artist in "community"

This past Sunday I was introduced as the artist-in-residence at First Baptist Church in Vancouver, BC. As I am not completely sure what this means yet I will keep my comments about this brief. I will say, however, that I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with Darrell Johnson, the new Senior Pastor at First Baptist. For the past nine plus years he has been teaching and leading the MDiv program here at Regent College. He also happens to be one of the best preachers I have ever heard. His new book, The Glory of Preaching, came out not long ago and is already setting the new standard.

Edna Grenz has been working as the Minister of Music at First Baptist for about 19 years and I am also excited to have the opportunity to learn from her. I do know that I will be writing music from time to time that will, hopefully, go along with where the church is at.

While I have been baptized I am not a "Baptist." I am also currently on the ordination track in the PCUSA. This has led to some interesting conversations already and I have even been labeled, jokingly or not, a deserter of the Presbyterian denomination. This kind of stuff drives me crazy. This is also the very reason why I have avoided the ordination track for so long. I have not wanted to pick a team for fear of being boxed in by a team. I certainly see the benefits to the process and polity of the Presbyterian system which is why I am still "on board" so to speak. However, I have never felt called to a denomination. My calling has always been wrapped up in people. My artistic calling during my time in Nashville was to and with Michael Card. My calling to the church in Seattle was with Bryan Burton. My academic calling to Regent College involves every single amazing person I have met here so far. And my calling into this new artist-in-residency is towards the people I have met at First Baptist; most especially, Darrell Johnson. God only knows what the future holds and that suits me just fine.

Ultimately, whenever God calls us we are being called to a person, or more specifically, to a community of people. First and foremost, we are called into thetriune community of God. The theological types out there are instantly thinking of the word perichoresis . I would get into that but then I might look too seminarian right now so I will let you do your own research if you want to. Second, we are called to the Church. With all of the re-definitions being proposed these days I will also choose not to really get into what this means. However, the Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. All of this points to the kingdom of God; the one Jesus kept talking about all of the time. And Jesus keeps calling us to himself which is ultimately a call into community. There is no way around it. So, that being said, the title of artist-in-community might be more fitting. We'll see...

Comments

[Bryan Burton]

Amen Brian. I am proud of you and delighted to see where God is leading you in your calling. Shalom

[Timothy]

So true. As a worship leader, I have mostly been in Assembly of God churches, but also have worked in Reformed, Christian Reformed, and non-denominational. I have struggled with whether to go through ordination process through the AG for the same reasons. I have also been called to be armor-bearer for individuals or groups, and not a specific congregation. I respect and see the usefulness of denominations, but wonder if we need to take a step back from labelling people with that denomination, rather than simply a "follower of Christ." Many of the divisions in the church could be remedied if we looked at each other as fellow Christians, rather than "Baptist", "Presbyterian", "AG" or whatever.