Blog Moved to www.garethrobinson.net

So rather than trying to keep two blogs up and running I thought the easiest thing to do was point you to the place it likes to call home - www.garethrobinson.net/Blog/Blog.html

See you there!

Worship Space

How does the space in which you worship impact your experience of God?

Our desire as worship leaders is that people meet God. But how much does where we meet influence the quality of the meeting?

I ask this because yesterday I met with two great guys who help design worship spaces. They are convinced that the space in which we worship determines the experience of God.

And here’s the struggle - I don’t want to agree with them. But at the same time, I was meeting them because I can’t bear the acoustics in our worship center any longer! The experience for the average person in our church right now is an isolated one. The sound system, the lights, the whole room was designed with this in mind - to give someone the opportunity to watch something great.

But my desire is that the person in their seat feels like they are singing as part of a great throng, not engaged individually with whatever is going on at the front with no reference to anyone else in the room. We’re a family, but currently it doesn’t feel like it when we get together - because of the room.

I find it amazing that the space in which we meet determines the quality of the meeting. But I guess that’s true of anything - if I take my wife for a romantic meal at McDonalds, it won’t go down very well. Our Superbowl party was affected by the kids going crazy because they couldn’t play outside - it was raining. 

I would love to think that we are mature enough to engage with God wherever we are, good, bad or indifferent. But the reality is that regardless of how mature we are, where we are impacts how well we relate to God and each other. St Cuthbert travelled to an isolated islet off the coast of Northumberland to be alone - where he was impacted how he related to God. 

It seems that as worship leaders we need to be aware not only of the songs we choose and the way our teams play it, but the environment in which our people worship. Church gatherings are affected by the spaces in which we gather. 

So, I return to the question I always ask myself about leading worship - but this time thinking about the worship space - how do we best avoid distracting people from the ultimate goal, meeting God?

Love Divine

Charles Wesley was an amazing man. I’ve always loved his songs but the more I get to know about him the more impressed I am. His impact for the Kingdom of God through the medium of song is something to aspire to. Combining theology, reason, thoughtfulness, passion and musicality, whilst also being mission-oriented and Spirit-filled - what an inspiration to songwriters.

So often when we choose songs to sing in worship it’s easy to get distracted by the best new song, or the great rhythm, lick, rhyme or lyric, that we forget to consider the content. We forget the big picture - what is it that our people are learning through the songs they are singing? We want people to connect with the Lord through the songs, but the song itself can speak to the singer, opening their eyes to something more of God than they previously knew. How awesome to sing to our faithful God, and at the same time reflect on his faithfulness!

Charles seems to have the knack of bringing it all together. It’s been an honor that for the last year or so I’ve been working with some friends, putting new tunes to Wesley’s words. This is nothing new - but I’m excited about how these new versions may put his words back into the mind and heart of the church.

The album is called ‘Love Divine’ - and is available in the UK already, due for release in the US in August. I’ll get snippets for you to hear as soon as I can - in the meantime, grab a hymn book and see how deeply some of his words connect with your spirit, and connect you with God.