Lessons

Thought and Discussions

WORSHIP

Friends, I’m at the Annual Church Music Workshop of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts, Florida Chapter. I wish you could be here to participate in exciting and meaningful worship, as I have done every summer since 1993. Ask me how you can participate next summer!

Musicians in Worship - Purpose and Pattern

The Purpose of the Musicians in Worship

1. Set the tone (decorum) for the service.

2. Prompt the worshipers (sit, stand, pray, sing, give, etc.)

3. Lead the worshipers in singing.

4. Segue from one component of worship to the next (Entrance – Proclamation and Response – Thanksgiving and Communion – Sending Forth).

5. Contribute to the service with a song as a declaration (praise, God’s presence, prayer or meditation, confession, psalm or other scripture, stewardship, etc.), or as a response to a component of the service.

6. Support the pastor with prayer and concern. The preachers should never feel like they are ministering alone.

7. Support the worshipers with warmth and friendliness. Seeing smiling faces is much more meaningful and pleasant than seeing the backs of people’s heads or empty seats.

The Pattern of the Ideal Worship Musician

1. Enter the area quietly, but with a pleasant expression in anticipation of a grand worship experience.

2. Sing the songs with enthusiasm, careful to observe John Wesley’s Directions for Singing.

   • Learn the songs.

   • Sing them accurately.

   • Let nothing hinder you from singing everything every time.

   • Sing lustily with strength and good courage.

   • Sing modestly, striving to blend and unite with other voices.

   • Sing in tempo without running ahead or lagging behind.

   • Above all sing spiritually.

3. Think ahead in the order of worship, and be ready for whatever comes next.

4. Listen intently to whoever is speaking or singing. Never allow your mind to wander or fall asleep. This is especially challenging with multiple services.

5. Be positive. Don’t make a negative comment in worship or immediately following worship for others to hear. It’s reasonable to disagree, but unreasonable to express disagreement while others are still responding to the Word.

MUSIC in WORSHIP

Worship Is Not About Me

Reprinted from FL Fellowship QuarterNotes
Newsletter Aug-Sep-Oct 2014 issue

The various modes of worship that we experienced at Workshop 2014 prompted me to consider some new ways to look at worship.  Although some of the modes and manners were initially believed to be “not my style,” I found myself drawn to certain aspects of what we did, and I looked at them in a new light.  I guess the whole purpose, “Seeing God with New Eyes,” [Workshop Theme] worked for me.  I admit that it bothered me when we had to start calling the 11:00 service “traditional” because the 9:00 service was called “contemporary.”  I get tired of labels.  I’d love to go back to just calling them the 8:00, 9:00, and 11:00 o’clock (or whatever time) worship services.  Perhaps some so-called contemporary services are better described as “casual” services.  Many pastors who say they want a service to be contemporary don’t even know what contemporary worship is.  A worship service does not become contemporary merely because guitars are substituted for the organ, or because projected words on screens are substituted for hymnals.  Worship becomes contemporary when the presentation of the Word and the response to the Word are accomplished in new, contemporary ways.  And they change constantly.  But I’m not here to define contemporary worship.  I’m not here to promote a certain style of worship.  I just want to remind us that worship is not about us.  If worship is not about us, then our own favorite styles and preferences of worship mean nothing.  It’s about God.  Our God is much larger than any definition, any particular manner, any style we draw up in our finite minds.  The weekly worship services that I help to plan are not in one category or another.  Free will is one of the blessings that our God has given us.  Each of us has the privilege of worshiping God as we please.  My own son has a vastly different style of worship than what my church can even accomplish.  If I’m standing next to him in one of his worship services, I’m almost uncomfortable.  But he doesn’t even know I’m there.  He has such a strong, personal connection with God, the earthly things around him don’t even exist.  I long for that level of intimacy in worship.  As for me, I am closest to God in worship when I am hiding in a corner by myself, and being blown away by the Word set to well-structured music delivered by gifted artists on a high level of musicianship.  And I cry when my heart is touched (that’s why I’m in a corner).  But I am able to do that only a few times a year.  Most folks want to worship corporally with a group of friends, but I am different.  It’s my choice.  It doesn’t make mine or yours right or wrong.  It’s just different.  So, what did I take away from the fresh worship experiences at Workshop 2014?  I decided that I don’t have the right to choose a certain service, style, or mode of worship.  That would be about me, and not about God.  I must be content to worship in whatever opportunity I find myself.  One of my favorite people is Mrs. Hunter.  She has probably outlived 20 pastors/assistant pastors in her church, and has probably served on every committee there is at local, district, and conference levels.  She once told me she liked the new pastor that hadn’t yet arrived at the new appointment.  When I reminded her that she doesn’t even know the new pastor, she said, “I already made up my mind that I’m going to like him—just as I have with all of his predecessors.”  The challenge for me is this—I want to make up my mind that I will meet God in whatever worship situation I am placed.  Labels have no bearing.  I can find connections to God in any worship service.  And not complain about the format.

Singing and Worship - Who's Right? 

John Wesley is one of the few figures in the history of the church, who is also widely recognized in the history of music.  Although it was John’s brother, Charles, who wrote most of the hymns, it was John who had revolutionary ideas about music in worship—which stirred most of Europe and the Americas.  Since then, for almost 300 years, the Methodist Church has been known as a singing church.  I learned on my trips to Russia that the word for “Methodist” in Russian literally means “singing Christian.”

The United Methodist Church is a connectional system, but tolerant and supportive of a wide range of singing and worship styles. However, in the average church today, no area has more disagreements than in the area of music.  Music is an abstract art that is hard to be defined.  Our personal preferences of music and music in worship are all different, due to cultural customs, geographical philosophies, family traditions, and current ways of thinking.  I trust our various opinions about music and worship are perceived as “different” rather than “better” or “worse.”