Arranging the Pieces
Howard Stevenson
For worship leaders, Sunday seems to come every three days. Trying to bring freshness and newness to worship constantly challenges us.
— Howard Stevenson When I was on the faculty at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, I frequently drove to the campus on my Honda Gold Wing touring motorcycle along a beautiful, seven-mile stretch of the California coast. Dramatic cliffs and rocks lined the beaches; palm trees arched their spindly trunks in the sand; sailboats bobbed in the gentle blue-and-green swells. I frequently reminded myself not to take this magnificent part of the world for granted. Each day I tried to see things I had not noticed before or to see things in a new way. For seventeen years I continued to marvel at the patterns and nuances of God's handiwork. Leading corporate worship is like that beautiful commute: the challenge is to discover continual enjoyment in an oft-repeated exercise. "Worship is the adoration and praise of that which delights us," writes John Piper. "We praise what we enjoy, because praise completes the enjoyment. We worship God for the pleasure to be had in him." How can we combat the propensity to let the heaven-directed activity of worship fall into dullness and routine? How can we do justice to this exalted calling when it falls to us to plan and lead it week after week, year after year? For worship leaders, Sunday seems to come every three days. It's like a voracious animal that consumes all our efforts and then wants more. Trying to find freshness and newness in worship constantly challenges us. On the average, I spend the equivalent of an entire working day each week in worship planning. I continually carry ideas around in my head. Special celebrations like Easter, of course, require months ...
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