Sessions

In this conversation, Scott Hoezee will ask Ada Bible Church pastor Jeff Manion to talk about the challenges of preaching in a multi-site church, the communication challenges all preachers face in the 21st century, and how Manion as a preacher and pastor has navigated the multifaceted issues that have come with the global COVID pandemic.

How does the one-time act of receiving baptism connect to the everyday life of Christians? In this panel discussion, a group of pastor-theologians will reflect on the relationship of baptism as a worship practice and sacrament to baptism as a lived identity.

In this conversation, actor, playwright, and professor Jeff Barker shares with pastor Paul Ryan his journey in Biblical storytelling as way to help students and worshiping communities hear and see the importance of scripture memorization, speaking the text, and reclaiming 'the plays' of the Bible.

What can ministry and worship look like among people who are bitterly opposed to each other? Around the world, congregations gather for worship every week, defining themselves by how they’re different from other nearby Christian worshiping communities. Sometimes these communities carry with them memories of violence, genocide, and the resulting immeasurable trauma. Reflect on insights from Christian leaders in Rwanda, Ukraine, and Hungary about their call to walk in step with the Holy Spirit on journeys of Christ-centered reconciliation, noticing the significant role public worship plays in announcing, praying for, and modeling renewed patterns of Christian life.

What can ministry and worship look like among people who are bitterly opposed to each other? Around the world, congregations gather for worship every week, defining themselves by how they’re different from other nearby Christian worshiping communities. A conversation with Munther Isaac, Ann Kapteyn, Najla Kassab, Kiran Young Wimberly, moderated by John D. Witvliet.

In this discussion, Dr. Pennylyn Dykstra-Pruim and Dr. David I. Smith explore how Christians can navigate cultural differences through the theological lenses of embrace and neighborly love. They emphasize the importance of intellectual humility, deep listening, and cultivating the cultural intelligence necessary to engage with diverse perspectives within their communities and worship spaces.

This session features a thoughtful conversation with Dr. Kenny Wallace and Satrina Reid exploring the intersection of Christian worship and cultural identities, emphasizing the importance of embracing one's full heritage. Through personal stories and theological insight, the speakers examine how diverse cultural backgrounds and traditions can be meaningfully integrated into the worship experience.

This conversation between Winn Collier and Pastor Mary Hulst explores the life and legacy of the late Eugene Peterson, drawing on themes from Collier's authorized biography, A Burning in My Bones. The discussion highlights Peterson's pastoral wisdom, his approach to scripture through The Message, and his deeply personal, private commitment to being transformed by the grace of God.

In this lecture, Dr. Noah Toly explores how the Christian church can address environmental justice by reframing the inevitable, complex trade-offs of modern life as "the tragic." He argues that by accepting these finite limitations rather than seeking self-justification, the church is freed to engage in responsible, sacrificial actions that prioritize the good of others and creation.

Congregations and worshiping communities desire to connect with youth in ways that will nurture their faith and draw them deeply into the life of the church. In this panel discussion, pastoral leaders will reflect on their context and ministry work with youth through the lens of several key values: youth agency, theological practices, the role of parents, intergenerational relationships, and multiple pathways into the life of the church.

This conversation explores how artists and activists can stir the Christian imagination to better embody justice and faith in the public square. Nikki Toyama-Szeto and Noel Snyder discuss the necessity of being deeply rooted in scripture and community to hold the tension between prophetic disruption and the generative dreams God has for His creation.

In this conversation, pastoral musician Eric Lige shares with Nate Glasper about his passion and calling to draw from the riches of our diverse communities--languages, cultural practices, and more--to honor and worship God together.

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." -1 Cor. 12:12-13. The body of Christ is one body made up of individual members with both visible and hidden differences in abilities. What difference does it make to believe that each member has been arranged in the body as God has chosen? How can the church better live into the reality of this oneness while celebrating the gifts of its unique members regardless of ability?

This conversation features Kevin Adams, Rebekah Eklund, and Scott Hoezee exploring the challenges and rewards of preaching the Beatitudes within a congregational context. They discuss the importance of viewing these texts as invitations to flourishing rather than legalistic requirements, while emphasizing the power of narrative and story in making these ancient teachings relevant to contemporary life.

This panel discussion from the 2022 Worship Symposium features three experienced preachers—Gennifer Brooks, Karen Campbell, and Ruth Padilla DeBorst—sharing their perspectives on the contextual challenges and complexities of teaching the Beatitudes. The participants emphasize the need to avoid spiritualizing the text, urging instead for a grounded approach that connects Jesus's counter-cultural message of blessing with the lived realities of injustice, suffering, and transformation in modern communities

This conversation explores how cultural intelligence (CQ) functions as a vital capability for navigating diverse environments and enriching the practice of public worship. By applying CQ through a worship lens, participants learn to engage more constructively with different cultural expressions, ultimately fostering a deeper understanding of God and the global body of Christ.

In this workshop from the 2022 Calvin Symposium on Worship, theologian and composer Tony Alonso explores the importance of singing psalms in contemporary worship, emphasizing how they serve as a discipline for the community. Throughout the session, Alonso leads the group in singing various bilingual psalms and canticles, demonstrating how these musical settings can address the full range of human experience, including laments and joy, across the liturgical year.

In this presentation, Rebekah Eklund explores how the Beatitudes have been interpreted throughout history through the lenses of liturgy, art, and theology. She emphasizes how these scriptures serve as a map for finding Jesus, highlighting their enduring significance across diverse cultural and historical contexts.

Approaching the Christian Year through the lenses of Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, and Spiritual Formation. In this discussion, we will explore how ordering our worship and devotion around the life of Jesus has the potential to shape our whole selves, both individually and communally. This is a YouTube Video Premiere panel discussion.

In this conversation, Neal Plantinga and Rebecca DeYoung discuss the formative power of prayer and the inspirations behind Plantinga's new book, Morning and Evening Prayers. The discussion explores how a structured, daily rhythm of prayer, deeply rooted in the Reformed tradition and the Psalms, can foster spiritual growth, gratitude, and attentiveness to God in everyday life.

This conversation features Maria Monteiro and John Witvliet exploring the rich history of the Cantor Cristão, a foundational Baptist hymnal in Brazil that served as a unifying cultural and spiritual anchor for over a century. Through personal narratives and academic research, the discussion highlights the significant role of music missionaries and the enduring, formative power of congregational song in shaping faith identities across generations.

In this conversation, social historian Karin Maag and pastor Noel Snyder talk about Karin's new book, Worshiping with the Reformers, which invites readers to understand worship practices during the sixteenth-century Reformation, including going to church, praying, preaching, baptism, Lord's Supper, worship around the death bed, and more. It narrates the heart-centered reality of how people worshiped in and among confessional groups, untangles some persistent misperceptions, and invites all of us to be more patient with each other in our communal worship practices today.