Twenty-twenty-three was a year of gaining momentum, growing in our freedom in worship, and some very sweet moments that we experienced worshipping our good God.
God’s faithfulness and provision was so evident through 2023. I mentioned last year that some key worship leaders had moved on to other opportunities and that this left us with some room for new people to step up and to grow into new roles. And they sure did! As Hillcrest continues to grow and change into what God has for us, that includes new people coming to us with a desire to serve Him and the church. Some of these people come from other churches in the area, or from other cities, and some are new to church in general. I have been so encouraged to meet new people to the church who have a desire to lead God’s people in worship.
We are almost always in need of worship leaders and musicians, and God has provided in such an amazing way! As I look back I remember our team specifically praying for this need, God answering, and then being able to tell the new volunteer that they were an answered prayer. And then in turn have that new volunteer tell me that this opportunity was actually an answered prayer for them. So cool!
We continue to meet on Thursday evenings for rehearsal, including prayer, a book study and discussion. Thursday nights are a favourite part of my job. I love the small group feel of our bands. I love praying and sharing together. I love teaching and learning about worship together. And I love making music and worshipping God. We continue to grow and learn in our understanding of what worshipping in Spirit and Truth looks like through book studies. This past year we continued in the book “Keys to Becoming an Effective Worship Leader” by Tom Kraeuter. Some interesting topics as of late have been; conflict resolution, personality types, and loyalty to leadership.
One significant new thing to us in this past year was developing a dedicated prayer team for the worship arts/tech ministry under the guidance of Pastor Steve. Once a month we will send out on email to our prayer team about up and coming challenges and items of thanksgiving. It is so amazing to know that we are covered in prayer on a regular basis.
Our goal remains to use music and technology to lead and facilitate an atmosphere of attention to and affection for God.
Thank you so so much for your prayers as we do our best to continue to chase after what God has for us. If you’d like more info on anything worship related or would like to get involved, don’t hesitate to reach out.
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