cycle and the developmental stages that all people grow through in their faith formation, and we’ll consider what this means for how people of all ages and abilities can participate fully in worship.

Many Christian educational institutions aim to provide an integrated educational experience in which students grow spiritually. In an institution that exists primarily to educate, what is the role of public worship in the formation of students? Rod Reed will explore five questions that identify and address the unique challenges and goals of public worship on the Christian campus. Panelists from a variety of higher education contexts will then share the ways in which Reed’s questions speak to the way they approach worship on their own campuses. These questions are sure to prompt deep discussion around your institution’s worship. Come with your team!

How can we plan and lead worship in the midst of a crisis or in the aftermath of a traumatic situation? Whether we’ve faced a school shooting or a racially fueled event or simply recognized the many traumatic experiences in the lives of the people in our congregations, we need to understand the issues involved and be able to process them well in the context of worshiping God. We need to lead the people in expressing their laments to God as well as assure them of God’s healing presence. This seminar will share the wisdom of leaders who’ve been “through the fire” and are eager to help others learn how to prepare for the crises and traumas ahead—because they will come!