Calvin Worship Symposium Begins
The annual Calvin Symposium on Worship kicked off Thursday morning with a stirring and yet reflective worship service in Calvin's College's Fine Arts Center in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Preaching to an audience that filled the Fine Arts Center, Rev. Craig Barnes, pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Penn., spoke on the "Parable of the Sower." In his message, he said that people are seeds that fall to the ground, but it isn't up to them to make themselves grow.
"It was a wonderful service. Craig talked about it being God who gives us the growth. We just need to listen and try not to puzzle it all out," said Rev. Ron Reinstra, who served as liturgist for the service that began three days of worship services, prayer sessions, plenary addresses, workshops and seminars. Rienstra is a visiting associate professor for preaching and worship at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Mich.
The message was essentially about listening and waiting patiently for God to do his work. And that applies to the symposium itself at which participants from around the world are able to participate in worship and then to listen and learn from the presentations.
"The primary purpose of worship is to be part of it and to encounter God – to be present to the one who has the power to transform us," said Rienstra after the service. The learning that will happen over the next three days will focus on how preachers and liturgists and others can develop the type of worship services that more "richly and more fully invite people into the presence of God."
The Calvin Symposium on Worship will offer a free live video stream on Thursday of the opening plenary address to be given at 4 p.m. by John D. Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Worship, and the evening worship, with Frank Thomas preaching, and participation by Calvin College Gospel Choir. Visit the Symposium website for more information: http://www.calvin.edu/worship/sympos/stream.php
Walk-up registration is still available. People are encouraged to attend evening worship services (free and open to the public). The theme Friday evening will be "The Parable of the Persistent Widow." Luke A. Powery will preach, with participation by Princeton Theological Seminary Choir. The service will be at 7:30 p.m. in the Calvin College Chapel.
For the past several years the annual Symposium on Worship has averaged 1,500 attendees, many from the Christian Reformed Church and more than 30 other denominations across the US and Canada and, increasingly, worldwide.
Topics addressed during the symposium include exploring aspects of the emerging church; leadership; use of music in worship, and the use of multi-media in preaching. Countries represented this year range from Argentina to Costa Rica and from Egypt to Indonesia.
"At this 2009 Symposium on Worship, we will use the imagination of skilled artists, the beauty of music, and the preached word to prod all of us who minister in the church to find fresh and vibrant ways to revive the intrigue of Jesus’ parables," says the release.
For more information, call 616-526-6088 or e-mail: [email protected].
