Jude Gotrich became territorial director of worship development and prayer initiative in July 2007. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English at Gordon College, and studied performance at the New England Conservatory. She completed her masters program in worship theology at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies.
Major Frank Duracher of the Southern Spirit staff recently interviewed Gotrich about the importance of worship and prayer to the territory’s spiritual health.
SS: In the planning of worship, what would be the essential focus as each corps develops their order of service?
JG: We begin with a point of agreement. We
should all agree that our worship is Christ centered and Trinitarian, and this is where the Worship Council must start. Then when we look at all the components of our worship, they should all point to these two things, the object of our worship. The whole idea of Sunday morning is to tell God’s story, not ours, because we are grafted into God’s story. Our duty is to tell the narrative of his story. We are naturally part of that story, but the adoration and thanks goes to him, not the merits of our own doing.
Therefore, if our theme for a given Sunday or a series of Sundays is on the Full Armor of God, for instance, then that means that the things we put forward in planning our worship services help to unpack that story, and things that have nothing to do with that narrative would not be included on that day’s order of worship. This means that the band piece, the prayer segments, the Scripture presentations would all assist and not distract from the unfolding of this story. It may very well be appropriate at another meeting, but not here.
SS: What would be next?
JG: Then we should start storyboarding – taking each meeting, beginning with the Scripture reference (the sermon seed for that day) – and begin to build ideas. It is very helpful here if the commanding officer is able to give some basic direction of the Scripture focus so the group can brainstorm ideas that support
the lessons for that day.
Also important, if your congregation is made up of different peoples and ethnicities, they could share some things that are significant to them to help explain God’s story on that particular Sunday. This helps in reaching the full extent of your congregation and engaging the idea that we are all a part of God’s story.
In our worship council at the Lawrenceville Corps, we use a website called “37 Signals” which allows us to chat online around a virtual “campfire” to share
ideas as they come to us during the week. We use this Internet option because it accommodates our busy schedules; it avoids expensive alternatives, such as
costly worship software programs; and, it allows us to build each worship service as we continue to pray for God’s guidance. We comment back and forth: “Maybe this would work for this week,” or “Perhaps we could try this.”
SS: Why is worship so important in your personal walk with the Lord?
JG: Worship is something that has been on my heart for over 20 years – especially when I started to see people leaving the Army for other churches, or
worse yet, not going anywhere. It pained me to think we were not doing something about it. In my personal worship, when I would sing, it would be as if I was
in my own sanctuary and pouring out all of my being into my song and basking in his presence. If other people were present that was fine, but for me it was the sharing of this second skin, his gifting of music in me, that made this incredible connection in my worship.
But worship is for everybody and what if a person had a gifting in another area – what is worship for them? So that begged the question for me that worship was something far greater than how I was defining it and it needed to encompass all whom God loved, and they needed to participate equally. Many people equate music as worship, but music and the arts are simply tools, our feeble attempt in comparison to a perfect God, to offer something that looks like our greatest offering of worship and it is only one aspect of what worship is because worship is a lifestyle!
SS: What should comprise the structure of our worship?
JG: There is a four-fold pattern I encourage: the gathering; the service of the word (and not necessarily just the sermon, but how Scripture is presented); the
response to the word; and then, finally, the dismissal.
By the way, the dismissal is just as important because we are a holiness people. As we become full of what God has given us, and we respond to what he has shared with us, then we can’t help but be different by the time we are dismissed to go out into the world to share that grace with others.
Not only must that be true, but the change we encounter on Sunday should affect our lifestyle on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on. Then we are a holiness people: We are whole and we are holy during those six days, and then we “explode” in our worship on Sunday in a corporate setting to prepare
us for another week.
We are not righteous on our own or because of the good we do. If that were true, we’d burn out. It’s not our fire, but the heat of the Holy Spirit. The reality of the people that we are throughout the week is introduced on Sunday.
SS: How important is participation in worship?
JG: Worship is not a spectator activity. It’s not a congregation observing people on a platform. Worship is about community; participating as a family of believers.
We need to be very conscious to make sure we are engaging the congregation in many facets, many components of the worship process. That’s why we need to be intentional in including Scripture and prayer.
Scripture is God speaking to us; prayer is our speaking back to him. We want that conversation to happen during our worship.
SS: You’ve told me about the content and structure of worship; what about the style?
JG: The style of our worship will be dictated by the scriptural focus.
When we go to worship, we are going to God’s house. When we enter the sanctuary, however, we are entering his living room!
It’s intimate. It’s family. It’s a sense of belonging. It’s a conversation. It’s a place of safety and a place where we can be ourselves before a holy God.
If we’ve prepared ourselves for worship, we often feel like Isaiah. When we come to his house, we can feel “dirty.” We want to become clean right away. If we’re serious about it, we would recognize our dirtiness on a daily basis. We’d want to shed ourselves of anything that would keep us from him.
We should want to be filled with who he is, rather than who we are.
Also, there is no template for worship – no onesize-fits-all. That is why it is important for people to assess their context: what their congregation looks like and then what the community surrounding them looks like. Inner-city corps worship will look completely different than one in a mountain community or resort area or a retirement community. That is where we start, and then the four-fold pattern helps to direct the
structure of our worship.
SS: Would you like to add anything else?
JG: Worship is a verb with many meanings. Worship relates to liturgy (yes, we have liturgy in the Army!). It means to serve others. It means posture. It tells the story of Scripture. It gives service to the community. It is a love language that is exchanged
between the Creator and the created. It is a sacrifice. It is a ministry of multiple gifts (the giving of our varied gifts for the full function of the Body of Christ). It is educating the believer of God’s character. It is relational.
So, you see, there is no just sitting in the pew if we are worshipping as he designs, we are active “in Spirit and in Truth.”