Creative Worship Tour

Jonathan Smith
  • Male
  • Columbus, GA
  • United States
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At 5:04pm on September 22, 2008, Josh Linman said…
Hey Jonathan, thanks for adding to the conversation on song backgrounds and presentation software...as promised here is the file of a worship image set I created a while back. WorshipImageSet.zip
At 4:38pm on August 6, 2008, Linda Parriott said…
Hello Jonathan. Welcome to this growing network of people who are passionate about creative worship. Without prompting, you've already gotten into the spirit of things by adding to the conversation in progress about what it means to be creative in worship. Thanks! I hope you will make connections with others and find thoughts and ideas that will inspire you in your worship ministry.

Thank you for joining the site. I'm glad you're here.

Profile Information

The name of your church / organization?
St. Paul United Methodist Church
How are you involved in worship?
Music, Media, Production, Creative Team, Planning Team, Pastor
An aspect of creative worship you are passionate about?
I am passionate about helping people connect the liturgical forms and traditions of the historic church with today's culture and forms of worship.
A challenge when planning creative worship?
The biggest challenge for me in planning creative worship is making sure that my church's worship is a reflection of our community. I think that by connecting our community to God's presence through worship we are able to bring new depth and vitality to our worship.
A favorite creative moment in worship?
My favorite creative/funny moment in worship was at a previous appointment where we allowed our acolytes (children between 3rd and 7th grade) to help out with communion. One Sunday as I was serving communion beside a new acolyte (who was holding the cup) an older lady dropped her piece of bread into the cup, to the horror of the acolyte, who promptly jammed his hand into the cup and held up the soggy bread in shock. All I could do is tell him "it's ok" and laugh as he dropped the bread back in the cup.
A favorite quote or scripture about creative worship:
Isaiah 43:19-21
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Jonathan Smith's Blog

Jonathan Smith

Now What... Connecting Worship and Mission

This past week I got to go to an amazing denominational meeting where the goals for my denomination for the next four years were discussed. There were four main areas of focus for this event which were reflected thematically in our worship and our business: 1. Leadership Development, 2. Congregational Development, 3. Eradicating Poverty, and 4. Combating Diseases such as Malaria and AIDS. All of these goals are huge and something that virtually anybody would want to be a part of. Worship during… Continue

Posted on February 3, 2009 at 9:12am —

Jonathan Smith

Authenticity

I love church. Perhaps, to be more specific, I love worship. Worship is a place where our collective lives and stories intersect with the life and story of God. Week in and week out we gather as a community to celebrate the awesomeness of this mystery that God has chosen to not only be near us, but to be with us. We come to worship expecting to celebrate, to extol God's love and grace, and to lift high the name of Christ through Word, song, sacrament, and thanksgiving.


For the better part… Continue

Posted on January 20, 2009 at 5:16pm — 1 Comment

Jonathan Smith

Space Matters

All of us gather in one place or another for worship during the week, and we meet in places as diverse as cathedrals, mega-church worship centers, traditional churches, houses, and store fronts in strip malls, but what sets apart the space where we worship from the rest of the world? Does our worship space help convey to those worshipping with us that this place is different, that here we are community, here we are family, here we are all beloved children of God. Or does the fellowship hall wher… Continue

Posted on January 6, 2009 at 10:39am —

Jonathan Smith

Response

So Christmas is almost here, and for many churches this represents the culmination of a season. In fact, in many churches everything that's gone on since before Thanksgiving has been building toward what's going to happen on December 24. All of our time, all of our energy, all of our sleepless nights, and extended planning come to fruition on Christmas Eve.

Something bothers me about that...

We expend hundreds of planning, constructing, rehearsing, and just flat out working for what?...Silent… Continue

Posted on December 17, 2008 at 12:46pm —

Jonathan Smith

Advent Rush

So I'm sitting at my desk right now (that's not something that happens very often during this season of the year) and as I'm writing this I am not only thinking about how hectic and stressful this time of year is...I am also feeling the effect of not enough sleep, combined with a packed schedule, and another invitation to another Christmas party.


Now don't get me wrong, I love Advent, and I love Christmas, but at times I just want this roller-coaster of a season to end. And from what I gat… Continue

Posted on December 9, 2008 at 1:42pm — 3 Comments

 
 
 

Latest Activity

1 hour ago
Katie Strandlund updated their profile photo
1 hour ago
Linda, I think I have deleted a comment of yours by mistake!! My apologies. You can do what Stephen does. Talk to him about what is needed, or trawl around on his website. I think environmental projections would go great at a RED event. Its an easy…
yesterday
Nice stuff Cyndi. I like the thinking you have done around what you do, before you do it! Not enough people make that kind of close contextualisation to their congregation. Nice.
yesterday
Emily Flowers added a blog post
Thanks, again, to Eric Herron for his "Show and Tell" post! Glad I could be a "guinea pig" for this new way to connect with others on the site. Anyway, I mentioned that I created a PowerPoint presentation to go with the Genesis 1 creation story. It…
yesterday
Thanks for posting this, Eric! I can't wait to see what other folks are up to!
on Thursday
This makes me think about what my high school jazz teacher said: "It is the silence between the notes that creates the rhythm." Saying this was one of the ways he motivated antsy, immature, 16 yr. old jazz musicians to stop playing so many notes wh…
on Thursday
You've trained my eye to find your subtle inspiRED messages : )
on Thursday

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