Brian Kuyper
I was born and raised in a suburb of Los Angeles, Bellflower California. I was raised in the First Bellflower CRC and attended Valley Christian High School in Cerritos. I then attended Dordt College and Calvin Seminary.
I have served the Granum Christian Reformed Church in Alberta from 2008-2013 and have been serving in Taber CRC in Alberta from 2013 to the present.
Posted in: Can you recommend any good books about rural church ministry?
Josh,
I dont have any good books on this topic, just my experience of ministry in a rural setting for the last 3 years. I am wondering how you would see differences in ministry? If you get to know the people and love the people, I would hope it wouldnt change from a urban to rural setting. For myself, I have tried to get to know what the people do. Even getting involved as much as I possibly can in their work as well. That is my approach. Learn a lot. I have learned a lot in three years. For me, I dont know if a book would be able to tell me how to do this, I just get out there and learn from the people. just my humble opinion.
Posted in: A New Hymnal - Lift Up Your Hearts
Normally I dont respond to things like this, but this caught my attention for a couple of reasons. One being the fact that as I read, I hear a lot about "modern" worship. I find that this is a difficult thing to define. What constitutes "modern" worship? Just because you have guitars instead of an organ does that constitute "modern"? In the church I am currently serving, we have a praise band that leads worship once every three weeks. The lady who helps me plan the worship service is very intentional about trying to keep a balance with hymns and "Modern" songs, because of the local setting we are in. But the "style" of this praise band is unique in my opinion, but does it make it more or less "modern?"
I have had the opportunity in my life to be a part of a lot of different congregations, mainly CRC. But I have was raised in Suburban Los Angeles, I went to school at Dordt College and Calvin Seminary. I married a Canadian from Ontario, interned in Ontario, and now serve in Southern Alberta. As I have read above, there is so much diversity all across the board when it comes to worship. Each congregation finds its way of "doing" worship. I feel as long as it is genuine and from the heart it is giving praise and glory to the Father. It doesnt have to be "perfect" or sound exactly like Hillsong.
Another reason this intrigues me is because my wife is on the committee as well. She has a wealth of music and theological training and I think that is an asset, along with her background of living in different areas as well.
One thing we have to realize is that yes, there is a higher percentage (i dont know the number myself) of churches who do use hymnals. The church I serve has the blue and the gray! There is a lot of information available online yes, maybe we dont utilize the right websites, but I find that when you do a search for a song for guitar chords lets say, or even just the lyrics, there can be a number of versions. For example on Good Friday we were going to put the words up on the screen for "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" as well as "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." There wasnt just one set of lyrics for these songs. It was easier for me to type them in from the hymn book.
I myself have struggled with the question why do we need one when a lot of churches use the Screen. But, as April said earlier, when serving in a rural church, it is very useful. I think that having a hymn book that gives us a set of "core" songs will be helpful in the long run.