Worship

Creating space for meaningful worship is a keystone to a successful ministry. Regardless of the environment in which it takes place, creating worship is an art form. When done well, worship is a vehicle for transcendence. Worship invites participants to enter a space in which both individual and communal transformation can occur; it helps us to define what is sacred. I see worship as a vehicle with which I can support and help transform a community into a people who turn outward toward the world to help transform it as well.

It is important to me to pay attention to the community being served, to be attentive to the places within the community needing comfort, needing inspiration, needing instruction, needing to be challenged, needing to celebrate. Worship needs to strive to meet people where they are and then take them further than they can imagine going on their own. It is important to help people identify the value of coming together in communal experiences – for it is within these communities that we are reminded that we truly need each other to survive.

My experiences have shown me the importance of incorporating a variety of voices and perspectives (young and old, voices from different racial and cultural backgrounds, and all other variations of the human expression) into worship experiences – whether through readings, stories, music or other elements used in worship or by developing a strong worship team. Teamwork is essential to successful worship – working collaboratively with musicians, religious education staff and those responsible for the liturgy and order of service makes all the difference in making worship work on a variety of levels.

Engaging in the creation of a worship service is very much a spiritual practice for me. When I create worship services or Rites of Passage, I think deeply about what the community may need, what I am being called to say and then find ways that I can convey those thoughts in a meaningful way. Creating worship invites me to confront myself, to become vulnerable, to stretch beyond what I think I am capable of – to find ways to use my life as a teaching tool without overstepping boundaries. I am aware that I am also creating a system of accountability through the creation of worship. How can I ask others to take my words to heart if I do not?