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Worship Ministries Mission Statement
North Haven Church Worship Ministries exists
to ascribe worth to God through artistic excellence in creative ways that foster worship.
What does it mean to ascribe worth?
To
ascribe worth is to publicly tell of the attributes of God. In the
corporate worship setting, there are two basic ways we ascribe worth to
God. The first way is by exploring the personal relationship we each
have with Jesus Christ. Examples include faith stories and
testimonies, communion, and singing from a first-person perspective
with songs such as, “I Will Call upon the Lord.”
Another way we
ascribe worth to God is by declaring the Biblical truths about who God
is. Examples of this second way include scripture readings, prayers of
exaltation, and singing from a third-person perspective with songs such
as, “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.”
Of course, there are a number of ways we ascribe worth to God that could include elements of both methods.
What is artistic excellence?
“While perfectionism is destructive and man-centered, pursuing excellence is constructive and God-honoring (Noland 136-137).”
There
are places within WM for people with varying degrees of skill to
participate. Be it on stage or in the booth, however, the desire to
use one’s gifts for God’s glory must always be greater than the level
of performance. Effort trumps talent.
Artistic excellence is
the result of applying a sincere desire to please the Lord through
God-given abilities. This sincere desire comes from a practical
application of Colossians 3:23 (NIV), which reads: “Whatever you do,
work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
Artistic excellence connotes maximum effort, the sacrifice of time
through group rehearsal and individual practice, and a continued
aspiration to grow in the knowledge of the Lord, thereby discovering
his will for the development of a given skill set.
The end result will
be God-honoring, as evidenced by a feeling of contentment that the best
possible performance has been achieved with what was given,
irrespective of specific mistakes that may have occurred. Inherently,
the pursuit of artistic excellence will bear the secondary fruit of
improved quality of performance over time.
What are creative ways?
Creative
ways to worship God should collaboratively involve the three basic
learning styles: audio, visual, and tactile. Provided with the capital
and human resources, and with an appropriate context for which to try
it, no new medium proposed for the worship of God will be rejected
solely on the basis of its novelty.
In the discipline of worship,
creativity is the opposite of complacency. Continually expanding the
worship repertoire is essential to facilitating multicultural diversity
and staying relevant within a changing society.
What does it mean to foster worship?
Every
participant of WM is responsible for leading the congregation in
worship. To foster worship is to create an atmosphere in which worship
is not merely possible; it is expected.
Ideally, the diversity
of the congregation should be reflected as much as possible in the
worship media. The people on stage, for instance, should be a
microcosm of those in the pews, representing a variety of cultures,
appearances, and preferred styles of worship.
The sanctuary, meanwhile, should be inviting, yet not at the expense of reverence.
The
congregation is expected to grow in their understanding of God by
worshiping in a variety of ways, even if some of them may not be
entirely comfortable at first.
Ultimately, each member of the congregation should be emboldened to worship as the Holy Spirit leads.
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Note: Rory Noland's book, The Heart of the Artist was incredibly helpful in formulating the detailed explanation of this mission statement.
Bibliography: Noland, Rory. The Heart of the Artist. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999
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