Saturday, January 26, 2008

Worship

I'm taking Theology of Worship, which had quickly become a very fun class for me. Dr. Schwanz, who teaches it, is a great deal of fun as well as being a masterful worship leader. But what he has done for me is give me an appreciation for the richness of worship that I haven't felt for a long time.

Like any seminary class we deal in the possible. We don't deal with the limitations of our situation, the time constraints, musicians etc that are part of reality. Instead we deal with what worship could be and should be. Which is far more comfortable for me.

What I do know is that if God wants me to become a solo/senior pastor, I will be very intentional about how worship is led for the congregation. Worship should allow the congregation to express itself toward God in the ways that best suits the congregation.

I know this seems obtuse, but there are a lot of thoughts going through my head that I am struggling to put into a coherent form. Watch this space for more later.

2 comments:

bishopman said...

Worship is a difficult thing to do, in the corporate sense. Focus on what you need to do. Like you said, forget about the limitations. Whatever you do, do it the absolute best. I hate it when churches allow worship to be hokey or less than excellent. You do not have sound like seasoned professionals, but I should not sound like the worship leaders have never seen the song or reading before.

A cohesive and coherent worship can be very powerful. Otherwise, it is a train wreck.

Have you had any good BBQ yet?

Anonymous said...

The main issue is "doing" worship! Why is people relate worship with music and leave out the rest? That is the issue. We put it in a box and shake it up for what we want it to be. I think is where you are going. Allowing it to be God led and God excelled and not a couple of show stoppers who make the "joyful" noise for Jesus a little too far.

Worship is everyday and everything! We tend to associate the music portion in the service as worship and are ok with it being less than impressive. This is a huge distraction and allows people to lose focus or worse yet never "get in the moment." We are ok with "crap" and churches never assume the response crap in crap out, they somehow believe they are above it. I am one of the few that believe that if it cannot be done with excellence don;t even do it. Wait till it can be done right. Perhaps a bit harsh, but God deserves our best, not just what we can throw at it. It is not a money issue either, it is a heart condition.