Studies in "Christian Worship" (Essentials Red Fall 08)

For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt

Hi everyone! This is Blog #1! :)

My name is Rachel Byrnes, and I am the worship leader for Goshen House. I am going to be the one doing all of the "blogging" on this site, starting with some assignments from a class I have started taking called "Essentials Red." I am also going through two other courses, "Essentials Blue" and "Essentials Green." They are all courses on deepening one's level of knowledge on worship, what it means, what it's origins are, practical uses, etc. I am very excited to see what I learn from this class.

“Worship, in all its grades and kinds, is the response of the creature to the Eternal.”

This course is already beginning to challenge my thinking and my paradigms. I have always been fascinated with the word "Worship" and what connotations we give it. I have to say, that the above quote is the best I have found on worship, and yet so simple. What this speaks to me is that I need to be in a constant place of conciousness of my actions and their relationship to God. It's so far beyond the arts, beyond anything our mind can box it into. Our thoughts, actions, motives, emotions, words should ALL be for the Glory of God.

In this course, we are learning about how worship has been interpreted and implemented all throughout the last 2000 years of Christianity. To be perfectly honest, I have never enjoyed history, and I didn't see this as something I would want to learn about, but I am realizing the importance of understanding our past and not forgetting the trailblazers who went before us.

I have always been a worship leader seeking the "new." The "old" wasn't necessarily bad, in fact, I love the old Hymns. There is a just something in me that wants to have a uniqueness in my worship. I have a very strong desire to create "indigenous" music as a worship leader. As much as there is a lot of great music currently and from the past, the message doesn't usually resound exactly with the things our church community is experiencing. But, I am seeing how learning from history, on how others have created their own indigenous worship, I will see how I can relate to my current situations and relationship with the Lord through music.

The book, "Introduction to Christian Worship" by James White (our assigned reading) briefly mentions "spontaneity" as one of the things worship is based on, although, this is something that our church and myself definitely focus on. We are very open to letting the Spirit lead and being creative by removing a bit of the tight structure. It creates a time of worship that becomes SO personal and SO engaging. Of course, it has to have a good amount of balance.

Now, on to the discussion about the language of space. For me, a worship space has never been confined to four walls. I grew up having church in my parents basement. It was amazing and my faith roots grew deep in a place that most would call very non-traditional. I think this has very much helped with my view of worshiping the Lord being something that can happen ANYWHERE. For the first time since I was a child, we have finally bought property to put a building on for our church, and we will for the first time have an actual, solid, separate and permanent location! So for me, I have seemed to have a harder time understanding needing a building to have "church." When I go into those large, beautiful cathedrals, I'm dumbfounded. It's very hard for me to grasp, because my worship experiences have never included anything so grandiose. I love the experiences I had when I would listen to my dad play guitar while he sang with my mom and the others there. It was just so amazing to see it so stripped down and bare but SINCERE.

So, I have a lot of pondering to do. I am excited to learn about things that are outside of my own box.