Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Report from National Worship Leader Conference
Report from Paul Ryan at the National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, Texas:
Tonight began the inaugural National Worship Leader Conference sponsored by Worship Leader magazine. This is a four evening, three day event in Austin, Texas, with plenary speakers, practical workshops, and many, many opportunities to worship together in song and prayer.
Tonight’s session began with thunder in the sky and heavy rain. It was already dark when I arrived to register at 6:45, but I could tell immediately that the host church - Riverbend Church - was more of a campus than a single building. It is a very large church. The architecture of the buildings is unique for newer structures: limestone, arches, great wooden doorways. And inside the sanctuary is a great rectangular room. Pews are placed in a half circle from one end to the other and rise steeply upward from the platform below. The space looked as though it may seat at least 2,000.
The platform was a simple wooden floor that extends into the half circle. Behind the platform was an another half-circle made of stone that arched up along the wall and met glass that extends to the ceiling. The view through the grass looks out over a river and hills and sky. It is a beautiful backdrop. There are three screens as well in the front that are for use in worship, but they are dwarfed by the height of the space. With dark wood all around, the space felt warm, yet also immense which gave it a sense of awe and reverence. The space overall had a noble simplicity to it, There were no Christian symbols in the sanctuary that I could identity. No cross, pulpit, table, or baptismal font. Instead, the platform was furnished with drums, keyboard, guitars, and microphones.
This is a large conference—at least 2,000 people. I’ve been to several conferences of this size, and often they begin with energy and some hype. Yet, to my surprise and my great gratitude (after a traveling since 6:00 a.m. I was a bit weary), the conference began with a simple video welcome by members of the Worship Leader magazine staff. Then, the pastor of Riverbend Church gave a simple greeting and shared with us the hope that we would find rest this week.
What happened next filled my soul and turned my eyes to Christ. Scotty Smith, pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tenn., opened our time together with scripture. He called us to first listen to God’s word as he read from Philippians 2:1-11. Then, Scotty encouraged us to set our sights on Jesus, our worship leader and mediator. He focused our attention on the Triune God and he prayed, “Move us from being consumers to being consumed by you, God.” Several times he pointed to our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
At this moment I expected a full band to begin playing. But, no. A solo acoustic guitarist-singer stood before us all and led us in the singing of three or four songs that sung of God’s greatness, majesty, and love. Just an acoustic guitar with 2,000 of us. Amazing…
Then there was another surprise. We shared together the Lord’s Supper. It was a simple celebration. Scotty fenced the table, spoke the words of institution and called us to remember Christ’s sacrifice and anticipate our sharing in the great communion feast when Christ returns. We passed bread and drank together from individual cups. All along, a guitarist-singer (a female this time) played quietly in the background.
After the celebration of the Lord’s Supper we sang a few more songs (again, a different worship leader but this time with an acoustic, electric, bass and drums). The songs focused primarily on God’s love poured out for us on the cross. (The songs included a couple hymns, songs from the last 10 years and a few newly written songs).
At this point Scotty Smith delivered a sermon. He spoke from Zechariah 7, and he gave us a question to wrestle with all this week: “Have you been worshiping all along for me (God) or for yourselves?” Scotty challenged us to be “more zealous to give the worship that he (God) deserves then to get the worship we delight.” And what is this worship? It is worship that flows into a lifestyle of serving God in acts of justice. Scotty explained that God wants worship service not just services of worship. In other words, God wants our events to have integrity. Scotty concluded the sermon by pointing us to Christ, the one who has fulfilled this mandate, who truly worshiped with integrity. Jesus lived a life of worship, serving the poor and the needy through acts of justice as well as lifting up his prayers and songs before the Father. And through Jesus Christ we too can participate in this worship of God.
All in all, I was thrilled with the way things got started this evening. Of course, I loved the inclusion of scripture, the focus on Christ’s perfecting work and our Triune God. But I also deeply appreciated the simplicity of the instrumentation and the sensitivity in leadership. I was led in prayer and I was given the opportunity to converse with God. Scotty Smith’s sermon was sobering and simultaneously greatly encouraging. I’m grateful, and looking forward to the next three days.
Events • Leadership • Music • Worshipping Communities • (1) Comments • Permalink