Biblical Worship

Division of Biblical Worship Guitar Lab

In the Division of Biblical Worship at Southern Seminary we have added several new worship band labs.  These labs provide training for our students in the areas of acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard, drums and recording.  At Southern Seminary we have not left the traditional training of music theory, aural skills, vocal technique, hymnology, and other courses.  All of our students need a good foundation of musical training. We are supplementing our curriculum with some much needed training for our students in the area of the worship band.  This fall we introduced our new Guitar Lab which features Taylor acoustic guitars and Fender electric guitars.  In the spring semester we will have our Drum Lab and Bass Guitar Lab set up.

Our Recording Lab is used by our recording classes and others to produce simple worship song recordings.  Recently the worship team from Ninth and O Baptist Church in Louisville used the the seminary recording lab to prepare three worship songs for their Christmas Advent CD which was given out to church members in December.  Dr. Barry Joslin is the Worship Pastor at Ninth and O.  The recordings feature several worship team members from the church who are also worship students at Southern Seminary and Boyce College.  Gordon McComb, Master of Divinity in Worship Leadership student at Southern and worship associate at Ninth and O did the recording engineering on these songs.  Here is a link to these recordings:

Advent Songs from Worship Team of Ninth and O Baptist Church

Division of Biblical Worship Recording Lab

In our worship ministries it is important that members of our bands and choirs be team players.  This concept drives right to the heart of serving the ministry and serving the church.  Those in leadership know how difficult it can be at times working with a group of Christian artists who are part of our ministries.  Rory Noland in his book, The Heart of the Artist (Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-22471-3), describes what it means to be a team player:

1.  A team player is committed to the cause of the team – putting the church’s mission above our agenda. 

2.  A team player is committed to resolving relational conflict – seeking to promote the unity of the group is a core value of being a team player. We are to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  (Ephesians 4:3)

3.  A team player encourages and supports his or her teammates.  Noland says we should cultivate an environment that is encouraging, life-giving, and supportive.

4.  A team player holds on to his or her gifts loosely.  We should offer our God-given talents to be used in a way the best serves the church.

5.  A team player tries to bring a healthy self to the team.  We should show up rested and physically healthy to serve on our ministry teams.  Your life outside of minstry has a direct bearing on how well you serve with your team.

6.  A team player doesn’t care who get the credit or the glory.  “It’s amazing how much gets accomplished when no cares who gets the credit.”

7.  A team player brings all of his or her spiritual gifts to the team.  God has gifted all Christians with gifts to be used in his church.

8.  A team player sees his or her role as valuable, no matter how small. 

9.  A team player submits to authority.  Noland states that “stubborness is not a virtue.”  Unless your leader is asking you to do something unscriptural then we should be strive to follow his leadership.

10.  A team player doesn’t lose his or her autonony or artistic identity.  When we lose autonomy we stop taking responsibility for ourselves. 

Noland has given us some great points about being a team player.  How do we match up to these?  How are our worship teams working together?  Leaders, are we spending time discipling our teams so that they learn to work and serve together with joy and to the glory of God?  I recommend you pick up this book and read more indepth concerning this concept of team ministry.  This is a good book for any worship minister wanting to be a better leader for your teams.

Southern Seminary recently hosted an Expositor’s Summit on campus.  Norton Hall, our seminary traveling worship band, provided worship music throughout the week for the conference.   Thanks to Devon Kauflin, band leader for compiling this list!

Tuesday 1:30PM  (General Session #1 – R. Albert Mohler Jr.)

Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber)

Our Song from Age to Age (Joel Sczebel)

Tuesday 3:00PM  (General Session #2 – Ray Ortlund)

Come Praise and Glorify (Tim Chester/Bob Kauflin)

How Firm a Foundation (Traditional)

In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross (Brooks Ritter/Rebecca Bales)

Now Why This Fear (Augustus Toplady/Doug Plank)Response:

Our Song from Age to Age (Joel Sczebel)

Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall/Kristian Stanfill)

Tuesday 7:00PM (General Session #3 – Alistair Begg)

Nothing but the Blood (Robert Lowry)

Refuge (Isaac Watts/Neil Robbins)

Grace Greater Than Our Sin (Julia Johnston)

In Christ Alone (Stuart Townend/Keith Getty)

Response:

All I Have is Christ (Jordan Kauflin)

Wednesday 9:30AM (General Session #4 – Panel Discussion)

A Mighty Fortress (Martin Luther)

How Great is Your Faithfulness (Matt Redman)

Before the Throne of God Above (Charitie Bancroft/Vicki Cook)

Response:

Grace Greater Than Our Sin (Julia Johnston)

Wednesday 3:30PM (General Session #5 – Ray Ortlund)

Refuge (Isaac Watts/Neil Robbins)

How Firm a Foundation (Traditional)

Now Why This Fear (Augustus Toplady/Doug Plank)

Response:

Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall/Kristian Stanfill)

Wednesday 7:00PM (General Session #6 – R. Albert Mohler Jr.)

My Hope is Built (Edward Mote)

In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross (Brooks Ritter/Rebecca Bales)

All I Have is Christ (Jordan Kauflin)

Response:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Reginald Heber)

Our Song from Age to Age (Joel Sczebel)

Thursday 10:00AM (Chapel – Alistair Begg)

Come Praise and Glorify (Tim Chester/Bob Kauflin)

Nothing but the Blood (Robert Lowry)

Jesus Paid it All (Elvina Hall/Kristian Stanfill)

Response:

O Great God (Bob Kauflin)

At Southern Seminary and Boyce College we are training worship leaders for the church.   This training includes music skills, biblical and theological studies, administrative skills, and practical ministry skills.  There is so much to teach and so little time to help prepare these leaders for the church.   Despite all of this training, we must constantly remind our students that our character is of foremost importance in our training and in our serving.

The Apostle Paul reminds Timothy that he should “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”  He instructs Timothy to “keep watch on yourself and on the teaching.  Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”  (I Timothy 4: 12, 16).  No matter how wonderful a musician one may be or how eloquent at leading worship, a person’s character is the foremost trait to seek and maintain.

In Spurgeon’s Letters to My Students he quotes Robert Murray M’Cheyne:  “It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus.  A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”  Worship leaders need to seek to be conformed to the image of Christ daily.  Who we are during the day to day work of ministry and in our homes speaks volumes about how much we love Christ and reflect Him.  Our effectiveness for the Gospel as ministers is wrapped up in our character.

Spurgeon continues on this topic:  ”true and genuine piety is necessary as the first indispensible requisite; whatever “call” a man may pretend to have, if he has not been called to holiness, he certainly has not been called to ministry. . . We are to stand equipped with the whole armor of God, ready for feats of valor not expected of others: to us self denial, self-forgetfulness, patience, perseverance, longsuffering, must be everyday virtues, and who is sufficient for these things? We had need live very near to God, if we would approve ourselves in our vocation. . .  We have need of very vigorous piety, because our danger is so much greater than that of others.”

Worship leader – how are you doing in this area of character?  This is so important to the life of the minister that it supersedes your knowledge of theological issues, your musical abilities, and other gifts the Lord has given you.  If we want to be persons that the Lord uses in ministry, our character must be foremost in our daily lives.  I challenge you as I challenge myself to strive for purity, holiness and integrity in our personal life, family life and ministry. 

(Spurgeon quotes are from Letters to My Students, Henrickson Publishing, chapter on “The Minister’s Self Watch.”  A new collection of Spurgeon’s lectures to his ministry students.  Highly recommended).

In the Division of Biblical Worship at Southern Seminary, you will develop the musical skills necessary to navigate the ever-changing landscape of worship styles. From modern rhythm sections to vocal groups, our curriculum will equip you for the musical trends, waves and challenges of the present and the future.

Scholarships Available.  For more information or an audition please contact us at biblicalworship@sbts.edu.

Watch our new video about the Division of Biblical Worship.

The New Division of Biblical Worship at Southern Seminary

Gospel-Centered/Musically Relevant/Pastorally Focused

Basil Manly, Jr.

In my worship class at Southern Seminary I usually show the students the following quote and ask them to determine when the quote was written:

For some years it has been apparent that the rage for novelties in singing, especially in our Sunday Schools, has been driving out of use the old, precious, standard hymns.  They are not memorized as of old.  They are scarecly sung at all.  They are not even contained in the non-denominational songbooks which in many churches have usurped the place of our hymn books.

We cannot afford to lose these old hymns.  They are full of the Gospel; they breathe the deepest emotions of pious hearts in the noblest strains of poetry; they have been tested and approved by successive generations of those that loved the Lord; they are the surviving fittest ones from thousands of inferior productions; they are hallowed by abundant usefulness and tenderest memories.  But the young people of today are unfamiliar with them, if the present tendency goes unchecked.

My students are usually surprised to discover that this quote was written by Basil Manly, Jr. (1825-1892), one of the founding professors of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky (www.sbts.edu).  These words appeared in the preface of a hymnbook edited by Professor Manly in 1892.  Manly, an Old Testament professor at the seminary was concerned  that the Gospel songs new on the scene were usurping the old hymns.  It seems that the young people were singing these new songs and not learning the standard hymns of the church.  These newer worship songs (perhaps by Fanny Crosby, Ira Sankey or others) majored more on the Christian experience and less on the objective truths of the Bible often found in the hymns.  Since we learn so much of our faith through our songs, Manly was concerned the newer Gospel songs were not carrying strong biblical content.

Although this quote is an isolated incident, I think a brief survey of worship music through the ages would reveal that this controversy of what songs should be used in worship is not a new one.  The church has always had an issue over what songs should be selected for corporate worship.

So how do we make sense of this issue today?

1.  It would be great if more theologically trained pastors were writing or selecting song texts for the church today.  So many of our great hymn texts in use today were actually written by pastors (Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, John Newton – to name a few).  Basil Manly was a good model for pastors as a hymn text writer and an editor of hymnbooks for the church.  We also need worship leaders with a healthy biblical foundation capable of filtering strong theological texts from weak ones.

2.  All songs were new songs at one point.  We should seek to “sing a new song to the Lord,” but make sure our new songs have significant biblical content.  Why spend time singing worship songs that have vague biblical content?

3.  We need to keep singing the great hymns of the church along with newer expressions of faith.  These hymns remind our young people that they are not the first generation of Christians to seek to live a Christ-like life in the world.  Also, our senior adults need to learn songs that speak to a younger generation about the Gospel.

4.  Let the focus be on song content and not secondary issues such as whether we will use an organ,  piano or guitar to accompany songs.  Sure there are a number of discussions we can have on this point, but we need to start with the song text.  Is the text true to the Scriptures?  Does the text teach the great truths fo the faith?

5.  Finally, let's seek to be pastoral in our worship leadership – caring for the Body of Christ, seeking peace and unity in worship.  Teach deference: “I can sing a favorite song of my brother in Christ rather than my favorite.”

I recently finished reading The Lord’s Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ Until He Comes.  The book is the latest edition of a series of books on Bible and Theology published by Broadman and Holman (ISBN 978-0-8054-4757-6).  Thomas Schreiner and Matthew Crawford  were the editors (and also contributors) for this book centered on the theology, history and present day practice of the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.  The book is a great study for pastors and worship leaders who plan and lead the Lord’s Supper in the church.  The book includes chapters written by Andreas Kostenberger, Jonathan Pennington, James Hamilton, Michael Haykin, Gregg Allison, Bruce Ware, Shawn Wright, Greg Wills, Brian Vickers, Greg Thornbury and Ray Van Neste.  These writers bring a wealth of information on all aspects of the Lord’s Supper including discussions on the Lord’s Supper – a Passover meal, Paul’s view on the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Supper in the early church, The Lord’s Supper and the reformation, and the Lord’s Supper in Baptist History. 

A number of Christian leaders through the centuries are quoted in the book including this quote from Spurgeon that addresses frequency of the Lord’s Supper in the church:

So with the Lord's Supper, my witness is, and I think I speak the mind of many of  God's people now present, that coming as some of us do, weekly, to the Lord's table, we do not find the breaking of bread to have lost its significance – it is always fresh to us.  I have often remarked on the Lord's day evening, whatever the subject may have been, whether Sinai has thundered over our heads, or the plaintive notes of Calvary have pierced our hearts, it always seems equally appropriate to come to the breaking of the bread.  Shame on the Christian church that she should put it off to once a month, and mar the first day of the week by depriving it of its glory in the meeting together for fellowship and breaking of bread, and showing forth of the death of Christ till he come.  They who once know the sweetness of each Lord's day celebrating his Supper, will not be content, I am sure, to put it off to less frequent seasons.  Beloved, when the Holy Ghost is with us, ordinances are wells to the Christian, wells of rich comfort and of near communion.  (373,374).

I found this book very helpful to me in discussing important issues that surround the Lord’ Supper.  Because it covers so much ground  – theology of the Lord’ Supper, historical practice and guidelines for the church today – it should be on the library shelf of pastors and worship leaders.

Alumni Chapel

The School of Church Ministries of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will begin offering three new doctoral degrees in Christian Worship this fall (2011).  These degrees represent many hours of work on the part of the school faculty.  They will provide worship pastors and church musicians the opportunity to complete a terminal degree in the area of Christian Worship. 

A unique aspect of these degree plans is that they are designed on a modular format.  Students can now keep their current ministry positions and pursue these degrees at the same time.  Under this format students will attend seminars and colloquiums twice a year (two weeks in winter, two weeks in the summer).  There will be online work and other assignments due during the fall and spring between seminars.

There are three new doctoral degrees being offered:  Doctor of Philosophy in Christian Worship, Doctor of Ministry in Christian Worship and Doctor of Educational Ministry in Christian Worship.  

Download these files to read more about these new degrees:

PhD in Christian Worship

DMin and DEdMin in Christian Worship

If you would like to talk with someone about these degrees, please email us to set up a phone appointment:

Dr. Greg Brewton, Associate Dean of Music and Worship Leadership: gbrewton@sbts.edu

Dr. Michael Wilder, Associate Dean of Doctoral Studies: mwilder@sbts.edu

As we take time this week to celebrate Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for Jesus Christ and the salvation I have in Him because of His redeeming work on the Cross.  My most serious problem has been solved because of the forgiveness of sins I have received through Him. 

What are you thankful for this special season?  Do you know about this great Savior and the eternal life He offers?

 A hymn we often sing at Thanksgiving services is “Now We Thank We All our God.”  This hymn was written in 1636 by Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor, at the close of the Thirty Years’ War in Europe.  Rinkart lived in Eilenburg, Saxony, a town that had been surrounded by the Swiss army.  People were dying of starvation and disease.  The town was in crisis.  Rinkart was the only pastor in Eilenburg that survived this horrible experience.  At one point he was conducting 50 funerals a day.  The Swiss army was demanding a huge ransom to end the seige of the city.  Rinkart left the walled city and met the commander of the army pleading for mercy on the people of the city.  The commander lowered his demands and soon after the Thirty Years’ War ended.

Rinkart wrote this hymn for a celebration service to remember God’s faithfulness and mercy at this great time of sorrow and difficulty.  It was translated from German to English by Catherine Winkworth in 1856.  Below you will find the text of Rinkart’s hymn.  Take a moment to reflect on the grace and mercy we all receive daily from our great Lord and be thankful.

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.        

O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessèd peace to cheer us;
And keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all ills, in this world and the next!

All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son and Him Who reigns with Them in highest Heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and Heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.

I recently talked with a worship pastor who was having an ongoing discussion with a church member about the volume of the worship music in the Sunday morning  service.  The church member was making a stong point about the worship music being too loud.  What are some guidelines on the volume of our congregational music?  How can worship pastors respond to complaints about worship music volume?

I have heard praise bands who seem to think a louder volume is more spiritual and I have heard organs and orchestras who can compete on the same volume level.  How does one determine the proper volume level of accompaniment for congregational singing?  My basic belief is that if the accompaniment is so loud that the singer in the congregation can not hear himself sing or those around him sing – then the accompaniment is too loud.  Rick Muchow, worship pastor at Saddleback Community Church had some helpful points on this topic of volume levels of worship service music in his book, The Worship Answer Book: 

1.  The music is too loud when the volume distracts from worship.   Muchow relates about a service where the congregational singing was wonderful until the organist got to the last verse.  At this verse the organist did a showy demonstration and greatly increased the volume of the organ.  Muchow said everyone began to take notice of the organist and the attention was no longer on the text of the song.  He says “the volume of the music is just right when it is not noticed.  Our bodies should feel the music, not notice the volume.”

2.  The music is too loud when it is no longer musical.  Muchow says that “high volume is not a synonym for excellence.  Beginning musicians often try to use loud volume to make up for a lack of accuracy and practice – as if the louder they play, the better their musicianship will sound.”  Muchow also shares about the plight of other musicians on stage when one instrument is too loud – they also turn up their volume to hear themselves.  Muchow suggests that musicians should seek to have varying dynamics in their music.  “When the music is only one volume, whether too loud or soft, it becomes less musical and has less impact.  Using dynamics is a great way to improve communication.”

3.  The music is too loud when it causes hearing loss.  Muchow states that “repeated exposure to loud noise can cause permanent damage and hearing loss.  If people need to shout to be heard above the music, then the volume is too loud.”  Muchow uses a decibel meter at his sound board to monitor the level of the volume in rehearsals and services.  He believes the volume limit should be at 96 decibels  (similar to a hand drill or spray painter or bulldozer).  A typical conversation is at 60 decibels while rock concerts are normally at 130-140 decibels.  Muchow says that “it would take continuous exposure to sounds at 100 decibels – such as a very loud worship band and an energetic teacher with a microphone – for about one to two hours, the average length of a church service, to cause permanent hearing loss. Church musicians are at more risk than the rest of the congregation because they are closer to the sound and are exposed to the volume longer. (p. 170-173)

I think Muchow makes some great points about sound levels for worship music.  I am quite aware of this since I work with a worship band a couple times a week and participate in worship services.  I want to protect my musicians' ears and encourage my congregation to sing.  Loud music volumes can cause a congregation to quit singing and just listen.  At this point the worship service turns into a performance. 

It is important for worship pastors to respond to complaints about music volume in worship with pastoral sensitivity.  Could the music volume really be too loud?  Does your sound engineer have a decibel meter to check the volume levels in worship? It is also true that sometimes the complaints have more to do with a change in music style the church may be making.   Is this person really struggling more with the music style change?  I would encourage you to take time to listen, be sensitive, and offer to check into the person’s concerns.  Worship pastor, attempt to build bridges, one day you may need to cross back over one of those bridges.   

Rick Muchow's The Worship Answer Book, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006, ISBN 4041-0355-4) is a quick read for any worship leader wanting to refresh his knowledge of the philosophy and practice of biblical worship.