Old School!
What do you do when your entire worship team is away at the same time? You get over yourself and you go ‘old school’!
We have to say that we were a little bit worried when we knew that both Leah and Abbie would be away at the same time on our 3rd week of Church Planting! We had all the questions of “What will we do”? Having a much smaller team means that there will be times when your entire team is not there!
It’s funny because the week before we also had team away; it was the Duerden’s, Wharton’s and Mensah’s that were away that week. They had abandoned their posts as they had heard that this great preacher had flown from the USA and would be speaking at Rock Church in Harpenden! To be fair it was our very own Samuel Duerden who we love dearly and given the chance we would have been there too!
How would we cover Leah and Abbie though? Simon has led worship before but that was over 14 years ago! Yes, he still plays the guitar with the team but he rarely sings! Of course Simon was willing to just ‘go for it’ but deep down I knew that we had to get over ourselves and explore every option. What was wrong with going ‘old school’? Why could we not have videos?
The fact is that we could have videos and they could lead us into the presence of God! Another fact is that this is not the ‘norm’ anymore! We reminded ourselves of some of the most powerful encounters we had experienced ourselves through worship videos and how we had witnessed others being impacted by worship videos. Our lives had been transformed through videos in the past, we had encountered God ourselves! The impact that the video Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace) By Hillsong Worship had on all those attending James Dean’s funeral still sends shivers down my spine. People experienced the power of God that day through the video and I am certain that what they experienced will never leave them.
Last week I also preached at Brian Jacksons Church and have been visiting his Church on and off over the last few months. I have been totally lost in their worship to videos and I am quickly learning that all the times I have ever complained about worship in the past says more about me and my wrong attitude than the actual worship experienced.
So we did it; we chose 3 songs and put them together and we just worshipped and praised. One of the songs was a great declaration to sing! Build your Church by Elevation Worship and Maverick City. It was so powerful! We so desperately need Him to build His Church!
Old School worked for us and although we can’t wait for Leah and Abbie to be back with us, we also know that we can switch things up again in the future if rest is needed!
Simon & Valda
October 17th 2022
