Worship

For over 35 years, the Calvin Symposium on Worship has annually gathered together worshipers from many Christian traditions across Canada, the US, and beyond, bringing together people from a variety of roles in worship and leadership, including pastors, worship planners and leaders, musicians, scholars, students, worship bands and teams, organists, visual artists, preachers, chaplains, missionaries, liturgists, council and session leaders, and more. Cosponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and the Center for Excellence in Preaching at Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary, the Symposium aims to encourage leaders in churches and worshiping communities of all sizes and settings. In 2025, Services of the Word focused on parables found only in the Gospel of Luke.”

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Schedule
2025
Thursday, February 6th
12:00 AM

Jazz Vespers

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Wally Brath, Grace College
Nikki Lerner
Greg Tardy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

12:00 AM

This vesper service offers a journey through the psalms in a jazz style. Music is adapted from the album Connexion: A Jazz Psalter, produced by Wally Brath. Brath (piano), Nikki Lerner (voice), Greg Tardy, (saxophone, clarinet), and a Calvin University chamber orchestra lead the congregation through God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration, exploring the full emotional depth of the psalms. The jazz-inspired soundtrack offers rich musical expression that complements the divine poetry.

12:00 AM

Morning Prayer with Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project

Nate Glasper, Calvin University

12:00 AM

Nate Glasper and the 7:9 Project, a multicultural group of Calvin University students, lead a time of morning song and prayer firmly grounded in scripture. Inspired by the vision of Revelation 7:9, this gathering reflects the beauty of “every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

12:00 AM

Parables of the Lost Sheep, Coin, and Son

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Kevin J. Adams
Mike Cheon
Elias Davis
Grace Funderburgh
Jaewoo Kim
Michelle Navarrete
Joanna Wigboldy, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

12:00 AM

This service of the word and table includes a message on Luke 10 from Kevin Adams, who reflects on the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son. Communion is celebrated following the message. Proskuneo Ministries leads the music, and the Calvin University Ministry Leadership Cohort, alongside their mentor, Joanna Wigboldy, guides the liturgy.

Wednesday, February 5th
12:00 AM

Sending Songs Vesper

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Joslyn Henderson
Wendell Kimbrough
Joel Littlepage
Sandra McCracken
Ron Rienstra, Western Theological Seminary
Katie Ritsema-Roelofs
Isaac Wardell

12:00 AM

This vesper service features music from the soon-to-be-released Sending Songs album by the music collective Porter’s Gate. Created in collaboration with Fuller Seminary’s Worship for Workers project, this album offers songs that commission God’s people with mission and purpose into their places of work and play.

Thursday, February 6th
12:00 AM

Thy Kingdom Come: Global Hymnody in Collaboration

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Rhonda Sider Edgington
Eric Sarwar
Yvette Lau
Leah Ivory, Calvin University
John Varineau

12:00 AM

Calvin University organist Rhonda Sider Edgington joins Eric Sarwar, Yvette Lau, and other Calvin instrumentalists in a musical collaboration that bridges countries and cultures to explore themes from the Lord’s Prayer.

Wednesday, February 5th
12:00 AM

Worship Service: The Friend at Midnight

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Sandra McCracken
Janette H. Ok, Fuller Theological Seminary
Paul Ryan, Calvin University
Becca Tellinghuisen

12:00 AM

This worship service centers on the story of the friend at midnight in Luke 11:5-13. Sandra McCracken, in collaboration with the Calvin University Worship Apprentices and their mentor, Paul Ryan, lead congregational worship. Janette Ok delivers the sermon, and Becca Tellinghuisen leads the scripture reading.

Friday, February 7th
12:00 AM

Worship Service: The Persistent Widow

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Dale Cooper, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Nicole Massie Martin
Eric Reyes, Hope College
Rhonda Sider Edgington
Mark Stover, Calvin University

12:00 AM

This worship service features music led by the Calvin University Capella and the Hope College Chapel Choir, directed by Mark Stover and Eric Reyes and accompanied by organist Rhonda Sider Edgington. Nicole Massie Martin gives the sermon on the persistent widow of Luke 18:1-8.

Thursday, February 6th
12:00 AM

Worship Service: The Rich Man and Lazarus

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
Dennis R. Edwards, North Park Theological Seminary
Nate Glasper, Calvin University
Raymond Wise

12:00 AM

This worship service is musically led by Symposium contributor Raymond Wise and the Calvin University Gospel Choir, directed by Nate Glasper. Dennis Edwards delivers the message on Luke 16:19-31, “The Rich Man and Lazarus.”