Ever dreamed of reading John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion from cover to cover? No, seriously—stick with me . . .

I’ve recently discovered, thanks to my wife’s parents, that the Foundation for Reformed Theology, in honor of the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth, has come up with a plan by which one can read the entire Institutes in the course of one calendar year (sort of like one of those read-the-Bible-in-a-year programs), and you can do it by reading only about seven pages per day. (You even get weekends off!) To get a copy of the plan, click here.

Institutes of the Christian Religion is Calvin’s major work—really his life’s work. It is the foundational work of Reformed theology and an important basis (some would argue the entire basis) of Presbyterianism. If you’re Presbyterian and you’ve always wondered who this Calvin character was and what he had to say, then this is your chance to find out!

If you’re interested and could use some help getting a copy of the Institutes, post a comment to this entry, send me an e-mail (dc [dot] trinity [at] mac [dot] com), or give me a call. And if you can’t quite picture yourself actually reading the Institutes but wish that someone else would, I’m going to give it a try and will occasionally post reflections on my reading on this blog.

Happy new year!

—Dwight Christenbury

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

(John 1.1-5)

*               *               *

Forty years ago today, the astronauts aboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft, orbiting the moon, took the now-famous picture known as “Earthrise.” That day, in The New York Times, the poet and playwright Archibald MacLeish wrote, “To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold—brothers who know now they are truly brothers.”

As an editorial in today’s Times points out, such optimism was a bit overstated. Still, if you can imagine seeing that picture of the Earth in space as if for the first time, it’s hard not to be awestruck by the wonders of creation. The writer of John’s gospel had no idea what the Earth looked like from space, but his words are (or should be) awe-inspiring in their own way. The light indeed shines in the darkness. . . .

All the best wishes for a peaceful and happy Christmas!

—Mark Stanley, Joe Gernoske, and Dwight Christenbury

P.S. For another lovely reflection on “Earthrise,” see Oliver Morton’s piece, “Not-So-Lonely Planet.”

In his sermon of December 21 (which you can find here), Mark Stanley referred to nine characteristics of worship in “vital and faithful” congregations, as identified by the preacher and teacher Thomas G. Long in Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship.

In case you didn’t catch all of them, here they are again:

“Vital and faithful congregations

1. “Make room, somewhere in worship, for the experience of mystery

2. “Make planned and concerted efforts to show hospitality to the stranger

3. “Have recovered and made visible the sense of drama inherent in Christian worship

4. “Emphasize congregational music that is both excellent and eclectic in style and genre

5. “Creatively adapt the space and environment of worship

6. “Forge a strong connection between worship and local mission—a connection expressed in every aspect of the worship service

7. “Maintain a relatively stable order of service and a significant repertoire of worship elements and responses that the congregation knows by heart

8. “Move to a joyous festival experience toward the end of the worship service

9. “Have strong, charismatic pastors as worship leaders.”

[Thomas G. Long, Beyond the Worship Wars: Building Vital and Faithful Worship (Washington: Alban Institute, 2001), p. 13.]

This list is one man’s opinion, but it seems a good starting point for a congregational discussion of worship. Please share your thoughts in the questionnaires that will soon be distributed, and consider leaving a comment here as well. Thank you in advance for your thoughtful contributions to this important conversation.

—Dwight Christenbury