Alternative Use Of Music And The Arts In The Seekers' Service

At the Willow Creek Community Church, a production team unites all of the elements of worship (music, the visual arts, drama, elements from the electronic media) into a single powerful experience with styles ranging from the classical to the most recent contemporary innovations.

Over the centuries, the church has used music and the arts to worship God with their beauty and encourage believers with their power. Willow Creek Community Church continues this tradition in new and unique ways. Artistic expression plays an integral part in Willow Creek's outreach to seekers and service to its New Community. Willow Creek uses music, drama, and to some extent art, to present the gospel and deeper biblical truths in ways that grab attention and provoke a response. They enhance and promote worship and prepare the seeker on the weekends and believers at weekday evening New Communities for the speaker's message. No single ministry is allowed to stand apart from the whole. All play their part in advancing the common goal of the church, which is building bridges to an unbelieving society outside and between Christians inside. Center to this ministry is the main auditorium, which is large enough to host music concerts and musicals that are part of Willow Creek's outreach to the Chicagoland area. At such times, members can invite friends and family to visit not just a service but something even more narrowly cultural. Able to seat almost five thousand people in the auditorium alone, with room for thousands more in various other rooms and in a large activity center, all linked by video, an impressive impact is assured. Willow Creek is blessed with many and diverse resources, and it has learned to use them wisely and efficiently. An extensive sound and lighting system completes the picture of professionalism. The music and drama teams are two of the most important creative outlets for Willow Creek to use in its worship services. Their size and scope is unique in America. Music Since Willow Creek's founding in 1975, music has been one of its most relevant and innovative tools for ministry. It is contemporary without being superficial, and entertaining and challenging at the same time. The impact of the choice of music is carefully considered, and the music team is free to range over almost the whole spectrum of taste to achieve its worship goals. With six full and part-time staff members, over one hundred musicians and up to twenty-five vocalists, there is much talent to form small or large bands, string quartets or orchestras, according to what may be needed for a given service. Many members of the team are professionals who produce high-quality performances that are important in maintaining the team's popularity and expertise. The music director is convinced that if the music is good, people will listen to it. Vocalists regularly perform original or popular Christian songs, singing solo or as a group. Occasionally, volunteers from the congregation form a large choir and sing special songs or backup for community worship. While the team enjoys a generous budget, which allows them to purchase a variety of instruments such as guitars, pianos, and synthesizers, they find that everything need not be state-of-the-art to be effective. Wise stewardship walks a line with innovative ingenuity. Overall responsibility for planning belongs to the programming team, which determines the sort of music to be played at a service, ranging from country and light rock to jazz to classical music, from traditional hymns to charismatic choruses. They find purpose and appeal in diversity. Taking full advantage of our society's love of music, Willow Creek has produced a cassette/CD of some of the church's most asked for songs and choruses. Another collection is being prepared. Plans for a recording studio and a music school reach further into the 1990s. Sheet music will be made available also through an agreement with Zondervan Publishing House. Drama Dramatic sketches have also been an integral part of Willow Creek's outreach from the beginning. Like the music, drama helps focus attention on the direction of worship and the speaker's message during weekend seeker services. Subject matter is primarily determined by the sermon topic, but its expression can vary from comedy to tragedy. The actors and script writers work at staying fresh and relevant and incorporate easily recognized references to popular TV shows and movies in their work. The drama team director is also the only full-time staff person. He directs almost thirty volunteer actors and actresses and three writers, who are paid a nominal fee for each script. Props for each of the three-to-five minute sketches can come from anywhere. Some are made at the church or even borrowed from local businesses, such as airline seats from a local training school for a major airline. Not everyone on the team is as professionally trained to the extent that most music team members are. While risky, this practice preserves and encourages authenticity as men, women, and children find skills and talents that would have gone unused or untested otherwise. The director provides solid, experienced coaching that helps polish rough edges. The teaching staff and the programming team provide sketch topics with enough time to prepare and rehearse a script. But the drama director places great emphasis on proper exercise of stagecraft. His technical experience is the groundwork of each production. A script catalog of most drama sketches from the past several years to the present is available for any church that wants to use drama in its own services. Occasionally, both drama and music teams combine to produce a complete musical for a particular outreach or Christian holiday. Dramatic readings of Scripture and literature are frequently employed for the same purpose as music and drama, as is interpretive dance to a much lesser extent. Graphic artwork highlights certain message series or Christian holidays and is normally displayed in the main auditorium. As a point of policy, Willow Creek avoids any obvious religious displays, such as crosses or stained glass windows, to promote a nontraditional atmosphere. Members of both teams find it a struggle to maintain a balanced life between family, work, and church. Creative tension is common because of the stresses arising from their art. Both directors understand that a sense of community, responsibility, and accountability needs to be nurtured and sustained. Character conflicts are not allowed to go unconfronted. Consistent shepherding leads to deeper investment in the lives of volunteer and staff alike. As Willow Creek expands both its local and national influence, the music and drama teams will be available as resources to churches in the U.S. and abroad. Their innovations and experience are at the service of the church.