Essential Worship

Greg Scheer

Description

An Essential Guide to Understanding and Leading WorshipWorship leaders are adrift in a sea of worship resources, but, incredibly, no single book provides a simple introduction to worship and worship leading. Essential Worship is a concise, easy-to-read primer on the basics of worship theology and practice. Each concept is introduced clearly and concisely. Diagrams, charts, and bulleted lists make the information easy to digest. And preparation and reflection questions help readers apply the material to their own church context. Whether one is a beginner or an experienced worship leader, readers from all traditions will find in this resource a solid foundation for future success. It is particularly well-suited for the first-time worship or praise band leader, as well as for pastors who want to be more intentional about the music in their services.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian worship

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493405442
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2016 by Greg Scheer
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-0544-2
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture quotations labeled Message are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my sons, Simon and Theo.

Love God.

Stay weird.
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Dedication 5
Prelude 9
Acknowledgments 11
About Me (Or, Confessions of a Failed Pentecostal) 13
About This Book 17
Beginning with a Funeral 19
Part 1: Principles 21
1. What Is Worship? 23
2. What Is Biblical Worship? 33
3. Who Is the Audience of Worship? 39
4. What Does Worship Do? 47
Part 2: Past 53
5. Learning from the Past 55
6. Liturgy: A Four-Letter Word? 67
7. The Church Year 73
8. The Fourfold Worship Order 79
9. The Psalms in Worship 99
Part 3: Practice: Music in Worship 121
10. The Senses, the Arts, and Worship 123
11. The Gospel Intoned: Music 133
12. A Balanced Congregational Song Repertoire 141
Part 4: Practice: The Arts in Worship 171
13. The Gospel Enacted: Drama and Wordsmithing 177
14. The Gospel Embodied: Dance and Movement 183
15. The Gospel Envisioned: The Visual Arts and Architecture 189
16. The Gospel Intensified: Technology in Worship 211
17. The Gospel in Time: Worship Pacing and Other Intangibles 225
Part 5: People 235
18. The World 239
19. The Congregation 247
20. Worship Leaders 253
21. Pastors 261
22. You 265
23. Mentoring 273
Postlude 279
Ending with a Funeral 281
Notes 285
Index 295
Scripture Index 300
About the Author 302
Back Ads 305
Back Cover 307
Prelude
Acknowledgments
It takes a village to raise a book. My village included: The wise folks who gave me feedback on the manuscript: David Bailey, Jordan Clegg, Maria Cornou, Laura de Jong, Scott De Young, Eric Mathis, Neal Plantinga, Ron Rienstra, Samuel Tandei, Howie Vanderwell, and Michael Weller. The good people of Richmond, where I began this book on a too short but very sweet sabbatical: East End Fellowship, David Bailey and his Arrabon community, the Urban Doxology interns, and Danny and Mary Kay Avula, who opened their home to me. My fellow staff at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, whose sharp minds are surpassed only by their open hearts, especially John Witvliet, who took a chance on me. The staff, musicians, artists, and congregation of Church of the Servant, especially Maria Poppen, who somehow keeps everything running smoothly even when I’m writing a book. You have provided a gracious church home in which I could develop as a worship director and as a worshiper. The many mentors, teachers, and fellow worship leaders who have been a part of my journey, especially Michael Hawn, who has been all three. I am always grateful for the gifts you’ve been in my life. My Three Muskabeers, Todd Kapitula, Matt Plescher, and Scott Yonkers, who have done their best to keep me on the straight and narrow.
About Me
(Or, Confessions of a Failed Pentecostal)
My formative years were spent in a small Pentecostal church in Rhode Island, a place where, my father used to brag, you could tell the Spirit moved because of the handprints on the ceiling.
The church was full of characters: Vietnam veterans, university professors, Southern belles, and African immigrants. Pastor Gooding was a straight-shooting hellfire-and-brimstone preacher, accompanied by the accordion-playing, white-patent-leather-shoe-wearing Brother Nash. Sister Rankin, even at ninety years old, would get so excited that she’d stomp up and down screaming “Praeese ya Jeezus!” “Praeese ya Jeezus!” while Brother Kwame would let out a long, regal “Halleloooooyah.” College students tried to avoid Sister Reid because she’d grab them by the forehead and pray out the demons of education. (She also prayed demons out of my dog and spoke in tongues while driving—I learned much about prayer myself during those car rides.) Young women tried to avoid Brother Keith because he’d likely tell them that God had told him they should get married. Everyone tried to avoid “the world,” which included movies, rock music, long hair (for men), pants (for women), and jewelry (for anybody).
From the outside it might have seemed strange, but that church laid the spiritual foundation of my life. I grew to love Jesus there, learned the Bible (I can still quote many Scriptures in the King James Version), and came to expect the Spirit to be at work in the world. However, once I left for college I found an increasing disconnect between my faith and my life. There was my “spiritual life”—reading the Bible, praying, and going to church—and then there was my “life life”—making music, learning German, and hanging out with friends. In an effort to bridge that gap I attended a variety of churches, but the chasm only grew wider and I was soon a functional agnostic. I may have been an unsuccessful Christian but I was even worse as an agnostic, because I still had the nagging feeling that there was, indeed, a God, and I couldn’t shake Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God.
By my early twenties I was a failed Pentecostal, then a failed Baptist, and then a failed agnostic. At that point in my life I was introduced to the Reformed faith, with its focus on Christ’s reign over the arts, civic life, and “every square inch” of the earth. 1 I discovered that I could be a Christian and a human simultaneously. I’ve been both ever since.
Shortly after this, I began leading worship. It turns out that my pop music background, classical training, and love of God were exactly what I needed for the job! My first church was in a Presbyterian (PCUSA) church in Pittsburgh. From there I moved to a Presbyterian (PCA) church in Florida. While teaching at a Christian college in Iowa (affiliated with the Reformed Church in America), I wrote a book called The Art of Worship . It focused on leading praise bands. In a deliciously ironic twist of fate, that book was released right as I moved to my current church, Church of the Servant in Grand Rapids (Christian Reformed), which has no praise band.
In the last decade, I’ve become convinced that modern worshipers benefit when deeply connected to the roots and rhythms of the historic, global church. My work has focused on the psalms, global worship songs, and the ways worship and culture intersect. Yet even with all these changes, I still can’t shake my inner Pentecostal. The young, Pentecostal Greg is always questioning the current Greg: Are all your highfalutin’ ideas taking away your ability to worship from the heart? Is global, ecumenical worship simply a way of keeping things from getting too intimate? Does structured worship keep you from hearing and responding to God in the moment?
This personal history is included here not because my life is particularly interesting but rather because it is important for readers to know the perspective from which this book is written. We each have our own faith story. Mine is the story of a spiritual mutt adopted into a Reformed home. I believe that my convictions are well-founded but don’t want to ignore the wisdom of other perspectives. It’s a tricky balance, and I pray that God’s grace shines through in the pages that follow.
About This Book
This book began to take shape on trips to Indonesia, Uganda, and Ukraine, where I’ve taught and learned from a wide variety of brothers and sisters in Christ. The common denominator in all of these situations was that local musicians and pastors were lacking adequate training materials. Topics I assumed would be a review turned out to be a revelation for leaders who were patching together their worship philosophy from whatever they came across on YouTube or saw in other local churches. Closer to home, a friend who worked in a prison congregation asked if I could recommend a book on worship that would provide a simple overview of worship and worship leading. There are lots of great resources but nothing that laid out all the basics in one book.
What is missing is a primer on worship. Whether we’re in Peru, Peoria, or prison, we all need to learn the fundamentals. It took me over twenty years of leading, reading, and teaching to slowly piece together my worship theology and practice. I hope I can save you some time by putting it all into one book.
As a starting point, this book is biblical . “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone wh