I grew up in the RCA in South Haven, Michigan, went to college at Northwestern in Orange City, Iowa. My husband and I worked in churches in Oskaloosa, Pella, and Sioux Center, Iowa. We also spent two years overseas in Papua New Guinea with Wycliffe Bible Translators. We have been in Michigan for 16 years, working at Park Church in Worship, and most recently teaching worship at Kuyper College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
If we understand worship as engaging/dialogue with God, we will want scripture to saturate our services. If our pattern for worship is that God reveals Himself and we respond, then scripture will be appropriate for both God's revelation of Himself and for our response. This is a different understanding than "we do the worship, then we listen to God during the sermon."
I love to use scripture for a call to worship, for God's revelation of Himself (resulting in our praise), for a call to confession, sometimes even for the confession (Psalm 51), for the assurance of forgiveness, for instructions for grateful living, as a prayer for illumination, as a response to the Word, as a sending into the world for continued worship/service... okay, let's just say I love to use the scripture in worship! As worship planners, we actually script the dialogue between God and His people; that's a weighty responsibility and I'm more concerned to do that appropriately and less concerned to do that creatively.
That said, I believe that the more we can involve the Body in worship, the more they will own the worship. (Three cheers for the priesthood of believers!) I love to use a diversity of members to present the scripture, as well as having the whole congregation involved sometimes. Park Church has a quarterly memory passage, and when we use this in worship we can see where it fits into God's story and our stories. Accompanying scripture with images from creation communicates particularly well with some folks. We stand for the reading of the scripture, and sometimes thank God for His Word after reading it.
One of my favorite ways to root worship in the Word is to read a verse or two, then stop to respond with an appropriate prayer/song. Then we continue with the reading... and response, back and forth through the passage.
Posted in: Reading Scripture Creatively
If we understand worship as engaging/dialogue with God, we will want scripture to saturate our services. If our pattern for worship is that God reveals Himself and we respond, then scripture will be appropriate for both God's revelation of Himself and for our response. This is a different understanding than "we do the worship, then we listen to God during the sermon."
I love to use scripture for a call to worship, for God's revelation of Himself (resulting in our praise), for a call to confession, sometimes even for the confession (Psalm 51), for the assurance of forgiveness, for instructions for grateful living, as a prayer for illumination, as a response to the Word, as a sending into the world for continued worship/service... okay, let's just say I love to use the scripture in worship! As worship planners, we actually script the dialogue between God and His people; that's a weighty responsibility and I'm more concerned to do that appropriately and less concerned to do that creatively.
That said, I believe that the more we can involve the Body in worship, the more they will own the worship. (Three cheers for the priesthood of believers!) I love to use a diversity of members to present the scripture, as well as having the whole congregation involved sometimes. Park Church has a quarterly memory passage, and when we use this in worship we can see where it fits into God's story and our stories. Accompanying scripture with images from creation communicates particularly well with some folks. We stand for the reading of the scripture, and sometimes thank God for His Word after reading it.
One of my favorite ways to root worship in the Word is to read a verse or two, then stop to respond with an appropriate prayer/song. Then we continue with the reading... and response, back and forth through the passage.
Thanks for asking!