Biblical Worship

John and Charles Wesley had an immense impact on the church of the late eighteenth century.  Their emphasis on evangelism and discipleship caused great growth in the church.  They also strongly influenced church music in a wonderful way through their efforts to improve the congregational singing of the church.  Both John and Charles focused on bringing new congregational songs to believers.   It was Charles who penned over 6500 hymn texts over his lifetime.  We still sing a number of his hymn texts today:  And Can It Be, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing, Jesus Lover of My Soul.

Apparently in an effort to bolster congregational singing in his church, John Wesley penned these words in 1770 to encourage his congregation:

1.  Sing All – see that you join the congregation as frequently as you can.

2.  Sing Lustily – and with good courage.  Beware of singing as if you were half-dead or half-asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.

3.  Sing Modestly – do not bawl so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation that you may not destroy the harmony, but strive to unite your voices together so as to make one melodious sound.

4.  Sing in time – whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it.  Do not run before and do not stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices and move therewith as exactly as you can and take care not to sing too slow.  This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

5. Sing spiritually – have an eye to God in every word you sing.  Aim at pleasing Him more than yourself, or any other creature.

Some words from John Wesley that still ring true for our congregations today!

Recently, Jim Faull demonstrated to one of our Boyce Music classes a worship planning software he has developed for music ministers.  Jim Faull has served a number of churches over the past thirty years in addition to being the state music director for the Louisiana Baptist Convention.  For the past 20 years he has also developed several useful software applications for music ministers. 

As he was finishing up his software demonstration, I asked him if he had any advice for young college students planning to serve in the local church in the area of music/worship ministry.  He said there are two words of advice he would give:

1. Be sure of your calling to ministry.  Ministry is often very difficult and if you are not sure of your calling to ministry one day you will find yourself changing careers when things get tough.  We have to remember that it is the Lord Christ we serve first.  It is Christ that we first seek to please.

2.  Get all the musical training you can get.  Look out 10 years or 20 years from now at music/worship ministry in the local church.  There is most definitely going to be change in how we do music/worship ministry.  Will we be equipped to ride the storm of this change?  Faull stated that we should not think that because we can play guitar and lead worship that this is all of the skills we will need.  He encouraged the students to get training in choral techniques, keyboard skills, music theory/sightsinging, working with different age groups and learning to work with instrumental groups.

I think he offered some excellent advice to those who are training now for full time music ministry.  I know that in my years of local church work over the past 25 years, I have seen a lot of change in the methods we use in music ministry.  This is bound to continue to change and probably at a faster rate.  Will it go back to a more traditional choral setting or will it move onto to some new contemporary expression?  It is hard to know so the student who develops a wide variety of skills will be well equipped for the Lord to use in future ministry.

 I would encourage  you to check out Jim Faull’s website (www.jimfaull.com) where he gives information on the music software he has developed.  The Worship Planner software is a wonderful tool for the local church music minister.  I highly recommend it.

When I talk with prospective students who feel called to music ministry, I try to give them a realistic view of what it takes to be a music minister.  Those who serve in full time ministry in the area of music and worship wear many hats:

• pastoral minister
• theologian
• worship planner
• worship leader
• conductor of choirs, instrumental groups
• administrator
• media/tech consultant
• musical arranger
• music educator
• cultural analyst

Being a music minister in today’s church calls for a person who is trained not only musically but in many other areas.  Other traits that are needed for this type calling include:

• an active personal faith in Jesus Christ
• a passion to share the Gospel
• a calling and commitment to ministry
• personal integrity
• good relational/people skills
• a diligent work ethic
• emotional maturity
• good music reading skills
• vocal and instrumental skills
• a willingness to teach
• a lifelong learner

These lists can look daunting but it all begins with a call to ministry.  Is the Lord calling you into a full time vocational ministry?  If so, what training are you going to seek to prepare.  I strongly believe an undergraduate degree in music ministry like we offer at Boyce College is the foundational beginning to this training.  I also strongly encourage students to continue their training with a graduate degree at seminary. 

If a student is in high school and feels a call into music/worship ministry, don’t wait until college to start your training.  Here are several suggestions on how to begin in your teen years to prepare for ministry:

• learn to read music now – take private lessons on piano, take music theory at school.
• get involved in music groups in your home church.  If you play an instrument, seek to use it in an ensemble at church.
• if your church has a worship choir or praise team, seek to join these groups and serve.
• if possible get involved in the choral or band program at school.  This will give you some good musical experience.
• seek out a mature worship minister (or your pastor or youth minister) to be your mentor.  Meet for Bible study and prayer.
• be diligent to have a quiet time each day – read your Bible and pray – seek to grow in your walk with the Lord. 

A call to ministry is a call to prepare – begin today.

 Each semester in our Applied Ministry class at Southern Seminary we read and discuss books on spiritual leadership and ministry.  This semester we have been using the book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry as a basis for our discussion on ministry in the local church.  This book was written by John Piper in 2002 (published by Broadman and Holman, ISBN0-8054-2620-5).  Piper has been the senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1980.  The book is divided into 30 short chapters and discusses topics such as “Brothers, God Loves His Glory; Brothers, God is Love; Brothers, Let Us Pray; Brothers, Fight for Your Life; and Brothers, Let us Query the Text.”

Though the chapters are short, the content of the chapters is quite deep.  Piper has written a wonderful book aimed at pastors calling them back to prayer, study of God’s Word, and the hard tasks of pastoring the flock of God.  The purpose of the book Piper says is “to spread a radical, pastoral passion for the supremacy and centrality of the crucified and risen God-Man, Jesus Christ, in every sphere of life and ministry and culture.” (xi)

In the first chapter titled “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals,”  Piper states that ”pastors are being killed by the professionalizing of the pastoral ministry … The more professional we long to be, the more spiritual death we will leave in our wake.” (1)  Piper quotes E.M. Bounds who states that ”the preacher … is not the professional man; his ministry is not a profession; it is a divine institution, a divine devotion.”

Piper contrasts the professional business man with the spiritual leader.  He states that “the pastor’s first business is to pant after God in prayer. Our business is to weep over our sins (James 4:9).  Is there professional weeping? Our business is to strain forward to the holiness of Christ and the prize of the upward call of God (Phil. 3:14); to pummel our bodies and subdue them lest we be cast away (I Cor. 9:27); to deny ourselves and take up the blood-spattered cross daily (Luke 9:23). How do you carry a cross professionally?…Brothers, we are not professionals!  We are outcasts. We are aliens in this world (I Peter 2:11). Our citizenship is in heaven, and we wait with eager expectation for the Lord (Phil 3:20).  The aims of our ministry are eternal and spiritual.  They are not shared by any of the professions….The world sets the agenda of the professional man; God sets the agenda of the spiritual man.”(2,3).

Piper closes this chapter with a prayer to “banish professionalism from our midst …. and in its place put passionate prayer, poverty of spirit, hunger for God, rigorous study of holy things, white-hot devotion to Jesus Christ, utter indifference to all material gain, and unremitting labor to rescue the perishing, perfect the saints, and glorify the sovereign Lord.” (4)

The book shows Piper’s passion for the pastoral ministry.  It is a convicting and challenging book with topics that will cause you to ponder for some time.  I think it is a must read for every pastor who needs to be reminded of the priorities of the pastoral ministry.  That would include most of us.  How easy it is to be sidetracked in the midst of ministry!