In September 1997, a bold new venture began, the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, designed to bring both rigorous scholarship and practical resources to enrich Christian worship in churches throughout North America. The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship will be housed on the campus of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and will work closely with Calvin Theological Seminary and the Christian Reformed Church of North America.
The working mission statement features two central tasks: to promote scholarly study of the theology, history, and practice of Christian worship, and to contribute to the renewal of worship in congregations throughout North America.
John Witvliet—no stranger to Reformed Worship readers—was appointed the first director of the Institute. He is uniquely suited to the task. A music major at Calvin, he went on to earn a master's degree in theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, a master's degree in choral music at the University of Illinois, and master's and Ph.D. degrees in worship and theology at the University of Notre Dame. His academic credentials are buoyed by his experiences as a congregational worship leader, musician, researcher, and writer. In addition to serving as Institute director, Witvliet will assume teaching responsibilities in Calvin's music and religion departments and at Calvin Theological Seminary.
Witvliet says the timing for Calvin's new Institute is ideal, since in recent years worship has become a topic of vital concern for many congregations. "Worship commands almost instant interest and attention," he says. "In the last decade every Christian tradition has seen changes in patterns of worship." Studying trends—looking at current shifts through historical and theological spectacles—will be one of the tasks of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
The Institute plans to promote interdisciplinary work-bringing together artists, theologians, cultural anthropologists, missionaries, musicians, historians, sociologists, pastors, and worship leaders to share their expertise.
This vision has led to an aggressive and broad-based set of proposed initiatives. The scholarly side of the lnstitute's task will be carried out through courses, library resources, conferences, and publications. The Institute will provide courses on worship at both Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. It will develop library resources to support the scholarly study of worship and to provide practical worship resources for local congregations. It will sponsor scholarly conferences, publish volumes of research on worship-related topics and host guest lectures and artists.
The practical side of the Institute's mandate will be addressed through workshops, published music, and resources and consultations. The Institute will sponsor such events as the annual Symposium on Worship and the Arts held at Calvin each January and the quadrennial Conference on Liturgy and Music (CO LAM) of the Christian Reformed Church, as well as workshops in local congregations across North America. The Institute will also be available to consult with congregations on commonly asked questions: How do we find a good worship leader? What training should they have? How do we design good worship space in our new church building? What criteria do we use for choosing the best of both historic and recently written music for worship?
"In all these efforts," says Witvliet, "our goal is to move beyond unwarranted divisions over worship styles. We want to be constructive, encouraging public worship that is both spiritually vital and theologically grounded."
