For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History course with Dan Wilt

First, my apologies for the late posting of this assignment.  That’s baaaaad of me.  My schedule has been unrelenting.

For our final project, I decided to record a Christmas song, specifically speaking of the event of the birth of Christ.  Since our church has a significant children’s ministry, I decided to do a fun little children’s song.

http://harvestvineyard.ca/ChristmasSheep.pdf

http://harvestvineyard.ca/ChristmasSheep.mp3

I wanted to begin the song by initially focusing on the announcement of Jesus birth by the angles.  It’s the proclamation of the coming of the Savior and the advent of the Kingdom of God manifest in a little baby.

Next, I wanted to focus on the response of the news as being praise.  Of course, here the praise response is more clearly seen from the language translation on the PDF file.

Next, I wanted to focus on the desire to seek out the object of the good news.

And in the last verse, I wanted to convey the idea that after they encountered Jesus in the manger, they could not help but share with others the great news of what they had seen that drew them to Jesus.

So the progression of ideas is announcement, praise response, seeking, finding, then sharing the good news.  I believe that this progression of events is not only ‘advent’ in nature, but also relating to our Christian life in how we hear, believe, seek, find then give away.

All that said, I also did take a few creative liberties and embellished the story a little.  However, if needed to do so, I believe that I could back up my embellishments with some scriptural ideas.  :)

My goal here was not only to have a song that makes a point, but also to write a song that is fun that will stick in kids heads and get them singing.  Just as there was joy over Christ’s birth in the fields as the shepherds tended their flocks at night, so to should there be some joy as we reenact with children shepherds in their bathrobes and their  younger siblings dressed in white with cotton balls glued to their noses.

Hopefully, others share my sense of humor…

Of course, all materials I maintain the copyright .

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History course with Dan Wilt

This week our class material and discussions centered on the topic of the worship languages of art and music, how they have been expressed through the history of the church, and how they can continue to be utilized in the church for the future.

For this post, I want to focus on the aspect of art.  The musical expression over my past dozen years as a worship pastor I believe has seen much exploration.  But the topic of art and liturgical art is an area which I believe needs the exploratory attention right now.  To paraphrase Gary Best, ‘…it’s the bicycle pedal that needs to be pushed right now to get forward motion on the bicycle..’

I was once again stirred on the topic of art and liturgical art as I worked through the class materials.  There is incredible value in the usage of art to communicate God (or even communicate with God) – whether just Him and His creative nature as the source of beauty and wonder, or His transcendence, or His actions / interventions throughout our history, or His promises for future action.  So in this sense, I would join in the sentiment that is often expressed by Dan Wilt that all art is sacred in that it all expresses something of God – even though that image may be extremely distorted and/or defiled at some times more than others.

In my class work, I mentioned the usage of icons historically and my own personal experience with them as a tool for worship.  While this practice has seen some problems and controversy in the past, I believe that there is incredible value in exploring a well thought out and balanced approach to these ideas.  As tools, liturgical art pieces give us yet another perspective from which to worship God.  We may be given the ability to engage God in a way that we have not been able to before, having limited ourselves to a smaller set of tools.  Any tool which helps us relate (as in relationship) to God in a positive manner that we have not experienced before is a good thing.  I’d relate this to the innate cry within every human for ‘more’ of this intimate relationship with our God, even if we are not conscious of it.  Why hold back?   Why hold back from another avenue with which we can encounter and relate to our Creator, Redeemer and King?

Art and/or liturgical art has the power to communicate, to bring to rememberance and even to draw to action in a specific way that no other expression can.  (I think it is completely fair to say that every expression has its strengths that others do not share in the same degree.)  The practice of meditating on the messages from the images of icons / liturgical art, the practice of using ’stations’ with accompanying art, the practice of spontaneous art creation during a worship service (including any way this may be a ‘prophetic’ expression), the practice of using art as a message (usually prophetic in nature) – I (and my friends) have in one way or another participated in this and have experienced the power of these ’sacramental’ type actions.  

These type of expressions in some forms have been experiencing a bit of a revival in the church in recent years.  I believe that we would be wise to get beyond our fear – even when it maybe attached to very real issues – and proceed in our continued exploration of these ancient ideas (always diligently keeping in mind our biblical and historical values, of course).  Through our explorations we may innovate and find new and creative ways to express these ideas and values using new materials, new technologies, new mediums, new expressions, all for the same purpose – to see the hand of God reaching through the veil between heaven and earth and taking hold of it.

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History course with Dan Wilt

This week we were studying the worship languages of sacramental ’sign-acts’, specifically Baptism and the Eucharist.  Through our course material and class discussions a number of key ideas flowered into threads of conversation.  

The conversation, guided mainly by our class room question, centered on around the idea of re-appropriating ancient values, ideas and practices (biblically based) of the sacraments but applying these ideas in fresh and new ways that are culture current and best effectively communicate the intended root idea / value / message.

In my class room work, I’ve expounded on the needed process of exegizing / hermeneuticizing the sacraments to extract the core ’substance’.(1)  This is necessary so that we do not ‘miss the point’ and end up perpetuating a less relevant form rather than effectively communicate a meaning.  From this juncture, we can then provide a fresh, culture current practice with which to facilitate this sacramental communication between God, people and one another.

With the Eucharist, I love the discussions centered around the communal nature of this sacrament.  I also appreciate and share Crystal’s enthusiasm for the connection of the Eucharist also being a celebration of the resurrection.  (Necessary historical perspective given the historical shift that brought in a strong overtone of penitence focusing more on the death and sacrifice rather than the resurrection.)  The Eucharist not only looks back to the resurrection in celebration, but also looks forward to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in anticipation.  And both of these things, past and future, are available in the present through the sacrament.

The great challenge is finding ways that are culture current that still adequately communicate the substance.(1)  So the never-ending question is how do we communicate ideas like these (community, resurrection, ‘parusiatic’ meals) effectively?  I like some of the ideas of using a whole loaf of bread to communicate community, yet we have concerns like sanitation that make this difficult.  I’m fondest of reclaiming ideas of having whole meals together.  I believe this much better communicates community and covenant, but logistically this is also difficult to do on a regular basis.  

The good news is that we do not need to lock into a specific form (though repetition is our good friend) but we have the freedom to rotate through these ideas and improve them as time progresses.  I believe that the strength of doing so is not only for variety, but also to bring the same sacraments into differing perspectives that allow us to emphasize and appreciate the different aspects that constitute the one sacrament.  More good news is that while we stick to a biblical and historical core to anchor ourselves, we can also use our God given creativity to express the anchored core in differing ways to continue to bring to life remembered revelation and fresh revelation of the actions of God historic, present and future.

With Baptism, I take the John Wimber approach to this sacrament – ‘Jesus did say Baptize.  He didn’t say how.’(2)  So again, I believe if we are once again incredibly thoughtful towards remaining true to the biblical and historical substance(1) of the sacrament, we can find creative ways to express it and even emphasize facets that need emphasis in a given moment.  

With one of our children’s ministries, we’ve baptized kids (and their families) by full immersion in a hot tub built into the back of an old fire truck!  Non-standard, but a creative way to emphasize specific aspects to those specific people.

I believe that our deepest respect for the biblical and historical foundations and our willingness to innovate building on this foundation is essential.  But our creativity to serve effective communication is also essential.

1 By using the generic term “substance” I’m referring to a number of simultaneous an interlocked ideas related to the nature of the core of a sacrament – ideas, values, messages, essential elements to the timeless metaphors (for example the necessity of food and drink to the Eucharist).

2 Exact source of the paraphrased quote is unknown.  Here I would suggest that there is room for even differing theologies (like infant baptism vs. adult baptism) while keeping integrity to the biblical message and honoring the whole body of Christ.  My father, Don Rousu, wrote a book, “Let’s Quit Fighting about Baptism”, which gives a defense for infant baptism and calls for the need to be honoring of other traditions that to their best to remain faithful to the witness of scripture.

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History course with Dan Wilt

This week the discussion of the worship languages of prayer forms and the service of the Word is something that is very close to my heart.  As evidenced in my class work, I find it difficult to keep my thoughts condensed as there are many explorations and experiences that shape my thoughts.

First of all, I have to acknowledge that so much of my foundation in prayer and the word has been built by my parents – both of whom are quite well known for just that, ministry of prayer and the word.  I’m exceedingly lucky to have grown up in a home with parents so dedicated to Jesus and committed to lives of prayer and the Word.  Through them, I’ve also had a wide exposure to different sides of the church, whether through their experience of pastoring in the Lutheran church, pastoring in the Vineyard, or having been in significant relationships with many others accross the spectrum in the body of Christ.

In our classroom discussion, in particular discussions with Kim and Crystal, we were wrestling with the idea of developing structures in our worship that help support the organism of worship as opposed to structures that end up killing our worship.  I believe that this is the central issue in discussion of these forms of worship and if/how we should incorporate them.  As we look at these ancient ideas and various structures around prayer and the word, and as we study the history of their usage, it’s easy to see this struggle as a historical one.

In our text book, James White mentions the need for structures to give foundation to our worship.  In his discussion, he writes of the two kinds of the acts of worship the “ordinary and propers.”(1)  The ‘oridnary’(2) elements provide “necessary constancy” that without which “Christian worship would be chaos.”1  And the ‘proper’(3) elements provide “variety and interest” that without Christian worship would be overly repetitive and “deadly dull.”(1)

White demonstrates this struggle through history(4) how structures were put in place to help over come an “overly lax form of Christianity”(5).  Yet over time, these structures around worship practices had become a “monastic monopoly”(6) and fell out of touch with the majority of people, serving only a small segment of religious society. 

This lesson from history is the exact challenge that we face today.  How do we provide worship structures (even beyond our weekly topic of prayer and the word) that provide foundational constancy and security, a solid grounding for remembering, reenacting and reappropriating the timeless story of God’s interaction with his creation?  And at the very same time, how do we provide worship structures that are also providing variety and interest, a fresh infusion of the life of the Spirit that feed our daily, momentary intersection of heaven and earth.(7)

In our class work, I’ve mentioned a number of historical forms that we’ve been experimenting with / re-introducing.  This has been enlightening in both the power of such tools to enhance the worship experience and enlightening in how the struggle with these forms losing their freshness can appear.  Thoughtfulness and innovation undergirded by the foundation of keeping one’s ear closely listening to the voice of the Spirit is needed.

I do not yet have any answers, only questions and a quest.  But I believe that committing to asking the questions (and finding better questions) and committing to walking on the quest to find this balance is exactly the place to be.  Life is not static, and neither should our worship be.

1 James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship, 3rd Edition, (Nashville:  Abingdon Press, 2000), p. 71

2 ‘Ordinary’ element refers to elements of worship that remain the same:  service structure, and various items in it (eg. Musical worship, prayer, scripture reading, teaching)

3 ‘Proper’ element refers to elements of worship that change daily or weekly:  different songs sung, different prayers prayed, different scriptures read, different sermons preached

4 Ibid, p. 136 – 141 discusses this argument with historical examples

5 Ibid, p. 136

6 Ibid, p 140

7 Gratuitously stealing a set of terminology used by N T Wright in his book “Simply Christian.”

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History course with Dan Wilt

This week we dove into two ideas initiated by the text book, “The Introduction to Christian Worship” (3rd edition) by James F. White, and followed through with course materials (written and lecture) by Dan Wilt.  The two ideas that we explored were the worship ‘languages’ of time and space.

The words / ideas of time and space are very abstract concepts.  But both of these abstract concepts have a number of very concrete expressions.  

The concept of time being a ‘worship language’ essentially refers to the fact that all actions of worship happen at a particular point in history and transpire at over measurable duration.  Several concrete examples of time being a language are commonly celebrated rituals such as Sunday church services, the ever popular celebration of the Christmas season, and of course Easter.  

The church calendar was another excellent example of seasonal patterns of worship that we re-examined.  Worship actions are guided by specific set times to remember and re-enact.  Through our remembrance and re-enactment we connect with something that happened in history and we bring those actions into the present and engage them.

In our textbook, James White mentions the ‘lectionary’ as another practice expressed with the worship language of time (starting page 75).  This particular section caught my attention as this past year I’ve been re-exploring using lections / lectionaries to help guide our scripture readings as part of our worship services.  This practice was part of the modus operandi when I was in the traditional liturgical Lutheran church.  But since finding community in the contemporary Vineyard movement, this practice of using a lectionary has been very minimal at best.  The re-exploration of this old treasure has been very life giving to the whole worship experience.  While we may make some adjustments to the lectionary, having the reading of scripture in worship connected to the church calendar as well as being connected to the larger body of Christ that is participating in similar readings brings a depth and richness to the experience.  This structured approach through time periods also helps bring cohesion to the scripture as a whole rather than the more random ‘cherry picking’ which is much more common in the contemporary church.

The concept of space being a worship language essentially refers to the fact that all acts of worship happen within some sort of physical space.  Probably the most obvious example of this, as White mentions, is the very incarnation of Jesus –> the physical manifestation of YHWY, dwelling among us in various physical places!  Given more time and available words for the assignment, this concept alone would be much fun to unpack.  But I must acquiesce.

As we worked out our course work with each other, we had a number of excellent discussions related to the ‘worship spaces’ that we could identify and the effects that these spaces had on us.  Many of us could positively identify with various types of church buildings, community buildings, nature settings, and the ever popular and much beloved campfire.  

Each of these spaces had specific attributes that were facilitating to encounters with God and His Kingdom.  In our textbook with reference to liturgical art, White comments that physical spaces (and objects) can have ‘religious power’ (p. 104).  By this he means that these spaces have “the power to penetrate beneath the obvious to convey the divine.”  (p. 104)  As we contemplate ‘worship spaces’ we can be intentional about how we use these spaces to help move us from beyond our obvious physical circumstances we discern with our senses and transport us to a liminal place where earth intersects with heaven.

I’ve gone over my word limit.  But I must say this portion of our studies has been very stimulating.

(EDIT:  I think I finally got the linking to work properly!)

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For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

For this final project, I was quite excited to chose option #3 of the project choices.  I’ve written many songs before, but I’ve never written a full liturgical piece.  Having strong roots in the liturgical Lutheran Church (now I’m Vineyard), I’ve been very familiar with the usage of written / read liturgy in worship services.  I also have had a longing to once again explore the riches of this tradition in my own writing as I believe there is great value in this practice that many of us in the more contemporary expressions have foolishly forgotten.  So option #3 was an exciting prospect for me.

As per the assignment, I’ve taken several themes from the course work and focused on them in this project that I’ve completed.  I chose to focus upon the themes of creation, redemption, Kingdom, resurrection, and new creation.  I chose to use a quasi-narrative style to move in a logical progression of the themes so that the themes themselves become part of a larger story.  I’m always impacted when Dan brings us back to the idea of relating things to the larger story.

One (mildly extra-curricular) theme that I’ve chosen to weave through every section of my project is the idea of the Word of God.  I’ve meditated on the subject for a very long time and I’ve come to see through the scripture that God does everything by His Word.  So I’ve chosen to include it not only because of previous interest, but also because the Word of God is intimately connected to each of the themes discussed in the project.

You’ll also see in the written portion of the project, that I’ve broken it up into 10 stanzas.  For each stanza the ideas are deeply rooted in scripture and I have provided references for every idea.  I’ve done this to convey the idea that this narrative liturgy is deeply connected to the biblical narrative.

Here’s a general breakdown of the ideas:

• Stanza 1 – God as creator
• Stanza 2 – Mankind created in God’s image
• Stanza 3 – The fall of mankind and the rise of the Kingdom of darkness
• Stanza 4 – The redemptive covenant to renew and re-create
• Stanza 5 – Redemption through the announcement and inauguration of the Kingdom of God
• Stanza 6 – Reconciliation and Redemption
• Stanza 7 – Engaging the Kingdom and experiencing new creation
• Stanza 8 - Resurrection of the body
• Stanza 9 – New Creation
• Stanza 10 – Prayer for the new age to come in Jesus return

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

This week we’ve taken a look at the sum of our theological discussions and have begun the beautiful – but not easy – process of trying to synthesize this information into some practical theologies and applications of worship leadership.

Our study of these ideas has been very enriching.  The fleshing out of the ideas into practical realities has also been invigorating.  

But rather than rehashing these ideas again, I’m going to look at this from a different angle in hopes to see something upon which I have not yet had the chance to gaze.  And even more so, I’m thinking that this different angle will continue a process of seeing vistas that have previously not been accessible.

I’m convinced that Dan Wilt is correct when he talks about the goal is not necessarily coming up with the best answers, but rather learning to ask more beautiful questions.  (But I’m still not 100% convinced, however, that “salvific” is actually a real word…)

When I really think about all the different subjects that we’ve studied, it’s more so the questions that have stirred my passions.  And with each answer, or theory, or even hypothesis that I/we arrive upon, it leads to more questions and different thoughts surrounding those questions which cause us to either look deeper or maybe cause us to pause and step back for a moment.

As we look at synthesizing all that we have learned, these moments of questioning and the very processes of questioning are key to this synthesis and I believe that they are essential to our growth.  

For example, exploring the nature of God leads us to a number of questions about who He is and what He’s like.  But even beyond those questions and answers, we find ourselves looking at all the gems we’ve mined and coming to the place where we the initial questions turn and shift to questions like – if this is what God is like, what does that mean about me?  Or – if God really works that way, how do I appropriately respond to that aspect?  And – how does my response to that aspect interact with other ideas like the Kingdom or ideas of being a living narrative of the salvation story?

The point that I’m dancing around is that I believe that our process of forming an orthodoxy and orthopraxis is more about the questions than the answers.  The answers, in a certain sense are stagnant.  They are what they are.  They’re like a road – foundations to walk or run upon, but unless you provide the motion, they won’t take you anywhere.  The questions, however, take us on a journey.  By their nature they demand motion.

As worship / creative leaders who are a part of this living story which is not yet completely written (while we know the beginning and the very end, we’re writting the middle as we journey out the Kingdom story with God)[1], our journey must have motion.  You’re not journeying if there’s no motion, and that motion is produced in part by the beautiful questions that we continue to ask.

Even our creative expressions thrive on this motion.  We can make beautiful declarations, but those declarations came from a time of seeking.  And even reflecting on things that we seek can birth amazing points of creativity which aid the seeking process.

So as we look even beyond the synthesis and to the formation of a worship / creative leader and the ministry of such a person, the beautiful question remains an integral part.  Without them, we stagnate and I believe that we lose the necessary motion to move forward in the process of writing new pages of that Kingdom story.

“Seek and you shall find.”  - Jesus Christ, Luke 11:9

1  An idea lifted from some of the general thoughts from N T Wrights book, The Last Word

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

Rather than rehash an answer to this weeks question, I’d like to discuss a point that I think is almost as equally valid as an answer and incredibly relevant to the content of this course.

I deeply struggle with this question.  The problem isn’t necessarily the question itself as it is how I would normally approach to answer it.  In this course we’ve looked at the idea of learning how to tell the grand story in a number of different ways.  I believe the point of doing so is to provide effective communication of that story so that people can hear and chose to participate in the greatest story of all.

When answering questions like, who is God, who are humans, why are we here, what happened to us, what was God’s response, what is the Kingdom, how will everything end – the natural and easy thing to do is to provide an answer of a series of abstract statements.  It would be easy to rattle off a number of adequate abstract terms to describe God – eternal, omnipresent, etc, etc.  Within each abstraction is a number of great ideas about the subject.  However, is that really adequate to describe and already abstract idea (God) with another abstraction?  (Don’t get me wrong, I wholly believe that God is a person, and not just an abstraction.  But the ‘idea’ of God and our explanations of Him are generally very abstract.)

I tend to think in abstract terms a lot, but as I journey out life I realize more and more that abstractions have limited usefulness.  I don’t live in abstractions, a world of thoughts and constructs of ideas, but rather in a concrete world of dirt, air, water, flesh, bone, fire.  This concrete world can be partially expressed with abstractions.  But there are parts of this concrete world that we live in that cannot adequately be expressed with abstract ideas.

I think we do a grave injustice to the subject matter if we only express it in abstractions.  There are some things that only make sense when we express their likeness through concrete terms.  One can express a glass of wine in abstract terms of it being a ‘food beverage item composed of fermented grapes…’  But the reality of what the wine is does not take real shape in the mind until we begin to express concrete ideas like its dark red color, transparent, yet lightly laden with small particulates of sediment – the fruity aromas of black cherries, the floral aromas of blooming flowers and the earthy aromas of tobacco – the quick opening of the bouquet on the pallet with a wide burst of fruity and earthy tannic flavors with a thickness of texture and a long pleasant finish that softens into fruity and floral flavors leaving the pallet pleasantly soothed rather than irritated by a quick drop off into tannic bitterness.

As we approach the story of God, humanity and our interactions throughout our history together, I embrace the value presented in this course to tell the story in a thousand different ways.  I believe that many (but not all) of those ways need to take the story and preset concrete ideas.  I can’t help but to think that this is part of what Jesus modeled to us as he spoke to farmers about the Kingdom in relation to sowing seed or about the Kingdom to fishermen in relation to casting nets.

We can speak of God as eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, but we can also speak of God in terms of a man who put mud in blind eyes to produce sight, one who took fish and bread to relieve hunger and one who took nails through his flesh and rose again in his body so that we to may experience this newness of eternal life.

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

This week we explored the nature of humanity and some basic ideas the help to define the nature of humanity from a Christian theological perspective.

We looked at the nature of humanity through four lenses:  Human beings are sub-creators.  Human beings are Image bearers.  Human beings are community builders.  Human beings are salvific story tellers.

The part of this study that intrigued me the most was the idea of Human beings as salvific story tellers.  As Humans, we have an integral part in telling the story – in living / demonstrating the story – of the salvation / redemption story of our God over all of His creation.

It’s common that when we see a person or group of people making some sort of mistake or participating in some sort of foolish expression of depraved behavior that we end up saying something to the effect of, “Oh well, they are only human…”  This expression and it’s intended message, however, goes against the message of the scripture that we are given about our nature as human beings.

Part of our job as salvific story tellers, I believe, is to set the record straight on this point.  To be fully human is not to be highly fallible or morally corrupt.  Quite the opposite.  That is what it means to be inhuman.  To be fully human is to embrace the reality of what God created us to be, how God is saving and redeeming us from what we currently are, and to participate in the renewal and recreation of the new humanity that will see it’s fullness after the return of Christ.

To see the reality of what / who God created us to be – while the message of Genesis is important – we focus our attention on and tell the grand story of the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus revealed himself to us as the perfect image of the invisible God (Col 1:15), an image in which we were created.  Jesus also reveals himself as the new Adam, the first born of a new, renewed humanity.  (Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 5:17)

To see the reality of God’s saving and redeeming acts over all his creation, again we focus upon and tell the grand story of Jesus Christ as he saves us from all that ails us [1] and as he engages in the process of the renwal and re-creation of the whole world.

And these points are something as Gods people in Christ we can actually live, demonstrate and participate in various ways and through various methods.  Through our lifestyles, the expression of our creative nature in God, and the participation in Jesus mission to bring the Kingdom of God on the earth as it is in heaven we can be salvific story tellers who declare to the world the coming Kingdom of God.

To very roughly paraphrase N T Wright in his book, The Last Word, we now in essence are part of this story of God’s salvation.  Our lives are part of the very telling and even writing of God’s story.  That is an awesome thought.

*1  Don Rousu, when speaking of biblical salvation notes that salvation in it’s most basic sense is God saving us from what ever ails us.  If we are blind and Jesus opens our eyes, that is an act of salvation.  If we are hungry, daily bread is our salvation.  If we are in bondage, freedom and release from our captures is our salvation.  If we are separated from God, reconciliation is our salvation.  And so on.