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Worship Choirs, Past and Future

April 15, 2009 in Leadership, Music, Worship, Worship Choirs with 2 Comments

 

This week while attending a worship leaders conference in California I had an interesting discussion with Stan Endicott about the future of choirs in worship services. Stan directs the choirs at Saddleback Church and Mariners Church in Orange County, California.  The essence of the discussion was choirs are not dead and any church can have one if the leadership understands and supports this ministry.

Stan related the story of events that just took place at Willow Creek Church.  Through some self-searching Willow Creek has decided that it is time for their church to become a singing church so they asked Stan to come up and do a rehearsal for the congregation teaching them to sing with enthusiasm.  While he was there he also led them through starting a choir that will help lead worship.

Worship leading choirs are a part of my tradition. I am this tradition embraced and continues to embrace the ministry of the choir.  Every ministry must evolved some over the generations however; there is something great about a group of dedicated people standing on stage in the worship center encouraging others to encounter God.


Choir Retreat: recap

November 15, 2008 in Worship Choirs with 2 Comments

I am sitting by my fireplace and TV thinking about the good
time I had last night and this morning with friends and fellow ministers that
are the worship choir at ClearView. This weekend of November for the past
several years has been designated as ‘choir retreat.’ Usually we take the whole
time to prepare for our Christmas presentation. 
This year we got that accomplished and we also spent some time
evaluating the current state of our ministry. I was very pleased at the
openness with which the choir expressed their desire to see the choir continue
to be an important part of the worship at ClearView and to hear their ideas for
making it better. Over the next few weeks we will be putting into place a plan
to evaluate all the ideas and take steps toward putting into action the ones
that will help us be the best we can be for the God’s glory.

 

In a day when many churches have decided not to invest in a
choir ministry, ClearView has decided there is value in a choir’s ministry. The
ClearView choir is one of the ministry groups in the worship ministry. These
groups’ role is to forward the vision of ClearView.  Just recently that vision has been described
with these words:

ClearView exist to make radical
disciples,

 focused on making God known

 to the ends of the earth.

 

The vision of the worship ministry is:

Using the creative arts

to communicate the never-changing
message of God’s love,

encouraging persons to use gifts
and talents to glory His name,

and lead others to do the same.

 

The worship choir at ClearView is open anyone who loves to
sing and is passionate about serving God. 
A few weeks ago I posted a blog that shares my beliefs on who should
sing in the choir.  These three
statements were the basis:

  • People who are passionate about God
    and live a life of worship

Worship is more than Sunday
morning, it is about being a follower of Christ…it is about making everyday
decisions that reflect Christ. 

  • People who enjoy singing

Sometimes people join the choir
just because they love to sing, but it is our desire that through the
fellowship, prayer, worship and discipleship of the choir this becomes more
about worship than just about singing.

  • People who feel called to lead others
    to be passionate worshippers

The choir is a ministry, and to be
involved and fulfilled in a ministry there must be a sense of calling.  Choir is about giving people a place to use
their talents and desire to serve God by encouraging others to do the same.

 

I have been amazed at what God has done at ClearView in the
ten years that I have been a part of its ministry. I am looking forward to what
God has in store for us and I am excited about the future of the worship
choir.  It is a real joy to be called
leader of this group.


Who Sings In the Choir?

September 13, 2008 in Music, Worship, Worship Choirs with 4 Comments

Just recently I was reminded of how I should communicate more often concerning who should be an active member of the worship choir at ClearView. So here goes.

The only requirements to be a member of the worship choir is a love for singing and a desire to worship God, who He is and what He has done through His Son. I know that might seem simple but that is it. Notice there are no auditions required, just
a desire to worship and love for singing.

For all the years that I have been leading choirs I have had many people who love to sing say they could not be a part of the worship choir because their assumption is that all participants in the choir read music and are all soloists. The reality is that they are people who love God and are willing to give the talent they have back to Him through participating in the ministry of the worship choir.

In the New Testament we find the story of where a large crowd of people were fed with an amazing amount of food that started out as just a small portion. One of the accounts of this story states that the beginning portions of food were that of a lunch of a boy. The boy was willing to offer what he had and then Jesus took it, gave thanks for it and multiplied that gift.

For those who participate in the choir I believe they are giving to the Lord through their hours of preparation and their ministry what they have, a love for singing and their love of God that is expressed through worship. God then takes that offering and multiplies it for His glory.

Do you have a love for singing and a heart for God that you love to express through worship? If so you might want to say yes when your church is looking for worship choir members.


Trumpets and Singers

September 4, 2008 in Music, Worship, Worship Choirs with 0 Comments

One of my favorite scripture
passages comes from the book of II Chronicles 5:13-14

“The trumpets and singers
performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the LORD. Accompanied
by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and
praised the LORD with these words: 

“He
is good! His faithful love endures forever!”

Temple. At that moment a thick cloud
filled the
of the Lord. The priests could not continue their service because the glorious
presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God.”

 

There are a few reasons that
this scripture has become one of my favorites. 

  • I am a trumpet player, (or at least used to be) and I
    love the mention of trumpets in scripture.
  • All the years I have been serving as a worship
    minister I have been a big proponent of involving many people and
    instrumentation in the leading of worship. (In the verses just before the
    one I printed, you find an accounting of all the instruments and there is
    even mention that there were 120 trumpets.)
  • At the end of this passage the statement “the priests
    could not continue…” is seen and it implies that the people were
    overwhelmed as they recognized God’s presence. 

 

The reality is that the
‘glorious presence of the LORD’ is present in all of our services.  We are the ones who limit our recognition of
His presence or do not engage with Him in the conversation of worship.  I believe it is the worship leaders’
responsibility (singers – instrumentalists – tech personnel – pastor) to help
all those who enter the worship room on a Sunday to recognize the presence of
the LORD.

 

Sunday is just three days away
and I am really looking forward to the opportunity to meet God in the conversation
of worship with like-minded people and in so doing being a witness of God’s presence
to those who may be in the room who do not have a personal relationship with
Him.

 

And…we will have trumpets this
week (4 not 120) and other orchestral and band instruments and a multitude of
voices…

 

God help us to recognize Your
presence at ClearView this Sunday.


Christmas In August

August 30, 2008 in Worship Choirs with 0 Comments

WARNING…long blog

It is that time of year when I
start the intentional drive toward the Christmas season.  For the last couple of months I have been
thinking about Christmas as I researched what type of services and music should
be added to the schedule at ClearView. 
One of the things that is still being decided is what type and how many
services we will do on Christmas Eve.  A
lot of that decision will be determined by the completion of the new building
on our campus.

 

What has been decided is the
special music that the worship choir will present.  For the last few years the music and style of
service, the worship choir has led, has been of a particular genre.  This year I felt it was time to take a
different direction. I am looking forward to the change. The music feels like
Christmas and has some nice choral moments, some nice orchestral moments and
time for worship and reflection.

 

At the time I was trying to
decide on the music the Clearview staff was discussing the ‘core values’ of ClearView:
Biblical Teaching; Passionate Worship; Transformed Lives and Missions.  Through the music and other elements of the
Christmas presentation, ClearView will have the opportunity to demonstrate and
participate in all of these core values.

 

Biblical Teaching: the content of the musical is directly based on
scripture, and most of the spoken parts are direct quotes of scripture.

 

Passionate Worship: there are specific times in the musical that
the choir and congregation will be given the opportunity to participate in
corporate worship.

 

Transformed Lives: there will be opportunity to witness this core
values in two ways: 1) the members of the worship ministry (people with
transformed lives, because of Christ) will get to share their witness; and 2)
there will be an intentional time of invitation for those who do not know
Christ, to meet Him and decide to recognize Him as Lord.

 

Missions: Christmas is celebrated in most homes in our area. With
openness and familiarity to the story of Christmas there is a great opportunity
to get ‘non-churched’ persons inside the doors of a church.  This year the worship ministry will be
presenting their Christmas production three times, two on Sunday, December 14,
9:30 and 11:00 AM  and one on Saturday
night December 13 at 7:00 PM. The Saturday night performance was scheduled so
that the ClearView family could invite neighbors and friends to celebrate the
season of Christmas…missions in action.

 

It is not too early to begin
thinking and praying about how you can be involved in inviting persons to
attend these presentations of the Christmas story.   Be watching for more information about this
mission and worship event that celebrates the life transforming power of Christ
and is based directly on the Word of God.


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