Wisdom From All Directions
One of the most well-known ancient proverbs from scripture is a push to humility: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
So, in that spirit, I’d love to share wisdom from nearly 25 years of worship leadership—not because I’m incredibly wise, but because God has granted me wise mentors, diverse experiences, brilliant peers, complex contexts, and plenty of failure along the path God laid out in front of me.
I hope this series will serve as an invitation to think well about our gathered worship. Perhaps you can share with your fellow worship planners and leaders, adjusting them for your context or arguing with them altogether. No doubt you’ll have your own nuggets of wisdom to add as well. Please share them with us at Reformed Worship, contact@ReformedWorship.org.
HANGING OUT WITH CHARLIE PEACOCK
You never know what will happen if you ask. That’s what I told myself whenever musicians or artists I appreciated were coming through my city on tour. Numerous times, I sent an email asking a professional if they’d be up for lunch (my treat), and those asks had a higher success rate than you’d imagine. That is how, just over 15 years ago, my friends and I spent three hours one afternoon sharing stories and Korean food with producer and musician Charlie Peacock.
Charlie generously shared his time, perspective, and wisdom. More amazingly, he asked insightful questions with a sincere interest in who these four strangers were. As we shared stories of our artistic efforts, church work, and family lives, I remember at one point catching myself mid-sentence. Sharing part of what I learned from my days as a small-time touring musician, I had to stop myself from explaining to Charlie Peacock how the music industry works. At that point, Charlie already had more than 25 years as a songwriter, musician, touring artist, A&R rep, label executive, and advocate for the arts. He didn’t just live and work in the business; he shaped it from within.
Caught up in my own good story, I forgot who I was talking to.
PRAYER IS NOT AT TRANSITION
As worship leaders, we all know that prayer is an inherently profound action. Who are we that the Almighty God would bend an ear to hear from us, to hear our adoration, our concerns, and our gratitude? But, as we plan, we sometimes forget who we’re talking to.
Blessed is the worship leader who remembers prayer is not a transition, for they’ll not shortchange the gift of God’s communion.
Have you ever been in a planning session, whether on your own or with your team, looked at a space in the worship service, and thought, “I don’t know how to connect these two sections of our service order.” Because I have. And a terrible, but easy, habit is to say, “Let’s just have someone pray there.” And I’ve done that—way too many times.
Let’s just have someone pray. Like we just need to put a tidy bow on the close of that portion of the experience. Like we’re just tossing it to a commercial or something.
As if we weren’t dwelling communally with the Triune God.
TRANSITIONS WITH PURPOSE
From a sermon to a response song…from a mission update to the offering…from announcements to a song…
Regardless of how your service is shaped, those transitional moments are important to think about. Moving from a testimony of God’s grace in hard times to an announcement about the church potluck can feel like whiplash to your congregation.
Thoughtful transitions allow us to connect and relate all of the words, symbols, gestures, and songs we participate in. They help contribute context and meaning. Our life together will include the testimony and the potluck, and how we contextualize and communicate those good things should encourage, not disorient, the church. That’s one hidden reason worship planners and leaders are so important to their congregation’s life. Transitions of all types—the “between spaces”—honor what the church family is experiencing of God in the present moment. And sometimes—often, even—the right in-between words take the form of prayer. But prayer is a humbling privilege of God’s grace, not a tool of convenience.
SACRED DIALOGUE
God initiates worship. But we know worship is a dialogue, where God allows and even desires our response. Prayer—whether spoken, silent, or set to music—is our part of that dialogue.
We pray Psalms and other scriptures.
We pray using prayers from tradition and history.
We pray pre-written prayers for our context.
We pray extemporaneously.
We lament.
We listen.
All of these prayers should share the characteristics of sincerity and humility, especially when we remember who we are talking to.
But it’s easy to get lost in our own story, to forget who we’re talking to. Prayers are not “just” transitions from point A to B. Such communion and conversation is holy, perfected through Christ our Great High Priest.
Maybe Christ perfects the times we miss and create whiplash around the potluck announcement, too? We can definitely hope so!
But we’d also be wise to remember Spirit-enabled prayer together is a bridge between us and the Almighty, not a bridge to our next item in the plan.