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The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is pleased to partner with the following worshiping communities and resource development specialists to explore the theme of Vertical Habits.
African Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
To introduce African Church to Western liturgical concepts and to introduce Western religious communities to the African concept of community worship and daily life through a five-week series that focuses on five basic elements of worship, including planning and creating music, dance, sermons, testimonies, dramas, oral story telling, and artwork by various ages in the congregation that echo African cultural traditions, and also through intercessory prayer for Africa, the national leadership of Africa, victims of HIV-AIDS, the economic development of Africa, and the Christian church in Africa.
To encourage continuity of worship practices in daily life by studying with local pastors, educating and training congregational leaders in Adult Sunday School, presenting a monthly drama that focuses on particular practices to encourage the development of that habit in personal life, and designing and displaying monthly banners to reinforce each practice.
Clifton Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
To develop a 28-day curriculum to teach and examine habits of adoration, confession and assurance, thanksgiving, and supplication in worship planning and preaching, prayer services, Sunday School lessons for all ages, Wednesday evening history lessons on a historical or contemporary person who exemplifies a specific habit, small group lessons, and personal or family devotions.
College Hill Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio
To plan and implement an eight-week series on Vertical Habits for both a traditional and a contemporary service, with special attention to original drama, dance, slide presentations, music, fine arts, and short original films.
Cornerstone Christian Reformed Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan
To help participants learn about Vertical Habits in Sunday worship and carry them into daily life through an eight-part sermon series and multi-sensory worship which will include congregational art and multimedia components, a series of articles by church leaders, and the development of an online web log of daily devotions which includes artwork of children. (www.cornerstonecrc.net/weblog).
To create a series of worship services through dialogue with the Lenten planning team and an ecumenical/interfaith clergy gathering for the season of Lent in order to develop worship habits through visual arts, dramas, sermons, printed home study materials, and a community blog.
Crossroads Community Church, Schererville, Indiana
To develop a five-part series on worship basics that is accompanied by small group discussion guides, children and youth curriculum, web resources, visual arts and drama.
Daybreak Community Church, Valparaiso, Indiana
To create a worship series on praise, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication that explores what each means, how to incorporate each into corporate worship, and how to develop each outside of corporate worship as regular parts of life through the use of video art, drama, messages, testimonies, music, visual arts, journals, and email.
Drayton Christian Reformed Church, Drayton, Ontario, Canada
To incorporate people of all ages and skills in planning and implementing a series on developing worship habits in daily life with particular attention to visual arts, children's messages, family activities, and sign language to communicate these ideas through kinetic involvement.
Midland Park Christian Reformed Church, Midland Park, New Jersey
To explore how particular aspects of liturgy and the celebration of the Lord's Supper connect with seasons of the church year through a series of worship services that condenses the entire church calendar into an eight week series, with the Lord's Supper celebrated each week to emphasize the various themes, with special attention given to the involvement of children through leadership, visual arts, and dance.
Monroe Community Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
To teach people how to incorporate moments of adoration, confession, intercession, and listening into daily life through worship services that explore both Jesus' words and examples of each habit and the words and emotions of each habit in the Psalms. Additionally, an intergenerational weekend retreat will be offered where small groups will develop scripture, a hands-on experience and a take-home card to emphasize the practice of the habit.
New City Church, Jersey City, New Jersey
To create a small group curriculum that includes Friday evening services to introduce urban teens to life in Christ and give them a set of daily practices that build their relationship with Christ.
New Life Christian Reformed Church, New Lenox, Illinois
To teach a six-week series that includes dramatic readings, PowerPoint presentations, video productions, and weekly email devotions to lead worshipers through the Lenten season by showing how the development of daily Vertical Habits illuminate our walk to the cross and the empty tomb.
River City Church, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
To gather a team from each of the ministry areas of the church to plan worship services and create take-home sheets to encourage worshipers to make Vertical Habits a part of their living in a practical and tangible way.
Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky
To encounter and practice Vertical Habits as a significant part of spiritual formation through an interactive art exhibit, a month-long devotional written by church leaders and a lecture series taught by pastors from the church or local community.
St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan
To develop a six-week series on understanding and applying liturgical practices in daily life that will include orders of worship focusing on each practice, a sermon series, and weekly family activity booklets.
The River Community Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
To teach Vertical Habits through a series of seven worship services that will include creative elements focused on Scripture and a person in history who cultivated a specific Vertical Habit. The series will include take-home materials that will help both adults and children practice each habit throughout the week.
To integrate the speech we offer to God in worship with our words and lifestyles outside of corporate worship, through teaching basic worship vocabulary of faith, building Christian community, and connecting people with each other and existing ministries within the congregation.
Trinity Reformed Church, Orange City, Iowa
To plan and create a Lenten series accompanied with a devotional resource, with particular attention to the relationship of worshipers to God and to the development of this relationship outside of worship.
Tualatin Presbyterian Church, Tualatin, Oregon
To develop worship services that focus on our relationship with God with emphasis on youth involvement in planning and leading as well as worship team development, and to stimulate an awareness of the continual spiritual dialogue of daily life through three community spiritual formation projects.
United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio
To recruit and train a core of ecumenical colleagues for leadership of a Lenten catechetical study in their congregations that will culminate in an Easter Vigil service planned with the participation of the catechumens.
Unity Christian High School, Hudsonville, Michigan
To develop, with student leadership, ten or more complete chapels focused on Vertical Habits that can be used or adapted for use in other schools, to create a team of students to develop visuals for worship, and to pursue a deeper understanding of the uniqueness of high school worship.
Resource Development Specialists
Bruce Benedict, Director of Music and Arts at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, will compose music for each Vertical Habit that can be used in congregational worship, children's worship and small group formation and to develop icons and visual art for each Vertical Habit to help worshipers practice these habits in their relationship with God and with each other.
Randy Beumer is a professional artist whose work appears in resources developed by several publishing companies. He will visually illustrate "I'm Sorry", "Why?", "Help" and "What Can I Do?" based on a text that reflects the theological significance of the Vertical Habit and creating art that reflects the posture of each habit which can be used in church or at home to practice Vertical Habits during the week.
Carolyn Brown is a children's ministry consultant and the author of several books (Abingdon Press) about children's participation in worship. For this project she will write an intergenerational curriculum preparing learners six years old and older to participate in congregational worship and to continue worshiping at home by connecting phrases of the Lord's Prayer to Vertical Habits, to the congregation's worship and to daily worship practices.
Tom Long, director, playwright, and chief storyteller for Friends of the Groom has published several religious plays and musicals, performed for Public Educational Television, and served as a consultant in youth work and theater. He will develop a Vacation Bible School program for ages 6 through 12 around the Vertical Habits themes, focusing on how these themes are aspects of a healthy relationship with God. The Vertical Habits will be tied to specific Biblical stories that can be presented each day in a large group opening and closing session, and reinforced through learning activities that include stories, music, games and crafts.
Barbara Newman is a special education consultant and author of Autism and Your Church: Nurturing the Spiritual Growth of People with Autism Spectrum Disorders (Faith Alive Christian Resources, forthcoming) and Helping Kids Include Kids with Disabilities (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2001). For this project she will create a resource for engaging people with disabilities in order to learn and practice Vertical Habits through a devotional for leaders focused on key Scripture verses and 10 to 20 practical ideas for both adults and children.
Angela Taylor Perry, a professional artist, graduate of Calvin Seminary and pastor intern at Church of the Servant in Grand Rapids, Michigan will paint a series of four artistic pieces called "The Language of Hands" that will portray Vertical Habits through abstract and graphic displays of hands expressing movement.
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