Music Leaders and Professionals at Training Event for Inspirational Worship

The Worship and Music Leadership training was a pilot programme, conducted in a partnership with the International Center for Worship and Music, Andrews University. It brought together a diverse international group of professionals and lay church members that are interested in creating a biblically-founded, inspirational, and engaging worship experience for the local church setting.

Biblically-founded worship

In the studious atmosphere of Newbold’s Smith Centre, the programme leaders and the participants explored the biblical principles of worship in lessons delivered throughout the week. “Our worship needs to be rooted in an essential understanding of our value in God’s eyes as human beings”, said Dr Nick Zork (Songwriter, Worship Leader, and Music Director) in an opening to conceptually frame the training. Worship is our response to God’s love and an act of gratitude for what he has done for us. From this viewpoint, worship is about fully focussing on God and not our own skills or performance. “We need […] to be humble, not just trying to force our thoughts into God or into someone, but allowing God to break those down so that he can mold those in a way he wants to”, reflected Diana Roldan (attendee, Mexico) on this core principle shared during the training. Focussing on God is a humbling but also a liberating thought, when we realise that “it is the Holy Spirit who will take care of the work, which we only facilitate through worship”, remarked Dr David Williams (Associate Professor of Worship and Sacred Music, Andrews University).

Facilitating a worship experience is a significant task. It requires us “to be mindful of our audiences and to produce meaning, not confusion for the people in front of us”, David added. The starting point is challenging though. Parishioners gather to worship God but they come from different experiences, contexts, and theological standpoints. They also enter God’s presence in diverse cognitive and emotional states. How can we then deliver a worship service that speaks to the audience?

Meaningful and inspiring worship

Creating a meaningful worship often requires contextualization. Therefore, Dr Tihomir Lazić (Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Newbold College) explored different perspectives, purposes, principles and practices of worship with the participants throughout the week. As part of this exercise, the group also visited different worship places, from the very old St Aldates Church to the fresh contemporary Hillsong worship service in Oxford. “All were there to immerse ourselves in different experiences and maybe open some new questions and new challenges that we need to address”, remarked Tihi.

While music often lies at the core of a worship experience, “it is fascinating to think that worship is more than music and singing—that concept was completely new for me”, reflected Helen Diaz (attendee, Italy) on thoughts shared throughout the week. Creating an inspirational worship that includes a variety of expressions and allows people to exercise their agency was a topic that Kärt Lazić (Singer, Worship Leader and Songwriter) tackled with the group. Participants learned that “there is a place for every person, and we need to be able to facilitate that space so that they can worship God as well”, as DeLocia White (attendee, UK) summarised. As we come to worship with a whole range of emotions, tastes, and talents, “the important thing is to make worship a complete experience”, reflected Jóhann Grétarsson (attendee, Iceland). This completeness of worship experience also refers to a providing the audience with a quiet time by creating space to reflect, share and respond to the overarching message delivered through the various items of the worship service.

Engaging worship

As attendees were exploring rich and diverse ideas throughout the week, “they were curious to know how […] we apply this in our local church when there are challenges, lack of resources, lack of interest”, remarked Isai Moran (Gospel Pianist and Musician, USA). Thus, the programme leaders and the participants spent significant time applying the principles of worship to prepare the Sabbath worship service of the final weekend. Under the direction of Nick, the group practiced creative song writing. The song titled “Drawing Us Closer” that they produced creatively reinterprets the hymn "Nearer, Still Nearer," celebrating the power of the Holy Spirit to unify us by drawing us closer to God and to each other. This song, alongside with an inspiring liturgy, interactive “Hallelujah” song, and engaging children story shaped the Sabbath worship service at the end of the seminar. In this joint worship service with the local Newbold Church congregation the communal worship emphasized the central Christian message: Worship is an expression of our gratitude for God’s love expressed in Jesus’s sacrifice and leads to a response of joy over Jesus’ second coming and our life with him in heaven.

We are very thankful to Ken Burton (Composer, Songwriter, Performer and Choral Director) and Dr Steve Zork (Professor of Music; Conductor of University Singers and Chorale, Andrews University), who enhanced the training with excellent masterclasses on choir singing. Special thanks also go to Prof. Susan Zork (Emerita Professor of Religion, Andrews University) for delivering an inspiring sermon during the Sabbath worship programme. We are grateful to Andrews University Singers for their outstanding performances during Sabbath worship service and evening ChoirFest that was organised in cooperation with Reading Gospel Choir as an outreach programme for the local community. Our appreciation also goes to Newbold College staff and Newbold Church volunteers, who bigheartedly contributed their time and talents to make this programme possible.

We hope that this event is not just a passing highlight, but an inspiration for the future. “The key value of the training was that we had several days exploring how God is in work in all those people and locations…and building a network that lasts. We would love to run these programmes again, and the next time we do that we would love it, if we would see more and more pastors and elders”, said Kärt invitingly.

Would you like to join next time, or do you know of someone who would benefit from such a training? Let us know. We would love to see you.