From the Press

Music to raise spirits

By Steve James

This article first appeared in the Church of England Newspaper on Thursday 7 August 2003 and is reproduced with their permission.

When Christians are in trouble, they pray and they worship. Or at least they did in New Testament days! Think for instance of the prayer and worship when Peter and John were released from prison (Acts 4). "Sovereign Lord", they began, with reference to Psalm 2 and the God who laughs at the opposition! Then look at the book of Revelation. There is much to tell God's people about bestial opposition, of wars, famine, poverty and the blood of the martyrs.

But Revelation begins, after its seven-fold introductory letters to the churches, with heavenly worship in Chapters 4 and 5. We are quite clear who is at the centre, on the throne of the universe - the Lamb who was slain. Without this eye-opening worship, our hopes are bound to be trimmed and our imaginations bound to be stunted. And worse, we get the impression that the survival of the church depends on us.

NEAC could not afford to leave its participants with that kind of lack of hope. That is why the Congress, though full of high quality teaching, nevertheless needs our gathered worship to focus us first on the God who speaks and then give us the vocabulary to respond to the God who has spoken to us. Interspersed throughout the Congress are times when we stop to praise, pray, gather, encourage or respond.

Is it going to be 'my kind' of worship? I don't know, and I'm not sure it matters. That sounds cheeky, but with all that is going on in our church today, what matters is the genuineness to our meeting together. These are very important times for the Anglican Communion and it is vital that we remain centred on the Triune God. So, there will be praise and also lament, encouragement and also confession, all earthed in Scripture. That it all takes place in the Ballroom of the Winter Gardens should ground us in reality of the world we are wanting to reach!

We are grateful to all those who will help us. Matt Redman joins us for Sunday morning communion and then leads in Soul Survivor style worship on Sunday afternoon at 4.15pm. Noël Tredinnick from All Souls also comes on Sunday for the recording of the BBC Radio 4 service at 3pm in the afternoon. Behind it all is David Peacock who heads up the LBC Music & Worship Department. Leading from the front will be myself and others who will lead us in fresh and varied ways of gathered worship.

But we leaders of prayer, song and congregational worship are not in the centre spot. Far from it! There will be brilliant expositions and mind stretching talks, with discussion and questions, but occasionally we will stand up and tell you "stop!" For your own good we will call you, as Scripture does, to cry "worthy" to the Lamb who was slain, that he might receive honour and glory and praise. That is why we're there, isn't it?

Rev Steve James is Rector of Bebington and a singer/song-writer who regularly leads worship at major events.