lancaster area worship network

Worship Together Conference wrap-up

Apr 17

brettMiscellaneous, Reviews 3 Comments

Chew up the honey, spit out the wax.

That’s what my pastor (Jamie Mitchell) always says when you go to a conference. There are always really good things you will learn at a conference, and there are always things that are not so good. So you must take away the good and seek to apply it in your church context as well as learn from the not so good things, and remember not to do them.

From my perspective, here’s the honey and the wax from the Worship Together conference I recently attended in Lenexa, Kansas. My hope is to post on each of these things individually in future posts, but here’s the summary:

HONEY

• Phil Wickham – Phil was in concert with Matt Maher and Leeland the first night. I had heard a few of his songs previously and had been thinking about exploring more of his stuff, and after his set I was convinced, blown away, blessed, and hungry to spend a couple bucks on his music. It had been a long time since I heard lyrics that were so hope and wonder-filled. Most of his songs looked forward to our future hope of Christ’s return and reign and were written in a way that was new and fresh. Different melodies, different hooks, unique ways of saying things, new thoughts to ponder, words that made me (and God, I’m sure) smile again and again because of their lyrical artistry and reverence. Not to mention Phil is a great worship leader, performer, and vocalist.
• Rich Kirkpatrick’s Seminars – Rich has a blog where he has addressed some worship myths. When I read his list of myths, I thought we were in for a fight. I disagreed with most of them at first glance. But he presented them in a way that was thoughtful, open for dialogue, and he clarified the context of the statements which helped me to get my dander down. He also had some helpful tips on how to have a conversation. Rich and I are from 2 different worlds, I believe, but I think I could learn from him, even if we don’t agree all the time.

WAX

• Where was the gospel? – I don’t know if I’m spoiled by going to Sovereign Grace conferences, but I honestly only remember one person referring to Christ’s life, death, or resurrection, and that was at the very end of the conference. The focus was definitely more on music and the experience of worship than on Christ, which is off-target in my opinion. Maybe I just wasn’t listening well??
• Rick Cua‘s messages – Rick gave 2 talks on “10 Things Every Musician Should Know.” Some of what he said was decent, but there were some things that really raised some questions in my mind. His most troubling statement was, “If worship is the road to God, then worship+technology is the super-highway.” Any takers on why this is troubling?
• Unbelievers on the worship team – I don’t know if this was the case on any of the teams that led worship at the conference, but I know there were numerous comments made in the seminars I attended about the blessing of having unbelievers on your team. Doesn’t Scripture warn against this?

Any initial reactions or comments? Any questions about these things that you would like me to address? Can’t guarantee I’ll be a big help, but I can try.