An
Offering of Love
Women’s Ministry Worship Team
Women’s Ministry Worship Team
Dedicating this, with
overwhelming gratitude, to a “Worship Team” that is willing, available and
ready to serve MCBC Women’s Ministry!
Spring 2011… as the Retreat
Planning Committee was finalizing the retreat details, one large piece was
still missing…. who would lead the worship singing?
Having been decline by several
congregations, Living Hope ChristianFellowship in Surrey, BC accepted our invitation. Praise the Lord!
Four lovely women joined us for the
retreat weekend. They came with joyful hearts, prepared to serve the Lord with
their voices, instruments and inspired readings to complement their songs and
our weekend theme.
Sunday, as the retreat was wrapping
up, having heard many positive comments regarding the Worship Team, I lightheartedly
asked Cheryl if the group would consider becoming the ‘official’ Retreat
Worship Team ---- to my surprise and without hesitation she said YES!
Since then they led the Worship
Time for the 60th Anniversary of Mennonite Women Canada (July 2012 -Richmond,
BC) and have also taken on the annual Inspirational Day.
We are so blessed to call them
our ‘official’ Women’s Ministry
Worship Team!
Asking for this interview…. these
are some of the comments from the team….. followed by the whole interview below
the picture!
Cheryl… “We desire to be a blessing to our church
family. We believe that out of thanks to God we are to use our gifts to serve
where we have been called to serve.”
Elly… “Our
job is to help people worship.”
Carla… “The Lord has given
everyone a part! My approach is doing this as an ‘offering of love’ toward the
Lord and let Him use it as He sees fit”
Full interview will also be posted on
our Mennonite Women Canada webpage.
Waltrude Gortzen
MCBC Women’s Ministry Rep
.jpg) |
Photo
by Waltrude Gortzen – May 4th, 2013
Inspirational Day – Eben-EzerMennonite Church, Abbotsford, BC
Left
to right: Carla Hordyk – keyboard; Cheryl Heinrichs sitting on the
Cajon & Team Leader;
Dorothy
Friesen – vocals; Elly Federau – guitar.
Actually, they all sing!
|
Worship
Team Interview – March 2014
1.
Have
you always been interested in Music, Worship Leading and Singing?
Cheryl – Yes,
I think I can safely answer for all of us that we have been interested and
involved in music ministry and loved music from when we were young.
We have all come up through the more traditional church system of playing,
singing in church and in choir. For Carla, Elly and myself we then
progressed to leading congregational singing and then to worship leading in the
more modern, and wider definition. We all deeply love the Lord and
see our different roles in church ministry as physical acts of service to God
as our response to His love for us. We desire to be a blessing to our church
family and we believe that out of thanks to God we are to use our gifts to
serve where we have been called to serve.
Elly – For
most of my life I have had an interest in music. I’ve been a worship leader at Living Hope Christian
Fellowship for 20 years. I knew that God had given me a talent and that I
should use it to serve Him and the church. I believe it’s a calling.
2.
Can
you tell us a bit about this work you do.
Cheryl – Elly and I are 2 of the
regular worship leaders for our congregation and Carla was also a regular
worship leader for our congregation for many years. As worship leaders we
believe that we are called to be lead worshipers in our lives beyond the
church walls first. It is out of our own deep and growing personal
relationship with Jesus that we then humbly desire to inspire each congregation we serve to worship the living Jesus and meet with Him personally. We strive to
teach the congregation biblical truth and the hope of the Word of God through
the songs, scriptures, prayers and responses we incorporate into our
corporate worship times. We work together with the speakers/preachers to
teach and preach a Spirit- led and God-honouring message... and as a rule we
rely completely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit to guide us to the same
truth whether it is spoken or sung.
Elly – As the Worship Team, our job is to
create an environment for people, using the vehicle of music, to meet with
God. Our job is to help people worship.
3. When
did the idea/suggestion of becoming MCBC Women’s Ministry official Worship Team
first come to you?
Cheryl – I was approached by Waltrude a
few years ago about the opportunity to serve the Women's Ministry in the area
of leading worship. I did not hesitate in saying yes, trusting that the
Holy Spirit would also provide me with a team that would be willing to join me
in serving in this ministry. I have been so incredibly blessed to serve
side by side with such an amazing and deeply committed team of godly
women! Cheryl
Elly – I can’t remember exactly when but we
have lead worship at the MCBC Women’s retreat for several years now.
4.
Was
it a difficult decision to become the Women’s Ministry Worship Team and to
serve in this manner?
Cheryl – No, it was not a difficult
decision for me to say yes to this ministry opportunity because I feel I was
already being called to serve the larger church in the area of leading
worship. The timing of this ministry opportunity fit that vision
perfectly.
Elly – Definitely not.
5.
Do
you enjoy being part of Women’s Ministry in this way?
Cheryl – I love leading these amazing
women in worship. It is soooo inspiring to worship with the larger church
family and to express our love for Jesus in such a corporate setting. It is
truly a privilege that each of us on the team share. We each feel so
blessed to be able to add our gifts to the larger body of believers and see
what God is doing in our midst!
Elly – Very much so! It is such an honor and privilege to serve
our ladies in this way. And it’s a lot
of fun, too! It’s great knowing that we are part of a larger church and it’s a
great opportunity to meet other women.
6.
How
do you see your faith playing a role in this work that you have chosen?
Cheryl – Faith plays an integral part
in leading worship both as a team and as a leader. Our faith is our
inspiration to sing, play and lead. We believe that corporate worship is
an outward, unified expression of love and thankfulness to Jesus, who loved us
first and completely. Our love and our worship is centered on a real, and
personal encounter with Jesus. GOD is the author of the songs we
sing. The Holy Spirit is the real worship leader whom we submit to in how we
lead the congregations as a team and in whom I trust for my inspiration,
discernment and wisdom as I lead. We don't want people to focus on us as
a team and certainly not on me as a leader but rather we desire that all glory
and honor and focus is on Jesus, the Son of God and our Saviour and on the
Almighty God.
Elly – It is central. Like I said before,
leading worship is a calling. Worship is a lifestyle, i.e. our whole life, how
live the whole week is worship. We honor God with our whole lives. Leading worship on a Sunday morning, or any
gathering, is an extension of what we do during the week.
7.
What
are some of the challenges?
Cheryl – There are always challenges in
any area of ministry. Coordination of media support and technical skills
have proved to be the most challenging for me. However, these areas of
challenge have also resulted in highlighting how amazing God is... For He makes
all things work together in a way that will bring Him glory and honor and
praise. It isn't what we do that shows His powerful presence but what He does
when we can't that leaves us the most awe-struck and amazed and blessed. The
other single greatest highlight for me has been the time spent praying.... for
the events with the women's ministry team, praying before leading worship,
praying before each practice with my worship team and praying as I prepare....
And then to be a witness to seeing the Living God move amongst His chosen
daughters as they worship together in unison and touch them visibly.....
That is a priceless gift.
Elly – Some logistic stuff-it would be nice
to have a sound tech as part of our team.
8.
What
are the high lights?
Cheryl – I totally agree with Carla in
saying that we totally serve out of love for our Lord Jesus and love for our
sisters and brothers in Christ. We are passionate about worshipping God with
our gifts and blessing His church in the broader sense. It is very much
our desire that we become less so that God can be more... That we seek to
inspire people to meet with God and worship Him in an honest and authentic way
and that He be able to flow through us to bless His church. We are a part
of the body of Christ and want to give Him glory and honour, praise and
thanksgiving.
Elly – Seeing women engaged in authentic
worship-when you can tell they are connecting with God. Women gathering
together and lifting their voices and hands in praise to God is something
special.
And
to finish… a short note from …
Carla – I am just a piece of the puzzle… a
small part of the whole worship in singing experience and really enjoy it.
The Lord has given everyone a part and my approach is doing this as an
offering of love toward the Lord and let Him use it as He sees fit. I
believe I could probably say with confidence that "less of me/us and more
of you Lord" is the attitude of our team. We desire for Him to
use us in a way so that others can worship Him in spirit and truth and be able
to express their thankfulness and love for Him in an environment that is
conducive to this…and it is a lot of fun to be together with a large group of
women, singing praises to our amazing heavenly Father!!
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