Adventures of a Worship Pastor
Tim Smith
For those of you who don’t know me, I am the worship pastor at Mars Hill Church, and you can hear my story here. Here are six things that I’ve been up to lately:
1. The Psalms
Last fall I started what was to be a weekly series digging into a Psalm a week here on the Resurgence. Like Maverick from Top Gun, my mouth was writing checks my body couldn’t cash. While that series fizzled out, I did preach a 2-week mini-series on the Psalms at Mars Hill in late 2008. You can check out Delight in the Word - Psalm 1 and God is Good? - Psalm 73 in the Mars Hill Media Library.
2. The Glory of God
March 1st of this year I also preached on the great theme of God’s glory in 1 & 2 Peter as well as all of Scripture. The glory of God is a central, unifying theme throughout Scripture and has profound implications for all worshipers of Jesus Christ, musician or otherwise. You can check it out here.
3. New Team and New Job
Early in 2009 Mars Hill brought on Pastor Rick Melson, previously with John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church, to oversee our ever-expanding Mars Hill Campus Network. I and my team have become a part of the Campus Network leading in corporate worship and band and music development. You can read more about what we are up to, including the new Resurgence Training Center, at Mars Hill Global.
4. Across the Pond
After a tremendous week of fellowship with church planters from all over the world at our 2009 Acts 29 Seattle Boot Camp, I got on a plane for my own international experience. In my first trip overseas I traveled to England to teach at the New Frontiers Worship School. I spoke on what it means to have a missional understanding of worship, and you can get my main sessions here.
5. Easter
Easter is the biggest day of the year at Mars Hill Church, and this year was no exception. I have never seen the Spirit of God move so visibly in gathered worship. We welcomed 10,500 people across 7 campuses and 22 different services. We also baptized 350 people, about 200 of which were at the Ballard campus while my band and I played our guts out for God’s glory. You can watch the whole service here, including me baptizing my daughter, Emma, at the end of the 11:30am service.
6. Re:Sound - Resurgence Music
The folks with great theology don’t tend to have music that you would want to listen to, and the folks with music you like don’t tend to have great theology. Re:Sound will be the musical end of the Resurgence, dedicated to bringing you theologically unified, stylistically diverse, excellent music. Our music will also be free for any ministry use you can think of, as long as you don’t charge money for it. Re:Sound will launch Thursday, June 4th, in conjunction with our Advance 09 conference. I will be speaking on the “Marks of Missional Worship,” as well as leading in song with my band, at a special event in Raleigh, NC Friday, June 5th. For more info go to ReSound.org.
Lastly... I’m always full of things to say, but I would like hear your questions about music, worship, bands, or Mars Hill. Follow me on Twitter @PastorTimSmith and post your questions with hashtag “#pts?”. I don’t guarantee a response to everything, but the most popular questions will likely end up answered here.
