Drum Shield = Accessible?

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, eg 09)

Sometimes I wonder how I landed the most difficult job in the arts that exists? Writing and playing worship songs that somehow reflect a crowd who ranges from 8-80 years old, including dozens of ethnic backgrounds and styles can prove to be a creativity killer. It’s like pop music but worse, because you have to make more than just teen girls happy, you have to make everyone happy. And then you get a lecture that you’re only supposed to make Jesus happy. And then you get a critique that it’s not about happiness, but about joy. Staying true to yourself and being accessible in worship settings is a difficult dance. Here is a short list of the things that make my job unique:

o Scrutinized attention given to lyrics and how each songs lyric’s play off of each other.

o A weekly gig of 5 songs only. Sometimes played twice, three, or four times in a day.

o An mindless obsession with decibels.

o Rock-n-Roll at 7AM (nowhere else in the world does this happen, it’s wrong on every level!)

o Drum shields, drum rooms, guitar amps turned backwards, cheap gear, fish shaped tambourines etc…

o The “promoters” that stand and look at you during your last song.

o Ugly uninspired stages with bad lighting. o An endless list of cover songs and no one expects you to play your own songs.

Are there things in this list that actually make worship more accessible to the masses? I’m sure some of them do, but I wonder if one of the most accessible things is being yourself? Not your lazy self, but the fully creative challenged, prayed up self that is dependent on the Holy Spirit every moment of your set. For our church the most culturally relevant thing we can do is to be transparent; we have found this to be attractive and disarming! Where the church has turned accessibility into bad art I have to say I’m ashamed. I have fallen into it’s lure and we are slowly digging our way out.

From Team to Tribe: The Journey of a Worship Band

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, eg 09)

This week I attended a webinar teaching the value of taking a worship ministry from a task driven group to a relationally motivated tribe. A place where musicians form a bond that is not merely held together by great performances or responsive worship sets, but a deeper sense of family and shared experienced together that stands apart from the task at hand. The grid for this kind of musical collective is Galatians 5:22-23:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law [1].”

There is an expectation that each musician brings one or many of these fruits to the worship stage, serving one another BEFORE we serve the congregation. These relational bonds create a jumping off point for God to use the whole worship band to direct others to himself. If one part of the tribe is hurting than the whole is lacking, therefore everything stops in order to pray for that person. For years I merely saw the worship team as a disposable tool that led congregations to God. Job number one was to get the congregation excited about God and anything that got in the way was, well, in the way of God’s commissioning. The tribe mentality is one that says if we can go together than we shouldn’t go.

[1] Holy Bible, N.I.V. Gal 5:22-23

Essentials Red: Final Project

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, er 08)

View my project here: essentials-red-final-project

New Song “Baptized and Brought Out”

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, er 08)

Here is a link to my new song “Baptized and Brought Out”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsro7blWmbA

The lyrics to this song were inspired by the Essentials Red course I am taking on the subject of church history. Remembering who we are and where we came from is an important theme in the class and this tune attempts to remind the worshiper of those truths. This would be an example of a song that is not accessible to everyone because it says some specific and direct things, but I believe it’s the right song for this season in our church.

Baptized and Brought Out
Mike O’Brien & Wilfred Cuthbert

(capo  4)

Am7  F  C  G

C                  F2                                 Am7                C
Baptized and brought out, from one kingdom to the next (we’ve been)
C                   F2                 Am7              C
Reborn and redeemed, forgiven all our sins
Am7             F2                    C
For all this Lord we thank You, and sing it once again (we’ve been)
C                  F2                                 G                      C
Baptized and brought out, from one kingdom to the next

F2             C                 Gsus         G
We remember You are the one who made us
F2             C                 Gsus         G
We remember You are the one who saved us
F2             C                 Gsus         G
We remember You are the one who called us out
F2        C                G
To the light of your glory

C                   F2                            Am7                    C
Raised up and released, to the captives we will sing (we will)
C                   F2                    Am7                    C
Tell of your goodness, and the hope that you will bring
Am7                   F2                  C
For all our days we’ll praise You and sing it once again (we’ve been)
C                  F2                        G                          C
Raised up and released, to the captives we will sing

Eucharist Ideas…

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, er 08)

Our church is literally 6 weeks on one side of a Eucharistic threshold. We have received communion every week since then whereas before we would do it once a month or less. I feel as if we (the worship band, congregation, and leadership) are like hungry third world missionaries seeing our first American buffet; we like what we see, but it’s a bit overwhelming! The term “worship leader” all of sudden means more that merely stringing together 4 songs in the same key, there is an increased expectation to get things right and not screw this thing up. I figure if it’s true that this is an outward sign of an inward grace, then it’s at least as important as getting the tunes tight (1). At in the infancy of our new tradition I feel it’s appropriate to explore the possibilities of how we could celebrate this meal before we get too comfortable.

The worship team serve the congregation:
Human touch and eye contact can be a powerful thing. Instead of the usual elements on a table bit, we could have the worship team or any other group of volunteers serve the elements. If you know the persons name that you are serving you could call them by name. Phrases like “this is the body of Christ that was broken for you” can remind each person what they are doing.

Include stations with real wine alongside stations with juice: For those that find a significant meaning in the fruit of the vine being closer to the real thing, this could be very meaningful. In the culture of addiction, recovery, and differing value systems it’s good to use grape juice as well.

Reconstruct an Agape Feast: Use a Sunday afternoon or other day/eve to have a huge meal with a special time set aside to pray and receive the elements. A large glass of wine shared with a loaf of bread would have significant meaning to many. People who are used to only seeing these sort of parties lead to debauchery would be blessed to witness a pure celebration! This meal was a central, defining act of worship for the earliest Christians (1).

Share a the Same Communion Scripture in Several Languages: Proceeding communion you could focus on the historical and worldwide implications of the Eucharist by having many languages share the scripture that accompanies that weeks service.

These four ideas are merely the beginning when thinking of how to excite this weekly rhythm for our Church body. I am thankful that I have a full day to prepare worship each week!

(1) Wilt, Dan. Essentials in Worship History; The Language of Baptism. (St. Stephen’s University, 2008).

Thoughts on the Christian Calendar

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, er 08)

Recently I have been encouraged through my studies to add both weekly communion and scripture reading to our worship services at Vineyard Community Church. We have read scripture during the sermon and received communion together periodically, but not during the worship time every week. Adding these two parts to our weekly worship rhythm seems right and biblical in general and really good for our specific community. The bible has some really good things to say about itself, the prophet Isaiah says in 5:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (1)” Jesus Himself exemplifies communion in the upper room the meal which He admonishes us to do  this act saying “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. (2)” Since we have started doing this not a soul has complained!

Scripture and communion are both weekly rhythms and seem deeply rooted in scripture. When I started to dig into the yearly rhythms and history of the Christian calendar this week I realized that I wasn’t as convinced that these traditions of recognizing Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter held nearly the relevance to me that the weekly rhythms had. I am not ready to throw them out and I am not ready to go to a Hebrew Calendar because that seems even more irrelevant for different reasons.

I would like to think this is the place where God allows us to create our own traditions and methods. It is of utmost importance that we remember the story. Paul encourages us to remember the resurrection every time we receive communion: 1 Corinthians 11:26 “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” The use of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter (the traditions we follow now) do a good job of redirecting us back to Christ, but in a sense I think they do too little. My hope is that we would take our knowledge of history and led by the Spirit and borrow from Hebraic, early church, catholic, and protestant traditions to make rich our local church expression of the Christian Calendar.

I really like what the Christian calendar points us to, but I don’t really want to grab it all. More on this later…

(1) Isaiah 5:11. NIV
(2) Luke 22:19. NIV

The Time & Space of Worship

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt (ICEWS, er 08)

The Time & Space of Worship

At this weeks service I met a first time visitor that mentioned that he loved our church. His answer had nothing to do with the sermon, music, or the numerous ministries we have to offer; he said he loved the sanctuary! My understanding of the time and space of our worship has expanded greatly this week in my studies. Could it be that God takes an interest in the boxes that contain our weekly gatherings? Could it be that part of the incarnation purpose was to plant a ritual into our lives that would need to relived again and again each time we gather, in order that we would not forget? Although almighty God lives outside  this time and space continuum He has been intimately involved in it’s purpose for humanity. As worshippers how can we best enjoy and redeem these elements in our corporate worship experience?

Commenting on the importance of space, James White says “It should not surprise us that a religion whole fundamental doctrine is the incarnation should take space seriously in its worship (1).” Our space for our church is a rented box. We have built it and rebuilt it four times since we have been here. Dirt, paint, and fabric make it useful and make it pretty. The design, art, and furniture direct and communicate many things to visitors and members alike. I recognize there are a million variables that can hinder or help us connect with one another and God. Putting the chairs at an angle so we see one other in our periphery, having communion tables that are the right height for six year olds, and replacing old candles are just a few examples of our space affecting us. The challenge for the 21st century church is exploring ways to take our boxes and make them unique expressions of a local Body.

Similar to space, making use of the gift of time has it’s own challenges. The use of ritual has been greatly frowned upon by both leaders in the early Reformation and modern day churches. Rather than being a mindless act, hindering our sincerity, employing the rhythms of the Christian calendar puts us in contact with God’s acts of past and future (1). Daily, weekly, yearly, and lifetime rhythms ground us in the story of God and remind us our purpose on this earth.

As a musician and minister the two most pivotal and valuable times have been Christmas and Easter. I have thought of them as just gigs that have high expectations and mostly bad art attached to them ( think “Christmas Shoes”). Seeing the birth and resurrection of Christ in context with Advent, Epiphany, Lent, and Pentecost makes those celebrations all that more vital to recognize and celebrate! Put those reminders with lifetime rhythms such as birth and marriage and I begin to see the richness of ritual in our lives, and especially Christian worship.

James, White. Introduction to Christian Worship. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1990), pg. 81 and 48.