Many congregations use the piano in worship to accompany songs. Traditional churches use it only to provide variety and to give the organist a break. Others have consciously decided to use the piano instead of the organ on a regular basis. They have discovered that piano accompaniment is not only suitable but preferable to organ music for their style of worship. I do not remember going to Sunday worship where the piano was never played.
At GCF, the piano has been the primary instrument used in our worship celebrations, usually partnered with a syntheziser. Old hymns, modern praise and worship songs, anthems and instrumental offertories were accompanied by the piano and synthesizer. Until about six years ago, GCF never had a regular band in worship!
I remember volunteering in the worship and music ministry as a Bible college student and was designated Worship Leader for Wednesday Service, the Sunday 3PM and 6PM services. A couple of months later, my status changed from volunteer to full-time staff, with primary concentration on Designing and Planning Services and leading Sunday Worship!
The worship staff figured that since a younger fellow has taken the baton in worship leadership, it was time to "upgrade!" I remember coming to work one morning excited with the coming of the new musical instruments we purchased! It was an amazing feeling! The first Sunday we used the instruments in worship may be characterized as a disaster! We groped in the dark. Our instrumentalists were mostly amateur and belonged to different bands, which added to the already unfamiliar situation. Some older folks didn't like it. But we knew that the Lord was leading us toward that direction, we just needed to get our acts together. We found ourselves taking baby steps and occasional leaps and bounds! We lost a couple of families to a more traditional church and didn't like the direction GCF Worship was headed.
We held the first "Instruments of Praise" - an all-day event where we invited everyone who played an instrument in a praise jamming session with famous artists who attend GCF. The event doubled as a recruitment program for new musicians! Out of that event, we recruited dozens of musicians who now comprise our regular worship band!
From a time when all we had were a piano and a synthesizer, we now cannot even imagine our worship gatherings without a complete band accompanying our songs!
We have a number of committed musicians whose lives are a total blessing to the church. But over the years, we have also lost a few of these people mostly to lucrative job offers abroad and individual personal issues they felt they needed to address that made them decide to stop playing for a time, while some simply are tired and in need of rest.
I'm on the verge of planning another "Instruments of Praise." But I'm bent on giving it a different name.
A church our size needs more musicians than we can get. I hope I don't sound selfish, but our church is in great need, and I'm praying for more and more musicians to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who will commit their skills to Him for His glory.
We need people who listen to the voice of God; people who want to sing to Him; people with sacrifices of praise to give to Him; willing to take the direction He wants us to go.
We can worship without a band, even without a piano. But we want to praise God with what He has given us even as we seek a transformative space that allows for the King of Kings to make his dwelling amongst us in worship (Ps 22:3). Whenever God touches down in a place, amazing things happen.
Pray with me for more worship-driven musicians!
If you're a Christian musician living in Metro Manila with a total heart for worship looking for a church in which to serve, drop me a note: jon.las@gcf.org.ph
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