John D. Witvliet

In chapter 13, Witvliet examines four pictures of the role of the pastor in planning and leading worship (craftsperson, director/coordinator, performer, and spiritual engineer) and suggests a fifth image to put the other four in context: shepherd/pastor. "As worship leaders," he says, "we have the important and terrifying task of placing words of prayer on people’s lips. It happens every time we choose a song and write a prayer. We also have the holy task of being stewards of god’s Word. Our choices of Scripture and themes for worship represent a degree of control over people’s spiritual diets, over how they feed on the bread of life. For holy tasks such as these, the church needs more than craftspeople, coordinators, and performers, and none of the hubris to be spiritual engineers. The church needs pastoral people to plan and lead its worship." (p. 282)… (mehr)