The following post is by John Woods (johnspencerwoods@gmail.com), the minister of music at First Baptist Church of Hamilton, Texas. He has been working with General Assembly worship leader Randall Bradley of Baylor University’s Center for Christian Music Studies. The Assembly is July 2-3 in Houston, Texas.
In just a few short weeks, people from all over the globe will join together to celebrate God’s work among and through the people of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. As we gather, we will have the privilege of worshipping together with our sisters and brothers in Christ. But what will worship look like for General Assembly? What should we expect as we meet to worship God alongside our neighbor?
As a part of the worship planning and leadership team for General Assembly, I’ve had the privilege of helping plan the worship services together with a team of musicians, poets, pastors, artists, and lay-people. I’m convinced that worship will be one of the highlights of our time together in Houston, setting the tone for the rest of General Assembly.
In his book Beyond the Worship Wars, Thomas G. Long said it this way, “Worshiping God is not simply a good thing to do; it is a necessary thing to do to be human. The most profound statement that can be made about us is that we need to join with others in bowing before God in worshipful acts of devotion, praise, obedience, thanksgiving, and petition. What is more, when all the clutter is cleared away from our lives, we human beings do not merely need to engage in corporate worship; we truly want to worship in communion with others. All of us know somewhere in our hearts that we are not whole without such worship, and we hunger to engage in that practice.”
In keeping with Thomas Long’s thoughts, our goal has been to plan worship that will be an authentic and eclectic expression from a diverse people to our limitless God. Worship at General Assembly will include voices of friends from around the globe. When we join together, we will be worshipping God in solidarity with people from every tribe and tongue. We will see a broader picture of God through the songs we sing, the art we view, and the languages we hear. Our sacred scripture will be opened and we will be challenged to hear the ancient words afresh. Worship at times will stretch us, calling out the very best we have inside as an offering to God. There will be new songs, and there will be old songs. We will worship with the beat of African percussion, the deep reeds of the organ, the fanfare of the brass, and the rhythm of the guitar. We will worship in a way that is focused of God, rather than on ourselves. And as we worship, we will be called to look to our right and left and find strength in the people who are worshipping with us.
Thomas Long continues, “Thus, planners of worship do not make worship meaningful; worship is already meaningful. We do not manufacture worship that addresses people’s deepest needs; true worship already meets those needs. Our job, then, is to get the distortions out of the way and to plan worship that is authentic, that does not obscure, indeed that magnifies, those aspects of true worship that draw people yearning to be whole.”
Join us as we worship the God who makes us whole.
Online pre-registration for General Assembly will be open until Wednesday, June 24. After that, you can register on-site for the event, which is free and open to all. Learn more about the Assembly at www.thefellowship.info/assembly.