1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA

On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 91ÁÔÆæ
Since the mid-1980s, Mary Aluel Garang's theologically rich hymns have helped Sudanese Christians maintain faith and hope in God despite decades of war, conflict, and hardship. Her songs are known and sung beyond her Dinka people, her Episcopal tradition, and her nation of South Sudan.
Meeting Dinka Christians and musicians decades ago in East Africa made a lasting impression on Karen Campbell, a pastor and musician. She reflects on what we can learn about God through the lens of other cultures.
During decades of Sudanese civil war, the Jol Wo Lieech song ministry and Thiec Nhialic prayer ministry gave refugees and refugee congregations a sense of family and purpose. Both still work to unite Christians, whether or not they belong to the Dinka tribe or still live in South Sudan.
Marcell Silva Steuernagel, assistant professor of church music and director of the Master of Sacred Music program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, talks about what instruments can be added to better capture the style and spirit of Latin and South American choral music.
Jorge Lockward, director of the New York-based ecumenical chorale Cántico Nuevo and minister of worship arts at the Church of the Village, shares practical tips on how to dress up a piano part to better capture the style and spirit of Latin and South American choral music.
Pearl Shangkuan, professor of music and director of choral activities at Calvin University and co-editor of the 91ÁÔÆæ Choral Music Series with GIA Publications, talks with Latin American music experts Maria Guinand, Jorge Lockward, and Marcell Silva Steuernagel about best practices for teaching and performing Latin and South American choral music.
International renowned choral conductor Maria Guinand shares practical tips for North American choirs in teaching and performing Latin and South American choral music.
A youth minister reflects on the necessity of cultural intelligence in ministry alongside youth in order to create safe spaces to ask questions, wrestle with biblical concepts, and hear thoughts from people different from them, all with the purpose of loving God and others better.
Rather than starting with words and theories of interpretation, scholar Shively T. J. Smith uses Howard Thurman's metaphorical imagery to help congregations visually process how they understand scripture and live out their Christian faith.
Congregations and lay Christians have methods of interpreting the Bible and faith life even if they can't articulate them. Using Howard Thurman’s image-rich meditations, scholar Shively T. J. Smith offers a visual way to reflect on applying the Bible to faith and ordinary life.
In this conversation, pastor Theresa Cho of St. John's Church in the Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco shares joys and insights from a historical congregation that is learning to embrace change and be vulnerable in order to live together as an intergenerational, contextual worshiping community.
Scholar Mimi L. Larson explains how theology, beliefs about children's capabilities, and pastors influence whether or how children meet God in worship. She says that Black church culture offers valuable examples.
