IRT Affiliate News

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship offers both rigorous scholarship and practical resources to enrich Christian worship in churches throughout North America.

November 1–2, 2005: The 20th Annual Stob Lectures (Lecture)
Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI
The Stob Lectures are sponsored annually by Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary in honor of Dr. Henry J. Stob. Their subject matter is normally restricted to the fields of ethics, apologetics, and philosophical theology. Dr. Ellen Charry, Margaret W. Harmon Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary will lecture on “The Art of Happiness: A Christian Interpretation.” More information can be found at http://www.calvin.edu/publications/stob/.

November 10–13, 2005: The Matter of Devotion: Art, Liturgy, and the Stuff of Worship (Conference)
Houston, TX
Is worship meant to strengthen us as we return to work, or are our daily pursuits merely a prologue to our devotion? How should the daily experiences of joy, suffering, and repentance be given flesh in the language, music, architecture, and visual art that create both the environment for worship and the liturgy that takes place there? The 2005 Image Conference will explore these questions, with particular reference to the ways that art provides the sacramental link between the sacred part of our week and the workaday. A distinguished group of artists and scholars will examine issues including the changing relationship between worship and contemporary culture, the ways in which fine art and liturgical art influence one another, and the renewal movements in both traditional and emerging churches. The conference will be held in Houston, Texas. More details can be found at http://webapps.calvin.edu/worship/highlight/devotion_conf.php.

November 12, 2005: Renewing Worship (Conference)
New Brunswick theological Seminary, New Brunswick, NJ
This day-long conference for those who plan and lead worship will be led by nationally known author and pastor Thomas G. Long, Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Ministry, Reformed Church in America, and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. For more information, go to: http://webapps.calvin.edu/worship/highlight/new_brunswick.php.

January 26–28, 2006: Calvin Symposium on Worship (Conference)
Calvin College and Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan
The Calvin Symposium on Worship seeks the deepening and integration of all aspects of worship. This three-day conference brings together people from all across North America and beyond—from churches and worshiping communities large and small, rural and urban and suburban—for a time of worshiping and learning together. Through seminars and workshops, participants concentrate on specific needs and gifts and experience their integration into the full mission of worship, gathering for the Symposium's worship services. To learn more about the Symposium, go to: http://webapps.calvin.edu/worship/sympos/.

February 27–March 3, 2006: The Theology and Practice of Pastoral Ministry (Academic Course)
Anaheim Christian Reformed Church, Anaheim, California
The central thesis of this course is that strong pastoral identity is the key to sustaining pastoral excellence. Today’s church has witnessed a breakdown of consensus regarding the role of the pastor. This course is a study of the theology and practice of pastoral ministry with a view to creatively and critically engaging changing views of the church and its ministry in our contemporary culture, and enhancing the practice of pastoral ministry. The course will integrate this theological understanding of pastoral ministry with the basic practices of pastoral ministry: worship, preaching, teaching, evangelism, pastoral care, and congregational leadership. Instructors are Duane Kelderman and Kathy Smith. For further detail, go to: http://www.calvinseminary.edu/continuingEd/openCourses.php.

April 20–22, 2006: Festival of Faith and Writing (Conference)
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan
This three-day festival brings together the different constituencies of religious writing—authors, publishers, readers, and academics—for conversation and celebration. Festival 2006 authors include Gracia Grindal, Richard Lischer, John Steven Paul, and Lauren Winner.

The Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington is a consortium of seven Presbyterian churches in the Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC area. Their purpose is to promote the understanding and appreciation of the Reformed tradition among Presbyterians living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

The Institute will hold their third annual convocation on Saturday, January 28, 2006 at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. Marilynne Robinson, acclaimed American writer, will be the speaker. Author of Gilead, winner of the National Book Critic's Circle award (2004) and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (2005), Ms. Robinson teaches at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is also the author of The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Culture. For more information, go to http://www.reformedinstitute.org.

H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies

The H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies is a research center specializing in John Calvin and Calvinism that opened in 1981 and is located at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

March 16, 2006: The Meeter Center’s spring colloquium will feature Rev. Joel Beeke, pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Church. His topic will be “The Puritan Art of Meditation.”

May 4-7, 2006: 41st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
The H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies is sponsoring a session on John Calvin, Calvinism, and the Medieval Mystical Tradition. Please send abstracts for twenty-minute papers to:

For more information about these and other events, call (616) 526-7081 or check their website: www.calvin.edu/meeter.

PUBLISHED IN THE BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE FOR REFORMED THEOLOGY, FALL 2005, VOL. 5, #1

Return to Bulletin page