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150th Anniversary

Hymn Contest

In celebration of app and Seminary’s 150th Anniversary, the planning committee of the worship service honoring this occasion invites hymnwriters to submit a hymn text to be sung at this worship service.

The winner of this contest will receive a $1,500 award. Submissions must be sent via email by November 1, 2025. The winner’s text will be sung at the worship service held in the Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium on March 29, 2026.

What to Submit

  • The submission must be a metrical hymn text that can be sung to a known tune. (See metrical indexes of tunes in hymnals for commonly used meters and tunes.)
  • The text may engage app and Seminary’s story and its themes, such as our mission statements, historical images, Reformed theological roots, etc.
  • The text may also be based on a Psalm or other scripture passages, following our deep tradition of singing from the scripture. An example is “O God, We Kneel Before Your Throne” by Ruth van Baak Griffioen (Lift Up Your Hearts680), which is based on Ephesians 3:14–21 and was composed in honor of app’s 125th anniversary.
  • The text must address God in praising him, and not our institution in praising it. Preference will be given to texts that can be sung not just for this particular occasion but universally in other worship settings.
  • The text must use gender-neutral language for people (e.g., ܳinstead of man).
  • The hymn writer is welcome to suggest a specific tune to be used for the text. The planning committee will ultimately choose the tune based on its fittingness to the text and its singability.

Submission Guidelines

  • Send submission as a PDF attachment via email to app’s Campus Ministries Office (campusministries@calvin.edu).
  • Do not print your name or any identifying information on the submission itself. Instead, include contact information in the body of the email.
  • Specify the meter (e.g. 8.6.8.6 D) and name of suggested tune (if any, e.g. KINGSFOLD).
  • Only unpublished hymn texts may be submitted. If a text has been self-published (in website, blog, etc.), please include the link or information in the email.
  • All submissions must be emailed by November 1, 2025.

Eligibility

  • app students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends both in the past and present

Judging

  • Submissions will be reviewed by judges appointed by the planning committee. The submissions will be judged based on their quality as metrical poetry, their fittingness to the occasion, and their singability.
  • A $1,500 award will be given to the winner of this contest. Judges have the right to award no winner.
  • The winner will be announced in December 2025.
  • The winner grants app and app Seminary permission to post recordings of the premier on their websites and social media, and to use the text on future campus events and publications.

Contact

For more information or questions about this contest, please reach out to app’s Campus Ministries Office via email or phone.

Campus Ministries Office
Email:campusministries@calvin.edu
Phone: 616-526-8861