Guest Blogger: AJ Rinaldi on Worship

Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a church in a small community in Texas as part of a project I was working on for EvanTell. This is a rare opportunity because of my family’s involvement in our own church in our own small corner of the Dallas area.

So what? People visit churches every Sunday across the country-nothing remarkable about that, right? Well, that’s my point—there are so many churches across the country in small (or maybe not-so-small) communities that we don’t hear of everyday, we tend to forget that great ministry happens everywhere! What comes to mind when you think of a small church in a small town? One thing I always have to remind myself of is that talent and giftedness is not unique to the “Mega-church” crowd.

Now, I do not attend a “Mega-church”, in fact, comparably our church is modest in size, so I do not judge by attendance numbers or budget—or do I? It’s easy, isn’t it, for us to assume that smaller churches in out of the way places are probably doing the “best they can” with what they have; creatively speaking? I was reminded this past weekend how foolish that assumption is. What a great band! The instrumentalists were highly competent in their art and did a very effective job in leading the congregation to worship.

Occasionally I experience churches that have exorbitant budgets allowing for the hiring of multiple staff members to fill every conceivable position within the worship staff. From musicians to technicians and all points of leadership, these folks are employed and given all kinds of time (not to mention equipment, money, etc.) to prepare for the Sunday (or Friday or Saturday) service each week. What a contrast to those on a more modest budget who have to work with volunteers and squeeze in hours late at night or whenever they can.

I am not suggesting that either is wrong. If they are truly using the resources God has blessed them with as wise stewards then there is no problem at all. What I am suggesting is that you don’t necessarily need to look outside of your own congregation and hire “artistic talent”. Often these roles can be filled by volunteers who can contribute significantly to the quality of worship that your church brings before God! He has placed amazing talent in every corner—just look around!