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The Formation of Worship Leaders:  Regional Cluster Groups

Article by Thomas E. Dipko

The Association for Reformed & Liturgical Worship (AR&LW) recently completed grass roots conversations on the role of seminaries in the formation of worship leaders.  A three year plan will focus next on the role of congregations in the formation of worship leaders, beginning with the AR&LW 2009 annual meeting. 

Dialogue about the role of seminaries was shaped by five generative questions formulated by the previous annual meeting.  Approximately forty persons participated in six regional cluster groups gathered in Texas (one in Austin, two in Dallas), Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey/New York.

Why does the seminary worship?

Cluster participants, especially laity, could not conceive of seminary life without worship any more than they could imagine the absence of worship in vital congregations or judicatories.  They celebrated highly intentional, communal, scripture-based worship in particular seminaries.  Key discussion insights included the following.     

• Where worship is intrinsic to the identity of the seminary, there is better integration of spiritual formation and academic formation. 
• Laissez faire norms, ignorance of worship guidelines and resources, hit and miss planning, indefinite frequency, and individualistic styles often weaken seminary worship. 
• The loss of a residential student body compromises seminary worship unless deliberate effort is exerted to overcome the transiency of community life.

How do we impart denominational worship traditions in a multi-denominational student body?

There was consensus in the conversations that most seminary students do not want ambiguity about their respective traditions.  A denominationally diverse student body can and should be a dynamic laboratory for understanding one’s own worship heritage. 

• Mature interaction with those of other denominations requires that students recognize worship traditions shared in common and ones that are distinctively Reformed.
• Students of the Reformed heritage, and those of other denominations, are ill served if Reformed seminaries neglect their own historic worship roots.
• The most effective way to invite those of other traditions to share their worship gifts is to offer them opportunities to experience the best of our own.     
• Our welcome to students of other traditions in our seminaries should model how we hope Reformed students are received on the campuses of other traditions.
• Indifferentism to, or ignorance of, diverse liturgical practices is not a form of responsible ecumenism but a denial of it. 

Minimal provision for the formation of worship leaders in many seminaries led several voices to ask if it might be wise to press the accrediting body for seminaries (Association of Theological Schools) to require a worship study curriculum.  Laity in the Cluster Groups were especially shocked to learn that so little is done to prepare pastors for the leadership of worship.  The addition of Clinical Pastoral Education courses and various Doctor of Ministry programs suggests that growth in the seminary curriculum is possible but unlikely, with regard to the study of worship, without strong advocacy for it.

Several participants emphasized that promoting a clear understanding of the Reformed worship heritage is not solely the responsibility of Reformed seminaries.  “Judicatories need to do this work,” said a denominational executive. Excellent models for this collaboration include intensive judicatory workshops and seminary practicum classes on worship.

How might the seminary make the case for the centrality of worship to the teaching of theology?

Among the suggested approaches was the incorporation of worship faculty in the department of theology.  Where this is not possible, collaborative measures were recommended to enable all teachers to “see that worship is integral to their disciplines.”  The catechetical nature of worship was identified.  “Worship is a form of teaching,” although it is far more than didactic, and should not be isolated from the comprehensive teaching functions of seminaries. 

• Some “dreamed” of a curriculum with worship at its center while others, regretting that seminary worship “seems thin,” doubted the wisdom of this possibility. 
• Cases were made for inter-disciplinary courses, taught by a faculty team, that combine the study of worship with other areas of specialization. 
• Another view urged that worship faculty model a team approach by inviting colleagues from other disciplines to serve as guest lecturers in worship courses. 

The cluster groups acknowledged that currently both the theology and practice of worship are often taught more effectively off campus in judicatory sponsored continuing education events.  Some suggested that seminary graduates are more motivated to learn about worship after they have served local congregations for several years.   One cluster group is presenting a proposal to AR&LW for establishing an ongoing, annual, week-long program, titled “Forming Worship Leaders in the Reformed Tradition."

What is necessary for worship leaders to be “musically prepared” to plan worship?

Few subjects energized the cluster groups more than music.  At a time when music plays a powerful role in secular culture and in the growth of mega-churches, it troubled the participants that “we do not know of a single Reformed seminary where music is a required course” and of very few that even offer church music as an elective. 

At the same time, they were not surprised because few seminaries require a course in any aspect of worship, with the possible exception of preaching.  One pastor highlighted the teaching power of hymns, and noted, “Who I am comes from the music of the church.”

• Participants cited examples of the theology of worship taught memorably through seminary choir programs. 
• Theology courses based on hymns as the organizing principle were cited with appreciation.
• A common thread in the dialogue was the need to offer studies in hymnology not only in seminaries but also in judicatory and congregational education events.
• Pastors, even if not gifted in music, “should at least have knowledge of hymnody” and “a lifelong commitment to learning about the music of the church.” 
• A scenario to be avoided is “clergy who get no training in music, and church musicians who lack training in church music or theology.”

 What are the expectations of field education?

The cluster groups expressed clear hopes about field education placement as a means to move beyond theory to practice in the formation of worship leaders.  There were differences of opinion, however, about standards for qualifying and preparing those who serve as site supervisors. 

Clearly, the majority pressed for programs to credential and provide peer supervision for those who have students in their care.  Some felt that qualifications for serving as mentors “are non-existent.”  One voice summarized the view of many that “today we send students to local church sites with little communication or accountability.” 

Appreciation for the role and importance of field education, however, was universal.  Ways to make it more effective were clear and graphic. 

• Remember that “life itself is a practicum for field education experiences.”  Modeling quality field education can encourage intentional life-long learning.
• Recognize that field education expresses AR&LW’s commitment to the shared responsibility of seminaries, judicatories and congregations for the formation of worship leaders. 
• Listen to the voices of seminary graduates who had positive field education experiences.  Let them teach us about what constitutes excellence.
• Pay field education sites for the ministry they provide, rather than charge them for the privilege of mentoring students who pay seminaries for the course.
• Vet both congregations and mentors more carefully.  Conflicted churches and burned out pastors have other needs.  Field education is not one of them.  

Other articles for this project:

	Formation of Worship Leaders
	Ecumenical Voices
	Focus on Congregations