What we are doing well at CCUC

• Drama/media – When we do have a drama or media presentation, it is appropriate, strong, and impactful (“Whiteboard” video, Christmas Cantatas)
• Sermon series are planned way ahead of time to allow for creative planning of worship
• Attitude of worship among the youth ministries
• Open to change, not satisfied with the status quo
• Congregation and leaders have a more correct view of the purpose of worship
• Worship leaders have humility, and a God-centric theology of worship

What to improve

• Understanding worship’s various expressions
• Educating the people
• Integrating collaborative elements of creative worship
• A greater understanding of theology in worship
• Training and equipping the next generation
• Involving the older generation

Worship Arts Ministry Goals

For the time being, the WAM will be under the Worship Ministry in the English Ministry just because for now, the worship service will be the easiest rally point that we can gather around. This is in no way something to limit our future expansion, but just makes sense for now given our current situation.

• Build diverse , collaborative community of artists
• Provide structure for planning and organizing
• Culture of encouragement
• Involve and engage everyone, in every generation (music is exclusive, worship is inclusive)
• Shepherd and support the volunteers  in the WAM (as one body)
• Accountability to each other and the congregation
• Improve our respective art forms, have fun, and serve joyfully
• God to be our focus, and to have others focus on God and not the technique
• Intentionally be changing lives in the congregation to be more Christ-like
• Discipleship within the WAM
• Be a resource to other ministries

Resources needed to reach these goals

• Central hub for sharing information
• Creative farming and brainstorming
• Linkage to EMLT (English Ministry Leadership Team)
• Input of needs/suggestions/feedback from different generations/ABFs and home missions
• Opportunities to connect and serve creatively
• Regular times of getting together/retreats
• Speakers, feeding, continuing education/training
• Art reviews

Tasks to get started on

• Good Friday 2010 – Luke’s Gospel’s trip to Golgotha
• Calendar for 95th anniversary in 2010 – How to capture the English Ministry in pictures
• Upcoming Book of Ruth Sermon series – Drama for a response?
• Advent 2009 – OT themes of the Messiah (images)

We’re making a lot of advances and it’s exciting to see that we’re all in agreement about these things. I’m sure we missed some things at this meeting, so if you weren’t there and feel like something needs to be added, say something in the comments. We want to make sure everyone is heard, and that we’re as thorough as we can be in discussing and gathering data.

Currently in process

• To move towards the goal of shepherding the WAM volunteers together, James has volunteered to try out putting together weekly devotions geared to our needs. Leaders are strongly encouraged to use them or some other self made devotional as part of their meetings or practices to fellowship and share with their cohorts.
• This website is filling many of the information and feedback sharing mechanisms that we stated as a goal
• As mentioned previously, to assist the congregation connect songs and themes to worship of God, James has also agreed to help the worship leaders in drawing out themes and scriptural basis for the songs that are sung.
• The photography team is developing their identity. Contact me to get connected!
• Figuring out the logistics and hierarchy of the WAM organization (how often should we meet, what should we do when we meet, who are the key people, etc.)

Now that we know the specific needs and wants of our group and how the Spirit is guiding our members, our next steps will include casting a vision/mission statement for this ministry, and making sure that every area in the WAM has what they need to succeed in what they do. After that comes the hard work of putting all this into practice.

Praise God for all the things He has done, and has in store for us!

Not all of us are good at speaking off the cuff about the songs we sing, or even have the resources or knowledge to do it well even if we tried to prepare ahead of time. I was talking to James LeFeu about this and he has generously offered to help us in this. All he asks is that you give him enough time, and that you give him the specific song or theme to focus on.

[End important part. Read on for more information and background.]

If you don’t know who James is, he’s the Worship Ministry’s theological resource, and helps us a lot in making sure what we do is scripturally sound, and also provides some insight in creative ways to present theological truths.

The inspiration for this was seeing a lot of mini-sermons before songs that different churches do–in particular, the sermonette on the meaning of “Yahweh” before the Yahweh song on the latest Hillsong album. Without it, the song might still be good, maybe average at best in terms of content. But in context of what “Yahweh” actually means (“our hope is Yahweh, Yahweh.”–why Yahweh? Do you know what that means? What if you didn’t know what Yahweh actually means?), I think it amplified the ability to connect and impact of the song immensely. We can use these opportunities to then connect it back to how worship is part of everyday living, not just part of the song they’re singing.

As a side note in this same discussion at the WAM dinner, I think it’s worth mentioning that we should be careful in introducing new/unfamiliar songs not as “new and unfamiliar.” The general consensus was that by introducing new songs and telling the congregation that it’s a new song and to join in when they feel comfortable is setting them up to have the expectation of not being able to worship here and now, but only after they’ve learned the song.

Instead, try introducing the scriptural basis or themes for the song, and connect the congregation with the lyrics and worship of God. Even if they can’t sing along right away, they can surely read and agree with you in what you’re saying up front, and be worshiping in that way.

I want encourage everyone to think about this and discuss openly. After all, we are in the business of changing lives for Christ, and there are infinite ways to do that.

We’re the coaches, the cue card holders, the kind gentleman in Pretty Woman who discreetly aids a befuddled Julia Roberts’ character in choosing the right fork for the dinner course at a fancy restaurant.

As worship leaders (or lead worshippers, if you prefer), our purpose is not to model a personal worship experience on stage. It’s not even most importantly to perform well. It is to facilitate corporate worship—to enable all present to participate and engage in what is going on and to point them to the truth of the Gospel.

For the people up front, it’s some solid advice for what you should be doing in front to lead people in worship, whether you’re the songleader or not. Read the full text here. [http://www.theworshipcommunity.com]