BORROWING WORSHIP
August 17, 2025
Can you borrow the intangible? Can you give away what was never yours to keep? The answer is yes—it happens every Sunday. Language, ideas, words, texts, connections: these are my native tongue. Singing—choruses, shape-notes? Not so much. And yet every week I borrow those gifts from you. I’m swept up in your harmonies; my soul soars on your melodies—even though I couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Those shape-notes might as well be hieroglyphs to me.
Yet week after week you share a gift that was never yours to keep—a gift realized only in the giving: praise. All worship is rightly directed toward God—a pleasing aroma in the throne room, a veritable feast. Within that feast are crumbs; like a grateful beggar, I’m overjoyed just to be at the table—even if most of my vocal offerings are only the scraps I’ve gleaned from you.
Last week, Chad wrote about incorporating microphones into our worship service. To be clear, this is nothing new at Austin Avenue. The singers will remain seated in the pews; the only difference is that those holding microphones are committing to greater preparation and intentionality.
Here’s the paradox: the microphones aren’t for the gifted singers—though they may hold them. They’re for people like me—people who struggle to know and sing “their part.” I can devote more praise to God when I can clearly hear a model of the part I’m trying to sing.
So thank you—for lending what can’t be owned, for proclaiming what I cannot sing (well), and for sharing such a special moment with me and my family each week.
-Lance Havens
WORSHIP TEAM
August 10, 2025
Leading worship is a heavy responsibility. A worship leader must select the right songs that set the right mood, energy, and message and allows a large group of people to worship God in varying stages of life. Each week, a worship leader is an emcee, a conductor, a volunteer coordinator, and an event planner. There is a lot that goes through a worship leader’s mind during the service and during a song. We strive to give our best so that focus can be directed towards God and not our individual shortcomings.
The elders have decided to evaluate a Worship Team to assist the worship leader on Sunday mornings. This would be four singers on microphones – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass – who will compliment the worship leader and encourage the body to sing and worship with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.
If you have a passion for singing and would like to participate in the Worship Team, please come join us each Wednesday night after class, starting August 13, in the auditorium. Each night we will practice upcoming worship songs, explore new songs, and begin planning the Worship Team introduction into our Sunday services. We also invite our sound and computer teams to join us in this process, ensuring we create an effective Worship Team that enhances, rather than replaces, our congregational singing.
If you are unsure and want more information, join us on Wednesday night and let’s learn together how we can best serve Austin Avenue in this way.
-Chad Benton
