I love to
worship. That’s one of the BIG things that attracted me to Harvest in
2001. I know it attracted many of
you too. A vibrant, passionate worship experience should be sought after
because this is what we were made for…to attribute worth to our God. The very
character of eternity is that of worship, and every attempt we make to
experience it here is a small taste of what it will be for us on that day when
we see Jesus Christ face to face.
It isn’t surprising,
given the priority of worship, that worship leading is highly esteemed in the
Scriptures. In 1 Chronicles 6:31-32 we read, “These are the men whom David put
in charge of the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark rested
there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting
until Solomon built the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they performed
their service according to their order.” We find from the genealogy that
follows that these were the sons of Korah and that among them was Asaph, whose
name appears in more than a few of the Psalms. These guys were the worship pastors, leaders and directors of
their day. And all those who are involved in leading the church in corporate
worship today are following in their esteemed footsteps!
At Harvest,
our second pillar states that we are intent on, “Lifting high the name of Jesus
Christ in worship”. Though we have
not had a worship pastor or director over this essential part of our ministry
for some months, we have nevertheless experienced great times of worship
together. We have had some guest
leaders along the way (Matt MacDonald, Levi Denbok, Eric Helliwell), as well as
a couple of guys who are Harvest members but who live away from Barrie now (Travis
Doucette, Joel Dugard), but we have mostly relied on three of our own worship
leaders. And they have blessed us with their willing and heartfelt service.
On behalf of a
grateful church family, I want to esteem Chad Ballantyne, Steve Dobbs and Dawn Woodland
for their work among us. And I
want the church to know that the elders were able to set aside a special gift
for each of them this Christmas to acknowledge the extra effort they have been
putting in over these months that we have been without a worship pastor/director. Take the time to add your personal
message to the comments of this blog entry as an encouragement to these
servants.
In the new year, you’ll see a few more guest leaders (Joel Dugard on Jan 2
and 9; Joshua Seller on Jan 16; Jordan Donald on Jan
23), and then we will be relying again on our three worship
leaders after giving them a couple of months off. I thank God for them and for
all the musicians and vocalists who make up our worship teams. We are blessed! Overall, our
worship ministry is in great shape. We have some new musicians, three solid
teams (though not without some instrumental gaps), and an amazing attitude.
They love Jesus Christ and love to serve his church through their God-given
talents.
I would also
like to acknowledge one member of our staff team, Amber Steingard, who has
really stepped up to keep the administrative engine running for the worship
ministry. I appreciate so much her behind the scenes efforts to deliver high
impact worship each Sunday as she works with the worship leaders to craft the
services.
And
it would be wrong to acknowledge, as I have, all of the upfront people without
a shout out to those behind the scenes who make it all happen on any given
Sunday. Our tech team includes those who pull off the in-house audio, the recordings
for CD, web and podcast, and the video/slide guys. And worship wouldn’t be what
it is if we didn’t have a room to do it in. So I’m also grateful for our
Tabernacle team who set up and tear down the worship centre each week, providing
us with a great worship environment.
Having said all that, there is a gap in that
we do not yet have the one who will lead this essential and involved part of
our ministry. I would like to let
you know that we have been working with a specific candidate over the past few
weeks and are actively considering him for the role of worship director at Harvest
Bible Chapel Barrie. Please pray with your elders and staff as we carefully
seek God’s will for us in this. And pray similarly for the candidate who
must consider whether or not Harvest in Barrie is for him.
I look forward to the next time we get to be
together to worship the Lord Jesus Christ and lift his name high.
(For a more
complete study on the Sons of Korah
check out this International Standard Bible Encyclopedia entry.)