Hope
Our family Christmas card this year includes my daughter’s painted wreath with the word "hope." We could have chosen other words but "hope" seemed most fitting.
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.
Our family Christmas card this year includes my daughter’s painted wreath with the word "hope." We could have chosen other words but "hope" seemed most fitting.
I honestly have no idea how Lewis Smedes’ memoir My God and I made its way to my bookshelf. I was about to put it on the donate pile but figured I’d read it first. I’m so glad I did.
Isn’t it strange that while society is so eager to begin celebrating Christmas, it is equally quick to drop it like a hot potato?
A few weeks ago there was a Facebook post on the CRC Worship Ministries page requesting suggestions for some new contemporary worship music. Check out the responses and add your own!
Worship Resources for Trinity Sunday and Memorial Day (May 27, 2018).
Are you an Organist, Volunteer or Professional Musician, Worship Planner, Pastor, Visual Artist, Children/Youth Leader, or Worshiper? If so, this conference is designed for you!
Below you will find a document which lists all the songs we sang at Synod 2017, along with where you can find them, the service outlines, and the banner images used on the PowerPoint.
Here are worship resources and prayers for refugees and immigrants that have been culled from the archives of Reformed Worship.
I was reading a Worship article in the Calvary CRC newsletter (Edina, MN) when the following headline caught my eye: Blessings in Service: Elder and Deacon Stories.
I was blessed by the worship brought in word and song. However, it was the preparation around the children leaving for Children and Worship that will remain in my memory.
Here is a recording of the song: "Don't Be Afraid"
https://youtu.be/uJZVFfMXQRI
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...
Worship Ministries would appreciate hearing from any church that plans their worship for the Advent/Christmas season around these devotions. [email protected]
We are thrilled to have you join the Regional-Advisory group, Ben!
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...
Keith, you may find these resources of interest to you:
"The Heart of Worship: Learning to Inhabit the Liturgy for the Life of the World" by Prof. Cory Willson
"Everyday Church -...
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/...
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...
Thanks for these thoughtful comments!
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....