It may seem strange to describe the act of worship as a discipline. We may even think there’s no reason to reflect on how we are doing in this discipline. We attend church on Sundays and the arts team leads us in worship, right? So we are worshiping. Check.
Worship is one of Council Road’s 24 essentials, and it is described as follows in our essentials document, “We celebrate the glory and goodness of God and worship Him for who He is and for what He is doing in our lives. We believe that all humanity was created for the purpose of worship and that the chief end of man is to love God by enjoying Him for all eternity.”
If we are created for the purpose of worship, does the 20 minutes of music in our Sunday service serve as the only way we can worship our God? Of course not! Not every song or every set of songs we sing each Sunday could ever encompass all of who God is and be the fulfillment of our purpose. We fulfill this in many other ways throughout our week. It is in the way we enjoy God’s creation, interact with His Word, serve & love our neighbors, raise our families, treat our bodies, and more.
Although musical worship in our weekly Sunday services are a tiny portion of the way we can worship God each week, we tend to have big opinions about these twenty minutes in our services.
For the past two years, I’ve been in the weekly meetings as our worship leaders plan their music worship sets. Watching the collaboration between our worship ministers, Norman and Eric, has been beautiful. I can confidently say that I am amazed at the depth of thought, planning, and prayer that goes into each week. I am grateful to be a part of such a thorough worship team that is willing to glorify God above all, embrace change, strive for excellence, and work to make our music worship experience at Council Road one that is truly like no other church in the area. Not because we need to be “trendy” or “cool” but because they long to use the talents of all our willing church members who want to serve using their musical abilities to help us glorify God..
As we are approaching a change in the way our music worship will be shared with the congregation each Sunday, I urge you to trust our elders & our arts team leaders. Trust that they are conversing with one another, that they are praying over the future of our church worship, and that they are using scripture as their basis as they design our worship sets. Our worship leaders are not only considering you as they plan worship but also considering the diverse body of believers we have not only in age or ethnicity, but also diversity in talents, worship preferences, and desired church traditions.
Our musical worship as a congregation on a Sunday is important. Not just because it is what can set the tone for the sermon, our day, or even our whole week. It is also because our church believes that we are CREATED for the purpose of worship - to give all glory to God. As our church approaches a significant change in the worship arts ministry, may we give grace & remember that musical worship is only one way we get to glorify & enjoy our God each and every day.
Meet the author!
Becca Walker is the co-founder of Metro Youth Theatre of Oklahoma. She also works part time at Council Road as the Women’s and Worship Coordinator. She and her husband, Brennan, love to serve in the church that they call home. Becca’s main loves are her family (especially her new daughter, Eliza), her pups Wrigley and Rizzo, Old Navy, and of course, the incredible community at Council Road Baptist Church.