Worship Ministry| Lecture 8 : BC311-WM-20260902

Sh. Hi, welcome back. Um, I'll just start. Okay. So um yeah we've been looking at uh the whole unfolding um or if we can use the word evolution right um um of the music and the worship music and the worship movement here in India right um and so we see that um like there was this influx of [snorts] karnatic music or or I would say the mix of karnatic music in the worship. So in the in Tamil Nadu they would um there was uh uh you know it was called kani you know kani which means that um like I think maybe up north it was they were called kans right or even bajans right yeah so these were used for um you know for worship of various deities right but they use the music form um the scales of that um karnatic music and blended it into worship. Right? So the thing is that the church if you see um since it was uh like the the missionaries brought the truth but also along with that brought the culture. Okay. So so that's the thing. So sometimes people saw the I I think the early missionaries were very sincere in their you know whatever they were bringing and uh at sometimes at a great sacrifice at a great cost right even if you if you look at um um who was that who came and to West Bengal which missionary was that um um >> Liam Sorry, >> William Kerry. >> Um, yes. Yes. Thank you. So, so William Kerry, I don't know. I don't know how I forgot that name. So, you know that he was actually a working as an apprentice in a shoe shop, right? cobbler working as an apprentice and uh you know great effort in terms of um just uh learning the languages uh like he studied taught himself um the theology taught himself the Hebrew and the Greek and then uh learned uh the the you know the scriptures and and came and and started um ministering again with the help of a a pundit uh and learned Sanskrit and started translating the Bible into many Indian languages, many Indian languages. So the work is you know self-sacrificed, you know, so sacrificial. He he was in fact brought his family, his family died here, >> [snorts] >> uh his wife died here and later he himself died and he was buried here in India. He never went back to his hometown, went back to his home country. So, so the thing is the missionaries came here with a great sacrifice uh to their own lives at a cost of their own lives. So, we we don't really doubt their efforts or you know intention. They wanted to bring the gospel so that people can uh uh can experience salvation for themselves. But the thing is along with the gospel came the culture, right? Because if they were dressed in a certain way um that was the culture that was brought in. if they were used to worshiping God with hymns and you know in a with western instruments that is a culture that was brought in especially if there was a church that was set up and so whoever became a believer would immediately adopt to that culture so that was one thing you know that is what people are even even today people talk about and people talk against you know you are losing Indian culture right so that's the thing right but if you look at um you know maybe that's a discussion for another day you know the kind of worship music that we use and the kind of uh instrument that we use and so on but there were certain others who other missionaries who who just encouraged that who just encouraged the local culture uh the local music um the local customs and they said as long as it did not interfere with the truth right so the thing is culture is sometimes very mixed with the truth right it has its um roots in the uh in the religion. So culture and religion sometimes are very very mixed. We cannot take it out right. But the fact is that there are certain things that are purely culture and purely customs and which we can actually encourage and have. And so that is what they did. So the early church uh here in India you know some of uh even some of the tribal uh churches you know the people actually uh encouraged that indigenous song song right like folk songs using folk instruments um and they didn't see anything wrong with that right as long as it does not interfere with or contradict the truth right and so uh so that was something that that again unfolded and Um uh and this uh I would say you know it was it was not too early um too too early on but then uh people realized that in certain places like uh um where it was actually traditionally very uh rooted in the religion of that day or rooted in say the biggest religion in in India Hinduism rooted in that culture where people saw the the west the saw the superficial things okay and then associated with hey this is west this is western this is foreign I don't want anything I don't want to even listen to whatever you have to say right so that was the thing so then what happened was um people said hey let's not impose the culture right let's not bring the culture what is the use if we bring the culture and lose the person right don't bring the culture don't bring anything that seems even remotely western. um why don't we sing um you know uh you know Christian budgeons right let's have the truth let's have the music and let's do that right and so I just wanted to show a video this is by um you know a person by named Chris Hail and his and his friend they came they they were actually um children of missionaries right who studied in Nepal who were there in Nepal for many years then they came to Vasi they were in those days it was called banaras So they were there uh in Banaras for many years, learned the language and they would have uh they would you know have these music sessions um in uh in Sanskrit in Hindi and sing the whole the gospel in Hindi. So very strange right you see a white man singing Hindi he's dressed like a typical you know Indian the way he wears the doti also is like you know how they would wear it there and and so uh everything you know very cultural culturally he would look like an Indian he became I think he also turned into a vegetarian and and all that why the objective was to you know to present the gospel and to share the gospel and he didn't want his culture and his language to be a barrier to the people. Right? So, uh he would have those evenings of budgeons and so on. So, I just wanted to share a little bit of that. Uh take a look at that video. Um I'm not sure if there's this has a copyright. I Let's see. H because if there is a copyright then the video becomes a problem. So, Okay. I I'll just share a you know uh maybe I'll just play the audio. Yeah. We'll see if we can do that. Okay. Um Um Okay. Students can't watch it. No, the online students can't hear properly. I'll have to share. Just one second. Okay, I'll just wear it. I'll just um play it for just a little bit and then stop it. [music and singing] >> [music] >> Okay. So, uh [music] I'll stop it here. >> Okay. So he would use um you know uh budgeons basically um they would have these um times where they would have Christian budgeons share it. So now uh for a person who probably who was very western in their outset you know in their mindset they would find it very um very offensive even you know like he's singing music uh he's using you know Indian uh instruments many times many people would associate church with uh uh a building where you sit in those pews where you use an organ where you where you sing in English and so on but uh where somebody's wearing a suit and you know those kind of things but this is this is very very different from all that right so it made sense to that generation it made sense to uh a whole that people group and I think it was very um impactful um for that you know and even today uh lot of you know um those I think uh he called uh I think what those are called as satsang right satsang where uh people come and they just singing of budgeons and uh and the content is Jesus right so people would come people would not feel offended by the culture they would come everybody seated on the ground and they use this satsang to and the songs would be about the cross the songs would be about grace the songs would be about Jesus um the one who came from the tri of the lion and of Judah. I think that is what this particular song is about also. So, um it's song about the Jayva, right? So, the one who's victorious, the Lord who's victorious and and things like that and then people would get curious about the gospel and they would not one because they are hungry for truth, right? And they would receive the truth and these kind of songs would be used for uh in the worship service as well. The same thing when it came to um uh the other the the religious group which is the which is [clears throat] Islam, right? The same thing, right? Where people would come and they would um here of course there was not much of singing but it would be the culture would be different where everybody would be seated on the ground the Quran would be kept on a stand. Uh people you would think oh is this a mosque because everybody's coming in with wearing the hijab and uh you know people uh the men are having those long beards and they are wearing those robes and you think okay [clears throat] is this a is this a mosque? No, it is a church. The gospel is being shared. Uh but the culture is the culture of the people right? It is the tradition, customs, culture of the people that has not changed right. So um so that we see that also uh h happening uh in India right and um I just want to share a little bit about the the Hindi contemporary Hindi worship movement right so this band Arda uh by Chris Hail Peter Hicks you know they started singing these devotional Hindi uh budgeons and um so he was actually someone who came out of the the who came from the vineyard church movement, right? So um so in the 2000s he started singing these u budgeons uses a sutar tabla Hindi devotional songs and um and it draws from the bi moment the bakti tradition right um and they use this now they would go in order to make things relevant of course they went to certain extremes right in a sense you know in the church service they would break a coconut. Okay. [laughter] So uh the coconut they would going to I explained you know you know the coconut inside it's it's white and it represents the purity uh that the Lord Jesus brings into your life. You are justified by the blood of Jesus. They would use a kum kum and say okay this is the blood of Jesus. Right? They they so for them it was an object lesson right but for a traditional Hindu it would be something very close to their heart. It was something that was used in Hindu rituals and so on. Both the pros and cons are there but this is what they you know they would used they would use it would start uh at least a conversation and they would you know use these uh kinds of visuals in order to share the gospel right so we see that the churches of such movements um they would use you know this kind of a u this kind of uh let's say um songs Right. So we see that the Hindi worship also you know if you see from those years you see traditional instruments and everything being used and now today you see that there are contemporary instruments that are being used right. We see the contemporary instruments that are used in worship. Um but the things things the thing is this um as much as we use contemporary instruments and um things so people ask you know I remember once once somebody asked me hey you're an Indian right you're an Indian yes I'm an Indian so why why don't you sing use Indian language in your worship right why can't you use Indian instruments in your worship right then I thought about it you know yes I'm an Indian but the fact is you know I'm patriotic to my nation and all that but the fact is when it comes to you know my culture Indian culture it is a mix of all cultures right if you see okay I grew up in a church which was traditional like Anglican church liturgical we never sat on the ground we sat on pews right so that was Then I grew up studying in an English medium school. I am Am I Indian? Yes. Grew up in an English medium school. Went to college. Everything was taught in English. Right. So when I prayed and accept the accepted the Lord, I prayed in English. I did not pray in Tamil. So even today I find it a challenge to pray in Tamil which is my mother tongue because I prayed in English. Do I understand Tamil? Yes. Do I speak Tamil at home? Yes. Can I read Tamil? Of course. Can I sing in Tamil? Yes. But when I pray to the Lord, I can't pray to him in Tamil because I associate with him in English. My music style, right? What instrument did I learn? I learned guitar, right? I learned to play the guitar. What kind of music did I music did I listen to? I listened to pop music. I listened to rock. In college, heavily into rock, right? Um, more of metal, more of the influence. When I became a believer, I started listening to Christian rock. That was my musical influence. Does it make me a bad person, a sinner? No. [laughter] So, this is the thing, right? This is the culture. And I'm here. I come from a small town. Now I'm in a in a city Bangalore where you have people from all over the nation right people from different countries are here people from different states are here what would you call as Indian culture right you think about it India I'm talking specifically specifically about India is a complex culture is a very complex culture we have so many languages is we have so many people groups even within the state right if you look at the state of Nagaland there are at least I think 12 plus tribes with their own indigenous languages nine I think nine langu I don't know maybe 9 to 12 they have a common language Nagamse but then they each tribe has its own language and the other tribe may or may not understand the language think about it right so If you're saying okay you establish a church in Nagaland and you sing you have to use the Naga the language of the state what language would you use right the same thing you know so so the thing is this when it comes to language when it comes to um the the the kind of style of music that you use in in worship now we need to be flexible we need to use the the the the language or the kind of worship uh songs which cater to the people which draw people to the heart of God. You keep that in mind, right? You which draw people to the heart of God. That's it. If people know the language and if people are comfortable with the word the the the the form of music, use that. Right? like u I remember we I don't know if I shared this with you but I remember going to Siliguri and we were we had it was a mission missions trip and we had a meeting for the youth in Siliguri right youth in sorry um youth from West Bengal came there but it was in Siliguri and the thing is that uh we went prepared with we said we said okay north India because it was west right north India uh Sorry, East, east of India. We said we went okay with Hindi. We said okay Hindi songs fine. So what songs did we learn? What songs did we go prepared with? everything from you know bridge music uh and those days of course we had um what is that band um Yeshua Yeshua Ministries the songs by them and we had some songs which we translated in from the English choruses that we sang into like how great is our God ishumahan you know that whatever is translated into Hindi we learned we went with that we went for day one we're all fully pumped ready come on let's do it people dare to translate into Hindi. We are saying in Hindi uh nobody's budging, right? Nobody's budging. They were they were like some people are falling asleep. [laughter] I'm like hey you know people are not engaging in worship. These are young people and the same thing we have done in other places like maybe you know um Chandigar or some place and then we see the response is different but here no said God something is wrong here it's hard ground [laughter] you know but then in the afternoon we had another team come okay that team was from I think this is Kolkata they sang only Bengali songs okay they sang Bengali songs and the form of music was very folk songs like a like a village folk kind of a tune right they started the first song the whole group is dancing and we were like let's pack our bags and go you know our mission is done now we it's a full utter failure the whole group is dancing and one particular person I know that lady was every time she would sit on the chair and she would be you know yarning and she's the first person dancing on her feet and we like I went shocked right so so what was the thing was it hard ground no they were all passionate believers right the form of music was wrong right of course the language also it was close enough they they sang Hindi songs also but but the form of music was folk right so it made a big difference this was something that they were used to this was something that they could relate to and and they readily engaged in praise and worship right so so that's the key right it's not about hey are you a you know are you a are you a patriotic Indian can't can't you sing you know use Indian music can't you sing Indian languages it's not about that it's about you know India is complex we need to understand that and I'm I'm just you know I I know that there are other nationalities also listening and watching you know in our class but I'm just taking picking India because India is a complex um nation with so many language it's like a universe by itself. So if there is a call for us to plant churches, if there is a call for us to you know um lead in worship or worship ministry since we are studying that uh we need to really think about it. We need to see who are the people that we are ministering to and change. Right? So there's no point in us saying okay this is what I'm used to this is what I'll bring you you know you change. know that change can happen over the period of number of years if that is what you want but then if the people are ready open and if this is their culture and if this is their language we better adapt to it right okay so just wanted to share that uh any questions okay uh I'm I'm just kind of you know the notes have a lot about the the the western world and I just intentionally kind of touched a little bit about it but then you know wanted to move more into what is happening here ground reality here in in our uh nation. Um because I realize that some of us or most of us may not really relate to the kind of music that you know um um the western music that we are you know maybe maybe we do we still we still sing but predominantly we may not really relate to that. Okay. Okay. But anyway um when it came to u you know contemporary Christian music we're not talking about the worship kind of a song which were used in worship but we are talking about songs that we're used to um you know on different various different themes right it could be about the Christian life it could be about um you know faith it could be about several things but these were not typically songs that would you would use in a worship setting right but these were contemporary Christian music. It came into that genre, right? And it started with the uh birth of the the Jesus movement, right? And um so there was a person by name Larry Norman. I think he we need to mention his name because he was uh he was the one who was quite radical. he was one who actually brought about that uh or kind of gave that momentum to the the when you talk about the Christian contemporary Christian music in English he was the one who actually started uh you know you probably you can say the father of that kind of a music movement right um yeah okay um any questions no okay um this these notes also I will share I will upload load both for e-learning and for the online class and uh even for us you know you can download and use that and very um uh very eye opening actually right okay so I just want to talk about um you know with the contemporary Christian music we have uh what we call as you know different bands which came up right again it's a very American uh UK based kind of a thing which went global right uh the language of their music and singing was of course English and bands which came out which would which would tour uh which would go to different places. uh several bands came up during that time. You know, uh a band u like Petra, those of you recall, you know, uh it was a it was heavily the the form of music was rock. Um and uh then there was another heavy metal band called Striper. Again, heavy metal music, right? Uh they had they had several songs uh which were which was used. they had you know uh they would uh share the gospel in their concerts and so on. Then uh there was also um bands like three third day offering right um typically rock bands. Um so several um Christian rock or Christian bands which would tour different places. They would have you know these concert Christian music concerts. they would share the gospel or share a you know a message of faith um of the from a message of inspiring message or a message of faith from the scriptures. They would you know maybe draw back people who had backsliden back to the faith share the gospel. Those people who grew up in church for the first time I mean grew up in church all along but had not given their hearts to the Lord. the these bands actually saw a lot of that kind of people coming back to Jesus, right? So so even today we do have uh some of these bands who go around and tour and u and share the gospel, share about Jesus. um they do do that but but we also see a lot of the worship movement happening like we have worship concerts like people like Paul Wilbur Paul Balos um and even the churches like vineyard and Bethl and so on they uh they have worship nights or worship we can't I I shouldn't call them probably worship concert but worship nights worship evenings where it'll be 2 hours or 3 hours of just worship and um where the presence of God will be experienced experenced in a in a tangible way and there would be a lot of healing and deliverance and so on right and also the gospel would be shared right so uh this is happening right now the thing is we need to kind of differentiate between bands and a local church worship team or a local church worship ministry okay we need to have a differentiation because a band would even though band members could be part of different local church or a local church. Now the whole dynamics relationally in a band and a worship team is different. Right? Now if you bring whatever is you know relationally or dynamically there structurally in a worship band or sorry in a in a band and you bring it into a team you're heading for disaster. Right? So uh let's see the difference. Right? Okay. In your notes you could see it in page 28. Right. So band a band is it's a closed circle meaning there could be five or six people in the band and that's it, right? You're not adding any more people to the band because the band is this um you know if you if you look at a like a Yeshua band, right? you you know that these are the people like there's carame you know Cameron Mendins and you know a few others who are there these are the instrumentalists and every year you won't see new people you might see new people you might see a band member replace a band member maybe once in 5 years or because that member passed uh you know went to a different place or maybe passed away whatever you won't see too many changes happening right because it's a band whereas in a worship team you would see you would see more people coming in right and in fact um you know I'm just drawing an example from our people's church like how many auditions have we had so far 2026 right worship team auditions we've had I think about I don't know maybe two or three already right these auditions are for people to join right we're saying that okay um if you are called to worship ministry if you have the skill if you are graced if you are gifted Well, why don't you come? Why don't we assess you know um your skill levels and your gifting and then you know so you can be part of the worship team. So a team is more it is like an open thing where lot of people can join right there is a movement again happening people leaving because they are going to our different cities. Um but local church worship team will be more like a open thing. It is it is inclusive in the sense it you you can join if you are gifted if you are graced if you pass the audition you can join right a band again the second thing if you see a band is about ownership in the why do we what do we mean by that is a ownership mentality in a sense um okay everybody's saying okay this is my position in the team this is my music this is my equipment um I deserve to be they are part of the team. They may be on a contract, right? There is a contract there and then saying okay this is my place in the team. Nobody can replace that if unless there is a very strong reason. This is the band leader, this is the band lead vocalist, this is the drummer. You know that position doesn't change. Right? Whereas when it comes to a local church worship team, worship ministry, right? What we what are we saying? We are saying that I'm here to serve, right? I'm here to serve. It's not like, you know, you can't say that I cannot be replaced. I'm here to serve. You know, maybe I serve as the worship leader for a particular part particular service for the next service or the next Sunday. Maybe there is someone else taking my place or I could be serving elsewhere or I might be resting, you know. So, it is about serving. It is about stewardship, right? So um that is something that we see that is a difference that we see. So you can't bring in that band mentality into the worship team and and the person cannot say no I am the drummer and I will be the drummer right forever and ever. No you know you will the thing is to encourage others. The thing is to include others and also have other people who would um you know who would serve right. Okay. The the third thing that we see is that um you know you know I'm looking at the negative side of the band right we are sharing a lot about the negative side of the band you know it's about so the band is about the platform the spotlight the performance um and so on right so this you know sometimes the band can have uh a sense of entitlement right and the thing is it goes with how the whole structure is right so when the And sometimes bands that are really well off, they might have a technician for their instruments, right? They will have a guitar tech who will change the strings. They'll have a guitar tech who would uh you know who will take care of the service the guitar everything and he's there and then the person brings the guitar to the musician and then just take it and play it and if the string breaks you know they change it and then they bring it and so you know all these sense of entitlements like you before the band comes you know there is also you know water placed there everywhere drinking water and you know backstage you know all these things are there and they're comfortable and it's it's a it's a performance and they've built into to it all these things. Now we can't have the same thing into the worship ministry setup, right? There is a little bit of effort, there's a little bit of sacrifice. Again, the whole thing is about serving. So, um, so which means that yes, there are certain things to help us, right? Certain people who come and help us. Maybe the technical side of things you know there is a setup team which helps us there is the there is the audio uh you know the engineer who's there to help us who making the sound and all that is there but then we cannot have a sense of entitlement right saying okay you are here to serve me I'm here to perform that kind of entitlement mentality cannot be there if we are serving one another we are all on level ground Right? You are doing your part. You are doing your, you know, your responsibility. I'm also taking care of certain things and we are on level ground. We are serving one another and you know and the thing is the greatest thing is we are serving our Lord and Savior at the end of it. Right? So uh which means that um you know uh I'm part of it all. We are part of the church. We are part of the community. We are not uh someone who's exclusive, someone who's very very special just because we are serving on a Sunday you know right yes we are we have a responsibility which means we there is a greater responsibility to be humble and to serve right um and the whole emphasis on character okay so uh a few things like this right um I'll just skip a few things I'm just uh moving on to um you Now the the the band would have certain goals. Okay, so many shows we need to play. Um so many concerts uh they might even have a contract. They might even you know go to different places, travel etc. Whereas for the local church worship ministry the priority is serving in the church. Now they might get invited to serve somewhere. They might travel. They might get invited to go to different places to serve in a different church to serve in a mission uh missions meeting or conference but the primary responsibility is in the the local church right worship ministry. So the they are also part of the vision of the church right they're part of the vision the mission of the church and uh that's something that is ingrained in the worship team right or the worship ministry the church and the worship team are not you know two different uh separate entities right the church okay this is the church local church it's functioning differently um and then worship team is also has having its own set of rules, guidelines and uh you know they are functioning very differently. No, they are part of the community. We need to understand that right. So the reason we are studying this is know we need to have actually have this in place maybe in the church that we are establishing or you know where we are serving. We need to we need to make the team understand right from the start right from the time people join the team that first and foremost you're part of the church. Right? You're not there as a visiting musician. You're not there. We might have guests, you know, guest worship teams. We might have guest musicians. We might have guest, you know, worship leaders, whatever. But first and foremost, you're part of the local church, right? You're part of the church. You're part of the community. This is where you worship. This is where you, you know, come on a Sunday morning to receive the word. It is not like you are there only when you are coming to lead in worship and other days you are in different places leading in worship. No, if that if God has called you for a itinerant worship ministry then we might have to release that person right from serving locally. You come as a guest anytime but maybe God has called you for something bigger. You travel and you minister and just release that person or release that team into that. Right? So uh so here we when we say worship ministry worship team they are part of the local church they're part of the community and they are ministering there right um a band performs right it's true that they are ministering they're serving but they're also you know they perform uh and they are very visible in the kind of you know the kind of uh spotlight that is there and they might even um you know in the kind of um uh the gear they use the apparel they wear etc. Right? But if you look at the worship ministry, it is it is different. Right? Again, it it's one of service. It is one of stewardship and they facilitate which means they enable the congregation to worship. They're not saying, "Hey, sit or stand, watch how we sing this song. Maybe some some places you can join us, but otherwise just sit and watch and applaud. just see how wonderful this song is. You know that typically in a concert that's what happens, right? Um you know if it's a band that's playing, okay, see how wonderful this see how fast I can play this part and see how skillful, you know, these sections are. There's a drum solo. See how ski skillful it is and you recognize that and you go, "Wow, I'm glad I came for this concert and I saw this." Right? And then you applaud the team that put in all that band that put has put in all the effort and then you go back right and that's very different from the worship team that's ministering where the worship team is primarily facilitating right serving facilitating inviting and I would say you know pastoring the congregation to draw near to God in worship and to go deeper in God in worship. Right? So the team is facilitating that. So whatever is a barrier, the team is actually dismantling. Worship team will dismantle that. Whatever is a barrier, whatever is a hindrance, stop doing that because we are facilitating uh the congregation uh in engaging in worship and going deeper in worship. Okay. So that is something that we need to you know see the see the difference because uh it can act as a hindrance you know if we have a band mentality and and yes you know I think frankly I would say that uh you know as a worship as a church and APC here also we've had that challenge we've had the challenge because people you know are musicians in a band and good people but the mentality is you know I'm part of a band there's sense of entitlement right and this is what I do professionally and so they bring that in right this is their profession they do a very highly skilled but they bring that mentality you know I'm a professional musician you know you need to you need to serve me you need to take care of me you need to make sure my water is there you need to make sure you know everything breakfast is there and everything and I would come I would play I would go right um don't ask me anything more from that you know so that that is a band entitlement we should ban the band, we should give visibility for the band and so on, right? So um so which means that that there is a change in mindset, right? We should have a change in mindset and a change in the vision, right? saying okay for the local church this is what it that might work elsewhere you know maybe that person is killed maybe that person is you know sincere and it going all over and maybe as a as a profession that is their expectation wherever they're going that's fine but when it comes to the local church and when it comes to ministering right in the local church alongside other people who are fellow ministers right so we we need to have Another shift in mindset, expectations, vision, everything. Right. Okay. Any questions? Yeah. Anything at all from whatever we have uh learned so far? Any anyone online class also? Okay. Anything. Okay. Fine. Okay. I think the next chapter we will uh we will take it from the next class. Right. We'll stop here for today. Um I know we have about 5 minutes left but um we'll look at it a fresh uh from the next class third chapter right okay we'll stop here thank you God bless