Worship Symposium 2017
Those attending this year’s Worship Symposium united together from all across the world to sing, pray and ‘hear’ God’s Word spoken, dramatized, expressed through art, and sung by faithful Christians in many languages. The theme for the weekend was ‘The Faithful Witness: Being Christ’s Church in an Apocalyptic World’ as was evidenced in worship services focused on the book of Revelation. Emphasized was the need for the church’s reliance ‘on the foundations of faith and on the certainty that Christ is the First and the Last whose loving hands hold together God’s people in heaven and on earth’ (Worship Symposium Introduction, p 54).
As we worshiped and learned together, we were invited to pray and lament with the suffering church. We were encouraged to engage our local congregations not only in praise and thanksgiving, but also in confession and lament. We were challenged to deepen our worship by walking alongside our hurting Christian sisters and brothers in seeking truth and justice as instructed by God.
Dennis deGroot, who writes liturgy for our worship services on a regular basis, wrote, "I came away from the symposium challenged and energized to connect worship at Willoughby to the church globally, to take up our prophetic task of connecting our worship to the suffering church and to see scripture infuse worship weekly from start to finish as it reminds us of where it began and how it will end."
Jamie-Lynn Ravensbergen, who leads us in worship, was moved by the inclusion of singing in other languages as follows, “All of the workshops I attended at the Worship symposium had an effect on the way I view worship, but there was one that stood out most to me and has changed the way I see worship on Sunday mornings. The workshop was called "Short songs: Deepening Our Participation in Worship" lead by Alison Adams. We sang beautiful little melodies praising God in other languages. The reason it stood out to me was because of something Alison said about why she thinks it is important to sing other languages. It tells our brothers and sisters across the world that they are welcome in our church. By singing their languages we are standing in solidarity with them and their pain, even if the language is unknown in our church body. Not trying to fix it in that moment, but showing them that they have a friend and family in us and we will stand by them in their time of trial, trusting that they would do the same if the situation were reversed.”
The opening hymn text of a service we attended titled ‘A Mosaic of Faith and Hope’ reads,
‘Sing a new world into being; sound a bold and hopeful theme
Find a tune for silent yearnings; lend your voice and dare to dream
Dream a church where all who worship find their lives and loves belong
Sing a new world into being. Sing as Christ inspires your song!
Sing a new world into being; join the ancient prophets’ cry
For a time of health and plenty when all tears have been wiped dry
When compassion flows like waters, pouring balm for all who grieve
Sing a new world into being: live the promise you believe!
Let us all endeavor to live as Christ-followers so the world knows that we are united in purpose and unity, living what we believe.
The Worship Symposium is a time for learning, engaging, sharing, refreshing and worshipping. Worship ministry participants this year included Dennis deGroot, Jamie-Lynn Ravensbergen and Grace Groot. Joining them were Sue and Martin Contant and Liz Tolkamp. Sue serves Willoughby Church as Visual Arts Coordinator. Martin and Liz had opportunity to attend the Worship Symposium in conjunction with Faith Formation Ministries in their respective roles as coach/team consultant, and regional catalyzer for British Columbia and Northwest Washington.
Many of the workshops from the 2017 Symposium can be found at worship.calvin.edu/resources/audio-video/.