You are looking at posts that were written on December 31st, 2007.
Posted on December 31st, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
I had an amazing vacation. On vacation I love to visit other churches for a time of reflection and worship without the responsibility to lead. I had visited two totally different churches in totally different cultures. Here are the churches that I learned and here is what I have learned.
Gateway Church – Saturday Night at 5:45, totally contemporary, in Southlake, Texas which is a high professional, middle class section of Dallas.
Gateway didn’t have a choir but a larger praise team. This team spanned the stage which is shaped just like ours leading the congregation that was in front of them. Gateway writes their own music which meant that Rachel and I didn’t know a song. But that was great. Because its not about you knowing the songs, its about giving your heart through music. There were times when I couldn’t carry on with the song, due to the immersion of God’s Presence.
The Sermon was well prepared and well thought out. The staff had created a devotional that the entire church was to work through, along with a fast for the first 30 days (the fast was not 30 days, just the devotional). Along with the devotional was cd’s that gave a time of worship everyday as well as a 5 minute devotional to help their members start the day. Rachel and I are excited about working through the book together.
Highland Terrace Baptist Church – Sunday Morning 9:30, totally traditional but with contemporary music, in Greenville, Texas which is a lower middle class workforce outside of Dallas.
This is where things became interesting. The previous night I sang my heart out with songs I’ve never heard, but then I come to this church where I actually knew the songs but I quietly sang. The night before, the congregation was actively involved in worship. Here, they were passing out gum.
I know what this music minister was going through. There is nothing worse then giving everything that you have into a worship service, were everyone is just staring at out with a look of complacency. People seem to have wanted to join in worship, but they held back.
I am leaving out a part of the story, but the question that I have for everyone is, why do congregations join in worship at times and not in others? There are a lot of reasons, but for the sake of learning, I need you to answer the question. What helps engage the congregation in worship?
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