Artist (and many others) as Worship Leader

It’s not uncommon for us at The Orchard to have various artists participating in our weekend gatherings during our worship and/or teaching time.  But this past weekend, I watched God do something that has really stuck with me these past couple of days.

It was the beginning of a new series entitled, “The Gospel: From a Garden to The City”. This first week’s  theme was “Creation”, so Mike Jones and his amazing team of musicians and vocalists led our community through several songs that highlighted the beauty and majesty of our Creator.  At the same time our weekend artist, Julie, was painting a beautiful depiction of God reaching down from the heavens to humanity. 

And man.....the mix of songs, art, visuals, lighting, and the theme of this week’s teaching all flowed powerfully together in a way that undoubtedly impacted many, many hearts.

But one of the things that stood out to me the most was the beautiful and profound way in which God used Julie and her talent as an artist.  See, Julie was not just a “supplemental” artist off to the side "doing her thing”. She was a worship leader.  A choir conductor!  An integral part of the team God was using to accomplish something powerful in people's hearts.

Perhaps we need to rethink how we're using the title "worship leader".  If anything, I think it needs to be expanded!  While it was evident that Mike and his team were doing an incredible job leading us in worship, it was even more evident that they were simply a part of many worship leaders God was using as well. 

Julie was leading us through her passion and painting. Our visual team was leading us through the use of imagery and light.  Our audio team was leading us through the mix and balance of sound.  But perhaps the most beautiful part of it all was the way in which we, as a community, were leading each other as we lifted our voices in unison and declared the goodness and beauty of our Creator.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

Comments

[david]

sounds like an incredible weekend! i love these thoughts and i'm also doing my best to awaken our community to their potential as created creators.

[Tammy Helfrich]

I heard so many people comment about how touched they were (as was I), to see her stop her painting and raise her hands in worship during "Majesty". What a beautiful service it was!

[Chris Courtney]

Oh man, Scott... I got a chill just reading your post. I gotta get down to Aurora one weekend to see what you guys are up to and how God is moving through The Orchard!

[doug]

As worshipers in the congregation, it's also important for us to lead those around us by engaging in God Honoring worship.

[emma]

Sounds like a beautiful weekend. I think that idea of us as a congregation helping to lead each other in worship is really important - it's supposed to be this really communal thing! It's very exciting to watch you guys journey into the arts more and more... and still makes me want to be there in this journey with you!