Check out this article on worship and justice, recommended by our Covenant Resource Center.
Articles
Nancy Beach on Leading Artists
Here’s a nice article by Nancy Beach on the topic of leading artistic people.
Leading Artists: Five principles for overseeing right-brained team members
We Are What We Eat (But We Become What We Sing)
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Written on June 3rd, 2009
Filed under: Articles, Books, Culture, Dangerous Worship, Intergenerational, Local Church, Music, Prayer, Songwriting, Theology, Writing and blogging
Filed under: Articles, Books, Culture, Dangerous Worship, Intergenerational, Local Church, Music, Prayer, Songwriting, Theology, Writing and blogging
Last Sunday one of the members of our worship team, a 15 year old girl, lead the worship band and the congregation in singing the song “Whatever You’re Doing” written by the band Sanctus Real. Lead by her, it was so authentic, and sung with such passion, that across all ages and musical background/tastes, everyone was able to relate and enter into the experience of the song. It was a reflection of the story of her faith and the remarkable “awakening” that has taken place in her life over the past two year as her faith has come alive, a journey that many in the congregation have been able to share with her. There were few dry eyes.
I would not be surprised if this song continues to be a regular in our worship vocabulary, because it touched the congregation so deeply.
This also got me thinking. This is how songs shape us. A moving song reflects God’s work in our midst, and then lives on to shape the language by which we relate to God in the future. In the future, people in our church will relate to God with the metaphor of peace in the midst of “chaos,” in part because they related to this girl’s experience as expressed in song – and the way they experienced God in the musical retelling of the story.
This song, and the way we experienced it, will influence our theology.
If you tell me the song themes your church sings the most right now, I’ll tell you what your church’s core theology will be in the future. We become what we sing.
What do you think? Do you disagree with this idea? Why?
What songs were present in significant spiritual moments in your life? How did those ideas shape the Christian you became?
Or the big picture questions: What songs are your church singing the most right now? How will those songs shape the future core theology of the Covenant church?
And the flip side question: what core theological ideas we hold as priorities now will lose influence in the future because we do not sing about them?
Rooting for you,
Andrew
Heartsong More Than a Memory
By Gustav Skogens
CHICAGO, IL (May 18, 2009) – The paths to professional ministry have been different for Bruce Helgeson, Heidi Wiebe, Paul Lessard, and Rick Carlson—some have been more winding than others. But they all share one thing in common—all began with Covenant Heartsong.
Read the rest of this Covenant News story.
Participation
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Written on April 23rd, 2009
Filed under: Articles, Dangerous Worship, Formation, Holy Week
Filed under: Articles, Dangerous Worship, Formation, Holy Week
In my years as a worship leader, and in hearing the stories of hundreds of pastors and worship leaders, I understand that most preachers and worship leaders want one thing more than anything else in worship: We want people to participate in worship and experience God. That’s it. Budgets, technology, team talent, nickels, noses and numbers pale. We want to lead and serve an engaged congregation.
Here’s a lovely little article about participation. I hope you enjoy it.
In our years of ministry together, the people of St. Timothy’s and I had grown from needing to understand worship in order to participate in it to needing to participate in worship in order to understand it. The congregation also determined that participation means being actively involved. We learned this together: God taught us when we entered into Christian worship as a mystery and gave God the first word.
Read the rest of Maundy Thursday by Craig A. Satterlee.
Hijacking
Do you or key leaders in your church allow critical church members to dominate decisions? Well, there’s good reason for that dynamic– reasons that pertain to you, the key leaders and the critical party.
I just finished an excellent web article in the Alban Weekly: The Power of Feelings. William Kondrath (pastor and astute leader) recalls an incident between himself, the church board and an outspoken parishoner. I suspect most of us can identify with what he went through, and we will benefit from the wisdom and insight he shares in this article.
You’ll like the story, and you’ll like the lesson.
Dreadful Meeting
Don Johnson posted something on the dreadful “meeting.” His prompt was a NY Times article on the same topic.
Ever hear that joke: We don’t need a watch for this meeting; We need a calendar. ?
As leaders, especially church leaders, we’d do well to gain some skills in this area. The one who calls a meeting is responsible for the preparation, quality and outcome of the meeting. And if we’ve given leadership to another, we’re responsible for that too. Yikes.
How are we doing?
Worship is Mission
by Craig A. Satterlee
My mandate was clear when they called me to be their pastor: “Help our church to grow.” Looking back, I was very naive. It honestly never occurred to me that the members of a congregation would, on the one hand, say they want to grow, and, on the other, resist the changes that would facilitate growth, such as welcoming people different from themselves and involving newer members in leadership. Many of the members seemed to do whatever they could to preserve the congregation’s self-identity as a “small church” and the ways they related to each other and made decisions as “a close-knit family.” I failed to recognize these behaviors as the natural-even expected-ways people protect their world of meaning and respond to change and the losses change brings.
Continue reading Worship is Mission
Gordon MacDonald Reflects on Plane Crash
It’s a great story, this “Miracle on the Hudson.” It speaks of our reverence for life, courage, discipline, team work. I hope we might reflect it in the church.
Gordon MacDonald posted a reflection on, what he calls, the miracle on the Hudson. It’s a wonderful piece, and I heartily recommend it to church leaders everywhere.
9.5 Theses on Worship
No doubt, some of you have already seen this article by Gary Parrett; since it was posted at Christianity Today in 2005. I guess I’m behind in my reading. 9.5 Theses on Worship: A disputation on the role of music.
Some of you who are pastor or colleague to a younger worship leader/artists or those without formal theological training, might recommend the professor’s audio lectures on the same topic. They are very easy to access, the audio is great quality, and Parrett provides outline and notes to follow along.
You may not agree with every point of the theology, but his is an orthodox and biblical point of view, and I suspect you will say, “Amen” to most of what you hear/read.
I’m interested in hearing your response to his 9.5 Theses. How do they map with your understanding of worship? What about your ministry volunteers? If you or the volunteers are on a different page, what are the differences?
Have a great weekend,
Katie
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