We found a worship director! Here is a letter I sent to our congregation yesterday about a huge excitement factor for our church heading into the fall. At the end, I've included an account of who we hope to be as a church when we gather for weekly worship - an overview of our worship leading role.
Dear Tribe- It is with great excitement and gratitude that I write the following sentence:
We've hired our new LFC Worship Director.
For almost a year now, we've been on the hunt for someone with a unique (and as we've discovered, pretty rare) mix of talents:
- a passion and ability to create worship experiences for spiritual skeptics, spiritual explorers and
believers, alike - a talented musician who can coach our already awesome band and take them even further
- a creative mind and teachable spirit that understands our desire to learn even more how to worship with both ancient and future elements
- an effective leader and communicator who will collaborate well with our campus worship leaders at
Davidson and WestLake - a person who is a passionate worshipper and can skillfully bring the rest of us along into greater
encounters with God - someone who made our staff, elders and search team say, "Yep, that's the one."
Harrison Gillming is that person for us. (He's the guy who led worship in Huntersville on July 14. If you missed it, you can check it out here.)
This morning, Harrison had the bittersweet privilege of leading worship and saying goodbye to the congregation of Next Level Church, a church we know and respect that is located in Matthews, NC. He's been the Pastor of Creative Arts there since June of 2006 and his family was part of the church's initial
launch. Harrison was hired to lead at Next Level one month after graduating from Liberty University, where he attended on a full scholarship to play bass and lead worship in the Campus Praise Band (approx. 3500 students attended the weekly campus services).
While with Next Level, Harrison saw the congregation dramatically increase in size and launch a second campus in Ballantyne. While he was there, he also wrote and produced a worship album. On Sunday nights, Harrison leads worship for Forest Hill Church's student ministry event.
Above all that, Harrison, a Florida native, is the proud husband to Emily and father to Jake, Ben and Zack.
Before I go any further, I want to stop here to say, 'Liz Butler - you've been an incredible gift to me and our entire tribe these past 10 months.' Your authentic and heartfelt way of leading our body into worship is so appreciated, as is the way you've organized the scheduling of the bands, the arrangement charts, and all the other behind-the-scenes pieces that lead to each Sunday. Thank you! And LFC-Huntersville, while I know Liz may shy away from the attention, be sure to tell her what she's meant to you, too. (FYI she's on vacation next Sunday so Erin Maynor will lead us but Liz'll be back on September 1.)
Other people who have stepped up so incredibly during this interim period are: the entire LFC Band (what a bunch of pros), Tracy Grubbs (Sunday morning producer) and Jerry Goedert (technical director). So grateful to serve with these folks each week. The Lord has seen fit to grow our church by 10 percent during this interim period - a fact that speaks for itself regarding the solid ministry and excellence our Worship Arts team has held itself to during this transition.
I also want to thank my partners on the search team: JT Taylor, Jack Cathey, Jesse McLeod and Wendy Penn. JT is an HR executive with an international firm and led us with his expertise. Also integral in the search process was Suzanne Powell, who organized every resume and music sample we received. This team worked its tail off reviewing 130+candidates and prayed (and prayed) for the patience and discernment necessary to honor God's immaculate timing in this search.
So, what's next? Harrison is finishing his time with Next Level this month and taking a bit of a breather, too. We hope to have him on-board to lead us in Huntersville in mid-September. You're going to like him as a worship leader and as a winsome man of God who, at the base of his very existence, loves Jesus and wants others to know Him.
Here are the top two core values Harrison leads his teams with:
- First and foremost, the worship music experience is designed to connect people to God.
- This is success: God takes center stage... everything points to HIM, not US!
I can't wait to have him here, he and I have made a quick connection and fit well together as leaders. Thank you again Lake Forest (especially Huntersville) for your patience and prayer.
Your fan,
Mike Moses
LFC Worship Arts Director: Position Overview
Overview
Are you a worship leader who can create a worship experience for skeptics, spiritual explorers, and believers alike? Do you thrive in the practical and theological tension of a church that values both attractional and missional ministry? Do you dream about the opportunity to experiment, on a large scale, with rock-oriented worship that creatively reinterprets ancient Christian practices? Lake Forest Church (LFC) is seeking a Worship Arts Director with the vision and talent to help us meet our goal: to glorify God by transforming consumers into worshipers.
Who We Are
LFC is a 14 year old church of 1,500-2,000 people in four services between two campuses, with plans to launch a third campus within the next 12 months. Started in 1998 by Mike Moses, LFC is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and is known for ‘reaching people who’ve given up on church, but not on God’, through a clear and engaging focus on Jesus, spiritual growth in small groups, and intentional deployment outward in mission. Our worship experience has been a key element in our growth and discipleship. We seek a person with vision and experience in leading the people of God to worship Him in ways that include the following:Worship Participants: We take Paul’s instructions for worship in I Cor. 14:18-25 as normative. Gathered Christian worship should always take into account three different persons: the believer (Christian), the inquirer (whom we call ‘spiritual explorer’), and the nonbeliever (whom we refer to as a ‘skeptic’). Thus we envision, plan and lead worship services intended to edify Christians, as well as engage skeptics and spiritual explorers.
Musical Style: LFC pursues and expects excellence in musical instrumentation and voice because it honors God and powerfully expresses God’s beauty to both the redeemed and the seeking heart. Adult contemporary rock is the primary musical style in our local culture, so it is our worship style at LFC-Huntersville (LFC-Davidson's style is primarily acoustic indie rock-ish). We also experiment along a broad spectrum of musical genres.
Creative Worship Elements: At LFC, worship is more than words and music. We use a wide variety of art forms including: short film, ambient lighting, specific musical genres (blues), unique stage/set design for each new sermon series, original poetry, participatory rehearsal of truth (ex. use of fingerprint ink pads at communion stations for all to rehearse their identity in Christ), painting, sculpture, lots of humor, and more.
Ancient/Future Worship: While LFC is a ‘today’s musical style’ church, we continually explore how early Christian worship models can be applied to the postmodern church, for the dual purposes of deeply rooted discipleship and effective worship evangelism. Whether celebrating the season of Lent, setting up and praying the Stations of the Cross during Holy Week, or singing hymns, ancient/future is an emerging element of our worship approach.
