calvin worship symposium 2012 reflections

Last week, I participated in the Calvin Worship Symposium in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This year's topic was "When Life Is Prayer: The Psalms," and coincided with the release of a new Psalter entitled Psalms For All Seasons, intended for congregations to read, chant, pray, and sing the Psalms throughout the life of the church.

I have been aware of the annual conference for quite a while now through friends and mentors who regularly participate, but this was my first opportunity to make the trip.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, flying to Michigan in the dead of winter.  Turns out, winter has been kind to the region so far, and allowed for easy traveling for the nearly 1800 participants from 30 countries.  The conference stretched over three days—Jan 26-28—with plenary talks, seminars, workshops, and many opportunities to worship in song, prayer, and sermon.

For Thursday's all-day seminar, I participated in "Tune My Heart To Sing Your Praise: The Re-tuned Hymn (and Psalm!) Movement in the Context of the Broader Culture," which brought together a panel of speakers that included Kevin Twit, Sandra McCracken, Isaac Wardell, and Bruce Benedict—hymn retuners in the States—as well as Eelco Vos, a retuner of the Genevan Psalter from the Netherlands.  The session was opened with an introduction by James K. Smith on the "Young, Restless, and Reformed," and why they hymns renewal movement taps into this spirit.  After that, Greg Scheer—Calvin music prof—led the seminar, having each member of the panel share their background in the movement, what inspires them to work with the hymn texts that they choose, and ask about the direction the movement seems to be headed.  As each speaker shared their experiences, we all sang together a song that they had written.  It was quite moving for me to hear many songs that I have been familiar with for the past decade be sung by a new yet enthusiastic set of voices; at one moment I found myself fighting back tears while attempting to sing "Dear Refuge of My Weary Soul" with the group.  Overall, I think it was a good introduction to the movement for people not familiar with it, as well as helpful critique from people on the outside looking in concerning the forward trajectory of the movement.

On Friday, I heard NT Wright on "Praying the Psalms: Personal, Pastoral, Theological, and Liturgical Reflections."  Thought provoking, though so rich that it was hard to digest in one hearing, not to mention that his English accent practically set my ears in a trance.

That afternoon, I attended two workshops.  The first was called "Singing Old Genevan Psalms in Very New Ways," led by Eelco Vos and the Psalms Project from the Netherlands (see above), a project which was born out of a desire to reach the youth in churches where Psalm singing was dying out.  They discussed the process of their project to rework many of the best melodies from the original Genevan Psalter from the 16th century.  It was a fascinating exercise in analyzing the original melodies for their positive and negative elements in regards to congregational singing today, and then retranslating them for 21st century singing.

The second workshop that I attended was "Does Worship Keep Your Understanding Of God Too Small? Insights From Ancient Constantinople About the Transcendent in Worship," led by Lester Ruth and Carrie Steenwyk.  It was a fascinating analysis of the worship space of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in the 6th century, seeking to learn from the positive and negative results of their worship practices and how it can shape and critique our worship today.  This was a presentation of material that is going into the second volume of six that the Calvin Institute on Worship is publishing on historic worship.  The first is on worship in 4th century Jerusalem, which I am looking forward to reading this spring.  (the next day I got to have lunch with Lester Ruth, who is president of the Charles Wesley Socity. very interesting conversation at the table about Wesley's hymns and the current hymns renewal)

That night I participated in the "Psalms For All Seasons: A Festival Of Singing," in celebration of the publishing of the new Psalter.  Musicians from around the world led us through old and new settings of the Psalms.  Bruce Benedict (see above) played his version of Psalm 120, and had me and a couple other friends back him on the only truly folk rendition of the evening.  Check out a video of the entire concert here, or fast-forward to the 38:00 mark to hear our song.  And no, I haven't taken up glockenspiel as my primary instrument, yet.

Saturday morning, I heard another great plenary talk, this time from Walter Bruggemann on "Performing a Counter World: the Alternative Reality Offered by the Psalms for the Worlds We Inhabit," having a similar experience to the Friday plenary, minus the English accent.

I had a to catch a flight that afternoon, so I had to miss the other workshops and the closing worship service.

To sum up, this was a rich and renewing experience for me.  I got to hear a lot of great and challenging ideas, to sing with upwards of 900 people at some sessions, and to fellowship with old friends and get to know some new ones.  Oh, and I got a chance to sample the local antiquarian books and breweries.

WALK: origin

"Origin" by Kathryn Beals, 2010

The front of our bulletin at Grace has quotes for reflection as we gather to worship.  Frequently, I also like to feature a piece of art on the cover with a similar function, tied to the sermon series or to the current period of the Christian calendar.

This past month has featured an artwork by Kathryn Beals called "Origin."  Her art has been featured in the past for our Advent season covers.  This past fall, I asked a few visual artists at Grace to reflect upon one of the themes in our FOLLOW series in hopes that I could feature it on the cover of a sermon series this winter/spring.  Kathryn chose the WALK sermon, and "Origin" is the result.  Not only has the painting enriched our community, it also took on a unique significance in her life.  In her own words:

Most of my surreal landscapes are based on dreams, and I had had a vivid dream just before the birth that my baby was at the top of a mountain on an island and I had to get him. The mountain in the dream reminded me of a difficult pass Travis and I climbed in the Sierras a few years ago, so I painted it in the distance. I started painting with the Walk theme in mind but it took on new meaning for me with Max's birth - the contractions started 12 hours after I finished painting it, and I ended up using it as a "focal point" during my 55 hour labor.

Kathryn also filmed the painting from start to finish, which she is editing into a speed painting video for her website.  Here is a still from it.

UPDATE: Watch Kathryn's "Speed Painting" video of this work.

Easter 2011 | All Things New

He is risen!  The full congregation at Grace gathered with one voice this past Easter to celebrate the resurrection.  It was a beautiful morning of prayer, hearing God's Word, and fellowship with the Body.

There was a 16-piece ensemble of voices and instrumentalists leading us in song.  Here's a recording of "All Things New."  Reflecting on the closing verses of the Bible in Revelation 22:20, the text is by Horatius Bonar, written in 19th century Scotland, with a new melody and chorus lyrics by Clint Wells of Red Mountain Music.  I arranged the instrumental parts, initially inspired by Sufjan Stevens (and a little help from Howard Shore).

All Things New - Easter 2011 by rare sunshine

And here is a link to the bulletin used for the service.

He is risen indeed!

observing lent

The Season of Lent starts this week on Ash Wednesday and lasts until the day before Easter.  The duration of Lent is forty days, reflecting the periods of forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land and forty days that Jesus fasted in the wilderness following his baptism.  Originating in the fourth century as the time of preparation for baptism of new Christians, the season is traditionally observed chiefly through prayer, as well as penitence and self-denial, and focuses on the cross and union with Christ through baptism.

If you are considering how to observe Lent, here are a few things to check out:

• Follow this plan for Bible reading and prayer provided by Covenant Presbyterian in Chicago (print versions will be available on Sundays at Grace)

• Read an article by Craig Higgins on observing lent

• Check out Cardiphonia for many resources on Lent, including more articles and music

harmony in worship

the sermon this Sunday at Grace will be the first of three on unity in the church. this always seems to be a relevant topic, especially when we look around and see a lack of unity throughout the body played out in the existence of denominations, within churches, and around the dinner table.

in my small group last night, we studied the last part of John 17, where Jesus is praying that we would be one in the same way that he and the Father are one. part of our discussion centered on the fact that we fail to individually to pray for unity in the church.

I was reminded that worship is one of the major dividing lines that display our disunity: music, liturgy, prayer, and preaching all reflect how we might disagree with what someone else thinks we should be doing in worship. in fact, the Protestant Reformation was sparked largely due to reasons of worship.

big or small, disputes in the church seem inevitable. rather than getting discouraged about the state of disunity in worship, let's take a look at a few areas in our worship that draw us together with the Body of Christ:

hymns
you may not realize it, but the hymns that we sing reflect a wide diversity historically and theologically. open nearly any hymnal and you will find hymns written by Charles Wesley, Robert Lowry, and Horatius Bonar, or a Methodist, a Baptist, and Scottish Presbyterian, repectively. theologically, each of these devout Christians may find points of disagreement, but we can still sing their hymns in the same service of worship because they all share the same faith in Christ's death and resurrection for us. somehow the text of the hymns that we sing are able to transcend theological boundaries.

liturgy
the form of our liturgy at Grace has many elements in common with many western church traditions other than our own, including Lutherans, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. the parts may not all be in the same order, but you will find Scripture readings, congregational prayers, preaching, and the Lord's Supper in many Christian worship services.

creeds
one specific area that is perhaps the most explicit call to unity in a worship service is the use of creeds and confessions. every time we recite the Apostles' Creed in worship, we profess the same Orthodox truths of the faith that have been held since the early church. the Nicene Creed was written as a result of the first ecumenical church council in AD 325 in response to heresies that were causing disunity in the church. in fact, any creed or confession that you come across was written for the purpose of declaring the unity of belief shared by a large group of Christians.

so as we gather this Sunday and every Sunday to come, let us be encouraged by the fact that we gather to sing, pray, and speak with One Voice on account of our redemption in Christ.