Dan Price is the Worship Pastor for Riverview Church in Lansing, Michigan. Though the church was founded in the 70s, they have seen considerable growth and renewal over the last 10 years. The leadership at Riverview take a team approach of sharing preaching/teaching responsibilities while building up specific ministries based on their specific gifts. Dan leads several bands that offer an ecclectic array of styles. SRR will be releasing Cry Out by one of their bands, Ish..., in just a few weeks. We caught up with Dan and asked him our 10 questions:

1. How would you define Biblical worship?

Worship is a word that I have a hard time using to define our “music time” of the service. I believe worship is, in all things, understanding that we are to present our bodies up as sacrifices for the Lord in a holy and acceptable way. This is our spiritual act of worship. Singing songs to God can be a part of that, but they are only a small part of that.

2. Does Riverview follow a specific liturgy or pattern for worship each Sunday? And if so, how do you select songs for worship to fit that pattern?

Not really. We try to be “AWAYS CHANGING” in some sense and this may mean starting off with songs of lament and moving to songs of hope, or it may mean extended communal prayer or some kind of physical response that correlates with the teaching.

3. Does the culture of Lansing play a role in the music ministry at Riverview? And if so, how?

Yes, Lansing is a town that is tough to live in because the economy here is getting so bad. We live in a northern town that is very cold in the winter, and hot, humid and cloudy in the summer. I think that even the weather plays into people’s attitudes. We are maybe naturally more cynical, very independent and there is some sense of loss here compared to the glory days when GM was really pushing the area to become great. We also have quite a mixture of college students from MSU, white collar people and blue collar factory workers. I think our mixture of six bands that all sound different helps to create some unity in our worship.

4. If a young musician felt called to become a lead worshiper for their church, what advice would you give them to help in their preparation and education?

I’d want them to be theologically astute and culturally tuned enough to explain their song selections on a biblical and practical basis.

I would also hope that they would understand that their service itself is worship, even if they sometimes don’t “feel” God’s presence etc…

I also encourage all of our guys to write songs. Sometimes the songs aren’t that great and we don’t use them, sometimes they work out well, but I try to get at least one song out of every band each year and some bands end up with 6-10 songs which is great.

5. Riverview is developing a strategy to plant and support churches. What role and responsibilities do you have in recruiting and developing worship leaders and bands to send to these sites?

Well we are in the beginning stages so far of figuring out how to do this. I’d say that it is always our responsibility to be training up leaders to replace us or send out. I hope the leaders would all have the same qualities as mentioned in question 4. We wouldn’t want to send out guys to church plants if we wouldn’t have used them here!

6. How important is personal preparation and worship before coming before God’s people and leading them in song and prayer?

Very. I think the more you prepare, the better you serve. If you haven’t worked out transitions, a good song order or even a welcome, the service can end up being very awkward. If you are confidently prepared, people are more at ease and you don’t distract as easily.

7. Worship is sometimes a contentious subject in the church, what key factors from a leadership perspective have helped the elders and congregation of Riverview get beyond this?

We unapologetically target young here. This means that the music sometimes is weird and loud and we ask that people who don’t like this, to sacrifice their preferences for the sake of our mission. It’s not much of an issue anymore. If your 50 years old and your 18 year old kid is into church, you’re usually pretty happy. Of course we do have an old timey folk gospel band (Folksplosion) that plays, and we get complements from the olders and youngers when they play. Targeting young means trying different things now-there’s not just one kind of music that people like. Go on myspace and you’ll see people that love Willie Nelson and Death Cab for Cutie too. I think things would be more stale if we just stuck with one kind of music like a Chris Tomlin (love the guy) cover band, which is what I did for quite a while.

8. You’ve been doing this for a number of years now. If you could go back to the beginning of your ministry, what thing(s) would you do differently?

I’d start writing songs sooner.

9. Favorite book on worship? (And for the geeks who are reading?) Favorite piece of gear you use?

I really haven’t read any books on worship. I should probably do that…

Favorite Gear:

a. When I play guitar I love my EHX Holy Grail Reverb pedal

b. When I’m playing keys and making noise, I love Ableton Live and the Korg Kaoss Pad.

10. Lastly, if someone is visiting your neck of the woods, where is the best place to get a coffee and/or beer in Lansing?

a. Coffee-Gone Wired Café

b. Beer-Drive to Grand Rapids and go to Founder’s Brewery.

*SRR also heard that Dan is a bit of brewsmith himself. If you can't afford the gas to Grand Rapids, stop by his house and I'm sure my brutha would hook you up with a cold beverage.

Brian Moss is the Director of Worship, Music and the Arts at John Knox Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington. On his site Prayer Book Project, you can find more information on his ministry, art and recordings. His latest album title is based on a great hymn by Horatio Bonar called Not What My Hands have Done.

1.  How would you define Biblical worship?
Worship is God’s idea and we have all been given the “worship chromosome”. We will worship something. The bible shows us that worship is the natural response of the people of God to the being and work of God. This response includes praise, adoration, lament, doubt, confession, singing, silence, dancing, dying...it is a life lived in the presence of God for the purposes of God. And it lasts forever.

 2.  Does John Knox follow a specific liturgy or pattern for worship each Sunday? And if so, how do you select songs for worship to fit that pattern?
We have a flexible outline that we follow. Word and Sacrament are foundational to our time together. The songs flow out of biblical themes, seasons of the church and the liturgy. Not that we fill in the blanks each week, but there are almost always hymns of adoration, lament, confession and forgiveness. The psalms are also an important part of our worship each week; whether they are spoken or sung.

3.  Does the culture of Seattle play a role in the music ministry at John Knox? And if so, how?
The culture of Seattle does play a big part into what happens here. To quote a good friend of mine, “rugged individualism and the pioneer spirit” are alive and well in the Pacific Northwest. This has an impact on any community gathering, and sometimes the challenge is simply trying to get people to sing with other people.

4.  If a young musician felt called to become a lead worshiper for their church, what advice would you give them to help in their preparation and education?
Study the Word. Study the community. Study yourself. I’m not trying to be self-centered here, but a sense of vocation is vital for anyone in the ministry. I would also encourage them to write new songs for their congregation. We don’t worship a “one size fits all” God and our worship music shouldn’t be a “one size fits all” set of songs that you can download each Saturday night.

5.  What role and responsibilities do you play (if any) in the missional endeavors of your church and is that important for a minister of music?
I think everything we do in the Church flows out of worship. How does the music we sing seek justice? How do we mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice? Where is God at work in our community and world? Missional worship is more concerned with sacrifice than self. For lyrics see Philippians 2.

6.  How important is personal preparation and worship before coming before God’s people and leading them in song and prayer?
It is important to both my community and myself. I think lead worshipers are involved in reconnaissance. I am a member of a scouting party. You can’t lead people where you haven’t been. I say this with a humble heart because I keep getting lost. Thankfully Jesus Christ is the Way, not me.
 
7.  Worship is sometimes a contentious subject in the church, what key factors from a leadership perspective have helped the elders and congregation of John Knox get beyond this?

I think you need to balance two things. First, what does an authentic worship response look like from this community? Second, who is this community becoming? If you can’t agree on the answers to these two questions then worship will remain a contentious subject. Also, coming to the table on a regular basis is vital in order to experience common unity.

8.  You’ve been doing this for a number of years now. If you could go back to the beginning of your ministry, what thing(s) would you do differently?
Go to seminary first. I was just recently accepted into Fuller Seminary and am on track for a MA in Biblical Studies and Theology. Of course, had I gone to seminary first I would probably be one of the guys saying, “seminary sure didn’t prepare me for this”. That being said, I still wish I had gotten started sooner.

9.  Favorite book on worship? (And for the geeks who are reading - Favorite piece of gear you use?)

Favorite Books on Worship…
Answering God by Eugene Peterson. Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down by Marva Dawn. Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  A Sacred Sorrow by Michael Card.

Favorite piece of gear…
Steinway & Sons Grand Piano – Model B

10.  Lastly, if someone is visiting South Seattle, where is the best place to get a coffee and/or beer?

Coffee – All City Coffee in Georgetown
Beer – Elliot Bay Brew Pub in Burien