Joyce Borger

If you haven't already,  join the 455 CRC worship folk on facebook.  "CRC Worship Ministries" is a closed group and you are asked to answer a few questions before joining but it is full of delightful, encouraging, and helpful folk.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/crcworshipministries/

 

Wanting to know what is happening in the CRC related to worship? Sign up for the monthly worship enews at crcna.org/worship/ 

If you'd like to learn more or find resources on Blue Christmas, Longest Night services, or lament during Advent consider these articles and resources from Reformed Worship published by Worship Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church. 

https://www.reformedworship.org/article/september-2017/longest-night

https://www.reformedworship.org/article/september-1997/time-weep-during-advent

https://www.reformedworship.org/article/september-2010/real-joy-genuine-faith

You can purchase Teach Us to Pray and see a sample at https://calvin.edu/directory/publications/teach-us-to-pray

 

Charles, 

Thanks for your question.  I am unclear if you are a member of the CRC or RCA.  The two denominations have slightly different relationships with the Heidelberg Catechism and requirements regarding its preaching.  I can only speak to the CRC's position. 

 

In the CRC every officebearer (pastor, elder, deacon) is required to sign a covenant which states: "We also affirm three confessions—the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort—as historic Reformed expressions of the Christian faith, whose doctrines fully agree with the Word of God. These confessions continue to define the way we understand Scripture, direct the way we live in response to the gospel, and locate us within the larger body of Christ."  The full Covenant for Officebearers is found here: https://www.crcna.org/resources/church-resources/liturgical-forms-resources/ordination-installation/covenant-officebearers

 

As for whether or not the Heidelberg Catechism should be included in our preaching.  According to Article 54 of the Church Order: "At one of the services each Lord’s Day, the minister shall ordinarily preach the Word as summarized in the creeds and confessions of the church, especially the Heidelberg Catechism". The full church order can be found at: https://www.crcna.org/sites/default/files/2017_church_order.pdf 

Of course this assumes that there are 2 services every Sunday.  If your congregation meets only once then I think your pastor is correct in interpreting the spirit of this church order by preaching through the catechism once every three years. 

So it seems that your pastor is acting appropriately from a CRC perspective. 

There are guidelines available for pastors, councils, congregations, and individuals to challenge any doctrinal or church order stance.  I suggest you begin by discussing your concerns with your own elder. 

I looked up the position of the RCA and found the following in their Directory for Worship: "Heidelberg Catechism 
The Book of Church Order of the Reformed Church in America requires that all the points of doctrine of the Heidelberg Catechism be preached every four years. Although the ecumenical lectionaries cover the points of doctrine, those who wish to follow the sequence of the Catechism may refer to the Liturgy and Psalms,1968, which has a lectionary for such catechetical preaching. Its advantage is that it offers the congregation a structure of theology and a familiarity with one of the finest of our confessions of faith."  You can find the full Directory for Worship here: https://www.rca.org/resources/directory-worship 

 

Thanks for sharing your experience Ruth Ann.  With the number of churches searching for part time worship leadership this may be something for them to consider working with another local congregation on.  Some churches have shared pastors, some share youth leaders, it would take some imagination and coordination but your experience suggests it might also be possible to have shared worship leaders. 

Andrew, 

I haven't read "For the Beauty"  have heard good things. I think it would be a great choice especially if you want to focus on the role of the arts in worship. 

Is there a particular theme/topic you are hoping to cover? 

Some other possibilities to consider (a beginning list):  

Diversity/Multiethnic worship: The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World, Sandra Maria Van Opstal

Pastoral Role of Worship Leaders: The Worship Pastor: A Call to Ministry for Worship Leaders and Teams, Zac M. Hicks 

Basics on Worship Theology and Practice: Essential Worship: A Handbook for Leaders, Greg Scheer

Worship that is inclusive of all abilities: Accessible Gospel, Inclusive Worship, Betty Grit and Barb Newman

Worship as Formation/Transformative: You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit  or Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation both by James Smith and What's Love Got to Do With It?: How the Heart of God Shapes Worship, Sam Hamstra

General worship theology and practice (includes study questions): Wise Church: Exploring Faith and Worship with Christians Around the World, Emily Brink and Paul Detterman

Worship and Difficult Times: Stilling the Storm: Worship and Congregational Leadership During Difficult Times, Kathleen Smith

I commend your worship committee for taking time to deepen their understanding and practice through a book study.  There are so many great books on worship that have been written in the last decade that there is something out there for any context.  I am sure others can add to this beginning list. 

Thanks for sharing this Mark! I love the idea of a "no-shush" church; what a great picture of being the body of Christ together in worship. 

Hi Adom, 

Great question(s) and worthy of some discussion.  Since you mention me by name I will try and answer some of them from where I sit but I hope others will engage as well. There is a lot of wisdom out there. 

First, the question about what is or is not allowed to be sung in our worship.  There is no longer any requirement that churches solely use music from one of our published hymnals so in essence you are free to take music from whatever resource/website you have access too.  But, in our polity (church rules of governance) the elders are charged with the task of overseeing worship which includes making sure that the music that is sung is appropriate for worship in a Christian Reformed Church. 

That of course begs an answer to your second question or a rephrase of it, "what qualifies a song as appropriate".  Let me begin by saying just because the editorial committee of Lift Up Your Hearts chose not to include a song doesn't mean that we deemed it inappropriate for use in the CRC.  The fact is that we looked at at least 3,000 songs as a committee and by using up every bit of real estate in the hymnal we managed to include about 850.  So there are a lot of songs we didn't include.  We began with an outline for the hymnal with a rough estimate of how many songs we felt we needed in each section, we were also committed to including songs from a diverse number of genres in each section (roughly global, contemporary, traditional hymnody).  For Christmas for example, we aimed for between 20-25 songs which when you put in the songs that are "required" left little room for anything else.  Many good Christmas songs were left out due to space alone.  Other times we had two songs of the same stylistic genre that said pretty much the same thing so one had to go.  

But there were many additional songs that we let go due to theological or musical concerns.  However, here is another reality when it comes to hymnal publishing.  We were needing to think very broadly about the church which in this case encompassed two denominations spread across two nations.  So it could very well be that a song that we deemed not appropriate for the hymnal might pass scrutiny in a more specific context.  In my own church we have sung a number of songs, even the Sundays I've preached, that did not pass the hymnal committee because of textual concerns.  In our context the problematic reading of the text would never be raised, but given another context that same text would be offensive.  That's where the wisdom of the leadership is important.  It could also be that even though few people will raise their eyebrows at a text it still isn't appropriate for our worship because every song we sing forms us.  

Choosing congregational songs then is a bit about the context but not entirely.  If we take the formative power of worship seriously (and we should) then what people sing will form their understanding of God, God's relationship to us, and our relationship to each other.  As pastors, elders, and others who are tasked with worship's oversight we need to take that priestly and prophetic role very seriously.   Here are some guidelines I have found helpful (though there are exceptions to every rule):

 

Music Guidelines

• Singable by congregations rather than a soloist
• Preferred range: c-d1
• Rhythmically accessible to congregants
• Fits the text and supports its message
• Well-crafted memorable melody
• Interesting with some predictability but not trite
• Playable by non-professional but trained musicians
• Follows the principles of standard music theory, unless compositional style demands otherwise

Text Guidelines

• Biblical
• Theologically Reformed
• Gender-neutral language for people
• Poetic texts ought to reflect good poetic techniques
• Grammatically correct (with some poetic license)
• Artfully written, not trite or mundane
• Cohesive in thought
• Understandable message (not puzzling to the singer or needing too much unpacking)
• Captures the imagination or results in further reflection
• Communal (we/you not I/me...exception for African American, Psalmody, and other music where I=We)
• Words fit naturally with selected tune

One of your final comments was whether or not Reformed Worship could highlight a few songs.  We have always highlighted congregational song through our Songs for the Season, then Noteworthy, and soon Sing 10! columns, but we haven't solely focused on newly composed or specifically songs from the contemporary/modern genre but rather sought to highlight songs from diverse genres. The problem I fear with a quarterly journal is that currently we are planning the Lent/Easter issue.  If we provide a list of songs now with critique by Lent/Easter they will already be in use in our churches. Worship folk aren't going to and shouldn't have to wait for the next issue of RW to decide whether or not to use a song. 

As for other means of evaluating new songs for their content I think the Network could be a great place to do that.  I encourage all worship leaders to share their newest finds and offer some reflection on why they commend them to other churches.  And who knows maybe someday we will come up with a system for evaluating new songs on a more regular basis.  Until then do share with each other the best that is out there, and when necessary offer cautionary remarks.  

Hope this helps...happy to engage more.