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FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Friends:
The psalmist cries out to God. “As a deer longs for flowing
streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?”
(Psalm 42:1-2)
Worship is what the church does in response to our need for God.
Worship is where we seek to know God. Worship is not entertainment
but a “created space” where through songs, prayer, silence,
preaching, and communion we hope to find God. Perhaps more humbly
put, we hope God will find us.
At ABSW we take worship quite seriously. Worship and preaching
are the centerpiece of the 2nd year of our new curriculum. Students
will be introduced to the history of Christian worship during the
Middler Colloquium along with an introduction to preaching. We want
our students to understand the origins of Christian worship and
the diversity of Christian traditions so that they can respond thoughtfully
to the needs of 21st century believers. Students will be engaged
in this yearlong colloquium focused on the life of the church while
they are also serving an internship in a ministry setting. They
will not only be introduced to worship, preaching, and other pastoral
arts but will also apply their learning to their ministry site and
receive feedback from a teaching pastor and a member of the faculty.
We seek to create an intensive experience of learning about how
one designs, leads, and understands the nature and function of worship.
Worship is a critical component of the work of the church. Students
need to have their experiences of worship broadened to include more
than what they find comfortable or ordinary. We do not need any
more arrogant preachers who think their way is the only way. We
need biblically informed, historically educated, theologically equipped
men and women who understand how the tradition seeks to speak to
the believer’s thirst for God and who struggle to orchestrate
contemporary worship to address the deep yearnings of the soul.
After all, worship is the construction site of the soul. In worship
we our confronted with our raggedy selves so that our lives can
be renewed. Worship is one place where the lies that the world tells
us about wealth, glamour and success are exposed and we are set
free in Jesus to know our selves fully, with mercy and forgiveness
as our companions. In worship our lives get deconstructed for the
sake of a new construction for service in the reign of God. Worship
is a place where our cover is blown. We discover that our boredom
about life is really a sign of our hunger for each other and for
God.
We do not need worship to entertain us, to distract us from our
boredom. We need to be exposed to more painful and, at the same
time, more liberating truth about life. As the hymn writer puts
it, “Ye who are weary, come home.” Worship is a home space
for our aching hearts, our unfulfilled lives, and our most dreadful
doubts. Worship is that joyful place where we discover how much
we long for God, need the intimate love of Jesus, and seek membership
in a new human community. Participation in a new human community
leads to a new practice of justice and love in the world. Worship
empowers witness.
Tinkering with worship will not suffice. Three hymns and a sermon
will not suffice. An expanded time for singing will not suffice.
What matters is that we find ways, construct rituals, engage in
prayer, study the word so that we get in touch with the deep needs
of our lives and with the rich resources of a loving God. As Augustine
put it: “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in thee.”
Whether in class, in church, or in chapel, we seek communion with
a living God, the father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Music fads
and new definitions of contemporary worship come and go, but human
thirst for the experience of God continues. How do we invite the
thirsty to come and drink?
At the center of any worship experience is this invitation from
Jesus: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). Won’t you join me?
Faithfully yours,
Keith A. Russell
President
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