19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19-20
The text above captures in essence what we in contemporary Christian worship now asserts as praise and worship. Paul’s exhortation to first century Christians speaks to the prophetic function of music as a medium of praise to God, and the encouragement and edification of the community of Jesus. Music in worship is inherently a heritage of God’s people and through it we are able to communicate with Him and each other in the act of worship. A related text from the book of psalms – scriptures’ song book, further brings into focus the imperative of the worshippers’ expression of music in worship.
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. 2 Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Psalm 33:1-3 NIV
Defining The Ministry of Praise and worship
Praise and worship then, can be defined as that aspect of public worship by which the church celebrates and expresses its honour for God through music and song. It is typically the opening segment of the service where the worshippers are engaged in offering musical tributes to God. In this, is expressed the dynamic, enthusiastic, and solemn musical presentations, proclaiming, affirming, and celebrating the character and works of God (“the sacrifice of praise”).
Brief History
Praise and worship as a modern worship-music form, emerged in the late 60’s and early 70’s on the west coast of the United States among Pentecostals. The genre was a reimagining of how public worship music was expressed and it was influenced by an influx of young hippies who were being converted in droves at the time. In an article published by Larry Eskridge in the Christian Magazine – Christianity Today in 2008, he noted; “the church was filling up with barefoot, blue-jean-wearing kids, and dozens of hippies and teenage runaways inhabited a string of communal homes sponsored by Calvary Chapel with names like the House of Miracles and Mansion Messiah. For many of the kids, this new brand of “church music”—simple, melodic, heavily reliant upon Scripture for its lyrics—was the key to their attraction”. The idea, therefore, was a kind of recapturing of the template of the Jerusalem Temple music in worship, as organised by David and whose legacy we have in the book of Psalms – the hymn book of the Temple. As the following text informs, David sets out the objective for the musical tributes this way:
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
1 Chronicles 16:4 NIV
Defining Worship
Praise and worship then, is one aspect of the ceremony of worship and must be understood in this way as opposed to worship completely. Worship is primarily the normative way of life of the believer, demonstrated by their obedient response to God in recognition of who He is — and is celebrated by ritual activities in ceremonies that are testimonials memorialising and eulogising the acts of God as experienced by the worshippers. Worship in a word is to honour God! Praise and worship falls in the category “ritual activities”. Does it lessen its importance? Absolutely not! But it puts into perspective the attitude with which worshippers must approach this ministry. It should not be seen as a panacea for worship. It is not a means to an end but an end in itself. In other words, praise and worship is not done in order that God may respond favourably to our requests, but it is an act of worship because of who He is and what he has done for us. This understanding is important because so many believers today have come to view Praise and worship as this means-to-an-end activity. However, the scriptures caution against this. Israel was regularly warned by God through the prophets because of the same mindset. Consider the following texts (Isa. 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8; Psa. 50:7-15; John 4:19-24).
Executing Praise and Worship
As a ministry those who have the responsibility to execute this aspect of worship must be prepared to approach it with all thoughtfulness and diligence. Consequently, the leaders and their teams need to make adequate preparation for executing the ministry.
There are two fundamental aspects of preparation. One is spiritual and the other we will call technical. Spiritual preparation involves such things as your (a) devotional life (b) prayer (c) bible study and (d) fellowship with your local church community. Technical preparation will involve a range of practical things related to music and the presentation of songs for the service that you need to cultivate in order to be effective in your execution. Things such as: musical training, rehearsals, deportment, posture, your oral delivery, how you communicate, acquiring a catalogue of songs among others.
Planning and Organising
To effectively lead the song tributes there must be proper planning and organisation. This involves preparing the programme of songs that you will lead the worshippers to sing. Usually, your choices should be grounded in a theme. Themes give focus. They are important for keeping a sense of order as well as giving meaning to the worship experience.
The selection of songs should also be a careful and intentional process, that involves ensuring that the songs selected meet certain criteria such as whether they are theologically sound and appropriate for the theme being used. When planning for a service it is also important to bear in mind the type of service for which the songs are being chosen. So, consider whether it is what we call your high worship (most Sunday morning worship are considered in this way), funerals, weddings, or one of the special feast days on the church calendar such as Easter and Christmas.
Having planned and organise your songs then you must lead the church to offer its musical tribute. This means typically ordering the songs to reflect the genre praise and worship. Why so? Because praise, meaning the celebratory, animated high tempoed songs, whose contents primarily speak to gratitude and thanks for what God has done (e.g Hail Jesus! Every Praise,). Worship songs are done as a closing to the segment and are generally more solemn and reflective and their content centred around the person and character of God – who He is (e.g. I exalt Thee Oh Lord, You’re God Alone). The terms are based on the Hebrew expressions for praise and worship which are distinct and contrastive in nature as outlined above.
Praise and worship leaders must also coordinate their planning with that of the pastoral team to ensure synchronicity with what the overall service is about. Because this is the most participatory aspect of the service the worship leader must be fully engaged and connected with the audience. Bringing them along to a place of encounter with God through the instrumentality of music and song.
Conclusion
Praise and worship has become an integral part of the public worship. It is imperative that ministry leaders be diligent and committed to providing high quality service in this regard. Being mindful that even as the audience before you is of significant value, yet more importantly being aware that the gifts of our songs are being offered to the ultimate audience of the one God, supreme and absolute – the eternal One – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.