Melting Pot or Fruit Salad? Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Reflection of “Multicultural Worship: Melting Pot or Fruit Salad?” by Pedrito Maynard-Reid. I have been told “if you work hard, you can do or be anything you want!” As great as this sounds and as true as the statement may be at times, it is not always possible to do so. Integrate and assimilation are probably two of the most difficult things to do anywhere at any time. And even then, even in talking about Worship, is full 100% integration and assimilation even possible? In early American history and even until recently Anglo-Saxon Protestantism was the way to go. And if you could melt into that then you melted. And good for you. You were assimilated. But you had to pass for the group. You had to give up your distinct culture to make it happen. So you melted in, you blended in, but at great sacrifice. However,“The Other” was not always able to melt. And most times this was just because of the color of skin. With all the troubles of the world, and being strangers in this world as Christians, we may not always be able to melt in the world, but surly we should be able to melt at the foot of the cross. But in the church I eve seen first hand that integration into a Christian community is one of the hardest things to do. Why? We are cultural beings and it is hard to integrate into the culture of churches. But, while I may not be able to fully understand someone else’s culture I can appreciate and integrate moments, essences and elements of other cultures into my social and religious life that can enhance my being. I love how Pedrito put it, “The paradigm is not a melting pot but a fruit salad.” Melting into one is not always possible but maybe melting into one isn’t what is necessary? In the salad we are always able to end up back at our roots - there is always that one chunk of fruit that may be I do love the idea of fruit salad: One thing made out of the full richness of different parts -the juices dissolving into one beautiful, enhanced celebration. How do we celebrate this way without feeling like our roots are being dumbed down or that we are just tolerating the Other. Worship is very cultural. But what is culture? Culture is a total sum of that which is passed on in society. Culture doesn’t only pertain to artistic activities. Different languages and symbols have cultural connotations and implications and are in turn continually shaped by culture. Even in the same country different symbols can mean different things. I feel this is something that I have a good grasp of - the contextualization of culture. And I love that it is getting just ingrained into my head and at such a positive academic level. However, to a point it goes against an inner voice I have saying “But there is universal truth!” But at a certain point truth is just boiled down to what we experience. This is a topic that makes me so frustrated. Most of my friends who are worship leaders lead like they are in a vacuum. Hillsong United does this so we do it. How can I move to a new state and a new denomination and expect to lead a full, comprehensive, beautiful worship experience? The depth and breadth of religious culture is too large to be taken lightly. This tossing around from one church to another, to one Christian tradition to another, is just bogus. Culture is not racial or biological, we make it up. Culture is something outside of the ontological make up on an individual in order to exists safely and comfortably. To understand culture we have to understand the word “survival.” Pedrito calls this Comfortable Survival - A system of navigating one’s way through life. Culture is what people are. We do not exist in the abstract. We exist in the context of our history, culture. Rejection of culture is rejection of self. To not understand the culture of where you are, where you came from and how you got there, especially in the world of corporate worship, is to never know the flavor of a delicious fruit salad.  

Reflection on article "The Top Three Issues Facing Multi-ethnic Church worship Leaders." Thursday, July 14, 2011

When reflecting on this article and on multi-ethnic worship in general, there are three things that keep returning to my mind. I was very glad to see these items turn up in this article because they are things that I have thought about but had not been able to pin point. I thank this article for helping me better articulate my understanding of key issues to keep in mind when pursuing multi-ethnic worship. In this reflection I hope to summarize my thoughts on these three key points.

Compromise - Ken Reynolds said “It’s impossible to please everyone. As a worship leader myself, I have to put the needs of the congregation before my needs.” Putting the preference of others in front of our own is possibly the hardest thing for me to do as a worship leaders. Most leaders have a fair amount of training and are hired for the job because they are being trusted for their judgment. With this mindset itis very easy for worship leaders to just slip into a rut of doing their own thing and even get a little cocky while doing it. Besides, the church should be OK with what I like, I mean, that is my job! But compromise in ministry needs to happen at every level, multi-ethnic or not. The ability to compromise and put the needs of the congregation first (with out loosing your head trying to please absolutely 100% of every one) should be the a growing trait of any good worship leader. This ties into my following points of purity and vulnerability. If there is no compromise by the worship leader there is no purity in worship because the service is not authentic to the congregation. Also vulnerability is more difficult because without compromise I am asking the congregation to come forward on my terms, not theirs.

Purity - Gail Song Bantum hit on the idea of purity. This really struck me. Relay, purity in worship is striving to fight the specter of tokenism. Purity means compromising but it also means putting in a little extra leg work when planning worship. Just because I have an African-American as part of your worship team means they are comfortable leading the Gospel style song you I use once a month. Purity also takes place when I strive to develop my team. Maybe that scrawny white kid could pull off that song better than any other? I never know if I don’t invest. Purity in worship takes work. Purity means truly investing and going beyond compromise. To many worship leaders, even my self, slack off in this department. My goal is to take what I have and not just sit on it, but make it great for the congregation and for God.

Vulnerability - Normally when I see a congregation not responding in worship (whatever “responding” means, that could be a whole other paper), I think “these people don’t get it!” My next thought is “No, that leader doesn’t get these people.” I think the latter is more correct. Congregational context is very important to consider when leading but if the congregation doesn’t trust the leader, they will never connect. Pushing and stretching a congregation is one thing, but instead of pushing, I believe vulnerability means honestly bringing the congregation into the presence of God. Vulnerability is about trust. If I don’t have a leader I trust I have a very hard time following. It seems that vulnerability in worship is about compromise and purity but it is also about being authentic. If, as leaders, we can’t be open and true about ourselves, our congregations may never fully get to the point of experiencing God’s story in its fullest.

In the end, I really can’t have one of these points without the other. And really, these are all things that are a part of any ministry. I believe these three points are key to instigating multi-cultural worship because they make up the foundation of being authentic. If I can not be real or authentic in my leadership, people may follow me but my leadership will all be false. If I can not compromise, strive for purity in ministry and seek to be vulnerable I cannot expect that from my ministry. And while there does need to be a level of professionalism, in the grand scheme of God’s story, compromise, purity and vulnerability are small prices to pay for participation at the heavenly table.

Reflection - How the Irish Saved Civilization – Thomas Cahill Sunday, March 06, 2011

First, I did not know that civilization was particularly doomed at one certain point in history. I know civilization always seems to be on the brink but I never figured there was one point in time where history as I know it would not exist. Now that I think of it there are many times where my current context hung in the balance. The battles between the Greeks and Trojans, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Korean War, I guess these are all things that have shaped my context and made my world what it is today, but the fact that historical Christianity would have been totally lost if it were not for the people of Ireland it quite remarkable.

An image I picked up early in the book and something that I believe effects my ministry directly is the example, or non-example, of Ausonius. Churches, like Ausonius and more recently the financial institutions of America, sometimes become too big to fail. Not even the churches themselves, but their ministries and ideologies get so comfortable with what they do that two things happen: they lose touch with the climate of the outside world and they become embedded in their methodologies. I my short life time I have seen church after church fall victim to self important mentality (Children's security? Why would we need that? Everyone knows everyone!), disregarding their direct physical community and surroundings and just feeling like they have it made. No church, no individual, no ministry ever has it made. The first lesson I learned from this book was more of a warning: Never think you've got it.

Something that I found quite interesting on page 151 was the line “Ireland is unique in religious history for being the only land into which Christianity was introduced without bloodshed.” This is quite interesting to me. As an American, Christianity is as much a part of my roots as violence. I also find it fascinating how Patrick evangelized Ireland - he took the Roman system but made it the country's own. Truly, the story of Patrick is one that really pulls at my heart. Abducted at a young age into slavery; one day able to escape only to return to the land that held him captive to set them free! What an incredible story. Speaking of story, it was the Irish oral tradition, their desire to keep important stories going, which helped save civilization. What an incredible story that is!

I feel that part of this story, the part about the lack of bloodshed in the spread of Christianity to a people, is so strange. Why? Why is Ireland not the norm when it comes to the spread of Christianity and violence? How is it that a religion of peace has been perverted to such an extent that it is acutely used to justify war and bloodshed and in turn war and bloodshed is used to expand this religion of peace? Maybe in the world that we live in the military is a just means of security, but how can Christianity be so intertwined with that means? I think it was because of Patrick's persecution and emission in the native culture that he was able to state his case in a display of good example and compassion. Maybe it is that we have not been persecuted that we do not know how to sympathize, or maybe we as Christians have for song long held places of privilege that, like a bratty child, when it comes to getting our way the only thing we know how to do is lash out. I personally never wish to be persecuted but to know the depths of despair, to be able to fully empathize with the lowly, the other, to know a culture and be aware of my surroundings to such an extent that I just breath it in and breath out Christ; That is what I want.
To sum this book and how it will impact my life, I have come to a few conclusions: I need to keep a more watchful eye on my life to make sure I am not getting to comfortable and susceptible to attack. Always be learning, always grow and never think I have it made. I need to love my culture, to be absorbed in art, in music, in my traditions and in scripture; to never miss out on the things that are shaping me. I need to steep my foundation in Christ more and more. As Greg said in class, “If you are struggling, you have already fallen.” If and when I fall like Rome, I want to know Christ and his mission so well that I will have something to hold on to; not fall back on but to shield me from the storm. I don't believe I will be the one who single-handedly saves my civilization, but I want to be someone on watch, someone with the hunger and wisdom to help stop the downfall in the first place.

Reflection - The Church and the American Experience – by Askew and Spellman Friday, March 04, 2011

This reading was quite eye opening. I have always had a good idea of the American connection to Christianity, but I was very surprised to find how deep that connection ran. The main revelation for me through this book was seeing the where the idea “America is a Christian Nation” came from. Some of the founders of this country may have been Christians but the church tradition they established was somewhat more organizational in purposes than religious. Ethnicity was almost as important as theology when it came to religious groups defining themselves from one another. In Europe the church was very institutionalized and so it would have been very normal for these people to adopt a similar structure in this new land. The beginning of the American church was basically a complex process of multiple transplant European cultures recreating and reestablishing their former context. The early church structure was for religious reasons as much as it was for community structure and survival. That structural desire combined with the pioneer spirit that kick-started the U.S., cause the church to evolve rapidly. While some religious communities did see much growth, in many cases, such as the settlements that started for economic purposes, it is amazing that the church continued on at all. While the purely communal nature of the early American church may be seen as a negative, these churches were rallying points for the communities of the new world – a place to gather and socialize. But is this Christianity? Maybe the early American church got it right on the community aspect of Christ's message but there is a sense that they were missing something.

Something the early American church struggled with would be the issue of attendance numbers and converts verses theological and traditional integrity. This was especially problematic in Puritan communities where new generations who were baptized as infants but did not profess the faith along with unconverted members were allowed to partake in the sacraments. The motivation for this was to draw in new converts and member in a time where people started to drift away from these religious communities. The Puritans were just trying to adjust to the cultural and contextual issues relative to the time. But does intention to grow numbers justify watering down the theology that has established the tradition in the first place? How often in our churches today do we sacrifice right practice and belief for the sake of accessibility? I do not believe that a government institutionalized religion is the way to go, people should be allowed to make their own choices on where and how they worship. I also understand the purpose and importance of evangelism but there has got to be a better way to draw people to the church without sacrificing integrity. Many of the early attempts to adjust ritual were meant to keep the younger generations around and this is an issue I see churches dealing with every day. We grow up watching our patients do church but then we also grow up seeing them live life and sometimes we harshly judge their inconsistencies. It is really the parents that give the younger generation a reason to participate in the church. There seemed to be inconstancy in that early church that caused the younger generation to steer away from an institution that they found to be insincere an inauthentic. To preach love and holiness only to experience pain, legalism, and strife – between other Christian communities no less - it should be of no surprise the religious ups and downs and the revivals and awakenings that America experienced. Maybe I am just reading my personal experience into the text, but it is an observation I have noticed time and again throughout history and especially throughout the church.

Another issue that I noticed in the American church is that it is almost fully built upon social action and reaction. Over and over again I have seen the swing from liberalism to conservatism, from social gospel to hard core evangelicalism, and there never seems to be a middle ground. Neither side is fully good or bad, right or wrong, there is definitely some fuzzy theology going on at times (and some groups are actually more wrong than others) but these groups just seem to be reacting to a void left by the current pattern of religious thought and action. I was shocked to read some of the quotes from the evangelists of the 19th century when talking about this issue. The issue was poverty and D.L. Moody was quoted as saying “It is a wonderful fact that men and women saved by the blood of Jesus rarely remain the subjects of charity, but rise at once to comfort and respectability.” Intentionally or not this is just another case of sacrificing the Good News of Christ for the sake of gaining conversion. It also clearly shows how the thread of White Privilege has been a significant ingredient in American Christianity.

What is the most amazing thing to me is that there is a contemporary American church at all. When I read books like this and I see all of the animosity and infighting I just know that God's Spirit is real and at work as the glue holding us all together. What man tears down over and over for selfish gain God makes new, rebuilds, strengthens and restores to do his work in the world. The church is the body of Christ – the agent of God's story. The body of Christ was sacrificed once already to reconcile the world to him, I don't think it needs to happen again. As sad as this book may be at times it is amazing to see how through history, the church, by the grace of God, continues on.

I have issues (No one is safe...) Saturday, February 05, 2011

I haven't written lately because I have been deeply involved in life. Not an excuse to not write... but good enough for right now.

In reading for MWS 502 I have been studying the history and spirituality of Christianity. It is incredibly interesting to see the ebb and flow of strength Christianity has held in the world and it is also astounding to see the insane amount of variation and variety not just in the world but in the US alone. Some may say that God will keep his religion pure, but at a closer look it seems that every incarnation/denomination/sub-denomination, even the ones that think they are keeping it pure all have an aspect of personal preference. Every turn has their own beef, their own agenda and looking through out early American history it seems like all these different splits were motivated by reaction against some other group. Others involved economy, other politics, etc. The other thing that bothers me is that no one seems to be hitting the center of Christ's message. You have one group that has some good things but they go way overboard on the right. Another group will have some other great aspect but they jump overboard on the left. Why can't anyone get it right? (This is a loaded question because every good believer of a church should/probably believes that they are right.... no one can win...)

So, my first beef is with Methodism/Holiness. Methodism started by the Wesley brothers as a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with the people of the fronteer. These were rough dudes out in the wild. Working in ridiculously harsh conditions, some were ex-cons, some had lost everything back East. Pretty much all of them were undereducated and were looking for ways to start a new life - and hit it rich along the way. The Wesleyan emphasis was on deeds. Deeds don't save you, but deeds are how you know God and how people know you know God. Again, deeds don't save you but deeds are a measure on how close you are with God and if you really are a true believer. So, to the uneducated rufians; don't chew, spit, drink, play cards, rollerskate, dance or go to the circus. There are things that bad people do, you aren't bad people any longer, so don't do them - Just live a good life. The issue I see in this is that this message gets the priority/message of Christ out of order. We are told to be holy as Christ is holy, so we try, but we can't. So, what do we do with that? Is God asking us to preform an impossible task of perfection? No. this path of thinking isn't even in the right direction. Is it bad to murder? Yes. Is it bad to not help a friend? yes. But not doing these things doesn't make you a good person. in is sin. But, to be holy as Christ is holy is to be in Christ. When we are in Christ, when God sees us, he sees Jesus - his Son and his sacrifice over death and the Devil. We are holy because Jesus was holy. Methodism and the idea of Holiness creates a problem where we think that good works make us good/more spiritual. But since we are all in the same spiritual, sinful boat how can this be true? The real answer is to start in the other direction, the direction towards spiritual discipline. Instead of our works making us spiritual, how about our spirituality compelling us to do good works? In this manner we lose the pressure of having to earn blessings or grace or proving to the world that we are Christians by doing good deeds because we have to. Now, because we are free in Christ, because we have been given the opportunity to take part in God's story for the world we are free to be Christ in the world - instead of being held over the barrel of Hell, we are now compelled, and given the opportunity through the Holy Spirit, to live lives of thanksgiving to a gracious God who has reconciled the whole world to himself and himself to the world.

Worship is: Thanksgiving Sunday, October 10, 2010

Why does anyone worship? What is the purpose? Some say that even if there was nothing in this Christianity for them they would still choose to worship God. That sounds so great but it isn't even a conversation worth having. Why? Because there is something in it for us, for me, for my life now and after - a better way to live, a loving Savior and communion with his Spirit. In return we are only asked to be thankful. Thankfulness, a life of gratitude, is the only thing required of me. Why do we worship? Worship is not only the highest point of thanksgiving but in the end all giving of thanks is worship. I would say if I am not creating an atmosphere of thanksgiving in corporate worship there is no point to what I am doing and I should probably do everyone a favor and find another job.

In the story of the Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19) it is told that only one of the Lepers came back to thank Jesus for being healed. Christ doesn't say that the others are bad for not returning but he does commend the one who come back to give thanks. On a large scale, like how Christ healed all ten, God has already blessed the world. How do we respond? The returning Leper does five things that we especially associate with contemporary worship - he saw what had been done for him / Came to the Lord / praised Jesus with a loud voice / fell on his face infront of Christ / and thanked him. What if the tenth Leper had gone through the motions of the first four actions and never got around to actually saying thank you? He might as well not have come back at all.

Thanksgiving is a paradigm shift. It is saying that nothing else compares to the gift of Christ and that I am complete in that gift alone. Thankfulness is the pinnacle of losing my self - losing my life, goals, plans, dreams and placing them in the hands of God and giving thanks for where I am.

As it turns out worship is a bit harder than I first thought. But the reward of worship and the gift of thanksgiving are new eyes and a new heart in which to see and love myself, God and the world.

Prayers of the People - Worship and Spiritual Formation Sunday, September 26, 2010

This is the meditation on prayer I gave today as our church begins exploring spiritual disciplin and formation through corporate worship.

"We have a rich tradition of prayer here at Pope UMC as seen in the Pastoral Prayer element of the service. Every week we take a moment to make our requests known to God (Phil 6:4). We are going to shift things a bit today. Your prayers are important but they aren't my prayers and they aren't Pastor Robert's prayers. We do pray together these requests as a community but these prayers are yours. Just because someone is a pastor doesn't mean God listens to them more.

We see that prayer is very important even in Jesus' ministry. Jesus initiated his ministry by going into the desert for 40 days to pray and to fast. Near the end of his ministry in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus came before the Father in prayer saying "If you can Lord, take this cup. But when it comes down to it let your will be done and not mine." Christ knew that prayer is how we align our heats with the will of God "... your will be done."

Prayer brings us to the heart of God and it also gives us a venue to listen and hear his plan for us. Prayer is not just about making requests but God's requests are also made known to us. It warms our heart to Him. Not only that but prayer is just talking to God.

So we are going to start the next few moments with silence to focus our hearts and minds on God. To clear out the busyness and really listen for His voice. After our time of silence we are going to go through the Prayers of the People as listed in the hymnal on page 877. I will start by praying "Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer. Together we pray for... the people of this congregation..." Either out loud or in your heart take a moment to pray a sentence prayer for those people. After a few moments we will move onto "...those who suffer and those in trouble..." You can see how this flows in the hymnal. After our prayers for the church universal I will close our time of prayer. Again you can choose to pray silently or openly. But I encourage you to pray a loud so that we may agree and pray with you.

Now don't think of this as a strange or odd thing. Think of this as an exercise. Like walking for heath or practice for proficiency at your job or something like that. I want to challenge with with a spiritual workout. This is also something tangible and practical you can integrate into your everyday lives as we desire to be apart of God's plan for his world and our own lives. So, let us pray together. "

503 Project Refinement Monday, August 09, 2010

I have found that I best work on my projects in my head. The following was all in my head until last night. Actually, most of it was on bits of paper here and there, but I have been honing it down and I think I am at a good starting point. Please join in the conversation on this one. If you have any ideas or experience to share please do!

1. Address a particular ministry issue relating to postmodernism.

a. Is it possible for a traveling summer music ministry team like Wellspring plant seeds of worship renewal?

2. Point to particular theological propositions or positions under which the project is developed

a. “Moving from program worship to participatory worship.” Constance Cherry in her article Shifting from Professional Programs to Participatory Worship

i. Is it possible to move Camp worship from listener-observer (passive) and individual focused programming to active (shachah, proskuneo) and participatory-fellowship focused (koinonia) worship?

b. “Worship is doing God’s story.” Robert Webber in Ancient-Future Worship

i. How does a traveling summer music ministry team introduce worship in the context of doing God’s story?

ii. What are the challenges?

iii. What are some of the available opportunities?

3. Offer viable, concrete, and tangible solutions to issues in your context

a. Interview past Wellspring members on their experience at camps

b. Song Pairings

i. Good food is enhanced when paired with good wine, what are ways that worship song can be linked in pairings and combinations to create arcs or a flow that purposefully and intentionally tell God’s story?

c. What are ways we can introduce the idea of God’s Story into team training?

i. Emphasis on individuals coming together to join God’s Narrative.

ii. Encouraging community dialogue among team members as they create a team narrative.

1. Like tributaries into a river: Individual Narratives -> Wellspring Narrative -> God’s Narrative

4. Discuss how those solutions are more appropriate for your particular context than other solutions are—that is, how they are localized and contextualized solutions

a. Different ministries approach summer traveling music ministries in different ways.

b. I will be talking about specific camps, other camps may not have this problem.

c. Does having a Worship Arts major give us an advantage in this pursuit? If so how can we use that advantage? If not how can we benefit from the program?

5. Explain how such solutions are going to be implemented in resolving the issues.

a. Discuss the philosophy behind the “Christian Camp.”

b. Interview Wellspring team members to see if there opportunities for change.

c. I have kept track of the songs the teams have used this summer, see if there is any.

d. Present my findings

e. For the second part of my project I would put together a training service - Finding God’s story in our lives and applying that to the Wellspring Narrative. Also, show examples of participatory, corporate, God’s story focused worship song pairings. Do this in the context of a service/practicum for the team members.

Do Worship Tuesday, August 03, 2010

As I talk about worship, I easily find myself thinking “what is worship and how do we go about worshiping?” I am very pleased to find that most people when asked this question will say that worship is our lives. As the corny t-shirt says, we were “Made to Worship.” Great, we made to worship, but I seem to lose people when I talk about what being made to worship implies. If I had a dollar for every time I heard an announcement guy say “wasn’t that great worship?” or a pastor say “we are going to have more worship in a minute,” or even a worship leader say “Let’s get ready for (some) worship!” I would certainly have enough money to pay someone else to write my blogs. The problem is that we have been conditioned to compartmentalize worship. Worship is something I 1) do at church for 15-20 minutes near the front half of a church service 2) do while cranking Tomlin at 11 as I cruse through town or 3) am only participating in when I feel the Lord moving. I heard a youth pastor explain worship like this “we are like lightning rods, and worship is happening when God is striking those lighting rods.” Seriously? Worship seems to have become synonymous with God responding to us or specific songs and feelings. When we feel God’s response worship has been accomplished.

In our attempts to be contemporary and unleash passion in worship we have created strict boundaries to what (and when) actions are worship. This is worship music, this is worship time, when this song plays it is the worship portion, the sermon is definitely not worship, or my favorite tweet of all time “My favorite worship music is the kind I can go nuts to.” And in a way the expectation of feeling in worship is a significant part of these boundaries. There needs to be a line drawn that says there is a difference between this false “time to do worship” and doing worship. Robert Webber says “Worship is Doing God’s Story.”(1) According to Scripture God’s story has a lot more to do with creation, redemption and recreation than it does with whether an up-beat song is better to worship to than a slow song.

Even Christ dealt with this. When talking to a Samaritan woman at a well, the woman basically asked “Isn’t our worship better than their worship?” And Christ responded “No, you say you worship on this mountain or in this temple, but there will come a time where you will worship in Spirit and in Truth.” (2) To worship in Spirit and in Truth. Wow. To worship in Spirit – to worship with the entire family of believers throughout the ages, to worship with one breath at the eternal wedding banquet, one voice to the Father, in the name of the Son, through the Holy Spirit and to do it in Truth – United and living out the Triune message in the world. This doesn’t sound like the Sunday morning “do” worship to me. Worship shouldn’t just seep into the cracks of my life; it should be what every brick of my being is made of. And it isn’t even a matter of should because it is whether we know it or not because well, we were made to worship.

Are there elements that are more conducive to a worshipful mind set? Sure. But let us not get carried away. We must continually question whether or not a worship of moods and creative resources has surpassed our worship of the Creator.

1 - Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God's Narrative. Robert Webber. Baker Books, 2008.

2- From John 4:21-24

MWS503 Project - A Proposal Monday, July 26, 2010

What we sing about God is what we know about God. This is especially true in a contemporary worship setting. The songs we sing and the way we sing them shape our view of God and the part we play in Worship and His Story. If we are looking for a renewal of worship we need to start with the songs we are singing. With purpose, intention and time contemporary songs can be used, in context, to reshape our view of who God is in a very positive and healthy way. In a contemporary setting, worship renewal really begins with a song – not just a song, but an arc or flow of songs - So, what happens to Renewal when we have to run a Summer Student music ministry team? The team is out on the road, playing in situations where Worship Renewal, God’s Story and Worship flow may not be understood. Since Worship Renewal is also relational and requires commitment and care, and the summer ministry context is short, (for example, you are at a camp for one week) is it possible for this team to convey Worship Renewal at all? I don't know if they can in the way that Worship Renewal is usually spoken of but they can plant seeds of Renewal. And everything the team does should be focused around planting those seeds. But if a team is to plant they must be willing to step into the current of God’s Story and own it themselves. If the team is on board, God’s Story will flow wherever they go.

So here is what I am thinking - In a College Music Ministry context - Shifting from Modern/Pragmatic (Emotional/Popular/Topical/Situational) music sets to a Narrative/Story driven worship flow.

This project will focus on the following areas:

-During team training help team members engage in God’s Story for possibly the first time through digging into personal context and attempting to see how our stories fit into God’s Story.

-To help exemplify God’s Story in a corporate contemporary worship music setting.

-Restructuring and critiquing common thought progressions concerning the purpose of corporate contemporary worship music.

-Apply above points in a College Music Ministry context (camp/retreat/gig) where worship may not seen in light of God’s Story and individuals vary in their own story in the worlds of Modernism and Post-Modernism (or as Weber puts it Traditional Evangelical, Pragmatic Evangelical, Younger Evangelical)

-Create song and set lists that convey God’s Story so that the Story can be told even in a 15 minute set.

I will also explore the following questions:

-How has the shift from Modernism to Post-modernism changed the way we minister to youth? (The Younger-Younger Evangelicals :) and is this change in the way worship ministry is done even necessary.

-What is God’s story and how do we fit into it?

-Why is telling God’s Story important in worship; either corporate or personal?

-What are some examples of Narrative driven worship?

-What are some common misconceptions about the purpose of corporate worship; specifically in the contemporary realm?

-Is it possible to develop a ministry team through narrative based training as opposed to text book step by step training?

-What are some of the challenges of Worship Renewal in a summer ministry context?

-How can we overcome these challenges?

I would like any help I can get with this so if anyone has experience in this area, or thoughts on any of my purposed questions please let me know!

Do you understand the words you are putting into my mouth? Part 2 Tuesday, July 20, 2010

As someone who has worked most of my life in the arena of Christian worship I know that one of the biggest struggles in worship planning, whether people know it or not, is song selection. Two posts ago I wrote about contemporary worship music and finding value in some of the more popular songs. So how does this fit with what I was rambling about in part one? It is easy to select songs on auto pilot, to just pick a song because it is powerful or emotional or says some nice things. Even when being intentional, song selection is a difficult task. This past Sunday I was in a service where a song contained one line that referenced something from the parable of the Prodigal Son, one line that referred to some Old Testament prophecy about Christ dying and one line that was something nice Christian people say – kind of like “Pray a hedge of protection.” (that wasn’t the line, but you know what I mean… who says hedge of protection anyway??). I felt like you needed a degree in Biblical Literature to figure out what the song was about. The point is, as lead worshipers, we cannot just pick songs on auto pilot, shove words, terms and phrases into peoples mouths and expect everything to be OK. Picking songs without considering its inherent context and then neglecting the context of your congregation is a travesty. Moving to a model where all imagery and metaphor is left out is not necessary. However what is needed is for song selection to become more of an art form rather than a "thing to do."

Every person has their own context; their own story. But that doesn’t mean we water down the message – Service content and structure is the most important thing. Songs shouldn’t just be thought of thoroughly, but I would take it a step further and suggest that everything that happens in a corporate worship service must flow from the same point.

The purpose of a corporate service should be obvious not because the pastor says so half way through, but because there is a clear focus on the content of worship. The beauty liturgy is that everything focuses around the content – living out God’s story for the world. The beauty of freedom in worship is that we can tailor the structure around that content to fit our local context and community. Even if common sense is untrustworthy we are not left to our own devices. Things like Calvin’s Five Points or the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (scripture, reason, tradition, experience) do come from men but have proven themselves through time. We can also look to the early church fathers and even Christ as our example. Even then we are one with Christ through the Holy Spirit. But as leaders in worship we need to start with self sacrifice; we lay down personal preference and truly consider the community. The truth in the message may only count in the hearts and minds of a specific community, so we must be careful – truth may end up being missed all together. I don’t think corporate worship will ever be perfect until we reached heaven, where we will no longer be corrupt and faulty. But I do think we need to consider the whole person, physically, mentally and spiritually, into account before when planned how they will meet God as a community.

Do you understand the words you're putting into my mouth? Part 1. Monday, July 19, 2010

(Disclaimer – The following needs to be taken in the context of this blog. This Christ-centered blog about Christian worship and culture and should be considered as part of a whole. If it doesn’t seem like I am explaining enough it is because I have already or will eventually. Anyway, it is a blog so take it as seriously as you take any other form of unregulated media. Thank you.)

This is a two part post – one on common sense and personal responsibility and one on corporate worship song selection. I have been wrestling with these topics over the past few weeks and in only the last day or two have I realized that they really go together and are actually un-separable.

Let us start with my first proposition: Common Sense isn’t Common. I hear about “common sense politics,” and “common sense understandings.” Common sense is even used to bypass policy and structure. I have been a part of churches where the question has come up, “Who gets to get my kid out of Sunday school/Nursery?” and the answer is “Well, let’s just use common sense, we’re a church.” It can be seen that “Common Sense” isn’t only uncommon but almost impossible to achieve. Not only that; fully flowing with common sense can even be dangerous. What is understood as common sense is a community understanding of what is right and what is wrong. What happens when that community is entered into from the outside or broken up? The understanding is no longer common, but learned and adjusted to or recreated by the new members. I have started to see that there is some tension when “common sense” is laid out as an overarching standard – if there is true common sense, it cannot be totally lived by because everyone comes from a different culture or community. Maybe more importantly, common sense cannot be a standard to live by because there is sin in the world. Yes, there may be grace that has been revealed to us all but in light of sin we are all corrupt. As a Christian I say, “yes we are all sinners.” However we are not just the perpetrators of sin but also the victims. This victimization affects us so much that even our basic common sense based decision will be corrupt. Not just corrupt in that we do bad things, but corrupt to the point where we do not even physically and mentally function properly; even down to our common sensibility.

Here is where I start feeling tension. I identify with many people who are strong evangelical Christians. The big thing they talk about when personal problems arise is personal responsibility and common sense. You have this problem? Well, it is because of sin. Be a responsible person, follow the common sense rules revealed in the Bible and you are good to go. We have grace but as long as you follow the logical path of personal responsibility and common sense you are good to go; if you slip up that means you are falling back into sin. It is almost like Jesus is the Jiminy Cricket of common sense. This sounds great, but this is where things get tricky. These particular evangelicals don’t seem to take seriously issues like the diseases of addiction, depression, mental illness or cultural/community driven differences. Even though our bodies can be healed by medicine and therapy, for some there is no room for these kinds of treatments when it comes to the brain. In these circles the brain, actions and decision are all spiritual and personal and have nothing to do with a possible physical flaw. Psychological study may have neglected the spiritual side of humanity, but great segments of Christianity have neglected scientific understandings of the brain.

What does any of this have to do with leading corporate worship…. To Be Continued.

The Results are In Sunday, July 11, 2010

I am now posting the long awaited results to the project I was working on earlier this year. My last two posts entitled "Picking the Best" were mainly thoughts and ideas on corporate worship song selection and from those thoughts this project was born.

This project was twofold –

1) The first mission of this project was to gain some perspective on CCLI’s top 15 Hot 100 songs. I really wanted to dig into the content of the most popular contemporary worship songs and find out what makes them tick. Why are they popular? Are they fertile soil for the growth and renewal? Do they foster an understanding of worship essentials? This was a very humbling experience as I had to take an honest look at songs I liked and didn’t like.

2) As someone who would like to teach Worship Studies, I thought this project would be a great place to test the waters of worship renewal facilitation. In this project I lead some of my friends through a similar journey of critique. Not only did I gain perspective by doing this project with others but I was able to educate those around my by giving them a venue where they could think and grow as they studied these songs. Through this group aspect I gained experience helping lead a worship renewal project.

We ran all of the songs through the criteria mentioned above. The list of questions is not perfect but was intended to be a starting point for song critique. The criteria come about originally when Dr. Brian Walrath and I wanted to put together a filter for our college's summer worship ministry teams. Instead of having the student leaders pick whatever songs they liked we really wanted them to think about the content – they aren’t there to just lead kids and kill time, they are shaping the spiritual understanding of thousands. I applied this same idea as I led my friends through this project.

As I went all through all fifteen songs the group members went through three songs each. The data I collected came to two reviews of each song. “Picking the Best,” wasn’t meant to be the end all for a song but a flexible magnifying glass where we could ask specific questions and come to our own, educated, conclusions on a song’s value. I didn’t really know what I would find in this project. But I did come to a few overarching yet important conclusions about contemporary worship songs in general:

1) The way a song is used can make or break a song. These songs were written for specific purposes and with specific ideas in mind. Scripture should not be used out of context for our own ends, the same goes for songs for worship.

2) Very few of these songs can stand on their own. For a song to be used appropriately it needs to be paired with scripture or strung together with other songs to tell a story. It need to be put into context.

3) Popular worship songs are just that, Pop-Worship. The music is catchy but weak, the content is weak, but they say nice things that are hardly disagreeable on first listen.

4) If we desire worship education through renewal, many of these songs are poor selections because they do not pursue renewal. I found more worship renewal through education in my group’s dissection of these songs than I have ever seen in people actually singing them.

5) If it is true that what we sing about God is what we know about God, then we are in trouble. Much of the content of these songs focuses on an extremely personal God who seems to owe us blessings.

6) These songs have become traditional standers for churches without traditions. In the contemporary church we criticize liturgical congregations for not being free and authentic. We mock their memorized prayers and creeds by saying “you don’t even know what is coming out of your mouth.” But at the same time, we are singing these songs that have less meaning and we never ask why.

7) There is still hope. While I will probably toss many of these songs right out of my repertoire, some of the songs are very solid. Songs like “How Great is our God,” and “Jesus Messiah,” may have a there faults, but they are Biblically solid and theologically true – however, as always, context is important.

8) Any person in a position of leadership over corporate worship needs to build a team whose sole purpose is to examine the content of every song that is sung. Prior to this project I already had some biases for and against a few songs. Through the eyes of others some of my speculations were confirmed. But in many cases things were pointed out that I hadn’t even thought of.

All in all, this project was extremely edifying. It was a challenge coordinating five others in this project. It was also difficult seeing the diet of the typical American contemporary congregation. But I learned a lot and I got to see my friends gain an understanding of worship renewal and see what I am doing at the Institute for Worship Studies. I felt like I really got to put my new found knowledge to practical use. At the same time I was able to include others on my journey and see them grow. If nothing else I am very glad for that.

Best of the Best: cont' Thursday, April 08, 2010

As it turns out, my last post really planted a seed in my heart and gave me direction for my MWS 501 final project. With the help of five other individuals we are analyzing the top 15 CCLI Hot 100 songs. CCLI is the licencing body of all Christian music recorded for "worship." If you want to legally use that (insert totally awesome new worship song here) you have to go through CCLI. They also keep track of all of these songs. So if you want to use that (insert same totally awesome new worship song) song, CCLI will either keep track of how many pages or charts of the song you downloaded or you have to keep track yourself and report to CCLI monthly. It all sounds kind of bizzar, but it goes with the whole getting recording artists their pay check and doing everything in a legit fashion. We won't get into what I think of the philosophy of CCLI, that is a post for another day. Mostly I respect CCLI and would encourage all churches to sign up. If we are going to be Christlike we might as well make our praises legal, right?

Sooo... CCLI has a top 100 of the most sung songs for worship and the 6 of us are going over the top 15. I have been learning a lot about Christianity, (specifically Evangelical American Christianity), church culture, worship culture and theology from this exercise. Honestly my findings aren't encouraging. What I am learning most of all is that no matter how "good" or "bad" a song is most of these songs for worship are valuable in the proper context. No matter what you feel, "Come, Now is the time to Worship" has it's place. On the other hand even a good song like "Jesus Messiah," can be used inappropriately. The issue is that most songs, worship, Christian or otherwise were written with a context in mind and these context specific songs are being sung all of the time (lets be honest, these are the top 15 sung songs for worship). This over-saturation of general content is causing a very shallow understanding of the story of Christ, the implications a Trinitarian godhead and what God is really all about. Sometimes I just want to sit these song writers down and ask"tell me, what do you REALLY think about God."

I will always say this; what we sing about God is what we think about God. For spiritual growth and worship renewal songs need to be selected for content and context and not for popularity.

Picking the Best Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A few posts back we wrote on why the process for picking good songs for worship is important.

The next question is, "well, how do you go about picking good songs, and what is a good song anyway?"

A good friend of mine took some time to put together a sound criteria for what makes a good song for worship. The first thing to think about when looking at a song is that songs for worship need to be functional art. when I pick out a couch or a chair, I want it to be completely useful and be able to fulfill the purpose of me sitting on it every day, but it also needs to have some aesthetic value. I want it to look nice. I could just use a log to sit on that I pulled out of a forest, and in a way that might have its own artistic value, but it does not serve the intended purpose. The same goes with songs for worship. They need to be functional/culturally relevant/situationally applicable as well as aesthetically valuable and relevant to the body that it is serving. They have a dual purpose - education and edification. And yes... we could talk long hours and go way more in depth with this...but maybe later. .

So, with all of that said.. here is the list - now this list isn't set in stone, nor are they rigid rules. Rather they are points to seriously take in to account when looking at using a new song or reviewing a song that you already use. None of these points are end-alls for a song, but if you find your self wondering "mmm...well..." all to often after reviewing a song be confident in following the axiom: "when in doubt, throw it out."

"Worship Songs: Picking the Best"

The Celebration Banquet Tuesday, March 30, 2010

My final paper for MWS 501 "Theology of Christian Worship" is due.

If you would like to read, enjoy!

"The Celebration Banquet"

The Circle of Our Words & Our Hearts Saturday, March 13, 2010

Luke 6:45- "For out of the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks."

This seems to go both ways. What our heart says/feels/experiences is shown by our words. But, our words (even those not spoken out loud) can change or effect our hearts.

If someone tells themselves enough times that they are awesome at something, their heart eventually begins to believe it. We see this on American Idol all the time with those terrible singers who are positive that the judges are wrong and that they are the next Whitney. The person has told themselves they can sing and their hearts now believe it.

This is why song selection is so important as a Worship Leader. We are setting people up to sing songs that their heart will believe. This is an amazing and dangerous power that the Worship Leader holds. We help shape the hearts of people just by picking (insert overdone 90s worship song here).

I have always been caught up with the lyrics in worship songs. (Just ask my husband. I drove him crazy refusing to do certain "great" worship songs because the words didn't make sense, were stupid, or I just didn't think it was saying much.) I never completely understood why it got to me so much until I recently re-read that passage from Luke.

Personally- sometimes I don't say (or think) the greatest things and in turn my heart starts to feel bitter. Once I make myself aware of just how much my words effect my heart, I can begin to turn it around. I've started to make more of an effort with my words, which in turn makes my heart purer. Once my heart is purer, the words automatically become purer. This passage, to me, is really a big circle. A circle I want to strive to make complete in my everyday life of worship and in church services.

Reflection: Touching the Alter – The Old Testament for Christian Worship Sunday, March 07, 2010

Reading Touching the Alter, brought to mind that whole “Kid in a candy store,” image! My first thoughts on how to reflect on this book was to pick a few of the essays I like and expand upon them. However, I was so impressed with all of the writers; I didn’t know what to do! Everything was so excellently written and offered academic takes with such practical application. After reviewing my notes and trying to figure out where in the world to start in such a deep work, something hit me. It was a pattern that I began to see over and over and over again. I began to realize that everything that I had been doing pertaining to scripture, personal discipleship, my prayer life, and this reading, were all pointing in the same direction. I remember saying when this class started that I felt like Eric was putting my brain through a series of un-wirings, wirings and re-wirings; it was like my old lens was being slowly torn off. I now know for a fact that that is exactly what was happening. How do I know? I am starting to feel and literally see the delicate new lens that has begun to grow around my heart and mind. It was the collective work of Touching the Alter that helped me to finally realize this new beginning in my life, this realization of how we fit, and how we can show others the way, into God’s story.

The following is the result of the last few months of prayer, reading and discussion amongst family, friends and “ya’ll.” I know that there are going to be some very broad strokes taken here, but I do not apologize for them. After this reading, and the pile of prior readings, I feel this is the only way to reflect.

Worship is honoring and loving God and all people; in spirit and in truth; in word and in deed; no matter the circumstance. We are God’s divine dwelling place and that alone should compel us to worship. Justice is a direct result of worship and evangelism will be a by-product of social justice. How so? Well, how do you say “God loves you and has a good plan for you,” or even “I love God,” to someone? Words are nice, but who cares? A loving, just and sovereign God? God may be loving, just and sovereign, but how can we expect those who have not experience Triune communion, or even ourselves, to believe that? Yes, the Spirit can move in someone’s life before a word is spoken to them, but no evangelistic words should be spoken without a correlating lifestyle. Humanity experiences God through the actions of his people in the name of Christ through the power of his Spirit.

The Old Testament is God’s story of plan and preparation in bringing his communion to the world. And while God is bringing his communion to the world, in a way he already has. Those who believe in the Father are the places where the spiritual and the physical meet. That alone should compel us to worship. Worship alone should compel us to justice; and it is justice that directs the river of our life into the ocean of God’s story.

Reflections on "Engaging With God" by David Peterson Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Engaging with God was a bit of a struggle for me. It was thick in places and revealed some deep issues I have been harboring for quite some time. Honestly, it was a bit scary coming to terms with this issues that have been stored up in my heart. But now on the other end, I feel like my heart has been set free!

For such a long time I have been frustrated with the Church especially when it comes to the mainstream “consumer” idea of corporate worship. My biggest beef with the church was that they were doing worship all wrong. The quote on page 188 really put my thoughts and feelings into a statement: “…Indeed, congregational worship in some contexts can be like a narcotic trip into another world to escape the ethical responsibilities of living a Christian life in this world.

Now, there wouldn’t be an IWS if there wasn’t something wrong in the world of Christian worship. However, I came to realize that I don’t have to have worship “figured out enough” for God to work and be glorified – I can only come to worship through Jesus, whose worship is perfect, anyway! According to Peterson, worship is living a life of service to God in our everyday lives. With that in mind I shouldn’t go to church to “go to worship.” If worship is supposed to be as normal as each breath I take, corporate gatherings need to be something more: “…If the focus of the meeting is on the edification of the church, this should enable God’s people individually to engage with Him afresh and to offer themselves to him in the way that he requires and himself makes possible through the Holy Spirit.” Pg. 220.

According to Peterson, corporate gatherings need to focus on the edification of the church: encouraging each other for the glory of God! We are one body, and when we gather, the body can rest and take nourishment and acknowledge of our purpose in something greater – that we are instruments in the story of God’s love for the world.

My take away from Engaging with God, and what I learned to be an essential to worship, is this: We gather corporately for the purpose of edification – in the world (as temples where heaven and earth meet. Oh, I just love that imagery!) we are meant to individually pursue and further God’s story – since we aren’t meant to only live as individuals, we come back to our corporate community to build each other up for the glory of the Lord! I guess to sum it up: Engaging with God taught me that worship is beautifully vertical, horizontal and circular with no specific beginning and with absolutely no end! Worship is a communal engagement with God at all angles!

How does this fit with the first part of my story; my beef with the church? I realized that God is served when we serve each other. Yes, if we institute four-fold structure, we may be able to engage with God at a deeper level, but if that isn’t happening I shouldn’t be mad about it, or mad at the person who is leading. That isn’t very edifying. In Christ, I worship God with every move I make. Seeing this, I know that I can transcend my likes and dislikes in a corporate setting and serve my brothers and sisters. This is what God wants – the worship isn’t the service, but this service is the worship.