More thoughts on excellence and God deserving our best

God deserves our best.  That is the statement that I hear often when in regard to worship planning and production.  It is a great statement and a very true statement.  But where I think this has turned itself around is when we justify our expense accounts with it.  It also deals alot with our slick production values that we have when it comes to worship design and proper execution.

Since I am more and more identifying myself with Wesleyan theology and church practice, I want to make an attempt to try to talk about excellence from this perspective, but it may be a bumpy road.

Like I said in an earlier post on the topic, how we define worship will be how we answer questions on excellence.  Over the year I have served in worship at Asbury Seminary, I am continually redefining worship along the lines of Trinity, Story and World.  To shorten this definition up, I am realizing that worship really doesn't have anything to do with the individual.  The hairy part of this topic is how we fit in personal piety.  I just don't think the congregational gathering is the place for the personal. 

Excellence is often pursued because a.) God deserves it and b.) people now expect a very clean presentation of "church".  So what we have to take on next is our definition of worship and how excellence goes along with it.

So how would you define worship?  No Sally Morgenthaler (she took most of it back) or John Piper/Westminster Catechism (it gotten generic) Sunday School answers.

Comments

[Ryan]

Hey thanks for the Sally Morgenthaler link - I've been looking for that article ever since I read it in Rev!

I think I'm going to do a series on excellence on my blog as well in response to your thoughts - I just posted a post in response to your TWC forum post as well. Blessings!