There aren’t too many days that go by that I don’t hear the familiar question of “You work at a church, but you’re not a pastor, how does that work?”. I can remember being lost for a good answer for a good part of my first year of working at my church.
The means as to which I became the leader of a worship department of over 100 volunteers and leading 1500+ believers in worship on a weekly basis was a very quick one. I typically refer to it as my “2 1/2 year internship”, that is still going strong! Having struggled with my identity of a worship leader/artist/musician/director I have found a new title, which I feel best describes the calling on my life, which is that of a worship artisan.
An artisan is one who has certain skills and abilities that have been honed over years of practice and hard work. In my case, I have been honing my musical skills ever since the age of 8. Taking private lessons all through high school, playing in school bands and eventually graduating with a degree in jazz music from William Paterson University.
But that’s not the only defining characteristic of an artisan. An artisan has learned skills within a historical context that guide his tools to craft a perfect product including traditions from the past while still maintaining relevance to impact the present and future. In regards to this, my historical context is the bible. The bible must be my foundation, my goggles that I see my world and ministry through, in order to create effective environments for people to engage with God in worship.
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