about our worship ministry
The mission of CCV’s Worship Ministry is connecting people upward with the Lord by leading them into an authentic expression of heartfelt praise and worship using the vehicles of music and audio-visual technology.
In the Vineyard we believe that worship team members are not performers playing for an audience, they are prompters who are leading the people of God to worship before an audience of one; the one true living God. So worship is not meant to be a spectator experience, where everyone watches the band as if they’re being entertained. Each one of us are commanded and invited by God’s Word to actively express our love for God in worship, both individually and corporately as a community of faith.
The Bible also teaches that worship is truly acceptable to God and touches his heart when it’s a genuine and intimate expression of our love for him. So Vineyard worship is all about freely expressing and experiencing intimacy with God. We try not to hide behind ‘religious masks’ and keep God at arms-length. Instead, we encourage people to be truly passionate about expressing their love for God.
In John 4, Jesus said to the woman at the well, “True worshippers worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, and they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.”
Our deepest desire and heartfelt prayer at CCV is that God would find us among the kind of true worshippers he is seeking. More than anything else, we want our worship to truly touch the heart of God and to genuinely honor Him.
About Vineyard Music
Though there are many Biblical forms of worship, music is a powerful God-given ‘language of the heart’ that uniquely aids people in giving thanks and expressing their love for God. For example, the book of Psalms is the ancient songbook of the Israelite people, and records the lyrics of much of the music used in the Old Testament’s Temple Worship Tradition. For this reason, music is our primary form of expressing praise and worship in our corporate worship gatherings, though other creative forms of worship will be used from time to time.
Like Asaph in the Old Testament, our Worship Team members are committed to using their musical gifts with skill and excellence for the glory of God’s name. We are also committed to the value of high quality contemporary music specifically because it’s culturally relevant, and more readily accessible to both the young and to the un-churched.
When we worship in this way our aim is to come into contact with God in a deep and personal way. Worship involves turning our attention away from the pressures and stresses of daily life, and focusing instead on who God is and what God has done for us. So during worship many people may actually feel God touching them or hear God speaking to them at their point of deepest need.
Over the last twenty-five years, the Vineyard movement has become known world-wide for its unique brand of worship music. The music of our movement has been recorded and packaged by Vineyard Music Group, and is available for purchase in most Christian bookstores, through the VMG catalog, online, or at our CCV Welcome Station.
For more information about Vineyard Music visit vineyardmusic.com.
What To Expect In Our Worship Gatherings
If you’re new to the Vineyard, here’s what you can expect the worship music to be like in our Sunday worship gathering:
- A contemporary “rock-and-roll” style worship band that’s relevant and meaningful to our culture today.
- About 30 minutes of un-interrupted music, allowing time for people to really open themselves up to God.
- The words of the songs projected onto a screen, instead of being read from a songbook or hymnal.
- Songs with simple lyrics and melodies that are easy to follow and memorize, helping people focus on the Lord rather than the music itself.
- Songs that are directed to the Lord, not just about the Lord, allowing us to engage God directly through the music.
- A mix of upbeat celebratory songs and slower more intimate songs, and both newer and older songs, allowing for a range of expression and appeal.
- People freely engaging God and expressing their love for him with their minds, their hearts, and even their bodies (i.e. raised arms, bowed knees, etc.)
What’s behind this particular style of worship? Our desire is for people to be able to walk in off the street and not feel out of place, as if they’ve stepped back in time a hundred years. We aim to make everything we do and say both genuine and easy to understand for the newcomer. We’re also striving for an atmosphere of freedom where every individual can express their love for God in any Biblical manner as they are led by the Spirit.