Pastor's Weekly Word

 

I want to let you know of a project Canyon Creek is undertaking. In the summer of this year, David Hays, Director of Music and Worship, and I joined a number of other churches, along with the Church Music Institute in Dallas, in a program funded by the Lilly Endowment. Through this next year each church takes on a project of their own design to help increase the congregation’s understanding of, and participation in, music and worship. Canyon Creek has received a $5,000 grant for the project.

 

After much thought and conversation, David and I decided to take this next church year and focus more fully on the church calendar. We are calling it “A Year in the Life of Christ.” Church member Kim Malcolm has graciously agreed to help us with it. The worship committee is also involved. Our goal is to help all of us more fully understand and experience the church year as “Christ alive in us.” Many of us don’t realize that the church calendar is patterned after the life of Christ, beginning with birth and on through his death, resurrection, and ascension. Every time we walk through the church year, we are experiencing the full mystery of Jesus Christ himself. In other words, worship is not just an event that begins and ends, but an experience that never ends. Through creative uses of music and the liturgy of worship, our hope is that we all gain a greater understanding of worship, our role in it, and how it informs us to live in the world every day.

 

So, join us this year as we sing a new song to the Lord. Come sing, O church in joy! I look forward to worshiping with you as Christ comes alive in our hearts yet again.