New from CRC Publications/Faith Alive Christian Resources
CRC Publications, the parent organization of Reformed Worship, has chosen a new trade name for products produced by its Education, Worship, and Evangelism Department: Faith Alive Christian Resources. CRC Publications is the official denominational publishing house for the Christian Reformed denomination, but more than half of our sales go to over fifty other denominations. Often people have wondered what “CRC” stood for, and in a poll, most customers suggested that our name should better reflect who we are. Check our website for information on everything we offer (besides Reformed Worship), or to order online: www.FaithAliveResources.org.
Here are a few new worship-related resources from Faith Alive:
Psalter Hymnal MIDI Files.
MIDI files for all the music in the Psalter Hymnal are now available on the Reformed Worship website: www.reformedworship.org.
The Praying Church Idea Book by Douglas A. Kamstra. 431 pp., $29.95US/ $37.65CDN. 1-800-333- 8300.
“There is an intimate and inseparable connection between prayer and worship,” writes Douglas A. Kamstra in The Praying Church Idea Book. Kamstra devotes the longest section (92 pages) of his book to prayer and worship ideas. In addition to discussing worship prayers and offering seventeen ways to incorporate prayer in worship, the book includes eleven prayer services and several dramas and readings for worship services.
The Idea Book is a complete resource for every praying church. In addition to worship ideas, Kamstra includes sections on prayer formats, the leader’s prayer life, prayer ministry ideas, harvest prayer ideas, small group prayer ideas, prayer retreats, and resources. Jonathan Graf, editor of Pray! magazine, says, “After reading this book, a prayer leader’s or pastor’s problem will not be what to do, but what to do first!”
Kamstra is pastor of Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Wyoming, Michigan. He is also prayer coordinator for Christian Reformed Home Missions and leads prayer retreats, seminars, and conferences in the United States and Canada. See his Tenebrae service on p. 3 of this issue and his article on prayer resources in Reformed Worship 52, a theme issue on prayer.
Be Still, My Soul: Comfort for Those Who Suffer by Howard Vanderwell and Norma deWaal Malefyt. CD: $14.95; Cassette $9.95. 1-800-333-8300.
Vanderwell and deWaal Malefyt have been a pastor/musician team at Hillcrest Christian Reformed Church in Hudsonville, Michigan, for many years. This recording of quiet music and reflective thoughts fulfills a dream they had of ministering to shut-ins and those going through difficult circumstances, many of whom had a hard time finding good devotional material that spoke to their situations. Vanderwell, pastor, author, and cancer survivor, prepared the meditations on Psalm 139 and Psalm 13. Hymns and classical music are performed on organ and piano by deWaal Malefyt; two soloists and a violinist provide variety on some of the songs. Consider giving this recording to elderly parents as well as shut-ins in your congregation.
Update on Sing! A New Creation
The pew edition is selling briskly in churches, colleges, and seminaries.
The software edition is also available on a CD that includes all the song titles, texts, copyright information, and first lines and titles index.
The leader’s edition, still in production, will include the following:
- expanded accompaniments for keyboard, percussion, Bb instruments, and so on.
- background and teaching notes on every song, including instrumental, tempo, and liturgical suggestions.
- nine articles on the different styles of songs in Sing!
- many indexes.
To listen to many of the songs, both sound and MIDI files, check our website: www.reformedworship.org.
A recording entitled Sing! was produced by Gregg DeMey for the Granite Springs Church in Rocklin, California. Fifteen songs from Sing! A New Creation were included in this effort by one local congregation, a church plant in the Sacramento area that is blessed with much musical talent. Pastor/musician Gregg DeMey, on the ministry staff at Granite Springs, was one of the leaders at COLAM 2001 in Wheaton, Illinois.
To order any of these products, call 1-800-333-8300, or order online at www.FaithAliveResources.org.
Conferences
Authentic Worship in a Changing World A one-day leadership training seminar led by Robert Webber. Contact the Institute for Worship Studies, Box 894, Wheaton, IL 60189; 630-510-8905; fax: 630-510-0601; www.members.aol.com/worshipweb.
2002 Seminars
Jacksonville, FL, February 2
Miami, FL, February 9
Orlando, FL, February 16
Indianapolis, IN, February 23
Louisville, KY, March 2
Cincinnati, OH, March 9
St. Louis, MO, March 16
Pittsburgh, PA, April 13
Lancaster/Harrisburg PA, April 20
Philadelphia, PA, April 27
New York, NY, May 4
Portland, ME, May 6
Boston, MA, May 11
Morrison, NJ, May 18
Fort Lauderdale, FL, January 2-6, 2002
Church Music Explosion, with Sir David Wilcocks, Todd Wilson, David Davidson, André Thomas, Lynda Fray, Larry Roff, and others. Contact: Daryll Miller Covalt at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, 5555 N Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308; 954-334-5170; e-mail: DMiller@crpc.org.
Grand Rapids, MI, January 11-12, 2002
Symposium on Worship and the Arts at Calvin College. Sponsored by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), with Arthur Paul Boers, Michael Hawn, Sally Morgenthaler, Martin Tel, N. T. Wright, the dean of Westminster Cathedral, and many others. Contact: CICW, 3201 Burton St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4388; 616-957-6088; fax: 616-957-7168; e-mail: worship@calvin.edu; www.calvin.edu/worship.
Conferences of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians (PAM)
Albuquerque, NM, July 14-19, 2002
Theme: The Community in Worship
(Acts 2:42)
Montreat, NC, June 16-21 and 23-28, 2002 (two identical conferences)
Theme: Common Call: The Shared Ministry of Worship.
Westminster, PA, July 7-12, 2002
Theme: Beset by Change, but Spirit-led
Contact PAM, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396; 888-728-7228; fax: 502-569-8465; e-mail: pam@ctr.pcusa.org; www.pam.pcusa.org.
2002 Choristers Guild Summer Seminars
Liberty, MO, July 7-12
Grand Rapids, MI, July 21-26
For children’s choirs and their directors. Contact: Barbara Merry, 2834 West Kingsley Road, Garland, TX 75041-2498; 972-271-1521; fax: 972-840-3113; e-mail: Bmerry@mailcg.org; www.choristersguild.org.
Winston-Salem, NC, July 14-18, 2002
Annual conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. Featuring Southern hymns, folk hymns, African-American songs, plus a Moravian sunrise service. Contact: The Hymn Society, Boston University School of Theology, 745 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215-1401; 1-800-THE-HYMN; fax: 617-353-7322; e-mail: hymnsoc@bu.edu; www.hymnsociety.org.
Grand Rapids, MI, July 22-26, 2002
“The Doctrine of Christ and the Services of the Christian Year,” a week-long course for audit or credit taught by John Witvliet at Calvin Seminary. Contact: Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 616-957-6088; e-mail: worship@calvin.edu; www.calvin.edu/worship.
Atlanta, GA, July 24-27, 2002
2002 Festival Gathering of the Network of Biblical Storytellers: “All in the Family: Stories of Parents, Children, and Significant Others.” Contact the Network of Biblical Storytellers (NOBS). United Theological Seminary, 1810 Harvard Blvd., Dayton, OH 45406; 1-800-355-NOBS or 937-278-5127; fax: 937-279-0848; e-mail: nobsint@nobs.org; www.nobs.org.