12 May 16 Attend Worship Summit in Florida

Sixteen persons attended the third Worship Pastor’s Summit on May 5-7 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The event was designed for worship pastors and spouses. The participants came from churches in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

This year’s summit followed the same format as the previous two by starting on Monday evening and ending on Wednesday night. John Authenreith, worship arts pastor at Mainstreet Church (Walbridge, Ohio), was the main facilitator for the event and kept things rolling and on time. Wednesday night kicked off with an open worship time during whic each attender shared a worship song that is connecting with their congregation. After a short break, the pastors came back and shared testimonies and life verses to build community.

Tuesday and Wednesday were times for keynote speakers Matt Chandler and Craig Groeschel, who spoke to the group via DVD. These addresses were followed by by discussion and also focused discussions led by John Authenreith and Sam Ward, pastor of Creative Worship & Drama at Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

Networking was also a big part of the week. There were many conversations over meals and around the hotel about adapting liturgical elements for today’s church, technology, leading rehearsals, musical excellence, etc. The summit attenders plan to continue these conversations and group learning via their Facebook page.

Wednesday night, the 16 attenders spent time in communion and prayer as a symbol of unity in Christ.