Calvin Colloquium Full of Power

Those who are just finishing their year-long, worship-renewal grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship recently gathered for a three-day colloquium with those who have been awarded grants and those who are just starting out on the journey.

Together, they attended workshops, asked questions, and listened for answers. They prayed, laughed, cried, wondered, wandered and considered the numerous ways in which public worship impacts lives in their communities.

The annual event always brings surprises, and 2012 was no exception. This year, on the final day of the event, in the middle of a powerful song during morning worship in the Calvin College Chapel, the lights went out.

Some bands could have gotten flustered.

But, without missing a beat, the musicians -- including a pianist, guitarist, drummer and vocalists -- continued on with the song they were in the midst of: Mac Powell and Fernando Ortega's "Our Great God."

They led those assembled for worship in that song's glorious chorus: “Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God! Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God!” And after they were done, the next element in the service, a choral reading of Scripture, commenced without pause.

It was Matthew 6:25-34 which begins: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"

Later that day John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, reflected on that moment in the Chapel, the seamless nature of the transition from power to no power and the power of the first words spoken after the lights, and microphones, went out. "Do not be anxious," he said. "What a gift. Thank you for improvising with us this morning."

Many participants spoke, on numerous different levels, of the need to be flexible, to adjust and to improvise.

Indeed, that was one of the unofficial themes for the June 26-28, 2012 event at Calvin. Past recipients spoke of the things they had not expected to encounter or learn during their grant year and of the importance of being open to the leading of the Spirit.

Betty Grit, the manager of the Worship Renewal Grants program, said bringing past and present recipients together annually in such a setting provides a fitting forum for learning and conversation.

“The getting-together of both old and new grant recipients is intentional,” said Grit, “and fruitful. It is a wonderful time together for the grant recipients.”

Grants Advisory Board members concurred.

Doug Brouwer, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, expressed his appreciation for the proposals the board reads each January, proposals that often number in the hundreds, noting that he and his fellow board members are deeply touched by the yearly proposals. And he added: "So many people are working so hard to make worship worthy of the One we come to worship."

William Johnston, a professor in the department of religious studies at the University of Dayton, reminded this year's attendees of the rich traditions they stand upon as they work for worship renewal. "Be open to the breadth of Christian experience that is here," he said, "and the depth of the love everyone here has for Christ."

And Grit noted in a session for new grant recipients that "worship renewal is hard work, but it is worthwhile work."

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