Let me start this feature by stating my position. I have been leading musical worship in church for over twenty years. When I started going to church regularly (aged eight) it was as a member of the church choir. I was lead singer in a Christian rock band in the 1970s and my main hobby is still musical theatre. So all-in-all I guess you could say that music (and singing) plays a big part in my life and in my worship. I have been ‘moved’, ‘transported’, ‘engaged with God’, through worship songs on many occasions and yet I know there is much more to worship than just songs. As Matt Redman put it (ironically in a song) “I’ll bring you more than a song, for a song in itself is not what you have required” . Yet I wonder what most Christians (even those who visit Christian bookshops or online stores) would say first when you ask them what worship is.

A good deal of our trade is involved in the dissemination of worship music to the church, whether through CDs, DVDs, songbooks, sheet music downloads etc. We even have worship ‘events’ which major on worship songs, their creation and ‘performance’. But are we paying enough attention to other aspects of worship?

One of my most moving worship experiences did not involve any music at all. It was a cold December Friday evening in Coventry Cathedral in 1988. I sat in the nave, which was almost deserted and in semi-darkness. Such light as there was came from a spotlight focused on the face of Christ depicted on Graham Sutherland’s striking tapestry Christ in Glory, which covers the wall of the Cathedral behind the high altar. As I looked at this amazing image of the risen Christ I felt a connection with God which I have never felt through music – I began to understand what God had done for me – and I began to offer thanks and praise to Him silently in my heart. And not a worship song in sight.

So are we missing something here? Are we doing all that we can to provide resources which enhance our worship beyond singing songs? Well I’m going to take a look at some of what is available which falls outside of the category of worship songs.

A ‘new’ way?

One little book which I have found very useful in preparing for this feature is Renewing Charismatic Worship by John Leach (Grove Books / 978185747283 / paperback / 28pp / £3.50). Some might think that Leach is being hyper-critical of much of what we know and love but I think he is asking us to consider more widely what worship is and how we prepare for, and offer, our worship to God. As Executive Director of the Music and Worship Foundation and also an Anglican vicar tasked with leading worship every week (if not every day), he has a valid viewpoint and many church leaders and their worship leaders will find food for thought here.

There are a whole selection of Grove Books on the subject of worship which may well inform our thinking including How to Use Symbol and Action in Worship by John Leach, Liquid Worship by Tim Lomax and Michael Moynagh, and Sowing in Tears by Paul Bradbury to name but three. Full details on these and other titles can be obtained from Grove Books at www.grovebooks.co.uk or by telephoning 01223 464748.

A new book, published this month, which might help us to think in a new way about our worship is Worship Changes Lives edited by Paul Bradshaw and Peter Moger (Church House / 978071512132 / paperback / 48pp / £4.99). This booklet, from the Liturgical Commission, comes from an Anglican perspective but has much to offer in getting us all to think about our worship, whatever our church background. I liked the layout and the four ‘B’ approach of “Basics”, “Belonging”, “Becoming” and “Believing”, also how it deals with worship not only in the context of what we do in church but how we live it out in our daily lives. In this case worship clearly is ‘more than a song’.

Another new book which deserves a wide readership is All-Age Worship by Lucy Moore (BRF / 9781841014326 / paperback / 192pp / £7.99). If the title alone puts you of then that’s more than enough reason for you to read it. This isn’t just about that often dreaded time of the month ‘when the children stay in’, although there are plenty of ideas and suggestions for improving your ‘intergenerational worship’ efforts. Lucy Moore explores worship as a whole and gets the reader to think about why we do what we do in the way we do. As she says “Our God is a God of exciting differences. Our worship can reflect his amazing multifaceted nature or it can be monochrome” (p57). She writes with humour and clarity and a good deal of common-sense.

How Would Jesus Lead Worship? By Sam & Sara Hargreaves (BRF / 9781841016153 / paperback / 128pp / £6.99) is a book which all church leaders should have on their bookshelf and share with those in their church who lead (musical) worship. The authors, who among other activities run Engage (www.engageworship.org), part of the Music and Worship Foundation, write in a thought provoking way. The book also contains a number of worship ideas and worship experiences which in the main have nothing to do with music and everything to do with engaging with God. Anyone who has seen Sam’s work on worship ‘visuals’ (ie at Youthwork the conference) will be aware how much he has to offer in looking at creative ways to worship God. And if you need some service outlines and contemporary liturgies there are some here too.

From the backlist

It’s also worth dipping into the backlist to find material which looks at differing ways of worshipping creatively. Here are a couple from the backlist which should still feature strongly in any promotion of this nature.

Firstly, from 2003 there is Alternative Worship by Jonny Baker & Doug Gay (SPCK / 9780281053964). This includes liturgies, meditations, prayers, creative ideas, visuals, and yes, music ideas, for major festivals. The accompanying CDRom has all the resources needed to use these ideas.

Now two offerings from Andy Flannagan and published by Spring Harvest, Distinctive Worship (9781850786009 / 2004) and God 360° (9781850786870 / 2006). Both include a large number of simple, but effective worship ideas which require the worshipper to get off their seats and worship experientially – not always in a church setting either.

The spoken word

Sometimes just speaking out the written word can be a powerful way of engaging with God, both for the speaker and the listener. We are used to hearing the Word of God read from the Bible but there are many other literary works which can enhance our worship. One of my own personal favourites is Spoken Worship by Gerard Kelly (Zondervan / 9780310275503 / paperback /128pp / £6.99). Whilst poetry may not be everyone’s thing this collection of 40 poems is something which most people will be able to engage with. Either read aloud (which is how these should be used) in public worship or in personal devotional times, Kelly’s poetry connects the listener in an expression of worship which invites them into an encounter with God.

The Celtic traditions also provide much material for spoken worship. Celtic spirituality is, for many, evocative of a life of worship with its links to monastic life, prayer etc. There are many books relating to this way of worship but here are three from those published last year.

The Path of Light by David Adam (SPCK / 9780281080702 / paperback / 117pp / £7.99) could be more of a Lent book, containing as it does a series of meditations on 40 Celtic prayers. However I think it fits this feature as another expression of worship being ‘more than a song’. The author was vicar of Lindisfarne for 13 years and here he helpfully guides the reader through these timeless prayers encouraging us to draw closer to God through them. I found that just reading the prayers aloud was inspiring but reading around them brought an added dimension.

Also from SPCK is The Celtic Heart by Pat Robson (SPCK / 9780281061914 / paperback / 256pp / £12.99), a collection of prayers and poems from the Celtic tradition which can be used in either personal or corporate worship. Teamed with images and perhaps appropriate music these can enhance our worship and help us to focus on God. Robson also helpfully provides some history of Celtic Christianity and biographies of such Celtic influencers as Aiden, Columba, David and Patrick plus many more.

A similar book is Celtic Treasure by Liz Babbs (Lion / 9780745953557 / hardback / 80pp / £6.99) which contains Celtic history combined with Celtic literature, including a number of prayers, as well as a selection of poems by the author herself. It also has some very beautiful photographs and images to accompany the text.

Visuals

Another of my most memorable worship experiences occurred when I was leading worship (nothing to do with my efforts you understand) at an Alpha weekend deep in the Warwickshire countryside. On a frosty November Saturday morning I looked out of the panoramic windows of the conference centre to see a magnificent display of the wonders of God’s creation in the colourful vista laid out before me. I remember thinking ‘how can anyone look at that scene and not believe in an awesome, creator God’. I think that helped me to get over my ‘blockage’ of using images in worship too. Of course, for some, the use of images or focal points – whether candles, icons, pictures, paintings or anything similar – is something they find difficult to engage with. Yet the beauty of God’s creation is a visual representation of his power and glory and can surely only aid our worship. So with this in mind we come to visual worship aids.

There are a number of products available to provide visual backdrops to our worship and here I’m looking at a couple. Elevation (formerly ICC) have the Precious Moments video series. There are three volumes, two filmed around Keswick and the other in the West Country. I looked at Volume 2 (ICC0919A / DVD / £9.99) which contains ten songs/hymns recorded live at ‘Keswick’ with stunning film sequences accompanying the music. The Lake District has some amazing scenery, beautifully captured here. There are definitely better recordings of the songs but you can of course show these images with the sound muted and choose whatever songs or music you want to accompany the pictures.

Integrity’s iWorship Video Library’ collection is a vast catalogue of MPEG videos for use in worship. The volume I had (there are four others) was G-J (33480 / £55.00) consisting of four discs which each had a number of different versions of the 28 songs in this package. The downside of this for me was the fact that I couldn’t find a way of taking off the song words. The quality of recordings was significantly better and I’m sure that in some churches this product would receive a positive reception.

Many churches use images of classical paintings in their worship; many can be easily downloaded for free of course. But how about using contemporary art to aid worship? There are some amazing Christian artists out there a number of whom can be found at the Veritasse website where you can find a veritable feast of amazing images. Most are available to download directly from the website for as little as £3.00 each. My own personal favourite is Tim Steward (see more at www.timsteward.co.uk) but there are many more to view. Veritasse have prints and canvasses available for sale through Christian retailers as well as a range of excellent greetings cards. I’ve suggested to Aiden Meller, the owner of Veritasse that he consider producing a CDRom or DVD of these images as an aid to worship so we’ll see what transpires.

One such product which has been around for some time now is Worship Image Gallery from Youth Specialties (Zondervan / 9780310254980 / CDRom / £29.95). This contains 700 images which can be used in worship, ranging from landscapes to animals/birds and other creatures, abstract images and even some classical art. Some are ‘layered’ and a few have text but most just let the picture tell the story. You find all of these useful but it is, after all, a gallery and not everything in a gallery ever appeals anyway.

Music without words…

And finally, if you need to have some music then, apart from many classical orchestral works, I would recommend the music of the Kings Chamber Orchestra. Gerard le Feuvre has brought together a wonderful group of Christian musicians and arranged a number of well-known worship songs instrumentally on two recent albums. String Heaven II: Lost in Love (Kinsgway:Fierce / FIERCD48 / £12.99) is the latest and keeps up the high standard. Team this with some of the images mentioned earlier and you have something which will enhance your worship too. Perhaps you could try this during Lent and give your worship team a sabbatical!