For The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.
I love treasure hunting. I could spend hours digging through baskets of silk scarves at a flea market to find the perfect new accessory. I will scroll unflinchingly through pages and pages of typefaces until I find exactly the font to communicate what I want to say. Sometimes I search with a mission—to find the perfect “something” to fulfill a purpose—and sometimes I just search. The pursuit itself is the reward, and I am inspired by the hunt.
Exploring worship history has proved a grand treasure hunt for me. I have discovered beautiful traditions, inspiring prayers, and broader ideas about what worship is. I have also uncovered sad moments where well-meaning people went very wrong, starting down dark paths from which we are still trying to extricate ourselves.
History, like everything bound by time, is ever-changing. As you read this reflection, history in its unceasing growth add minutes to its annals.
History also changes with interpretation. As cultures and contexts change, elements of history begin to look and sound different. We reshape the past by how we understand it.
In worship history, expressions change, contexts change, interpretations change, but the story remains the same: redemption.
As I learn how others have told the redemption story—as I discover hidden gems of history and decipher them through my uniquely-colored lenses—I am challenged to find my own voice, a new voice with which to “routinely tell the same same messages: forgiveness is possible, grace is irresistible, resurrection of the faithful is inevitable and new creation is just around the bend.” [1]
1. Dan Wilt, Essentials in Worship History: A Worship History and Creativity Synthesis (New Brunswick: The Institute of Contemporary & Emerging Worship Studies, 2008), Essentials Red Online Course document.
