As we in worship ministry, like David, seek to celebrate and admire the Lord, we too, experience a wide range of victories and challenges.
One of my favourites of David’s Psalms is Psalm 145. I seek to live out the invitation to daily bring my praise to God and exalt His name. To declare His greatness and worth and to faithfully commend His works to generations after me. Our God is gracious and compassionate, and His kingdom, which we are privileged to participate in, is everlasting.
His promises are sure, His provision is abundant, and His presence is with us. In all the highs and all the lows.
In the past year, we have sought to bring expectant hearts into each gathering we’ve had the privilege of serving at and to steward God’s presence in a way that sees His kingdom come to earth as it is in heaven. Let me recount how the LORD has been “trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does” (Psalm 145:13b).
Over the summer of 2022, it was refreshing to meet as a worship family to sing around campfires in backyards. With lighter worship-leading commitments during July and August, we as worship ministry staff spent time seeking the Lord for the year ahead, ‘checking the pulse’ of our leaders, and making plans.
Worship Ministry Values
We felt peace about continuing to pursue these five values as a worship ministry:
1. Worship and prayer
2. Community
3. Creativity
4. Service
5. Skill development
In the fall, we planned a kick-off event that included reminiscing along a giant timeline of the worship ministry milestones throughout the history of Oriole Park/CrossRoads, laying out the new Thursday plan, and then enjoying a time of prayer and prophetic words for each individual worship family member present.
We put the updated plan into action and began a rotation of Thursday night gatherings with musicians and technicians that focused on one of our five values at a time, including a once-per-month church-wide worship night that quickly became a treasured staple for us. In fact, at the beginning of 2023, we added a second worship night per month. These meetings include worship mixed with intercessory prayer for our church, city and nation on the first Thursday of each month, plus an extended time of worship through song, testimony and prayer for individual needs on the third Thursday of each month.
Worship Pastor Search
As many of you know, we have been searching for a Worship Pastor since October of 2021, and in the fall of last year, our dedicated search committee found a promising candidate. Unfortunately, things fell through, and we all had to work through our disappointment, but as our Psalm says, “The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their [worship pastor] at the proper time” (verse 15). He will provide! We got on with the work the LORD has entrusted to us, and by His great grace, He has stretched me and allowed me to grow in unexpected ways as the interim pastor of this ministry.
Welcoming New Worship Leaders
The Advent season is always full but fun, and this year, even more so, thanks in part to the opportunity we had to welcome our CrossRoads Kids to the big stage on a Sunday! This has become a beloved recurrence, with kids joining us on Palm Sunday with plans in place for them to join us as many as 4 or 5 times through the coming year. Psalm 145:5 tells us that “one generation commends Your works to another,” we often think of this being older to younger, but truly when our kids join us, the opposite is true.
Another group of young people, our junior high musicians, have joined us once a month to rehearse and lead their peers in worship on Thursday nights. Several have begun to serve in other musical capacities around the church, and we couldn’t be more proud of them! Make sure to welcome and encourage them when you see them at work serving with music!
2023: A Year of Praise
During our Christmas Day and New Year’s Day services, I received a word from the Spirit that 2023 would be a year of praise. So, we introduced some new ‘high praise’ songs and are learning about the seven Hebrew words for praise. “Every day I will praise you” (Psalm 145:2a), “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise” (verse 3a), and “My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD” (verse 21a). He is praiseworthy! He is enthroned on the praises of his people, and our praise can shift atmospheres!
6:00pm Service Change
In February, we began a new adventure. Did you know that since we added the 6:00 pm service on Sundays a few years back, our technicians and musicians have served at all three services when scheduled, for a total of about 10 hours at the church, including rehearsal time? Plus, personal prep time at home. They are a seriously dedicated group of people! So in February, we took the plunge to schedule one team for Sunday mornings and a separate team for Sunday evenings. This new structure has somewhat lightened the load for our worship family and made it possible for a few new and returning musicians to join us due to the reduced time commitment! One challenge is that there are now more positions to fill than we have musicians and techs (but the door has been opened for new people to jump in!) This new approach also transfers increased weight to staff in our area.
Please pray with us:
- That our current technicians, musicians and staff would be refreshed, filled with the Spirit and equipped to serve with excellence
- For more musicians and technicians to join our crew
- For the Father to raise up skilled worship leaders, in particular, to help lead our Sunday gatherings
Scattered throughout the year are many more opportunities to lead God’s people in worship! We have a small but mighty crew of dedicated Celebrate Recovery worship leaders who serve week after week. Our worship family also serves at funerals and weddings, conferences, Alpha retreats, worship and prayer events (there were two 12-hour worship events this year), and at mid-sized groups like Deeper and Foundations. They serve outside the church at the Dream Center, the Mustard Seed, inter-church gatherings and at other churches around Central Alberta.
Here’s another little-known fact:
CrossRoads worship ministry schedules teams, chooses sets, builds charts and plans rehearsals for at least 19 recurring services every month, plus all the additional special events mentioned above! No wonder we get a bit worn out in busy seasons! But we know that “The LORD upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14).
Gratitude
I am so grateful for every person who is part of our music and technical team, for their faithfulness and the heart of worship that each one brings to their work. I’m grateful for those who have served a long time and for those who have joined us over this past year. Working alongside Ashley Lehman, Leanne Walker, Wally Hildebrandt and William Knelsen (from Communications) on our Service Planning Team and Eric Halchik, who serves us so well on our tech team, is a joy. Please pray for this team of staff and volunteers; we want what we do to contribute to the building of God’s kingdom both in us and through us at CrossRoads Church and beyond; we want to grow in our understanding of what it means to worship in Spirit and Truth; we want to see darkness pushed back by the Light of Jesus as we declare his praises both personally and corporately. May we continue to “call on Him in truth” so that He will be near to us (Psalm 145:18) and “so that all people may know of [His] mighty acts and the glorious splendor of [His] kingdom” (Psalm 145:12). Amen!
From a lesser-known worshipper also named Dave (with significant help from Ashley Lehman)
