What is Worship?
July 12, 2007
This is an article that featured Todd Johnson and Ed Willmington address the question "What is Worship?" It helps to get inside of the heads of these two worship gurus.
http://www.fuller.edu/news/html/pastors_bkfst1106.asp
Guy
Pastors’ Gathering Explores Worship Issues
Worship was the topic of Fuller’s semiannual President’s Breakfast for
Pastors held Thursday, November 9, with speakers Todd Johnson and Ed
Willmington, both of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the
Arts. More than 100 attended the event in Payton Hall.
“What and who is our worship for? Why do we worship?” These must be
central questions we ask in our churches, said Todd Johnson, the
William K. and Delores S. Brehm Associate Professor of Worship,
Theology and the Arts at Fuller. In his talk “Worship Choices: Going
Beyond the Categories,” Johnson discussed what we can learn from early
church worship history, and then went on to offer pastors some “neutral
terms to help you evaluate what you are doing in your worship, and
why.” Professor and author Lester Ruth offers three helpful questions
we can ask, he said: First, whose story is being told in your
worship—God’s story, or the individual’s story of coming to faith?
Second, who do you understand your church to be when you worship—one
part of the larger corporate church, or a more autonomous, homegrown
congregation? And lastly, where do people find God in your church’s
worship—in the Word, table, or music? It is helpful to understand who
you are as a church and work to strike a balance between these
different elements, Johnson said.
“A Pastoral Approach to Local Church Worship” was the topic of a second
talk given by Ed Willmington, director of the Brehm Center’s Fred Bock
Institute of Music. First considering how pastors and worship leaders
relate to each other, Willmington emphasized the need for a strong
level of trust and communication between the two. When bringing worship
leaders and musicians into your church, “look past the talent—look for
a servant heart,” he urged, and also noted the importance of providing
spiritual support and direction to worship team members. “Who is
walking alongside them?” he asked. Moving to the pastor-congregation
relationship, Willmington stressed the importance of studying and
preaching specifically about worship. Congregants need to understand,
he said, that “worship is a verb—something you do, not something that
is done to you!” Involving the congregation in worship-centered
seminars and formalizing a congregational statement about worship are
also helpful practices, he noted.
A time for questions and answers with both speakers followed the talks,
led by Brehm Center Academic Director Clayton Schmit. “However we
conduct our worship,” Schmit said in conclusion, “let us serve the One
who is worthy. Then we will be on the right track.”