vineyard WORSHIP
As a Vineyard church we have five worship values: Intimacy, Accessibility, Integrity, Kingdom Expectation and Passion.
INTIMACY
Intimacy with God is the primary destination for us as we worship. We draw near to God, and he draws near to us. As we encounter his presence in worship, we cultivate a deep connection with him. Intimacy is not a musical style or a tone of voice; it is a posture of our hearts.
ACCESSIBILITY
As worshipping communities, we extend the welcome of Jesus to people; inviting them to enter into his Presence. We are intentional about bringing people with us on a journey of worship by building as many bridges both musically and pastorally. From the style of music, to the songs that we sing, we are creating environments for people to participate in worship.
INTEGRITY
Our desire is that the songs that we sing, would match the lives that we lead. While we value the form that our worship takes, we place an even greater value on the formation of our community. Our gathered times of worship are powerful places of transformation. We enter God’s presence not as we think we should be, but come as we are. And yet, we don’t remain as we are; we are renewed and become increasingly like Jesus.
KINGDOM EXPECTATION
In worship we welcome the King and his Kingdom. We cultivate an expectation that God will speak, move, heal, deliver and perform miracles among us as we worship. We experience in part what we will ultimately know in full: our complete restoration in God’s Kingdom.
PASSION
Passion is the expression of a fire in our hearts for God. As we worship, we not only affirm our love for God, but we learn to love what he loves. We are authentic in our worship, whether we are in a season of joyful celebration or a time of deep sorrow. As worshipping communities, we choose to be present to Jesus and engage with what He is doing in us and in our community.
INTIMACY
Intimacy with God is the primary destination for us as we worship. We draw near to God, and he draws near to us. As we encounter his presence in worship, we cultivate a deep connection with him. Intimacy is not a musical style or a tone of voice; it is a posture of our hearts.
ACCESSIBILITY
As worshipping communities, we extend the welcome of Jesus to people; inviting them to enter into his Presence. We are intentional about bringing people with us on a journey of worship by building as many bridges both musically and pastorally. From the style of music, to the songs that we sing, we are creating environments for people to participate in worship.
INTEGRITY
Our desire is that the songs that we sing, would match the lives that we lead. While we value the form that our worship takes, we place an even greater value on the formation of our community. Our gathered times of worship are powerful places of transformation. We enter God’s presence not as we think we should be, but come as we are. And yet, we don’t remain as we are; we are renewed and become increasingly like Jesus.
KINGDOM EXPECTATION
In worship we welcome the King and his Kingdom. We cultivate an expectation that God will speak, move, heal, deliver and perform miracles among us as we worship. We experience in part what we will ultimately know in full: our complete restoration in God’s Kingdom.
PASSION
Passion is the expression of a fire in our hearts for God. As we worship, we not only affirm our love for God, but we learn to love what he loves. We are authentic in our worship, whether we are in a season of joyful celebration or a time of deep sorrow. As worshipping communities, we choose to be present to Jesus and engage with what He is doing in us and in our community.
JOINING THE WORSHIP TEAM
Hi! So you’re a member of Melton Vineyard and interested in getting involved in the worship team? That’s awesome. We’ve put together this little overview, which explains how that process works and hopefully gives you a better idea of the ways in which we are approaching it.
As you will have experienced yourself, the pandemic has changed things hugely for everyone and where we once were able to meet in person, get to know one another and play together as musicians, this has had to move into an online expression of community.
This obviously alters the process by which we are able to grow the worship team and events that we once held throughout the year to invite new musicians to aren’t able to happen at the moment. With this new landscape in mind we’ve spent some time as a leadership team attempting to create a way that this could work for everyone.
Here at Melton Vineyard we dearly love to grow our worship team, which helps to create spaces throughout church life in which people can come as they are and enter into a time of journey with God. These moments are deeply sacred and happen in a variety of different ways, be that in weekly small groups, Sunday services or special events.
At the moment this is all online but that doesn’t change the lived experience that Jesus is present with us as we meet. As we grow as a worshiping community we hold in tension our individual skills along with our own heart attitudes. I could be the most proficient of players yet not be particularly reliable for instance, or I may not yet be able to play my instrument as well as I’d like, but I try my best to serve the team and community as well as I can.
And when it comes to our Sunday teams there is also the tension of building a band with its individual members, its instrument mix, the confidence levels of each player and the overall stylistic direction the bands are following.
These factors all play a part in how that particular area is grown and developed. So in regard to how we’ve created a way for new musicians to get involved in this new pandemic landscape, it works like this:
And that’s about it. It’s such a weird time for doing this sort of thing, yet we’re expectant and confident that God will grow us all despite what is happening! We’re really looking forward to hearing from you.
Love, the Worship Team.
As you will have experienced yourself, the pandemic has changed things hugely for everyone and where we once were able to meet in person, get to know one another and play together as musicians, this has had to move into an online expression of community.
This obviously alters the process by which we are able to grow the worship team and events that we once held throughout the year to invite new musicians to aren’t able to happen at the moment. With this new landscape in mind we’ve spent some time as a leadership team attempting to create a way that this could work for everyone.
Here at Melton Vineyard we dearly love to grow our worship team, which helps to create spaces throughout church life in which people can come as they are and enter into a time of journey with God. These moments are deeply sacred and happen in a variety of different ways, be that in weekly small groups, Sunday services or special events.
At the moment this is all online but that doesn’t change the lived experience that Jesus is present with us as we meet. As we grow as a worshiping community we hold in tension our individual skills along with our own heart attitudes. I could be the most proficient of players yet not be particularly reliable for instance, or I may not yet be able to play my instrument as well as I’d like, but I try my best to serve the team and community as well as I can.
And when it comes to our Sunday teams there is also the tension of building a band with its individual members, its instrument mix, the confidence levels of each player and the overall stylistic direction the bands are following.
These factors all play a part in how that particular area is grown and developed. So in regard to how we’ve created a way for new musicians to get involved in this new pandemic landscape, it works like this:
- A musician expresses interest in getting involved by completing a ‘getting in touch’ form (here). This form allows a person to give some detail of what they play and how they have been involved in previous settings
- One of our worship leaders will then get in touch for a chat on the phone to get to know you some more and talk about what you can do. You’ll then be invited to record yourself playing to a guide track that we have created as a way in which we can hear what you sound like. A quick note on this - formal auditions are not something we have particularly desired to set up in the past as we feel relationship and confidence building is more important than the potentially stressful experience of auditioning. However with the pandemic and not being able to play together in the usual way this is the next best thing.
- The recording gives us a good impression of how your playing will creatively mix with those parts of the worship team who play within a band setting. And so we’ll be able to tell how you could be best placed in that area, if it’s applicable. If so, you’ll be invited to take part over time in some of the recordings, which are made for our Sunday services online. If it’s felt by the leadership team that your playing is suited to another worship space (this could be small group worship for instance), then we’ll talk to you about that and introduce you to what that next step could be. This is an area at the moment that we are at more limited because of the pandemic and the safety guidance we are following. So it may not be something that will automatically happen at the moment.
- And lastly if your playing is at a level where it’s not yet of a quality to be out in front of people, then we’ll tell you and we’ll do it lovingly because you deserve it. Trust us, we’ve all been there at one point or another and whilst at the time it can be difficult to hear, if we can both deliver and receive that feedback in a respectful, loving and encouraging way then, to be honest, we both grow the better for it. You’ll not be left alone afterwards either, but rather encouraged as to where you could develop and also encouraged to keep talking. We all grow the better in community.
And that’s about it. It’s such a weird time for doing this sort of thing, yet we’re expectant and confident that God will grow us all despite what is happening! We’re really looking forward to hearing from you.
Love, the Worship Team.