Over this year I have been able to experience praise and worship in four different continents and each experience was different from the next.
I started the year at Converge, Stuarts Point NSW Australia, where we were led in a contemporary worship service. The atmosphere had Christ in it, there were tears shed in joy and surrender. But all was for the glory of God. Everyone was eager for praise and worship for they knew they would be able to encounter God in those few minutes we had to praise His name.
Next, I headed over to Zambia, Africa, where I was privileged to attend an album launch concert for an SDA a cappella group called, RUDO Acapella. Till this day that event has made me appreciate acapella music so much more than I had before. The fact that they were only using their God-given voices to make music, was astonishing! And then to see all the youth from the town that came out to support the group was amazing, the room was packed. It was a party, but for Jesus, there was a celebration happening in the room. This is a genre of music that I don’t hear much of in Australia but in Zambia, it is a staple, it is part of the SDA culture. Not only that in churches the use of instruments is minimal to none. They sing everything acapella, so you better know the rhythm of the hymn or you’re in trouble.
Just last month I was able to visit First University SDA Church, Tampa FL which was my church for four months while I was studying in the USA two years ago. I was lucky that the weekend I was visiting was their praise and worship weekend which was a serious PRAISE sesh. As the church is majority Haitian and Jamaican the music was of course gospel music. One thing that was new to me was the silent praise, I had seen video’s online of it but had never witnessed it first-hand. It was surprisingly heart-warming I almost cried as the girls were dancing. As expected the worship service had us going from a hype, standing on our feet in praise, to almost breaking down in tears. First University is a church where you can feel free to either stand or sit-down during worship with no judgment.
Lastly, this month I was in the UK and had the privilege to attend Emmanuel Smith’s gospel concert. Emmanuel is a gospel singer who was recently on The Voice UK this year. This was a momentous night as they were bringing gospel music to a secular arena, the Indigo at the O2. Because Emmanuel is Ghanaian, I knew to expect an African praise and worship night, which obviously consists of dancing. Which I was excited for. I fangirled a little as I was able to see and meet a few of England’s gospel heavy hitters. These are people I have always wanted to witness lead worship but never thought I would have the opportunity to. Throughout the night we were dancing, praising and singing along to all the worship songs performed. To say I was in awe of the whole event would be an understatement.
I mention all four of these events not to showcase how much I have travelled this year but to show you how many different forms of praise and worship there are. Mind you these are only a few which I have mentioned above. Depending on your culture and where you come from worship could be conducted differently, and we should be mindful of that. While I have shown a variety of worship, they are examples from a certain cultural background. And none of them is wrong. In every one I felt the Lord in the room, I was able to adapt and enjoy myself in each environment.
I know there can be a stigma in our church about how one praises the Lord. ‘Why are their hands up?’ ‘Why are there drums in the church?’ ‘You shouldn’t dance in church?’ and so forth. Maybe we should focus less on the way they worship and focus more on the heart of the worshipper. One thing we all need to remember is that you will not like the same music as the next guy. One may hear the Lord through silent praise or a cappella music whereas the next guy will appreciate a more contemporary style of worship.
If someone from a traditional SDA church went to an African SDA church and had to sit through their worship service, they might have a heart attack but that doesn’t mean that the Africans are doing worship wrong. It just means they are doing it differently to what you know and like. I recently learnt that there are two churches at Andrews University. Initially, I didn’t understand why they would have two churches on one campus but then someone explained to me it was because the worship services are different. So, to accommodate the tastes of the students at the university they have two churches so that no one misses out on praising our good God. Which is quite smart if you think about it.
We should stop putting our worship in a box. How I worship may be different to you but as long as it is accepted by God, I’m good. It all comes down to the persons’ heart, we should praise sincerely and with gratitude in our hearts.
1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 2 Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 4 praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Psalm 150: 1-5
WRITER: Kapungwe Besa, social media coordinator for My Edge Mag.