The Importance of Care

Posted on by Dr. Will Whittaker

I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. – John 13:34-35

Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ – Galatians 6:2

I don’t know what I’d do without my care group leaders in our music ministry. Seriously…without them I’d likely not know what all is going on in our ministry. Back in the day when our ministry was much smaller, I could keep up with the 50 or so in our ministry. But now that our ministry has basically quadrupled, I depend on my care leaders to keep me up to date with all kinds of things going on in the lives of the people in our church. Just today while I was updating my schedule and checking on a few this week with health needs, I was contacted by two different care leaders who had also being checking on them as well. It’s amazing when the body of Christ acts like the body!

This ministry of care extends beyond the music ministry to the whole church. We have a deacon family ministry that allows our deacons to be able to really invest in the lives of a group of families under their care. Last night we installed and ordained 22 MORE men into our deacon ministry for this purpose. It was a sweet time of worship and I was grateful to be apart of the service and to help pray for and commission these new servants to the ministry of our church.

A church that cares deeply for each other will not hesitate to serve and love each other, it is simply a natural byproduct. I am thankful we make that a priority here. It takes some effort as the church expands, but it’s essential for all to feel valued, no matter who they are. That’s really the heartbeat of what is means to be an intergenerational church—that we demonstrate value to all people.

 

 

Be A Leader Who’s Always Growing

Posted on by Dr. Will Whittaker

I’m always amazed when the Lord chooses to speak to me with a very direct word from one of His saints. Often the person who speaks a word of encouragement into my life probably doesn’t realize the impact a few simple words has. Regardless, I’m thankful for the word I received last night.

As I was leaving rehearsals last night, one of my choir members drove by me in the parking lot as I was heading out of the church and rolled his window down and said, “you’re doing a great job, Will. I’ve really seen you grow over the last few years.” My first reaction was, “I appreciate that; I love having you in the choir.” As he drove off, I thought about what he just said and my first thought was, ” WAIT! You’ve noticed ME growing?” The reason this startled me at first was because over the last 6 and half years, my role has been to grow our music ministry…and that the Lord has. We’ve seen tremendous growth in our numbers, spiritual focus, and musicality. There is much chatter about how the Lord continues to build His church here. However, it never occurred to me that anyone would notice my own growth. Somehow I had forgotten that the demands of a music ministry of 60-70 when I arrived are certainly not the same now that we have 240. While I knew the Lord has brought this growth, I was reminded last night (convicted, really) that my personal abilities were not the reason we grew. My supposed “advanced” leadership skills and “maturity” were not why we grew. Nope! Thankfully, the Lord has grown His church anyway AND grown me to meet the challenges of that which He has called me to.

As I’ve thought about the encouragement to me over the next several hours, the Lord revealed to me how I’ve grown personally in my spiritual life and my ability to lead effectively both on an off the platform. Those simple words of encouragement have allowed me to thank the Lord for the journey over these last several years. Maybe you the reader need this same encouragement, so here are a few things I’ve realized that God has shown me that I think have helped me grow:

  1. Delegate. As our program has gotten larger, I know I cannot do everything. Identify and invest in key people to do things you cannot (or not able) to do.
  2. People are everything. People first. If this is hard for you–get care group leaders and have them help you—but stay tuned to your people’s needs.
  3. Communicate Effectively. Communication takes various forms, but it’s essential that you keep all in the loop. Again, if you’re weak in this area, enlist help from others…but don’t leave people out of the loop.
  4. Plan Ahead. Have a plan for each season and year. Be ready at rehearsal with a plan of where you want to go. An effective teacher always has a lesson plan. Study your scores so you may anticipate problems. If you’re blessed to have strong musicians, they’ll know when you’re unprepared for rehearsal.  Don’t be lazy! I’m convinced laziness is one of the roots to why pastoral musicians are asked to leave churches. 
  5. Demonstrate Value. I cannot stress this enough. Make sure every person feels like they are a contributing member of your group. From the weakest musician to the strongest, be sure each has an integral role (although not always equal role) in worship leadership.

This encouragement has reminded me that I have NOT arrived! My journey is not complete. The Lord is refining and growing me more into His image for His glory. God is continuing to equip me for the road ahead. May I serve with excellence, faithfulness, and humility.

Strive for Cultural Diversity in Congregational Song to Promote Unity

Posted on by Dr. Will Whittaker
Colossians 3:15-17- And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My children find it strange that my favorite radio station in my car is the one that no one can hear–power off! Yes, I rarely listen to anything while I’m in the car. Likewise, when I run, I find solace in the quiet of my footsteps and the occasional barking dog. Sometimes it’s hard to explain to my children why someone who has devoted himself to music ministry needs a “break” from music listening. I don’t hate music; I just tend to compartmentalize my enjoyment of it since I’m “working” with music all day. Can you imagine what life would be like without music? Most of us cannot fathom a day without music to propel us forward or to simply soothe the soul. Paul knew the power of music as well as he admonished the Colossians to use music to remember the gospel truth.

Having been called by God to serve in vocational ministry, I’ve devoted most of my life to promoting, teaching, and glorifying God through church music. I feel fortunate that I enjoy leading and worshiping in most music contexts that glorify Christ and articulate the message of the gospel clearly. I’m an anomaly, however. Most people I encounter do not like all kinds of church music. In fact some are more adamant that certain types of music are genuinely more worshipful and edifying to the body. Further, there are those that believe that the presentation of “their” idea of worship music is somehow more authentic. Just like my penchant for “music” while driving, there are folks who given the choice in their churches, would rather simply just turn the worship team “off.”  It is vital that worship leaders be sensitive to this me versus them mentality and strive to integrate a musical atmosphere that is sensitive to the various generations and cultures in our churches.

Likewise, Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, knew that unity was important for the early church because sin would always creep in and cause division. Not only should worship be vertical (in praise to God directly), Paul asserts that unity could be achieved by singing the WORD of God to each other (horizontally) in a variety of types of songs. Paul knew that the early church didn’t have the printed Word of God that we enjoy today. These early Christians would need to remember the Word somehow…and singing scripture was an incredible way for the word to “dwell richly” in the hearts and minds of those early Christians. The songs we sing today should do the same thing. We must sing substance and the music should complement the text of Truth. Further, the various types of music available today should be reflected in our worship services.  Here are some suggestions to select worship music that reflects ethnic and generational diversity, while being rich in text.

  1. Text is most important factor in selecting worship music. Period.  Worship music should include vertical and horizontal expressions of worship where the people of God sing to God as well as one another the truth of the gospel. For more information, see this previous blog post Building Community in the Intergenerational Church through Music- Selecting We-Centric Songs
  2. Use black gospel as well as southern gospel music, especially if you have African-Americans in your congregation. We Georgians are well adept at singing southern gospel; our people are familiar with it. However, if we are to reflect our communities, we need to sing black gospel also. There are numerous wonderful songs out there to sing. However, I’ve found the best places to find these songs is by looking into literature written for schools and/or community choruses.
  3. Investigate music from Latin America. I love syncopation, especially the habanero and other cross-rhythmic beats. We have a severe lack of latin flavor in many of our churches. Just be sensitive if the presence of congas and a cowbell make some folks in your church squirm! Again, school literature often has more variety in terms of literature.
  4. Integrate music from Asian cultures. In our county, the Asian population is exploding. Traditional Asian music utilizes a limiting pentatonic scale, but there are some interesting things out that can be used if you investigate.
  5. At the very least, utilize worship leaders (players and singers) who are not ethnically the same as the majority of your congregation. Example, I have a wonderful Korean young woman in my choir who studied opera in South Korea. She is an excellent singer, but didn’t know many songs in English she could use in worship. I suggested she look at some oratorios she might be familiar with. She wound up singing “He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd,” during December and it was a glorious offering of worship.

The key is strong text, varying music types, and utilizing folks from various generations AND cultures. Doing so can really make the difference in the worship experiences for ages to come. I believe this is exactly what Paul was referring to when he was encouraging the Colossians to be unified…bring your various experiences and abilities and be unified in PURPOSE and the Lord will be glorified.