What would Walt do?
I recently read an article about Walt Disney and viewed a clip of a new tour that is offered at the Disney theme parks titled: “Inspiration: Through Walt’s Eyes.” At one point in the tour, the tour guide stops and remarks that “Walt’s vision for the company was to have one foot firmly planted in tradition while having the other foot firmly planted in the future and innovation.” When I heard that, I realized - this is exactly what the vision should be for a growing church today. In fact, if you look throughout history, this is what has propelled the church’s growth through the last two thousand years! Walt merely borrowed a strategy from our Lord’s unique vision to form his own creative one. What does this mean you ask? What causes some churches today to close their doors for good amidst “change”, while others thrive and even flourish in the face of it? The Church would not be alive today were it not for those who have kept their feet firmly planted in the gospel message of Jesus Christ, while endeavoring to innovate and change to meet the needs of future generations of followers. So what exactly might this look like for our church? I will start by sharing one simple idea or approach that has worked successfully in churches all across America today - to help them only just survive, but grow and even thrive amidst all the “change”!
It’s called - “Transitional Blended Worship” Since I came back to this church three years ago, this is the approach that I have attempted to use with our church. It’s not an easy approach, it can cause some “discomfort” for a few – but the rewards and blessings for the church in using this approach far outweigh any temporary discomfort felt by a few. Simply put – Blended worship means finding a balance between the popular worship music of yesterday (traditional) and the popular worship music of today (contemporary). When I choose songs for Sunday such as “How Great thou Art” and “How Great is Our God” I am deliberately blending two distinctly different generational worship styles into one unified time of worship. I firmly believe that this is the best way to build a bridge between the younger worshippers and the “saints” of the church. It works for Walt – and it’s what the Lord commands us to do.
“Sing to the LORD a NEW song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.” Psalm 96:1
Blessings to all,
Dave
