Presentational vs. Participatory: Are We Teaching to the Test?

My wife is an educator. Her entire adult life has been spent teaching children and helping equip teachers. Perhaps the most formidable and irritating challenge she deals with is the enduring bane of standardized tests. Tests, in general, are not bad. Tests are meant to reveal objective progress toward a desired benchmark or standard. In the world of American public school education, standardized testing has unfortunately become the 800-pound gorilla in the room causing all things to revolve around its needs – determining the very curriculum it was designed to assess. In deciding what is crucial or dispensable, standardized tests can leave educators absolutely no time, opportunity, or choice to teach anything outside of the tests’ sometimes narrowly-focused objectives.

In planning and leading worship, the benchmark for which worship planners and leaders strive is congregational participation. If worship is what happens when God’s people assemble to receive and respond to God’s revelation, then it makes perfect sense that leaders want these moments to count. We want people to actively participate in the holy dialogue of worship with Creator God. We do not want to turn the sanctuary into an auditorium, nor the congregation into a crowd that passively seeks entertainment. Over the last few years I have read many books and heard several speakers expound on responsible worship planning, preparation and leadership. The buzz words in this milieu are “active congregational participation.” In nearly every instance the focus specifically lies on congregational singing. Recently, though, I have begun to wonder if focusing on the goal of congregational participation and inevitably dropping “nonessential” worship elements might be doing the same thing to evangelical worship that standardized tests have done to public education?

Please don’t misunderstand me. I truly believe that one of the biggest problems in Western Christianity is audience-style, consumer-driven, passive worship attendance that turns would-be worshipers into non-engaged spectators. As Robert Webber writes, “we sit passively and are entertained by television…as spectators, we listen and watch, but we seldom participate actively. This same mood is often carried over into our church services.”[1] Bob Kauflin expressed the same sentiment when he wrote, “How can you stand there with your hands in your pockets and apathetic looks on your faces and claim to be worshiping God?”[2] For many Christians, greater participation is needed in congregational worship. My concern is that in our culture, active engagement in worship simply means that everyone sings for as long as possible. If someone sits down or does not sing, they are considered to be passively engaged in worship or not engaged at all. The fallacy at work is that we can’t see all forms of active engagement.

The root of this issue might come from our need to mend what is broken. A pastor once spoke to me comparing music ministry to preaching ministry. He said it must be nice for me to have immediate recognition as to whether or not I had done my job well. In preaching a sermon, he felt he had no evaluation of the effectiveness of his hours spent researching, writing and delivery other than expressions on the congregation’s faces, handshakes at the door, and their general responsiveness to his leadership. As opposed to the sermon, he remarked, with music everyone knows right away whether or not my work has been successful. In trying to achieve our goal of helping the congregation worship, we may be over simplifying our evaluation criteria to include only what is most obvious – congregational singing. Just like the pastor in my story, we can immediately see and hear active participation when the congregation sings, but may not so easily identify internal forms of active participation.

John Baldovin, in his introduction to the book, The Postures of the Assembly During the Eucharistic Prayer, points out that all Christians turn actions of worship into ritual.[3]  Ritual has a bad rap in American culture. For many people, “ritual” is synonymous with “meaningless.” According to Baldovin, ritual is what “helps a group of people experience solidarity, identity, and common purpose.” Our ritualistic actions are the tools we need for the Body of Christ to “express our identity bodily and communally.” Singing together in the congregation can help us to experience this solidarity, group identity, and common purpose, but it is not the only way. If God reveals Himself to us in corporate worship and our response is our participation, don’t we need options for response in addition to musical expression? Shouldn’t we build liturgies in a way that accommodates more ways to respond than singing alone?

Throughout history, God’s people have responded to Him in many different ways. Andrew Hill points out several of these historic responses in his book, Enter His Courts with Praise: Old Testament Worship for the New Testament Church.[4] In addition to singing, Hill gives biblical evidence for liturgical responses (such as AMEN!), prayer (worship, praise, thanksgiving, adoration, devotion, communion, confession, petition, and intercession), making vows or commitments, preaching/teaching, giving tithes and offerings, participating in seasonal festivals, penitential acts (weeping, tearing clothes, shaving one’s head), and artistic responses. In her book, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services, Constance Cherry lists numerous principals to consider when moving congregations from passive to participatory that do not include singing.[5]  Cherry asks worship planners to consider these questions: Which of the five senses have I employed? Where have I asked people to connect with fellow worshipers? How many times have I invited all worshipers to do something? What physical action have I invited? How much of what is being done by leaders can be done by the people? And, am I intentionally and pastorally guiding worshipers toward appropriate responses?

In a recent conversation with a good friend, we talked about this very subject. As we talked, my friend Tom shared that he almost never sings with the congregational music. However, he told me how he appreciates well-crafted and well delivered presentational music in the same way he values sermons. Why? Both presentational music and sermons give him time to hear God or to reflect on how God is revealing Himself. Tom is an introvert. Congregational music helps many in our congregations understand God’s revelation. However, as an element of worship naturally geared toward extroverts, it may also make it difficult for some introverts to listen to God. Some estimates are a that a third to a half of all people may function this way. [6] We need to provide many ways for our congregations to hear and respond to God’s revelation, not just one. If we don’t give our congregations time and opportunity to hear God, then to what or whom are we asking them to respond? Let’s not reduce the structures of our worship to include only the forms of response we can see and hear. That would be like turning congregational worship into a standardized test.

Bibliography

[1] Robert E. Webber, Worship is a Verb: Celebrating God’s Mighty Deeds of Salvation (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 2004), 3.

[2] Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway 2008), 121.

[3] John Baldovin, The Postures of the Assembly During the Eucharistic Prayer (Chicago, IL: Liturgy  Training Publications, 1994), 3.

[4] Andrew Hill, Enter His Courts with Praise: Old Testament Worship for the New Testament Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company, 1993), 113-130.

[5] Constance Cherry, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), 267-269.

[6] Susan Cain. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking (New York, NY: Broadway Books, 2013), 14-15.

Just Fill in the Blanks…

Have you ever wondered how a Worship Pastor/Minister of Music plans worship? Do evangelical Worship Pastors really start with a blank slate, relying on the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit to generate genuinely fresh approaches to worship every week? Or, through our habits, do we create our very own version of a liturgy? While I can’t vouch for the entirety of the evangelical worship planning world, my experiences and observations lead me to believe conditions are much closer to the latter. I believe congregational worship has a natural tendency to settle into its own liturgy, a word that just means “work of the people”, so shouldn’t those of us serving in free-church evangelical settings think deeply about the “liturgy” into which we settle? After all, we have a choice. Since I have been asked more than a few times to describe my personal process, here goes…

 

Foundations to Build On

While researching and writing my thesis, I was very blessed to be mentored by Dr. Constance Cherry. She has authored an amazing series of books entitled The Worship Architect. Constance presents the process of building a house as a metaphor for building a worship service. Following the metaphor, Constance suggests that worship services have three basic aspects: structure, style and content. When considering a house, the builder is foremost concerned with building a structure capable of supporting and housing the content and aesthetic stylings that will follow. As with a house, there is more than one possible structure capable of bearing the weight of a worship service. Many contemporary worshiping traditions have embraced John Wimber’s (Vinyard) Tabernacle model, where the service preceding the sermon is constructed mostly of songs moving stylistically from louder, upbeat music to slower, more contemplative. Through subtle changes of text, tempo and volume, this progression ushers the worshiper from the “outer courts” of the tabernacle to the “inner courts” on their way to the “holy of holies” or the sermon. Many people schooled in traditional hymn-based worship may have been taught the Isaiah 6 model. This model uses the first eight verses of Isaiah chapter 6 as a framework for designing worship. A brief outline of this structure includes beginning with large, majestic praise reflecting Isaiah’s observation of worship in God’s heavenly throne room. What follows is a sequence hinging on the worshiper’s realization of their sinfulness, confession of those sins, and assurance of pardon. After this crucial element of Holy dialogue, the worshiper is, as in the Isaiah passage, fit to hear and understand God speaking to them (sermon) and challenging them to respond (invitation). In my professional ministry, I have used both of these models.

 

Another Way

Though I have used both the Tabernacle and Isaiah 6 models, I now choose, regardless of worship style, to use the 4-fold model as my primary structure for worship. As Constance states, the 4-fold model comes both from scriptural roots and historical documentation of the early church (Worship Architect, 46). The four “folds” are (1) gathering, (2) Word, (3) Table, (4) and sending.

“Worship is a journey – a journey into God’s presence (gathering), of hearing from God (Word), that celebrates Christ (Table), and that sends us into the world changed by our encounter with God (sending) (Worship Architect, 47).

For most evangelical traditions, the catch in using this model is the inclusion of the Lord’s Supper in every service. When the Lord’s Supper is not observed in worship, the 4-fold model fills its place with an element called the “alternate response.” While I am a great advocate for evangelicals increasing the frequency of Lord’s Supper observance (see my article entitled, “How Much is Enough”), I am also very glad to serve in a church where we have the perfect worship component to fill such a need – the offertory. There are three prominent worship themes found in observance of the Table:

• Lord’s Supper=Ceremonial Meal memorializing Christ’s sacrifice
• Communion=Ceremonial Meal creating indescribably close spiritual connection to Christ
• Eucharist=Ceremonial Meal celebrating Christ’s victory over sin and death

All three are proper responses to God revealing Himself through the holy dialogue that occurs in every worship service. An offertory, with its opportunity to respond through giving, contemplation, prayer, standing, sitting, kneeling, or singing, is a fantastic opportunity to respond to God in services where the Table is not observed.

 

Start with Scripture

You may be thinking, “This is all very interesting, but I’m really only curious about how the songs are chosen.” In previous times, I have been content to choose songs simply based on their connection to the pastor’s sermon or my own personal preference. I was filling blanks in an ad-hoc liturgy that has developed in many Baptist churches. Now, when I choose songs, I start with scripture. Since evangelicals look to scripture as our sole authority, I choose to not limit the congregation’s interaction with scripture to the pastor reading his sermon text. In past eras, when scripture was not written in the language of the people or congregations were illiterate, pastors and church leaders came up with a wonderful strategy to help expose worshipers to the entire Bible. Since worshiping through the entire Bible is a pretty lengthy task, the authors of this scripture strategy pragmatically decided on a three-year plan. This ingenius plan for congregational scripture interaction is called The Lectionary. The Lectionary takes about 90% of the Bible and distributes it into four weekly readings; one Psalm, one Old Testament, one New Testament epistle, and one Gospel reading for each Sunday of the year. The consistent readings in worship not only expose the congregation to scripture, but they also help believers orient their lives around the events of God’s story of creation and redemption. Even though most evangelical pastors do not use the readings in the Lectionary to decide what they will preach, the Lectionary is still a fantastic tool. Using the index, I can identify the pastor’s sermon text and then find companion scriptures throughout the Bible.

Assuming the primary scripture of the week is the pastor’s sermon text, how do I handle 2-3 extra scripture readings? To the average evangelical worshiper, stopping the music 2-3 times during the service to read scripture would seem a bit jolting. No worries, there are plenty of solutions. Even though we are dealing with the “Word” portion of a 4-fold structure, we can still use music and we still pray. Of the 3-4 possible scriptures for each service, one is read by the Pastor as the basis of his sermon; one is read by an individual, team or the congregation; at least one is sung in paraphrase as a congregational song; and one is transposed into a prayer. The result is that my congregation is edified through reading, singing and praying scripture – a lot of it – without destroying their style sensibilities. This is one of the reasons I believe that the 4-fold structure “bears the weight” of any style, from the most traditional to the most contemporary.

 

Choosing Songs

Although some of you reading this article are still only wondering how I choose songs, it’s important for you to know that I can’t choose songs until I’ve gone through this process. Now that I am here, I may still have “blanks to fill,” but I have a more complete understanding of what type of songs will best fill those blanks. Here is a list of the things I consider each week in choosing songs for worship:

Scripture

Does the song set or paraphrase the primary text or companion scriptures?

Tempo

I believe there should be a variety of tempos represented in each service. If you want service music that fails to connect with the congregation, choose songs that all have the same tempo.

Key

There are holy mysteries in the way God created music. One of those mysteries is how musical keys relate to the emotions of the listener, player, or singer. I don’t want to choose songs that are all in the same key (see Tempo comments). I also want to avoid keys that step down. The congregation may not exactly know what happened, but if the songs in your worship set step down, they will know something feels wrong. This can disconnect them from their ability to participate. I prefer songs that ascend. This can happen via step-wise movement, such as C to D; circle of fifths movement, such as A to E or G to D; triad motion like C to E to G, or songs that are in relative or parallel keys like e minor to G or A major to a minor. When I am building a song set, I try to follow the same rules for key relationship that make a good sonata or symphony.

Text/Theology/Musical Value

There are several song selection rubrics out there for worship planners to use in selecting the best songs for their congregation’s use. The one I use has a pretty extensive series of questions that help me assign a point value to a song’s text, theology and musical strength. When I answer the questions, I do so subjectively, but after multiple layers of subjectivity I find that I gain a more objective idea of the song’s usability. While I don’t run every song through this process every week, I do revisit the rubric with new songs from time to time just to keep my mind oriented to the process.

Time of Year

This consideration may seem obvious, but it needs to be mentioned. For instance, if the pastor’s sermon on Mother’s Day doesn’t focus on godly parenting or the biblical role of motherhood, I still need to make considerations in my planning process. Being aware of the time of year is also important during times of the Christian Year like Ascension, Pentecost or Epiphany.

Familiar and Unfamiliar

I am guilty of getting stuck in ruts with both new songs and old songs. If your congregation’s participation in worship is important to you, you need to be very strategic in the use of new songs. I suggest never using more than one new song per week. I also suggest re-using that song the next week.

Style

I hope it is apparent that style is not the most important issue for me in planning worship. But it is very important to make your selections balance with your congregation’s stylistic center. Sometimes worship pastors can be at tension with where the congregation is stylistically comfortable and where your church leadership wants to go – these are not always the same place. I have found that as long as I put my emphasis on the biblical and theological soundness of worship planning and song selection, people are willing to give grace as I figure out what styles work best.

 

Bottom Line

In former times of my ministry I would spend no more than an hour planning each week’s worship. I was, in fact, filling in blanks. Since embracing the 4-fold structure and a commitment to using more scripture and prayer in worship, my planning time has increased to at least five to six hours per service. It is totally worth it. Several times I have had people tell me how they are not sure what is different, but they somehow feel there is more depth in their worship. Not only does this give me the feeling I am giving God my best effort as a worship planner, but also that I am being a better leader for my church. Here is a brief list of the authors and books that have influenced my own worship renewal:

Beale, G. K. We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology or Idolatry. Downers Grove, Illinois. IVP Academic, 2008.

Chan, Simon. Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community. Downers Grove, Illinois. IVP Academic, 2006.

Cherry, Constance M. The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.

Furr, Gary A. and Milburn Price. The Dialogue of Worship: Creating Space for Revelation and Response. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing Incorporated, 1998.

Packiam, Glenn. Discover the Mystery of Faith. Elgin, Illlinois: David C. Cook Publishers, 2013.

Wainwright, Geoffrey, Doxology: The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine, and Life. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1980.

Webber, Robert E. Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God’s Narrative. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008.

Thank Friday it’s Good

Origins

Why do we call it “Good” Friday when something that seems so horrible as Christ’s beating, death and burial happened on that day? The term may actually be a corruption of the old English phrase, “God’s Friday.” As pointed out in his book, Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church, Laurence Hull Stookey states that the good on this day exists because God was in control. “The crucifixion of Jesus was not some bad deal that God had to try to make the best of; it was a working out of divine intention with a view to the salvation of an otherwise doomed creation.”

 Jesus’ Seventh Word from the Cross in John

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”                             -John 19:30 NIV

In the appointed texts for Holy Week, rotate between the accounts of the Matthew, Mark and Luke. But for the entirety of Holy Week, including Good Friday, John’s account of Christ’s Passion is always the one that is read (Chapter 18 through 19:42). John’s gospel is read because it focuses on the fact that God does not react to the events of Christ’s passion, God is the one directing their course. Remember these other ways John points to God’s sovereignty in his gospel account?

• When sought by Roman guards in the Gethsemane, Jesus says, “I am the one you are seeking.” (18:5-8)
• To Pilate, Jesus says, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given from above.” (19:11) Pilate then refuses to change the placard on the cross reading “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” (19:19-22)
• The three words or sayings Jesus utters from the cross all speak to his control:
• • “Woman, here is your son…Here is your mother.” (19:26-27)
  • “I am thirsty” is spoken “to fulfill the scriptures.” (19:28)
  • “It is finished.” (19:30)

In English, “it is finished” can be somewhat ambiguous. It could mean, “it’s over,” “this is the end,” or “I’m done for” but in the Greek it is much more clear: “It is completed,” “It is perfected.” As Fleming Rutledge writes in his commentary, “at precisely the moment he seems to be defeated, Jesus is announcing that he is actually the conqueror.” In Latin this phrase is Christus Victor. In the ancient church,
this is what they understood as one of the main purposes to be conveyed in observing the Lord’s Supper.

 Questions

• What does the Lord’s Supper mostly mean to you?
• How would thinking primarily about the supper as a reminder of Christ’s victory over sin and death effect your opinion of and experience at the Lord’s Table?

Some Traditional Commemorations

Prayers

In the middle of the 4^th century, Cyril, the bishop of Jerusalem, lead Good Friday worshipers on prayer walks from the Garden of Gethsemane to place they believed Jesus was tried, to the place Christ was beaten by the soldiers and on to the place of his crucifixion and burial. While worshiping through Christ’s very steps, mixing songs and scripture readings recounting the events of Good Friday, the worshipers prayed. Many of their prayers focusing on intercession for the church, church leaders, those preparing for baptism, unity of Christians, the Jewish people, those who do not believe in God, all who hold public office, and those in special need.

 Questions

• When you pray, whether during worship or alone, for what or whom do you mostly pray?
• Should we pray for the same people the ancient church prayed for? What is stopping you from doing that right now?

 

Three Hours of Devotion

In addition to worshiping on Good Friday evening to remember his interment, the ancient church made a practice of gathering for worship from 12 pm until 3 pm – the hours Jesus hung on the cross. These three hours were spent sharing the stories from scripture of Christ’s passion interspersing with prayers and times of quiet reflection. There was no meal served at the gathering because it was expected that all believers would fast on Good Friday as an act of reverence and of solidarity with Jesus’ sufferings. The three-hour devotion would culminate by reading John’s account of the passion.

Questions

• What do you find appealing about the way the ancient church worshiped on Good Friday?
• Do you find some ways the ancient church worshiped to be uncomfortable? Why?
• What can we learn about our worship from the early church? Are there any ways they worshiped that you think we should re-discover in our church’s worship? Which ones? Why?

 

Prayer for God’s Revelation and Our Response

As we solemnly commemorate the events and significance of Good Friday, pray that God gives you a fresh understanding of His sovereign will. Remember that because our faith is in Jesus Christ, we are to live in these events through our continual dying to sin and our ever rising to the life of His Holy Spirit.

Sources Consulted

Connell, Martin. Eternity today: On the Liturgical Year, vol. 2. Continuum International Publishing Group Inc, New York, NY: 2006.

The Consultation on Common Texts. The Revised Common Lectionary. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN: 1992.

Rutledge, Fleming. The Seven Last Words from the Cross. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI: 2005.

Stookey, Laurence Hull. Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN: 1996.

Webber, Robert E. Ancient-Future Time: Forming Spirituality Through the Christian Year. Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI: 2004.

What’s Missing from Our Worship?

One of the qualities that makes the Edward Hopper painting, Nighthawks memorable is the large amount of empty space (To Understand: New Horizons in Reading Comprehension, 75-76). In a painting that covers 84 x 152 cm, there are only four people surrounded by dark, empty streets. Most modern Christians would characterize the worship services in their churches by the things that are present: bands, choirs, videos, preaching, etc. But when I compare them to many worship encounters I find in scripture, our services could seem like the Hopper painting Nighthawks – characterized by what’s absent. 

We evangelicals love celebrating God’s holiness, power, goodness and love. In Joshua chapters six and seven, Joshua and the people of Israel had just experienced God’s might and provision through a great victory won over the city of Jericho. God’s people were also celebrating His holiness, power, goodness, and love. Unfortunately, through the unconfessed sin of some of the people (one couple), the entire lot were disqualified from receiving God’s guidance and blessing. Because of that unconfessed sin, the people failed miserably at something they assumed God directed (the taking of the town of Ai) and many lives were lost. God remained silent until the sin was confessed and the evil addressed.  

In the beginning verses of Isaiah chapter 6, Isaiah finds himself peering into worship in the throne room of heaven. As he observes angels worshiping God in grace and truth he is confronted by his own sinfulness. After he confesses his sin, God cleanses him by sending a seraphim flying with a burning coal to cauterize his sinful mouth. Only then was Isaiah able to listen and respond and God willing to speak.

Don’t we also want to hear from God in the midst of our worship? Isn’t this the reason that protestants in general and specifically evangelicals value the preached Word? In the Joshua telling of Achan’s sin and in the account of Isaiah’s call, we see a paradigm for worship: in many instances, in order to hear and understand God, we first must search our hearts, confess our sin and repent. Only then are we fit or able to understand God’s continuing revelation.  

One way some churches address this need is by scripting a time of congregational confession. Because many churches who use this element of worship choose to utilize formal approaches, some see this time in the service as either stale or insincere. If that is your opinion, you should not give up so easily. 

There are fresh and creative ways to help the Body of Christ confront themselves and their sin, embracing humility and submission to Holy God through a time of corporate confession and repentance. In his book, Rhythms of Grace, Worship Pastor Mike Cosper suggests using scriptures involving confession, such as Psalm 51. These passages can be read by a worship leader or the congregation. They can also be sung in paraphrased settings, like the song “Give Us Clean Hands.” In addition to reading or singing scriptures that call the church to confession, scripture-led confessions can also be transposed into corporate prayer. If you’ve ever tried praying scripture as a part of your personal quiet time, you have some idea of how effective this practice can be for a worshiping congregation. The Worship Sourcebook, produced by the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is an excellent place to find these types of resources. I have also found several ideas on the web. One of my favorite internet resources is reformedworship.org. There are many places to get ideas for ways to include corporate confession and repentance in evangelical worship services, you just have to look. 

Hopper’s painting, Nighthawks, may be defined by what’s missing – but our services should not be. When it comes to helping the Body of Christ encounter God’s revelation, we must provide our congregations with the best opportunities possible. 

10 Questions from a Search Committee



This article has just been published on ChurchLeaders.com. 

What are the skills and qualities that a worship pastor should have? The most obvious answer may be musical talent. After all, you can’t lead or teach people to be excellent in something unless you, yourself are excellent, right? But,how is excellence in music defined? Should worship and worship leadership be defined through a lens as narrow as music? One thing that cannot be avoided is the fact that if the quality of music in worship suffers for too long, the worship pastor may be looking for a new job.

 I used to be called a Minister of Music but for the last ten years have been the Worship Pastor. What does that mean? I will always remember a particular conversation I had as a teen with an adult from my church. The adult needed the help and attention of one of the pastoral staff from their church. They were frustrated because it was the day of the week when the staff rotation provided them with the help of the Minister of Music. As a Minister of Music (now Worship Pastor) for over 20 years, I’ll never forget these words: “I need a real minister- not the music guy!” It seems that those of us who are called Worship Pastors may be viewed by our congregations as little more than the music director. In some churches, this is conceded, with churches choosing to keep their worship leaders as the hired-gun running the music program while the ministry duties and theological knowledge is left to the real clergy. Still other churches name and treat us as clergy, but do we take up the mantel of pastoring in a way that our congregations need and recognize? 

More Than Music

A few months ago, I was contacted by a church that a good friend had given my name as a possible candidate for their open Worship Pastor position. After a short conversation I received an email from them with several questions. Rather than first wanting to audition my musical skills, they wanted my answers to questions that come from the “Pastor” half of the title. My wife and I quickly realized that God was not calling us to this church; however, I realized that if a church had asked me these questions at an earlier time in my life, I may have struggled to provide good answers. As the era of the Rock Star Worship Leader is starting to wain, I believe that more and more churches will be asking questions like these of potential worship candidates. I also believe that many potential worship candidates are woefully unprepared to answer them because, perhaps, no one has ever asked. Oh, some of them actually require work and thought. Here is the list of questions I was given:

1. Please explain your theology of worship, giving Biblical support. 

This is one question I believe I would not have been able to answer with any credibility before my most recent degree. Am I saying that you have to get a degree to answer this question? Certainly not – but it helps. This question reveals the absolute necessity for Worship Pastors to receive theological training in the area of worship. Look around, there are many places offering undergraduate or masters degrees that can prepare you to lead with theological integrity.

2. How does worship connect with pastoral care? Give examples from your ministry experience.

If the totality of your ministry has been spent in rehearsal or on stage, you will struggle to answer this question. It may seem like our musical responsibilities are so great that we actually have no time for ministry “outside” our area. As pastors, we are called to minister to people in all sorts of places and situations, many outside of the performing arts milieu. I remember hearing Rick Muchow speak fondly of how he sought out a place to minister outside of his job responsibilities and how it blessed him. If you don’t make a practice of visiting people in their homes or when they are in the hospital, you need to. If you realize you never have contact with people outside of a rehearsal or a worship context, pray for God to show you where you can join Him in His work.

3. From what the Bible both describes and prescribes in terms of worship, which elements are most important in the church’s gathered worship? Please provide us with an example of an order of worship that you recently planned and led.

Wow, this could be a scary thing to ponder. I know plenty of Worship Pastors whose service orders consist of 3-5 songs scribbled on a piece of scrap paper and laid on the floor by their guitar pedals. If this describes you, then, you have reason to pray for God’s wisdom and leadership. Have some important conversations and start reading books that are a bit more meaty than the gift-size things found in a Christian bookstore. Your congregation needs more from you than great sounds and a smoke machine.

4. If someone asked you to describe your strengths as a Minister of Music/ Worship Pastor, what would you tell them? What are your areas of limitation in which you desire to grow?

This question is pretty obvious for any job interview. However, musicians are infamously unable to take criticism. Have a conversation with someone that you know will be honest, who cares for you and can be confidential. I think everyone should seek out this sort of self evaluation, because it is usually easier to face your short-comings with someone other than your Senior Pastor. 

5. Knowing the particular context of a church is vital for a member of the Pastoral Staff. Practically speaking, what would you do to get to know the context of our church?

This is a question that leans on leadership. As much as theological education prepare you for many of these questions, I admit that I have learned most about leadership from serving alongside great leaders. Being a leader means knowing how to contribute in a way that makes a difference. Being a leader also means freeing people to use their gifts and letting them make mistakes. Exhibiting leadership in church does not consist of knowing how to push your agenda. Becoming a vested part of a team is one of the best ways to make meaningful contributions. How well do you really know the other ministerial staff in your church? Do you socialize with them and their families outside of church events? You should.

6. Other than the Bible, list three or four books and/or authors who have been formative in your theology of worship and describe how/why they have been influential.

This is another question that reveals your love of learning. If you rely solely on popular Christian texts you will have a very difficult time finding meaningful reading material focused on worship. Many guys also tell me they are not readers. I could have been described this way for most of my life – it is no excuse. If you are not a reader, learn how to skim. There are a more good books to help you think about worship and leadership than ever before. You must become familiar with what’s going on in the world beyond social media. Don’t forget that the fiction you read also contributes to your ministry.

7. In what ways do you involve the congregation in gathered worship?

In the worship blogs and magazines I read, congregational participation has been a topic of growing frequency. It is also becoming a larger issue for Pastors as they begin to see worship participation as an indicator of discipleship. In addition to reading blogs and magazines, there are many great breakout sessions at worship conferences that will provide you with tools and ideas to help you in this area. One little bit of personal advice to you in this area is to do everything possible to help your people get their heads out of music stands, choir folders, iPads or anything else that comes between your team and the congregation. 

8. How have you taught a congregation the importance of family worship and personal devotional worship?

I still struggle to answer this question. The answer probably requires conversations with your Pastor and other ministerial staff. If family worship is a part of worship ministry that you’ve never explored, look around. Ask other Worship Pastors what they are doing. Ask Student and Children’s Pastors what they are doing. One of the ways some churches foster unity is through encouraging multi-generational worship. If your church segregates adult, students and children, you may need to think of some creative opportunities to encourage the families in your church to worship together. It’s possible that your Pastor will ask you if you have any ideas in this area. If he does, you should have some ready to share.

9. How do stylistic considerations flow out of your theology of worship? 

This question is linked to questions #1 and #3. In order to answer this question you need to have read, thought and prayed through creating a personal theology of worship. Reading books on the philosophy and theology of worship will help you.  I have mentioned it already, but I am convinced it is well worth it to take the time and making the commitment to pursue a degree that focuses on the way you think about worship.

10. Based on our church’s stated purpose of “_________”, please share how worship plays a role in fulfilling that purpose.

For the interviewing church, this is the bottom line. Each church has their own purpose (or should) and they want to know how your worship leadership will help their people grow in unity and discipleship as they strive together to live in God’s grace and calling. Knowing biblical and theological reasons worship helps people to become transformed into disciples of Christ and is necessary for answering this bottom-line question.

Final Thoughts

Worship Ministry is complicated and busy. It demands a lot of time and work from you and your team members. Whether or not you are preparing for interviews or content in your current place of service, you cannot use your busy schedule as an excuse for remaining shallow in your understanding of worship, ministry and leadership. Your goal as a Worship Pastor is much greater than rehearsing a group of musicians and performing. Go to conferences, read, visit the sick, and get involved in areas of ministry outside of worship, get that degree you’ve been talking about; as modern-day Levites, we are called to help God’s people to clearly see Him, hear Him and respond to Him. So if God has called you and set you apart to be a worship pastor, then pastor.

Ancient-Future Worship… in a Baptist Church

This is adapted from an article previously published by Let’s Worship magazine, written by Marc Brown

Among the many trends that have popped-up in worship over the last 30-40 years, some are mere trends that are confined to small geographic areas or single denominations. Others, though, grow roots, gain momentum and turn into full-fledge movements, effecting churches in many different worshiping traditions. One growing movement in worship renewal that has found its way into both main-line and evangelical churches is the Ancient-Future movement. If you are unfamiliar with Ancient-Future, the following excerpt is an introduction to “The Call to an Ancient-Evangelical Future.” The entire Call can be found at http://www.ancientfuturefaithnetwork.org/the-call/.

Just before his death in 2007, Robert E. Webber spent a good portion of his last year working collaboratively with over 300 theologians and other leaders to craft A Call to an Ancient Evangelical Future. The Call continues some themes and expands upon the “Chicago Call” of 1977, and sets forth a vision for an Ancient-Future faith in a postmodern world.

The Call is a formal challenge to Pastors, Worship Leaders, and churches to see the similarities between our Post-Modern culture and the diverse culture that existed during the birth of the early church. Ancient-Future proposes that modern evangelical churches can learn from and be enriched by worship practices that were used in the early church. As opposed to style-related terms such as “contemporary,” “blended” or “traditional,” Dr. Chris Alford, Board Chair of the Ancient-Future Faith Network states, “people should realize this is not simply another worship style, it’s a worship theology.”

Building the House

One way to approach Ancient-Future would be to consider the question, “what kind of structure are you building?” Constance Cherry, in her book, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services, uses this idea to help us consider more clearly how to apply the themes of Ancient-Future worship to our churches, no matter our chosen style.

Foundation

The first step in building any structure is laying a foundation. According to Ancient-Future, Christian worship is centered in God’s acts of salvation. Just as Old Testament worship centered on God’s salvation of his people from Egypt, “the New Testament reports the story of a greater act of salvation than the exodus, that of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”(Cherry, The Worship Architect, p.7) Before I was exposed to Ancient-Future, I only tried gearing our church’s worship toward my pastor’s sermons, but sometimes I lacked enough front-end knowledge of the upcoming sermon’s nuances to faithfully hit my target. If I apply the extra consideration of “telling the story of God’s mighty acts of redemption,” my worship scripts always bring the congregation to the right place: the incarnation, the life and ministry of Jesus, the foot of the cross, the empty tomb, the resurrected Son of God, and our Eternal Hope!

The pattern of Revelation and Response is another foundation of Ancient-Future worship. Every single element in our worship services must be understood as an opportunity for God to reveal Himself to his people and for us to respond. Connected to the pattern of Revelation and Response is our need, as worship planners, to remember our worship is covenantal.  By this, I mean that our dialogue of worship with Holy God is based on the relationship we as a people have with God.  In the Old Testament, God’s people always ratified their covenant with God through enacting symbols that would help the people remember. In Luke 22:20, Jesus gave us the central symbol for our remembering his covenant with us; “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

A crucial part of Ancient-Future worship’s foundation is its corporate nature. By examining the lyrics of worship songs we use every week, it could seem we have lost our understanding of the fact that the church is the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). We are a Body, not a collection of individuals. When planning worship, we must resist our culture’s focus on individualism and keep it from breaking down the Bride of Christ, His Church. All of us want our services to connect with people on a personal level. But how we worship shows what’s most important to us. Worship Theologian Don Saliers calls this our ortho-doxa (Saliers, Worship as Theology, p.40). We should continually ask ourselves if our worship services are telling our own stories or God’s.

One final part of Ancient-Future’s foundation is the Trinitarian nature of worship. The doctrine of the Trinity is an extremely important part of our faith that needs to be expressed in our worship services. Some of the songs we lead our people to sing may be determined by their popularity more than by their theological integrity. This should not be so. In years past it might have been difficult to find contemporary music that expressed worship toward all three persons of the God-head, but this excuse no longer works. Baptist Worship Pastors should know the difference between songs that reinforce our beliefs and songs that are actually part of other faith traditions. Never forget that Biblical worship is worship that focuses on our Heavenly Father, in the Name of the Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Content

            The content of all of the regular worship services at my church is the same. The central focus is the revelation of God’s Word through the expositional preaching of our Senior Pastor. Based on weekly meetings and plenty of email, I know the theme, scripture passage(s) and direction he believes his sermons will take. From that point, I can plan worship through the lens of the biblical principles of Ancient-Future worship mentioned earlier- worship that focuses on God’s story, employs opportunities for revelation and response, is corporate rather than individual, and worship that is Trinitarian.

What happens when my pastor isn’t able to give me such helpful information? I look at the calendar. Another important facet of Ancient-Future is re-orienting the way we view time through use of the Christian year. For example, if I am planning worship service just before Christmas during the season of Advent, I could probably do a pretty good job of selecting songs, scriptures and other accompanying arts, even without my pastor’s scripture reference and sermon topic. This is possible because the season provides me with a framework of knowledge for planning worship, no matter what the specific subject of my pastor’s sermon. Even during times without a major holiday, I have found I can rely on the next component of Ancient-Future worship planning: the structure.

Structure

            There are several biblically validated worship structures I could choose. For instance, the Praise and Worship Movement familiarized many Baptists with the Tabernacle worship structure: music begins by starting in the “outer courts” with upbeat, larger and more objective praise songs that continually move the worshipers toward the “inner courts” through using music that becomes softer, more intimate and devotional. In seminary I was taught the value of using the first few verses of Isaiah 6 (Isaiah’s Call) as a structure for planning worship. The Isaiah 6 structure also begins with large, objective praise of God then moves successively through times of confession and repentance. Next the worshiper (like Isaiah) experiences a realization of God’s forgiveness, a hearing God’s fresh revelation/call and then receives God’s commission to go. Ancient-Future worship uses yet another structure, one most evident in early church and Patristic accounts of worship, the 4-fold pattern. The 4-fold pattern is Gathering, Word, Table and Sending.

The first “fold” of the 4-fold structure is the Gathering.  To evangelical worship planners, this fold may be the easiest to plan. Like the beginning of the Isaiah 6 or Tabernacle structures, this is the part of the service when the music and general atmosphere is the most up-beat and celebrative. Theologian Robert Webber imagined this part of worship to be similar to an evening you might invite friends over for dinner. When they first arrive, you may spend a while in the front room engaging in louder, more general conversation before coming further into the house for more intimate expression of friendship around the fire or the table (Robert Webber, Ancient-Future Worship: A Model for the 21^st Century, VHS tape [Wheaton: Institute for Worship Studies, 1999]). In the Gathering we reminded the congregation of God’s inherent qualities, His majesty, and His love for us. This is also the part of worship where many evangelical services get stuck. Our people’s lives are not one-dimensional, our God isn’t either. The Gathering is not the complete service, but it is a fantastic place to start-

The Word is the second “fold” when God’s story is read, sung, prayed, and generally used as the vehicle for the congregation to encounter God’s revelation. Growing-up Baptist, I thought this only happened during the Pastor’s sermon. The sermon is the central part of this fold, but it shouldn’t be the only place our congregation encounters God’s Word. We need to know and believe that something supernatural and transformative happens when God’s people put His Word in their ears, minds, hearts, and mouths. We can lead our congregations hear God’s revelation through simply reading scripture, but rather than having four formalized scripture readings in a service, there are other, stylistically congruent ways to help our churches encounter God’s Word. One way to help the congregation engage God’s Word in a familiar style is by singing songs that are direct settings of scripture or paraphrases. Another way to help the congregation experience more scripture is through prayer. I’ve learned that I can transpose scripture into congregational prayer. This type of prayer can be led in extemporaneously, but I have found I do just as well to type it out  and use my former theatrical skills to read the prayer in such as way that I sound like I’m praying extemporaneously. Scripture can also be written into responsive readings or dramatized in several different ways – the possibilities are endless! I challenge worship leaders to really get into their Bibles and find those passages that parallel the sermon. Then you can begin to find the mediums that are most stylistically appropriate for your congregation to encounter in worship.

The Third Fold is the Table. As Worship Pastors and Ministers of Music, the Table is a part of worship over which we have less responsibility and control. This is the domain of the Senior Pastor. When time comes for the observance of the Lord’s Supper, I have learned that the congregation needs some preparation. This may seem obvious to some, but it wasn’t to me. In years past, I have wanted to hold on to the energy and enthusiasm of the Gathering too long. This left the congregation with the spiritual equivalent of driving 70 miles per hour and then, when it is time for the Lord’s Supper, slamming on the breaks! Let’s not be so afraid of quiet times in our worship. Even if our services don’t have time for more than 2 songs before Communion, it is very important to provide the people with some time for an emotional gearing down and reflection prior to the Pastor’s words of institution. Talk to your pastor about planning in some time for quiet prayer or contemplative music before he reaches the table. No matter what your church’s usual method of observing the Lord’s Supper is, please remember the intimacy and importance of this Fold.

It is true that most free-church evangelical churches do not observe the Lord’s Supper every week. What about the weeks that your church doesn’t observe the Lord’s Supper? The Ancient-Future way to faithfully keep the spirit of the Lord’s Supper without its observance is through an alternate time of Thanksgiving. In my church, we have moved the offertory from where it used to be (before the sermon) to after the sermon and the invitation. This new service order was a bit difficult for some worshipers in the beginning, but everyone quickly grew to appreciate the change. This move not only gives a congregation an opportunity to thank God for his mighty acts of redemption through praise, meditation, and giving, it also keeps the spirit of worship uninterrupted from the beginning of the Gathering through the invitation. The Offertory also becomes an additional time of response to the sermon for those who choose not to come forward to pray at the altar. While this service order change may not work for everyone, I encourage you to talk to you Pastor about whether it may be a good move for your church.

The Sending can be a trickiest part of the 4-fold structure. In many Baptist churches, after the invitation, the Pastor may simply pray and dismiss the worshipers. No matter who prays this prayer, it is frequently used to re-hash the themes of the sermon. Let me encourage you to consider another purpose. Ancient-Future worship would consider this to be a time for to encourage the congregation by reminding them who they are as the Body of Christ. This reminder includes reminding them of their mission. I heard a venerable old pastor once say that some churches are like war ships: the pastors and staff lead the sailors to accomplish their mission. Then, there are some churches that are more like cruise ships: the pastors and staff spend all of their time making the passengers as comfortable as possible. The Sending is a time to remind our church what kind of “ship” we want our church to be. In my church, our pastor sometimes prays a real benediction- a prayer for or scriptural blessing over the congregation. Every service, though, is concluded by the congregation saying together the words of the Great Commission. I am not suggesting that every church needs to recite the Great Commission at the end of every service, but we have found that it works for our church. Ancient-Future reminds us that we need to remind the people we have been the church gathered; now we are to be the church scattered. Just as the members of the early church were, we are to be light to a darkened world.

I have heard people talk for years about how wonderful it would be if our churches were more like the early church. Ancient-Future is a way to bring the core values expressed in the early church to our modern services. The values of Ancient-Future are easily applied to any church, no matter the style. The discovery and use of Ancient-Future has rejuvenated my worship planning and my worship leading. The congregation tells me that they can tell there is something new in our worship- something deeper, though they cannot really tell what it is. My pastor appreciates the thoughtful, scriptural way I now plan worship. If you want to investigate more about Ancient-Future, here are some resources to explore:

Sources Cited:

Cherry, Constance M. The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.

Saliers, Don E. Worship as Theology: Foretaste of Glory Divine. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994.

Webber, Robert E. Ancient-Future Worship: A Model for the 21^st Century, VHS tape. Wheaton: Institutefor Worship Studies, 1999.

Left Behind: When Members of Your Team Leave to Begin a New Work

As worship pastors, we spend ourselves working and asking God to build a team (a choir, an orchestra, a band) that will help our congregations hear, know and respond to God. As your ministry grows, usually the personnel needed to fulfill our calling increases. The expectation for musical and spiritual excellence also becomes great. If your church happens to be located in an area with high turnover, the need for more personnel and necessity of excellence makes ministry even more challenging. Regardless of these challenges, everything can be clicking right along, when one day, God breaks in and calls a significant group of people from your congregation to begin a new work. The new work could be a new multi-site location, a house church network or other significant ministry initiative, but as far as fulfilling the ministry to which God has called you, it doesn’t really matter. All you know is you are left with fewer people to accomplish the same amount and quality of work. Even if considerable effort has been spent raising up and training leaders, the sudden exodus of so many can leave you scrambling to fill vacancies.

This problem isn’t unique to worship ministries or even churches; it can happen to anyone in any volunteer organization or business. However, when this happens in a church, there can be one aggravating caveat. Those who are departing may dominate the focus of the church to the point that you are tempted to feel as if your role, and the role of those who remain with you, has suddenly become insignificant. We should never be surprised or bothered when people depart because they see better opportunities to reach the lost, but we also need our struggles to be acknowledged. We need encouragement in the crucial ministry God has called us to continue. Unfortunately, it can seem there is no way to express these feelings without seeming petty or unspiritual. The necessary role of new works to grow God’s kingdom is beyond question. But, for those of us left to maintain vitality and quality of worship in the mother church, it can be discouraging, especially when it feels sinful to even voice your feelings or point out the challenges you face. What can we do in circumstances like this?

1. Pray for and support the new work and those leaving to be a part of it.

I have read several compelling studies that seem to indicate new church starts are significantly more effective in reaching unchurched people than established churches of the same size. These brothers and sisters in Christ deserve our love, our prayers and our unconditional support, not our criticism and resentment. In addition to prayer support, we should also demonstrate a posture of open hands with regards to sharing equipment and other resources.

2. Look to see how God is already filling your needs.

I got an email from a volunteer ministry leader informing me of her intention to join the new work just 4 weeks before the start of the new school year and our annual kick-off for fall ministries. I assumed this unfortunately-timed decision was the death knell for the ministry she led. I was wrong. In just a few days, God provided a new leader who was just as capable and even more passionate for the ministry! While all open ministry positions have not yet been filled, several have. Don’t assume that the start of something new means the end of something old. God’s plans involve you too.

3. Rally your people.

If you are feeling this way about your church’s new work, chances are others in your ministry are also. Those who remain with you need to know that there is still important Kingdom work to be done where they are. Prayerfully lay plans for your ministry and cast that vision to your people. Get them excited about what God has in store for their ministry.

4. Talk to other worship pastors who have successfully lived through similar situations.

You are not the first worship pastor to live through significant changes in their ministry. I guarantee that you know, or can find someone, who has successfully followed God through this type of challenge. Talk to them. Don’t just air your grievances. Find out how they problem-solved their issues. Ask them about their spiritual journey in addition to the nuts and bolts. You will gain information, perspective and encouragement.

5. See what scripture has to say.

What? Scripture? If other types of tough times are a spark to your relationship with God, then this should not be any different. See what God reveals to you in your personal prayer time and study of scripture. Some of the best (and worst) examples of leadership during tough times can be found in scripture. What wisdom has God already given in His word? Any advice or solutions you take for this issue must involve God’s instruction and encouragement through scripture.

6. Give your Senior Pastor your support- both publically and privately.

As worship pastors and we should ALWAYS support our pastors. My pastor has said he sometimes fears he might be “dismantling” the church by following this path. Worship pastors may be responsible for a lot, but bearing the responsibility for the entire congregation is not something with which we are familiar. Pray for your pastor. Make sure he knows he can count on you.

7. Pray Luke 10:02 for your ministry and yourself.

“He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I thought praying this scripture was a unique practice for my church, but I have encountered several others that cling to the truth of this challenge. While praying this scripture is NOT a magic incantation that conjures up all the personnel you need to fulfill your ministry needs, it is an act of worship that commits to God’s ownership of His church and our submission to God.

8. Trust God.

Rick Muchow has a great song using this simple phrase as its title. The chorus says, “Trust God, from the bottom of your heart. Don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Trust God for where your life is going. God is in control.” The sentiment could be considered insultingly simple, but it is true.

When I take time to consider the big picture, including ways God is using me and providing for me, my complaints give way to worship. It seems like a worship pastor should be pretty good at that. When I reflect on the Psalms, I realize how often David also went through this cycle: 1) crying or complaining to God, 2) concerns melting away as we see God for who He is, 3) realizing how God richly provides for us, then 4) we are invited to join Him in His work. When we are consumed with our own issues, we will always face discouragement. But if we will look up, instead of down, we will know we are not alone. That is comforting, isn’t it