How To Worship

Too funny.



H/T Peter Ould

Always Be Prepared For A Worship Experience

I enjoyed this, one of ASBO Jesus latest offerings.

Learning Journal 15 - Worship and Prayer

At college I have found the discipline of daily morning prayer to both challenging and helpful. I come from a church background which didn’t use much liturgy and learning to appreciate it has been part of my journey into Anglicanism. I have also enjoyed engaging in worship in ways that are different from my own background such as the Taizé week, the BCP weeks and the international weeks. The weekly communion service has been invaluable and has facilitated some of the most powerful worship in the life of the college community. I have really benefited from the weekly period of silence that occurs on a Wednesday morning and I would like to explore this spiritual discipline more as I go into ministry.

Most helpful of all has been being part of a prayer triplet with a couple of other guys who I’m good friends with. We are able to be frank and honest with each other, praying for and challenging each other to be the husbands, fathers and ministers that God is calling us to be. I would like to think that we can continue this habit, albeit less frequently, as we go into ministry.

Learning Journal 5 - Taizé Worship

Ordinands are organised into Worship teams which take it in turns to lead the morning prayer in chapel, a week at a time. For our first week we led a week of worship in the Taizé style. I found the combination of short, repetitive, scriptural songs, the use of silence, the use of candles and the wearing of white robes to be deeply profound in their simplicity. I find myself attracted to this more contemplative spirituality and would like to explore it more.

Having said that it was simple, the Taizé worship did take more time in terms of preparation than the regular morning prayer. This was partly to do with the layout of the room, but also because we need to co-operate well as a team and work closely with the music group.

On reflection, we perhaps should have taken a bit more time to introduce the style of worship to people and explain what was going to happen. As it was we just welcomed people in, began the service and expected people to join in. People got the hang of it in the end, but it is worth remembering that even ordinands take a while to get used to a different style of worship.