Change

Change is the most exciting, inspiring and intimidating aspect of progression. It’s both inevitable and unavoidable. The worship teams at Kerith Community Church have seen an incredible amount of change over the last few years, and frankly I hope it continues in the same vein.

The formation of Revolution and the Kerith Worship Academy, the amalgamation of Ethos and the adult worship team (now called ‘Resound’), the rehearsal times, rehearsal structures, removal of music stands from the platform, the style of music and most recently, the formation of set bands for Sundays have all signalled large steps forward in the way we are able to serve the community at Kerith, which is what our team is all about. In order to consistently encourage people who don’t know God to engage with Him, we need to constantly change the way we ‘do’ church. Our style of worship needs to be stylistically relevant to those that aren’t interested in his message. The Pop music genre (short for popular music) got its title for a reason - it’s what the majority of people listen to. It’s familiar to the ‘unchurched’ and why worship music today is swayed more by today’s music than the hymns of yesteryear.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” Paul reminds us not to undertake change lightly. It needs to be thought through, prayed about and planned. However, that doesn’t mean we need to be intimidated by change. In order to truly reach our potential and achieve all the things that God has called us to do, we need to stride forward with well planned steps - we are as much at risk from change without thought as we are from thought without change. But most importantly, we need to see it as an exciting opportunity to do something phenomenal. If we are to be a part of a worship team that continuously serves it’s congregation and changes lives, we need to be willing to regularly change the way we do things, and challenge the norms in our community.

Norman Vincent Peale said “change your thoughts and you change the your world.” I desperately want to be a part of something world-changing. Before I start changing the world, I need to start changing the way I think!