Adventist Heritage Center From: Best Practices for Adventist Worship <nicholaszork@gmail.com> Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2016 10:31 PM To: Adventist Heritage Center Subject: Best Practices for Adventist Worship, October 30, 2016 Having trouble viewing this email? Click here Editorial by Nicholas Zork The Politics of Worship NAD Ministerial Discuss Subscribe Archive Adventists have a long history of advocating for religious liberty and a specific theological framework within which it is understood to be so important. The traditional overarching narrative of Adventist theology is a conflict over the character of God. Key tensions propel Nicholas Zork the story forward: Is God actually good and loving? Does God truly have our best interest in mind? Will our faithfulness to God be met with trials and disappointments? More importantly, will God's faithfulness to us win out in the end? And despite the sufficiency of God's redemptive work, do we retain the freedom to 1
offer or withhold our allegiance to or from God in return? For Adventists, the answer to all these questions is "yes." At the time of this writing, we do not yet know who will win the United States' presidential election or the fallout thereafter. We also do not yet know the ramifications of current political maneuvering within the Adventist Church. There is a great possibility of turbulent times ahead. And although the Adventist commitment to religious freedom to liberty of conscience is not wedded to partisan politics or political policy, it is an explicitly political commitment. Read More JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK Worship and Culture by Steve Yeagley What's Your Worship Temperature? "Warm is the new cool." That's the conclusion of new research coming out of the Fuller Youth Institute. Prevailing wisdom over the past decade or so has been that young people want cool worship rock bands, coffee bars, and fashion plate preachers. But now that assumption is being challenged. One of the problems with cool is that it's ephemeral. As Steve Yeagley the documentary Merchants of Cool (2001) pointed out, no sooner do you discover cool than you kill it. But more than that, cool Christianity just misses the mark. Brett McCracken was perhaps the first to call cool out in his book Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide (2001). He wrote in a Wall Street Journal op ed, "If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that 'cool 2
Christianity' is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real." Fuller's data, recently released in the book Growing Young (2016), underscores his point. Kara Powell and her associates report, "When we spoke to more than 1,300 young churchgoers, ages 15 to 29, they told us what they want: authenticity and connection. In a word: warmth." Somehow, this seems more compatible with the commitments of biblical faith, if no less difficult for some congregations to achieve especially after years of chasing cool. "Warmth is often slow. Really slow," say the authors. It takes patience and a steady investment in others to produce a warm congregation. So how would young people describe your congregation and its worship? As cool, warm, or just plain tepid? If you're ready to start warming things up, I'd encourage you to check out the Growing Young research and resources. Worship Training by Cheryl Wilson Bridges Consumed Worship Conference: Worship in the Word 3
Cheryl Wilson "And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame Bridges of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed." Exodus 3:2 It must have been a beautiful, clear day. Moses was just out minding his business and tending his father in law Jethro's flock. Suddenly in the distance he saw what every shepherd dreads a brush fire. Moses looked over at the bright light, glistening shrub, and heard the loud sounds of the crackling flame. Then he noticed something very peculiar. The bush, while on fire, was not burning. It was not consumed. However, after closer examination, Moses realized the bush was being consumed, not by the heat of the fire, but by the presence and power of God. Many times in our worship services we are just like Moses. We notice only the fire. We are consumed by the bright lights, the loud sounds, and the hottest tunes in music. While the presence and power of God is overlooked or unnoticed. To combat this dilemma we need a worship renaissance in the Adventist church. On November 1 4, 2017, we will hold an unprecedented worship conference at the Sligo Seventh day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, MD. It is the Consumed Worship Conference: Worship in the Word. This three and a half day conference is a partnership between Sligo Church, Washington Adventist University and the North American Division of Seventh day Adventists. We will offer a university accredited certification in worship leadership that is endorsed by the Adventist Church, North American Division and Washington Adventist University. This one of a kind worship certification will be gained through an intensive worship study course, Christian Worship and Church Music, offered by Washington Adventist University. For those who may not want college credit, a powerful, Biblically based worship conference with 4
renowned guest speakers and talented musicians will be offered. Mark your calendars, spread the news and come planning to be "Consumed" by God's presence! For More information, contact Dr. Cheryl Wilson Bridges, Pastor for Worship: Cbridges@sligochurch.org or 301 270 6777 ext. 123. Worship Planning by Kyle Dever Four Misconceptions about Worship Service Production Best Practices for Adventist Worship sat down with Kyle Dever to discuss four common misconceptions regarding worship service production and some practical ways all churches could benefit from more intentional production practices. Kyle Dever Nicholas Zork: I have sensed a resistance at times to a thorough and intentional approach to worship service production. What do you think creates this resistance? Kyle Dever: I encounter four primary misconceptions that make worship planners skeptical of applying production principles. The first is the assumption that a well produced worship service would need to look like some other highly produced event you have in mind. When you think of event production, if you imagine a huge Coldplay concert, and your church has twenty members, you'll assume production principles don't apply to your context. Or maybe you'll even think they shouldn't apply because, understandably, you don't want your worship service to be like a Coldplay concert. The first misconception is that worship service production equates to a certain style of worship. That's simply not true. 5
Read More JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK Worship and Scripture by David Williams Reviving the Word "Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture." 1 Timothy 4:13 What is the current state of reading Scripture in your church? If your services are anything like the ones I often experience, the Scripture Reading is on life support, hardly the living Word. I wish to impress upon David Williams you, pastors and worship leaders, "devote yourselves to the public reading of Scripture." A little over a year ago, I was questioning whether we should have the Scripture Reading AT ALL in the church service. My thinking was like this: What is the point of having this formal reading? Can I not just read this text myself in my own Bible? If all we are trying to do is fulfill a line item in a liturgical order, then what's the point? If our preacher is bringing a powerful message, then isn't that enough Scripture? Aren't we singing Scripture in our services, too? Read More JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON FACEBOOK Best Practices for Adventist Worship is published by NAD Ministerial. Editor: Nicholas Zork. Copyright 2012 North American Division Corporation of Seventh day Adventists. v(301) 680 6418 6
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