Senior Capstone Project
Strategy for Designing Worship Based on Case Study #2:
Riverside Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas
By
William Taylor
WRSP 421 Congregational Ministry
Liberty University
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Cultural Influences 4
Demographic Influences 5
Pastoral Influences 7
Church Staff 8
Church Resources 9
Philosophy and Purpose of Ministry 10
Spiritual Resources 11
Musical Resources 13
Equipment and Miscellaneous Resources 13
Other Worship Items Influencing the Dynamic of Worship 14
Strategy for Worship Ministry 15
Sample Order of Service 16
Rationale for Song Selection 17
Summary 18
Bibliography 20
Appendix I: Case Study # 2: Riverside Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas 21
2
Strategy for Designing Worship
The culture and demographic of Riverside Baptist Church is diverse and Biblically-
minded. As such, their worship should draw from different traditions while remaining rooted in
Scripture. To fit such a large congregation consisting of all ages, music that appeals to young and
old while it edifies their spirits is needed for their services.
Introduction
Riverside Baptist Church is a large megachurch located in the nicer part of the Forth
Worth, Texas area. Its people are diverse and open-minded while a high level of involvement
both in the service and the community. The congregation reaches all ages and walks of life,
though much of the congregation would tend to identify with conservative church traditions and
doctrines.1 The congregation also enjoys modern worship music.
Riverside has many resources available to their leaders and the members of their
congregation. They utilize these resources in reaching their community with the Gospel, making
the service engaging and interactive, and running ministries to help out in their community as
1. Vernon M. Whaley. Case Study #2: Riverside Baptist Church, Fort Worth,
Texas. p. 7.
3
well. Most of the technology they use is very new and suited to helping create a high-production
service that keeps the congregation and viewers/listeners alike engaged. 2
Riverside also has a great amount of influence in their area. They currently reach about
10,500-11,000 people in-person weekly in addition to running a large broadcasting ministry that
reaches close to 5 million people per week as well.
CULTURAL INFLUENCES
Riverside reaches a common culture of the area but enjoys a healthy amount of
diversity due to the size of the congregation. The leadership of the church takes the
diversity of their congregation into account when shaping the ministry and worship for
their services. The church building is located in the nicer area of the Fort Worth
community.
While the church has affiliation with the Souther Baptist convention, much of the
congregation would consier themselves interdenominational or leaning Baptist. Most all
members of the church speak English, making most of the services English. There are
currently efforts to create a Spanish service to accommodate those that either do not
speak English but do speak Spanish or those that are more fluent in Spanish.3
2. Whaley, 7.
3. Whaley, 7.
4
While the church does have a decent sized body of older members, the church
does a great job of reaching both young families, younger couples, and students from
kindergarten to college. Because of this, the services usually have to be suitable for the
children, the elderly, and every age in between. Most of the worship is much more suited
for young adults and older as the church has a very effective children’s ministry. Much of
the church’s philosophy is traditional in nature.
DEMOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES
Because of the church’s high production and modern approach, they have enjoyed
great success in reaching children, teens, and young adults alike. With approximately
only a quarter of the congregation considered to be seniors, the church has to keep their
practices and worship modern for the most part to appeal to the younger generation of
believers.4 At the same time, their worship and practices also have to have a traditional
appeal to edify the spirits of the older believers and believers raised on more traditional
liturgies as well.
The leadership of Riverside seems to be well aware of their congregation and
responds well to the needs of their congregation and to the feedback of their
4. Whaley, 7.
5
congregation. The level of growth the church has seen is rather compliant with a typical
standard of strong leadership necessary for such growth. The leadership is well equipped
to handle the demographic diversity just as well as the liturgical diversity of their
congregation.
Like many large churches, many of the members do not necessarily specifically
identify with every doctrine specific to the denomination with which the church
identifies. Most members or regular attendees of churches of this size or similar will at
least agree with most of the important underlying doctrines with which the church
identifies. It is worthy to note that much of the church, while somewhat denominationally
diverse, is rather conservative for a congregation of such size.5
5. Whaley, 7.
6
PASTORAL INFLUENCE
The pastor of the church seems to be well-respected and well-liked by the church and the
community. He considers the purpose of his ministry to be focused on three key topics:
evangelism, discipleship, and worship.6 This philosophy is orderly in that unbelievers need to
accept Christ before discipleship, discipleship is necessary for developing one’s relationship with
the Lord, and worship is every believer’s ultimate purpose.
The pastor is conservative in most senses of the word and desires to represent his
congregation well in such topics.7 Part of the way he effectively leads the church is by not
backing down from important, relevant topics and in representing his congregation well on such
issues outside of the church. While political issues are not the focus of the church or his ministry,
he considers it important to have a voice on most issues to better lead his congregation.
The pastor takes worship and his role therein seriously. He emphasizes to the worship
pastor the importance of how the worship is ministering to the congregation.8 He desires for the
worship liturgy used to be a balance of the fresh and the familiar, appealing to every member of
the congregation at some level. This often means that the songs used in the service will be some
balance of older worship songs and new worship songs. The pastor also has a Doctor of Ministry
degree from Liberty University.
6. Whaley, 8.
7. Whaley, 8.
8. Whaley, 8.
7
CHURCH STAFF
The church staff is heavily involved in the success of most any ministry. Riverside
is no different – not only is the pastor adequate in representing and leading his
congregation, but the staff are well-equipped and passionate for ministering to the
congregation and community. The pastoral staff alone has a diverse number of functions,
with the positions of senior pastor, executive pastor, worship pastor, education pastor,
discipleship pastor, and senior adult pastor. 9 There are also other pastoral positions,
including children’s pastor, student ministries pastor, single adult pastor, pastor of
international ministries, social ministries director, woman’s ministry director, and director
of prison ministries. 10
The ministry also utilizes a diverse staff outside of the pastoral staff. The head
pastor believes some of different heads of the different aspects of the ministry should
have the word “pastor” somewhere in their title. These staff members include the senior
worship pastor, the associate worship pastor – instrumental, the associate worship pastor
– media, the associate worship pastor – drama ministry, the associate worship pastor –
student music, the coordinator of children’s worship, the director of the Riverside Music
Academy, the director of Care Group Ministry, the director of worship art and graphics,
the administrative assistant – worship, the administrative assistant – instrumental and
children, the assistant director of the Worship Academy, two worship assistants, and
9. Whaley, 8.
10. Whaley, 8.
8
multiple volunteers.11 Many of these heads of the different ministries or aspects thereof
have their own staff. The vision of the pastor for the purpose of the church and its staff is
to plant more churches and grow their fellowship. Many of their ministries are directly
involved in achieving this goal as well as their own individual main purposes.
CHURCH RESOURCES
Riverside is very well-equipped to serve their congregation and community with great
resources. In addition to a great leader for a pastor and great staff looking to foster growth and
redemption with their congregation and community, their size has increased their budget enough
that they can afford great physical resources able to create a well-produced service that achieves
their goal of evangelism, discipleship, worship, and growth. They have impressive modern
facilities that are suited to the size of their congregation as well as to the multiple different
ministries ran by the church.12
The service itself is very impressive and engaging. Besides the inviting music, the
nourishing ministry, and the Spirit-filled people, the physical resources available for the service
are high-quality. Their services utilize state-of-the-art lighting and effects to emphasize the
message of their worship. They have an excellent sound system for a great musical experience in
11. Whaley, 9.
12. Whaley, 9.
9
the worship, which keeps the congregation engaged. They have top-notch broadcasting
equipment to accommodate listeners and viewers worldwide. Of the $11.8 million annual overall
budget, about $440,000 goes to music and worship (not incluing salaries and other expenses).13
PHILOSOPHY AND PURPOSE OF MINISTRY
The pastor and staff are very intentional about their philosophy and approach to the
purpose and strategy behind their ministry. As aforementioned, the pastor sees the main purpose
of ministry to evangelize, then disciple, then foster worship. Because the congregation requires
more of a mixed approach to the music sung in worship, the philosophy of the pastor concerning
music is mindful of both secular music and sacred. He considers that secular music and culture in
general has somewhat indirect implications for how they should be evangelizing, while sacred
music has direct implications to how they should worship.14
Many older members of churches need more traditional music and worship to edify their
spirits. Older worship music can tend to alienate younger congregations and unbelievers moreso
than modern worship music might. As such, the services have a good blend of modern and
traditional to edify each member’s spirit and provide context and perspective for members about
older and newer traditions with which they may not be familiar. The pastors over worship have a
deep understanding of theology and actively minister personally to their worship teams in
preparing them for the services. 15
13. Whaley, 7.
14. Whaley, 9.
15. Whaley, 10.
10
Their approach to worship involves a simple concept of meeting people where they are
with practical worship.16 This involves tailoring the songs and styles used in the worship to meet
their usual tastes so that the concepts may be better communicated and better understood by
different members of the congregation. It also involves using themes that apply to their personal
lives and minister to the situations with which they are dealing. The pastor sees this concept as
integral to the goal of evangelism, discipleship, and worship.
SPIRITUAL RESOURCES
Leading others in worship is a process that requires that one be steeped in a
lifestyle of worship outside of the church and involves much time spent in prayer and
reading God’s Word. While most all of those involved in leading worship exhibit this
kind of worship lifestyle, further measures are taken to ensure the spiritual health of these
members of the worship team. The worship pastor is very involved in the specific training
of these teams.17
The congregation is rather enriched for its size. They need a good amount of
Biblical, edifying material in the sermons and the worship. While much of modern
worship music is considered less edifying or thought-provoking, the leadership of
Riverside seeks to utilize modern music with lyrics that will foster growth in the lives of
the congregation.
In accordance with the pastor’s emphasis of evangelism and discipleship, the
literature used in the worship and the sermon has to be Biblically based. His appreciation
16. Whaley, 9.
17. Whaley, 10.
11
for traditional practice and theology necessitate that Scripture be heavily involved in the
literature of any part of the service.18 This also implies a diligence on the part of the
leadership to ensure that lyrics in the worship do not disagree with Scripture just as they
are to be drawing from Scripture.
The participants of the worship have a good track record of cooperation and
teachability. Such a spirit is necessary to foster proper and healthy worship with the
congregation at any level. As the participants work so well with leadership, the worship
service in general tends to be more unified, which provides a greater response from the
congregation.
The musicians keep the pastor’s vision of service to each other and the
congregation in mind with how they conduct themselves and how they lead worship. The
musicians tend to work well with each other, creating a greater sense of community
which, like with the other participants, fosters a greater desire for worship in the
congregation. Unification within music is necessary for its excellence, and excellent
music tends to help worship leaders as they help their congregation worship.
MUSICAL RESOURCES
The musicians and music that goes into the worship services seeks (and often
achieves) weekly excellence. The band includes a keyboardist, a drummer, a lead
guitarist, an acoustic guitarist, a bassist, an organist, other percussion, a 48-piece
18. Whaley, 8.
12
orchestra, and three six-member rotating singing teams.19 Most every player in the band
and orchestra is highly skilled, making it easier to lock in with one another musically and
provide a greater opportunity for worship.
With the lead singers, band, choir, and other aspects of the ministry altogether,
there are somewhere around 600 members participating in the leading of worship
weekly.20 Most of these participants are cooperative with leadership and one another,
which helps to create a good chemistry within the different aspects of the ministry. Most
every member of the different teams involved with worship leading keep ministry as the
main goal of the service.
EQUIPMENT RESOURCES
Part of providing excellent music for the worship ministry involves having
excellent equipment to utilize in the playing and singing of such music. Because of the
great budget afforded by such a large congregation, most every church-owned instrument
and piece of equipment is brand new and relevant to modern worship. The sound systems
used are state-of-the-art and provide a great listening experience for the congregation
while making sure everyone can hear adequately.
Because of the importance of Biblical literature being sung and spoken to and by
the congregation, the literature used has to be spiritually edifying, current, relevant to
present times, and in agreement with Scripture. One aspect that gets forgotten because of
its behind-the-scenes nature is the ability to reproduce physical music for the participants
19. Whaley, 10.
20. Whaley, 9-10.
13
in the worship. Their increased budget means they have more than ample copy machines
to suit the needs of the different ministries.
The lighting used in the service is impressive and inviting. As many people are
more visually stimulated than others, the lighting and effects used in the service can
really engage them in the concepts being sung or exclude them. Riverside utilizes high-
quality lighting so as to emphasize the worship and not distract from it. They also have
necessary information technology available to the staff to be used in the service and in the
preparation thereof.
OTHER WORSHIP ITEMS RELATED TO WORSHIP
Riverside is very mindful of their community. Not only are they involved with
local sports teams and ministries related thereunto, but they host, organize, and are
involved with large worship events (both for holidays and for general worship) that
attract hundreds of thousands.21 This is all in accordance with the pastor’s vision to plant
churches and grow their fellowship.
STRATEGY FOR WORSHIP MINISTRY
With most smaller churches, most modern plans revolve around growth into
becoming a larger church and either eventual or immediate church planting (in addition to
ministries and missions). With a larger church like Riverside, they have already achieved
21. Whaley, 8-10.
14
the goal of growth at great length and are more steady in how they choose to proceed. As
such, their current tradition of worship and styles used therein are well suited to the
congregation and its spiritual state.
As it is culturally and demographically diverse, the worship tends to be a bit more
basic and centered in popular modern worship music while including more traditional
worship to fit the philosophy and theology of the ministry. This model is working well for
them and should be their plan going forth provided it continues to minister to the
congregation for their goal of evangelism, discipleship, worship, and growth.
As such, there should be a balance of modern to traditional worship music with
more of the music being modern to minister to the large younger aspect of the
congregation. Also worthy of note is the general region wherein the church is place: Fort
Worth, TX. Churches in this area tend to be up on most modern worship trends but also
have a great appreciation for growing country/stomp country worship like We the
Kingdom have been popularizing. It will be interesting to see if and how they integrate
this into their ministry.
SAMPLE ORDER OF SERVICE
Theme – God’s Faithfulness
Prelude – Goodness of God – Instrumentalists
Call to Worship - Congregation
Battle Belongs
Prayer of Worship – Worship Pastor
Welcome – Pastoral Staff
15
Welcome Song (meet and greet during song) – Pastoral Staff
Do it Again
Scripture Reading – - Reader’s Group
(See Scripture Reading Below)
Psalm 89:1-18
Worship with Our Gifts – Pastoral Staff
(Praise and Worship during offering – choir/band special)
In Christ Alone
Message – God’s Faithfulness
Hymn of Response/ Invitation – Worship Leader and Congregation
O Come to the Altar
Hymn of Benediction – Living Hope – Congregation
Postlude – Great is Thy Faithfulness – Instrumentalists
Scripture Reading
Congregation: I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will
make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Worship Leader: For I said, “Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you
will establish your faithfulness.” You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen
one; I have sworn to David my servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build
your throne for all generations.’” Selah
C: Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the
holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly
beings is like the Lord? A God, greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and
awesome above all who are around him?
WL: O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O Lord, with your faithfulness all
around you?
C: You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
WL: You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty
arm.
16
C: The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have
founded them.
WL: The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Harmon joyously praise
your name. You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.
C: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and
faithfulness go before you. Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk
O Lord, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your
righteousness are exalted.
WL: For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.
C: For our shield belongs to the Lord, our king to the Holy One of Israel.
RATIONALE FOR SONG SELECTIONS
Goodness of God would be a good prelude because the lyrics are fitting to the
theme of God’s faithfulness so even if there is no singer specifically singing the lyrics,
the thoughts of the lyrics are already circulating in the congregation’s heads. Battle
Belongs is upbeat and true to the theme of God’s faithfulness, so it would be a good song
for the Call to Worship. Do It Again is anthemic and heavily about God’s faithfulness,
with the Bridge of the song being the most anthemic and singable part, so about the time
most of the congregation has made it back to their seats, they are excited to sing, making
it a good choice for the welcome/meet-and-greet song. Psalm 89:1-18 speaks at great
length about God’s faithfulness. In Christ Alone would be a more mellow song to bring in
reverence and calm before the sermon, so it would be a good offertory choir special; it
has tons of potential for a choir and orchestra to make a beautiful special. O Come to the
Altar is quite literally an altar call and while it is not necessarily specific to the theme, it
17
works will with it. Living Hope is an exciting song to end on and speaks of God’s
faithfulness. Great is Thy Faithfulness is a very familiar hymn about the theme that does
not demand one’s attention if played subtly enough, making it a good postlude.
SUMMARY
Riverside is a large, healthy, growing church in the Fort Worth, Texas area. Their
congregation is very diverse, which requires basic modern worship music for the basis of
most of their services. The church has a great appetite for edifying, Biblical literature in
their services.
The best way to accommodate this church’s worship needs is a good blend of
mostly modern worship with familiar traditional worship as well. This strategy works
well with the older population of the church and in the traditional approach to theology
the mostly conservative church upholds. Having a good balance of the two styles is
necessary for reaching both aspects of the congregation’s age.
I have learned from this assignment that larger, diverse churches can still have an
identifiable culture and set of expectations from the worship and leadership. I also
learned that larger churches can have just as common an appetite for deeper, edifying
literature and ministry as smaller churches.
This study will help me plan other worship services because the way I consider a
congregation’s identity has been enhanced to recognize key differences and expectations.
It has also helped me to realize how a congregation’s identity translates into their needs
as a group. I also had never realized larger churches have academies specifically for
music.
18
This study will not apply to my choice of worship specialization simply because I
am not a worship major, I am a Commercial Music major. However, in my endeavors as a
part-time worship leader, it may make me more aware of the congregation I am serving
and will choose to serve and their needs.
19
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Whaley, Vernon. “Case Study #2: Riverside Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas.” 7-10.
20
Appendix I: Case Study # 2
21
Case Study #2 - Riverside Baptist Church – Ft. Worth, TX
Riverside Baptist Church is a large, mega church affiliated with the Southern Baptist
Convention. Located in Ft. Worth, TX. Average attendance at the one Saturday night and
two Sunday morning services consistently runs between 10,500 and 11,000 people. While
Riverside is a large, influential fellowship, it is not the largest church in the Ft. Worth,
Texas Metroplex. They are known for their solid Bible teaching, innovative worship
ministry, missionary outreach, and exceptionally large youth ministry.
The church is located in the most affluent parts of Ft. Worth. The congregation meets in a
new, multi-purpose building complete with the most up-to-date technology, sound
system, video support, and innovative lighting. The church has two state-of-the-art
recording studios, a video recording suite, and a complete graphic arts department. They
are committed to communicating the gospel (and the worship of Christ) to this present
generation.
The church has a $11.8 million-dollar annual budget of which nearly $440,000 (3.7%) is
allocated to music and worship needs (not including salaries, television or media
budgets), 30% of the budget goes to missions and other outreach ministries – 10% to
foreign missions; 10% for missions initiatives in America; and, 10% for missions trips by
student and adult church groups.
The church leadership has spent considerable efforts in developing a sense of community
in the church. About 40% of the church membership are young married couples with
young children, under the age of 40. The church has a very large and successful
children’s ministry, complete with a full time Director of Children’s Ministry and two
employees devoted to the leading of children’s worship. Another 12.5% are teenagers and
college students. The youth department includes a full time Director of Student Ministries
and a Coordinator of Youth Worship. There are about 25% that call themselves senior
adult. They are a very active in the senior adult choir and love to do things with the youth
ministries. They sponsor an annual walk-a-thon to raise money for scholarships for
students to attend Liberty University.
The congregation loves Bible preaching and engaging worship. They love to sing. While
they are denominational in affiliation and actively involved in the local, regional,
national, and international ministries, including supporting a seminary in Brazil, they
totally underwrite the expenses of an orphanage in Ukraine. In addition, they operate a
very effective jail ministry, outreach-counseling program with battered women and
prostitutes, and long-term drug rehab center.
The church is theologically and socially conservative, passionate about God and country,
and totally committed to evangelism, revival, and worship. They have a very
contemporary worship service that meets on Saturday evening. The two services on
Sunday morning are in a blended-contemporary format with drama, heavy use of
technology, and impressive lighting. They plan on initiating a new Spanish speaking
service the first Sunday after Easter.
22
Because of the church’s close proximity to the Dallas Cowboys football team and Texas
Rangers Baseball club, the church leadership frequently partners with major professional
organizations in presenting the gospel with high profile players. In fact, two Dallas
Cowboy football team players and 4 professional baseball players are members of the
church. One of the members of the Rangers baseball team, a deacon in the church,
sponsors an annual sports weekend for young boys in single-parent homes. Last year,
there were over 100 boys that received Christ as a result of their experience together.
As one could imagine, the church has a very strong, large, and growing student ministry
(middle school and high school). Their college-age and singles ministry continues to
show impressive growth with scores of young adults going to Christian college for
specialized training in worship. All in all, the church children, teenagers, and college age
groups have almost remained untouched by the social and ethnic challenges that other
churches have experienced. The spiritual “temperature” of the student ministry is strong.
They are engaged in reaching the culture for Christ. And, their commitment as a student,
college, and singles group to teaching and practicing worship is equally strong. In fact,
each year, the group participates in the annual Passion Conference hosted by a number of
well-known Ft. Worth area ministries.
In 2001, the church started a Christian elementary school. The school has been hugely
successful. Today, they have a complete kindergarten through 12th grade program. Next
year, they expect to enroll over 2100 students in their school. This has provided an
unexpected resource for music at the church. There are several excellent musicians enjoy
serving at the church. And, the students involved in the high school praise team help lead
the worship on Sunday morning.
The pastor is a strong leader, a man of vision and his ministry philosophy is very much
focused on three things: 1) evangelism, 2) discipleship, and 3) worship. He is
theologically and politically conservative. And, he makes the voice of his people known
at strategic city, state, and national events. The pastor takes seriously his role as chief
worship leader. He has asked the worship pastor to develop a ministry that is
contemporary in nature but realistic to the vision of the church. He wants a practical mix
of newer and familiar songs. More important to the pastor is the worship leader’s
commitment to ministry. He is constantly reminding the worship pastor that “the people
are more important than the songs.”
The pastor has his Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty University. He encourages his
staff to pursue advanced degrees and attend special training seminars or workshops. On
occasion, he has taken opportunity to teach at a Bible college across town.
The church staff is as diverse and innovative as the church membership. The executive
pastoral staff includes: the senior pastor, executive pastor, worship pastor, education
pastor, evangelism pastor, discipleship pastor, and senior adult pastor. Other pastoral
positions include children’s pastor, student ministries pastor, single adult pastor, pastor of
International ministries, social ministries director (heads up the drug rehab program)
women’s ministry director, and director of prison ministries. In all, there are 14 full time
23
pastors, each with an administrative assistant. All of the pastoral staff is deeply
committed to worship and are supporters of the worship leadership in the church. They
enjoy working together and providing ministry to and with each other. They are fully
supportive of the pastor’s vision to plant churches and grow their own fellowship.
The pastor believes that all strategic leadership should be ordained to the gospel ministry
and referred to as pastor. Thus, five all of the 14 employees in the music and worship
division have the title, “pastor:” The worship staff include: Senior Worship Pastor,
Associate Worship Pastor – Instrumental; Associate Worship Pastor – Media; Associate
Worship Pastor – Drama Ministry; Associate Worship Pastor – Student Music;
Coordinator of Children’s Worship; Director of the Riverside Music Academy (separate
from the Christian School); Director of Care Group Ministry; Director of Worship Art
and Graphics; Administrative Assistant – Worship; Administrative Assistant –
Instrumental and Children; Assistant Director of the Worship Academy; 2 Worship
Assistants, and a host of weekly volunteers. Several of the divisions have their own,
growing staff.
The church has a very impressive and active radio and television ministry. The 8-person
staff is also responsible to the Worship Pastor. The church broadcasts their Sunday 11:00
AM service live. A re-broadcast of the service is edited and sent to about 200 outlets
across the country each week, in addition to two cable venues serviced by satellite hook –
up. In all, it is estimated the weekly ministry reaches more than 5 million people each
week.
They have a new, state of the art 4,500 seat auditorium. The church invested over $1.5
million dollars in lighting and sound equipment. They have a wonderful education facility
fully equipped with the latest technology. In fact, there are eight full time employees that
work just in the media ministry and under the leadership of the “Associate Worship
Pastor - Media.” Another 30 employees are charged with the responsibilities of facilities
management on one level or another.
The Purpose and Philosophy of Ministry is pretty much driven by the pastor’s desire for
evangelism, discipleship, and worship. This impacts everything. In the pastor’s eyes,
everything secular has implications for evangelism and everything sacred implies some
type of worship.
The philosophy of worship is very straight forward: practical worship (meet people where
they are – blending contemporary and modern traditional); use those that are in the
church; do everything with excellence; place a high priority on teaching and training; use
whatever tool necessary to win people to Christ and, always be good stewards of the time
and resources God provides for his people.
In any given week, there are over 600 participating in any one of the worship ministries,
including the worship choir, church orchestra and other instrumental groups, 4 different
praise teams with band, student-led praise and worship ministry, worship media, worship
24
drama, and children’s choir programs. The 400 voice choir sings for both Sunday
morning services.
The worship teams assisting in music and worship on Sunday are specifically training by
the worship pastor. They are godly men and women that have a strong walk with the
Lord, hunger for God, and commitment to congregational ministry. They have weekly
bible teaching and discipleship activities. All in all, they have captured the pastor’s
vision, they love to serve.
The worship band is keyboard driven. Other players include drummer, lead guitar,
acoustic guitar, percussion, bass, and organ. They love each other. And, all are equally
skilled as players. They form a core for the entire instrumental program. The worship
ministry also has a 48-piece orchestra. These are primarily volunteers from the
community. Many are music teachers.
The vocalists are equally committed to the Lord. Three teams of six rotate in leading
worship. They practice three times outside of the Sunday worship times. So, it is a big
commitment when one decides to be part of the singing ministry. They also serve as a
core for the church’s 400 voice choir.
Musical resources include new piano, keyboards, and drums. The worship pastors use a
balance between music published by major Christian music companies and literature
written by staff personnel. Of course, copy machines, computers, and appropriate media
equipment are available as needed, including computers and the latest in music related
software.
One final aspect of the worship ministry, the church hosts an annual Christmas and
Fourth of July Festival for the community. It is not unusual for over 50,000 people from
the community to attend these special events.
In addition, in an effort to reach their community for Christ, they join with other churches
in the area to present an Annual GRACE FEST Music festival. Worship bands from all
over the world are brought in for this event. It is held in down town Dallas. More than
250,000 people attend this incredible two-day event.
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