Worship Weblog

Year-End Reflections from Grant Recipients

Posted by CICW

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

We have been blessed to receive and reflect on year-end reports from 2009 recipients of Worship Renewal Grants. The reports tell of both pain and growth in worshiping communities around the continent. Here are some excerpts. We invite you to give thanks and to consider the opportunity for your own church or organization to apply for a grant (the deadline for 2011 grant proposals is January 11, 2011).

• We learned that, although worship renewal demands our attention, planning and creativity, only God can bring renewal to our personal and corporate life together. We learned that given the opportunity(s) and adequate instruction, our congregation is hungry to encounter/experience God in new and fresh ways.
• While it was our intent to teach a few, it was God’s intent to teach many. This teaching is reaching deep into the souls of the congregation, new people are joining the church and the Spirit is moving beyond the walls of the church and into the community. It is abundantly clear that the impact of this grant has reached far beyond a few individuals and will impact multitudes for years to come.
• Our church has become more intentional about recognizing intergenerational spiritual formation experiences. Intergenerational isn’t just about children. It is about affirming people of all ages in our church family. It is about getting people from every decade being together and sharing their story with one another.
• We have experienced the richness of community as we planned through the grant year together as a team. We discovered energy, new life, freedom, power and creativity as individuals were invited to use their gifts in worship.
• Many people commented on and celebrated the broad participation of the congregation in the project. We know this willingness and eagerness to participate is a gift in our faith family and worship. However, to see it in new ways and to hear members (beyond pastors and worship planners) relishing in it was a blessing! And many expressed eagerness to “do this again” and “how can we incorporate this kind of thing in the future?”
• The unintentional consequences of leaders leading in worship have been a spiritual growth in our church, an increase in giving, and we are seeing people coming to be a part of the ministry. It has been a wonderful thing to see members who used to be just pew sitters getting involved in various ministries at the church, all we can say is “to God be the glory great things He has done.”
• We found that a sense of ownership and deep engagement in the worship life of the community is far more important to teens than the type of worship a congregation chooses. This project showed us that rather than trying to develop special services or activities to draw youth, churches should instead focus on engaging them more deeply in worship planning and participation.
• We have begun to understand the need to take risks, and try new ways to develop vertical habits with God. We have grown in our faith, in our ability to see God do amazing things.
• Not only has this grant help us put a new spark in our worship, but it has help raise the self esteem of this church. They really do have a heightened sense of value. Not sure how you measure that, but it is one of those unforeseen blessings we have received in this whole process.

Tags: communication, congregations, gleanings, growth, leadership, learning, reflection, renewal