Grace's Worship Values and Style

Worship is one of the most fundamental things we do as people. And as the Church, this is particularly true. I mean, what are we as Christians, if we aren't, first and foremost, people who are worshipping God together through the person of Jesus Christ? It is our hope that you will find Grace Church to be a community of people who love to worship God together””and in order to help you join in that worship, we think it is helpful to share with you some of the values that shape how we approach this most central part of our life together as Christians. Grace Presbyterian Church is committed to a “blended” or “integrated” style of worship. What is that, you ask? A good question! By “blended” worship style, we mean that Grace Church seeks to incorporate gospel-driven, Christ-centered music from a variety of styles and generations. New, old, traditional, classical, folk, contemporary. Whatever words or categories you might use — we believe that any and all of these can be used (maybe even in the same worship service) in a God-honoring way to worship our Creator and Redeemer.

There are two major reasons for this:

1. God is a big God. Our God is an awesome God whose character is multi-faceted and cannot be captured by simply one expression of music or worship. Each particular style of music helps focus our hearts on different aspects of who God is””and by incorporating a variety of musical styles, we are led to a fuller knowledge and experience of God in our worship. For example, in a typical service, we may use a triumphant hymn with piano and organ to convey a deep sense of God's holiness and majesty, and then immediately follow this with an upbeat contemporary chorus with guitar and percussion to help convey a sense of rejoicing and celebration. Both of these musical styles help us appreciate and worship different aspects of who God is.
   
2. Christ's Body is made up of many parts. The worship of God is carried out by people from every nation and people group from the whole earth, and also from every generation which has ever lived on the earth. Our church here in St. Charles County is just one tiny piece of Christ's Body—that is a humbling thought! Read Revelation 7 for a glimpse of what this will be like when we all gather before the throne of God! Because of this, it is appropriate to incorporate expressions of worship which encompass this breadth, both as a way to reflect the diversity within our congregation and local community (since our church is made up of all different ages, backgrounds, and musical tastes), and also as a way to express our connection to the historical and global Body of Christ. While we as a church will inevitably gravitate toward a particular musical and worship expression that is most comfortable for most of the members of Grace, we also desire to incorporate music and liturgy which stretches us””not simply because it is new or different, but because it helps us look beyond our own particular church body to see that we are connected to a much larger whole.

So, what are some of the practical implications of this?

1. Our worship services will use a blend of musical styles. We will integrate both hymns and choruses in our worship””whether they were written 1500 years ago, or whether they were written by someone in the congregation this week””provided that the text and music is Christ-centered and honoring to God. Our goal is not to balance these different kinds of music within each service (for example, one service may be mostly hymns or mostly choruses), but we do desire to keep an overall balance over time between the various categories and styles of music.
   
2. We will use a variety of instruments — since each of these styles of music lends itself to certain groups of instruments. Some songs will be piano-driven, other songs will be guitar-driven. Some songs will utilize percussion, others won't. Some will be Classical or traditional””with piano and organ, some will be Celtic or Bluegrass with fiddle and guitar, some will be Gospel with drums, harmonica, and gospel organ. This is not an exhaustive list, but it gives some examples””and also demonstrates that the primary standard by which we judge and select worship is not based on style or instrumentation, but is based on whether the music is gospel-driven and Christ-centered.
   
3. We are free to use the variety of musical gifts within the congregation which God has given us, regardless of the particular style of music in which a particular person is gifted. This applies to both congregational and special music used in the service. We therefore plan to utilize choirs, vocal and instrumental ensembles, vocal and instrumental solos, and praise teams which incorporate both traditional and contemporary instrumentation. Again””the fundamental requirement is that our worship be Christ-centered and gospel-driven””and we will strive to help our congregation use their variety of gifts in these ways to the glory of God and the building up of the Church.
   
4. We will use a blend of liturgical approaches in our worship, for the same reasons that we use various styles of music””the different styles help us appreciate and worship different aspects of who God is. These will include responsive readings, creeds, various forms and styles of prayer, confessions, etc. Some will be planned out, and more formal. Some will be more spontaneous and informal. These differing forms of liturgy will provide outlets for congregational involvement in our worship””since we believe that the corporate worship of God's people is to be active and participatory on the part of the people.
   
5. The worship of the church is under the oversight of our Session of Elders. As an expression of this, we want to actively involve elders in the leading of the worship service””through serving and helping in the sacraments, leading prayer, Scripture reading, creeds, etc. This means you will probably see one of our elders involved in worship on most Sundays. However, our understanding of Session oversight certainly does not mean that the elders have to do or actively lead everything in worship””but rather, they are to oversee the appropriate use of the spiritual gifts of the congregation. This includes the Session's encouragement of men and women in the congregation to lead in reading Scripture, praying, sharing testimonies, etc. Again, we believe that the active participation of God's people in worship is very important!

So, you may be asking…what's the bottom line here? Basically, it's this. At Grace Church we are committed to helping people glorify and worship God through a variety of musical styles. This means that you will probably love some of the music that we do, and also means that you will find some songs that you wish we would never do again. And that's okay… But just remember that the song you struggle with may be the very song that helps the person next to you worship God and encounter Him in a powerful and life-transforming way. That is our goal, and vision, for how we approach worship at Grace. We pray that you will join with us, in worshipping our God and discovering how amazing He truly is!