Archive for November, 2008

Although our church is not currently seeking a full-time worship leader, we are constantly evaluating our effectiveness in this area.  The challenges of music styles, multi-generational congregation, bi-culturalism and, in our  church’s case, bilingualism are great.  I found this article interesting in its discussion of a search for a worship leader:

http://tinyurl.com/5jsv3t

I find the discussion very relevant to our particular context.  Add to that the challenge of addressing the cultural needs of the congregation.  In our case, there are 13 countries represented in our pews, not to mention that just in Mexico we have mariachi’s, nortena, spanish pop, cumbia’s and tropical, to name a few.  Now, keeping it bilingual is not the biggest challenge but it does make things a little more complex.

Though the author seems to assume that choir music is performance only and worship teams automatically involve the congregation in direct worship, I believe this is oversimplified.  This may be more the norm than the exception but times of contemplation and meditation are possible while choirs are singing.  But most importantly, some worship teams could be in danger of being more into performance than into worship leading.  It is important that the worship leaders and worship team members actually be worshiping and that they are seeking throughout the worship service to engage the congregation in worship, rather than getting through the song and onto the next song.

I couldn’t agree more on the necessity of quiet reflection, meaningful prayer times, scripture reading and affirmations of faith as integral parts of the worship experience, not as added side ingredients to the “main” thing which is the music.

I would like to hear what your experience and thoughts are on the subject.  Please post or comment.

 It looks like one of our very own authors of Rdestino is going to be speaking at Congreso at Baylor University. His name is Sergio Ramos. Congrats Sergio, I know you are going to be a blessing to our young Hispanic Baptist youth of Texas. If you are a Pastor or Youth leader, the Congreso 2009 website has launched and has all the information that you need for registering your young people for this life changing event.

Keep Congreso in your prayers, many Hispanic students across Texas will attend and make decisions for the Lord. They are the future faces of Hispanics in Texas so lets do what we can to educate them about the Lord and about making right decisions.

-God Bless