Joyce Borger
I am a self-professed worship geek, nerd, or wonk (chose your term). In other words, I love to talk about, participate in, and lead worship. I currently serve as the Director of Worship Ministries for the Christian Reformed Church.
I took my first worship class in 1990 at Kuyper College (Reformed Bible College when I went there), which was a major “aha” moment in my life. After graduating from Kuyper with a Bachelor of Religious Education I continued to study music at Calvin College and graduated from there with a BA in Music Education. During those years I worked with developmentally challenged individuals of all ages, began an inner city youth ministry with a group of young adults, and worked with established church ministries. After graduating I taught highschool Music, Bible, and History for a year before becoming a youth director at a Covenant CRC in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
God continued to lead me this time to seminary and I wondered how God was going to bring all these experiences together. When I graduated with an MDiv from Calvin Theological Seminary in 2003, that question was answered with a call to serve as music and worship editor for Faith Alive Christian Resources. As the music editor I edited the music for educational curriculums, Friendship Ministries, and 7 songbooks including Lift Up Your Hearts. This means that I got to be in conversation with people as we together talk about and discern what various groups within the church and the church as a whole needs to sing to express their joys, sorrows, prayers, and praises. It is a great honor to have been able to serve the church in this way, to listen, and then mould a songbook. As the worship editor I have worked on several projects including the quarterly journal Reformed Worship. As a worship planner I relied on RW to provide me with thoughtful articles and useful resources and as an editor my challenge is to continue doing so, relying on the readers themselves to share of their treasury of creative gifts. Again I got to listen to the churches, take the gifts given and mould them into a useful tool for the church.
I am grateful for the privilege I know have to serve the CRC in a new way as Director of Worship Ministries. For more information on what that is all about check out our developing website at crcna.org/worship.
Posted in: Do Not Fear - A Small Group Worship Service
Here is a recording of the song: "Don't Be Afraid"
https://youtu.be/uJZVFfMXQRI
Posted in: This Might Be the Best Jesse Tree Set Ever
Worship Ministries would appreciate hearing from any church that plans their worship for the Advent/Christmas season around these devotions. [email protected]
Posted in: Lent Worship Planning With 'Lift Up Your Hearts'
Also, consider downloading the free collection of descants Praise God in the Heights by Dr. Larry Visser. This collection is useful for voice or instruments: see https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/publications/praise-god-in-the-heights/
For the Lenten-Easter season the following songs in Lift Up Your Hearts appear with descants in this collection: #136, 137, 145, 146, 163, 164, 167, 182, 187, 188, 216, 202, 205. Well worth the minute it takes to download.
While the initial download is free if you want to make further copies for your choir or instrumentalist you need to use the appropriate copyright license or contact the copyright holder. Information on copyright holders can be found at www.LiftUpYourHeartsHymnal.com.
Posted in: Four Ways Your Church Can Help Every Household Celebrate Advent
We really appreciated this devotional last year. We printed off and hung all the Jesse Tree ornaments on a bare branch and hope to do the same again this coming year.
https://network.crcna.org/books-crc-authors/jesse-tree-advent-devotional-practice
And Back to God Ministries has one available for this year too: https://network.crcna.org/family-ministry/jesse-tree-family-devotional-and-craft-advent
Posted in: What Do the Church Order and Other Synodical Documents Say About Worship?
Thanks for these thoughtful comments!
Posted in: Blue Christmas and Blue Holiday Worship Services
Also consider these resources from Reformed Worship:
A Time to Weep--During Advent
Real Joy, Genuine Faith: Biblical Lament during Advent
Light for Our Wilderness: A Candlelight Service
From Lament to Praise: A New Year Eve's Journey Through the Psalms
RW subscribers can also access "Longest Night: A Service of Christmas Mourning" in the latest issue (RW 125).
Also see: Lift Up Your Hearts #62 "An Advent Lament".
Posted in: Worship at Synod 2017
A Note Regarding Copyright/Permissions References on the Songs and Liturgies chart:
P.D. =public domain (no permission necessary to use these songs)
CCLI#: you can insert your CCLI # to the end of this copyright line and place is on the music/slide to use this song legally. If you don't have a CCLI license you will need to contact the copyright holder directly.
OneLicense: If you have a OneLicense number you can add it and use this song legally. If you don't have this license you will need to contact the copyright holder directly.
Posted in: Synod 2016 Days of Prayer - Week 1
Is there a way to sign up to receive these?
Posted in: Lent Art & Easter Choir
So appreciate you sharing this video and showing us the beauty of generations coming together. What a great idea!
Posted in: Palm Sunday Responsive Call to Worship
Thanks for sharing this Adom!
Posted in: A Historic Order of Worship
Stanley, thanks for the suggestion. I hope the addition of BOLD titles and spacing helps.
Posted in: Any Churches Conducting Bilingual Worship Service?
Given the widespread use of cellphones an easy way to do "live translation" would be to set up a "conference call" by providing everyone requiring the translation a number to call. They should mute their own phone and wear earphones. If the service is being piped into another room or can be heard outside the atrium the person providing the translation can sit there and simply speak into his/her phone and everyone else on the conference call can hear the translation. We did this for a funeral and it worked well. We had simple instructions and the phone number on slips of paper which we handed out. (Ideally those would be translated as well.)