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Advisory Council

The CICW/Reformed Worship Advisory Council is a group of people who meet twice a year with the staffs of Reformed Worship, a quarterly journal for planning and leading worship, and the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship to hear reports and offer advice in brainstorm sessions. Each person serves one three-year term, so every year new insights are brought to the table by this group that is diverse geographically and denominationally. The mutual learning that takes place at these day-long meetings is always stimulating and helpful to our work.

Advisory Council Members

James Abbington is associate professor of music and worship at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.

Paul Detterman is pastor of Calvin Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.

Joy Engelsman is church development coordinator at First Christian Reformed Church, Denver, Colorado.

Jill Friend is a worship planner at Trinity Christian Reformed Church, Ames, Iowa.

Kenneth Gehrels is pastor of Calvin Christian Reformed Church, Ottawa, Ontario.

Carl (Chip) Stam is director of the Institute for Christian Worship at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.

Lisa Stracks is a freelance writer who recently moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan; her RW 71 article “Where 20 or 30 are Gathered” won an Associated Church Press award for 2004 and was reprinted in the Summer 2005 issue of Leadership.

Consultants

Emily R. Brink is Senior Research Fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and editor emeritus of Reformed Worship.

Chris Stoffel Overvoorde is professor of art emeritus, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Cornelius Plantinga, Jr. is president and professor of systematic theology, Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ronald Rienstra is a doctoral student at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.

John D. Witvliet is director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and associate professor of music and worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary, respectively.

Nicholas Wolterstorff is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, emeritus, Yale University Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut.