Hearing God's Call

Hello! My name is Allison O’Connor, and I am a junior at Ontario Christian. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend Symposium this year. However, I did attend two years ago, my freshman year, and it was a very memorable and meaningful experience for me. Before I share the things I learned, I think it’s important for me to share some back story.

I had been involved with the worship team at my church for about two years in a few different ministries. I also started to play guitar occasionally in chapel services here at OC. I was a part of worship ministry because I loved Jesus and playing music, but I didn’t think it was anything more than that for me. When Mrs. Kraut and Mr. Dykhouse asked me to attend the Symposium, I got this weird feeling in my stomach (a good kind of weird, of course). It felt like God had perfectly orchestrated for me to go to this event. I was so excited to go, and I remember counting the days until we left.

I don’t remember a lot of the specific workshops and seminars, but I do remember going to workshop on worship leading. It was taught by a lovely woman who was a worship leader at a church in the area. She also did a lot of service within her community to minister to those who are less fortunate. She spoke with this contagious joy and excitement about worship, and once again, I got this good-kind-of-weird feeling in my stomach. She talked about how leading worship was like being a shepherd to the congregation, much like how a pastor is. She also talked about how it was privilege to be called to lead worship. In fact, she said at one point, “You are called to be a worship leader.” It felt like God was speaking through her directly to me. The feeling that I had was now overflowing in my heart. It was at this moment that I received God’s calling in my life to be a worship leader. I didn’t know where or how I would do this, but I knew that this was what God wanted for my life. After the workshop, I felt like my heart and soul were going to burst with joy. I felt so much comfort and love in knowing that God had a specific plan for my life.

Since then, I now lead worship for our main congregation, junior high, high school, college, and women’s ministries at my church. This is also my second year in Chapel Leadership, and I have gained so much experience and knowledge from being a part of this class. While I was really sad I couldn’t attend Symposium this year, I spent the past few days at my youth group’s winter retreat, and I had the privilege of leading worship during the weekend. It was really cool to reflect on where God has brought me since then, even though I still have quite a long way to go. I am so unbelievably grateful for Calvin’s Worship Symposium, Mrs. Kraut, and Mr. Dykhouse for the countless things they have taught me about worship leading. The time I spent there two years ago (and hopefully again next year) was such a meaningful experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Connecting with Something Old and Something New

My name is AJ Curtin, I am a student in chapel class as a junior and I attended the 2015 Symposium trip. When I first heard about Symposium I was sort of unsure of what it was. I heard stories from past students and teachers saying that it was a fantastic trip so when I heard that we could all go I was excited but wasn’t sure what to expect. 

Denise Kingdom Grier leads a worship service during the
2015 Calvin Symposium on Worship. (image courtesy
of www.calvin.edu/worship)

When we got there the first day, I walked into something that was like a standard church service but less modern than mine. It was great to go in and try something different than from the church services I usually go to. The pastors and speakers were fantastic and really connected to me in a way that made me think deeper into what they were saying. 

When the service was over we went to the workshop things which was probably the most interesting part of the program to me. We had plenty of choices daily of things we could do whether it was a sermon, music or art related, a class about the world wide view of Christianity and more. This sort of reminded me that even just my musical talents can be such a blessing in the eyes of the Lord and really helped me see the importance of who I am in God's eyes. 

Along with new things I saw, there were things that reminded me of our school whether it was a song or two or the visuals or the way they related something as silly as a children's book to our lives as C

Tim Blackmon uses the children's book Knuffle Bunny by
Mo Willems during a message. (image courtesy
of www.calvin.edu/worship)

hristians. These similarities and others really connected with me and sort of enlightened me to the fact that the similar things we do can really have an impact on students. 

When it comes to the new things, I saw there was plenty. There was a great sense of community to me, everyone said hello and how are you doing as if they’ve known you for years. That connection between fellow brothers and sisters is something I think should be even more encouraged at our school someway. 

AJ Curtin with other members of the Chapel Leadership
Team during our trip to Symposium.

For example, on this trip alone I became more connected to the people in my class and became more like brothers and sisters in Christ as we all should be. This fellowship and more really shows that it is possible to enlighten more of a sense of community and love for each other as we were made to as Christians. This really opened my eyes to things I can do in my own life and for my small group or church or school and more. If I had the chance to go back I would go back in a heartbeat to connect with my fellow classmates, teachers, brothers and sisters in Christ, and most importantly with Christ himself.

Symposium from a Student's Perspective

Natalie Miller (far right) with OC Chapel Team members and
other high school students attending the Symposium.

Hi everyone! My name is Natalie Miller and I am a student of Mrs. Kraut and Mr. Dykhouse in Chapel Leadership Class. I attended the Symposium this year and had an awesome time! Here is my experience in more of a journal form:

Thursday: Morning Worship, Session 8: A New Song a Skillful Song, Vesper**: Ancient Words and Modern Music: A Fresh Musical Interpretation of the Heidelberg Catechism

Graham Kendrick (image courtesy
of www.calvin.edu/worship)

On Thursday, I learned how certain songs are easier to sing for congregations when there is a reachable range for all of the people in the audience, when there is repetition in a song, and when it is an easier tune to sing. This session was geared toward songwriters and being in the room with so many of them gave me awesome ideas. Heading the session was Graham Kendrick, who has written and co-written many popular songs sung in the church. We were able to some of his songs, as well as other songs that people in the room had written. The vesper on Thursday was very interesting as well due to the fact that all of the songs sung by the congregation were based on the catechism.

Friday: Morning Worship, Plenary Address: Church History as an Indispensable Source of Wisdom for Contemporary Ministry, Workshop A: Sticky Liturgies-Worship, Youth Ministry, and the Faith of American Teenagers, Workshop B: Resources in the Ancient Church for Today’s Worship, Vesper: Worship & Reconciliation across Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Cultural Lines

On Friday, I learned the reasons why teenagers were not staying in the church. The most interesting reason to me was because the church is not encouraging students to use their talents in a Christian environment where they can be encouraged to continue using their gifts for God. In a different session, I became aware that other denominations do not believe in communion until one is baptized and say a proclamation of their faith in front of the congregation. This made me aware of the different practices of denominations in the Christian Church as a whole. The vesper** on Friday was very interesting as well because the songs were geared towards people of all different types of ethnic groups (The Urban Doxology Band: http://www.makingamelody.com/urban-doxology-project/ check them out they are fantastic!).

Some of the practices in the worship services that I already see at Ontario Christian are the congregational singing, invites to worship, call and response pieces, and the interactive aspects between the leaders and the students. The most interesting things that I learned and came to my attention was that there are a variety of practices at different denominations of Christianity. Because of this, I have decided  to gear my planning in more of a way so that everyone will be able to feel comfortable in attending chapel.

**A vesper is an evening service that was provided each night during the Symposium at Calvin College. It was more of a worship setting, but there were call and response pieces as well as readings from scripture.*

Calvin College Worship Symposium 2015

This post was written by Mr. Ben Dykhouse, Chapel Team Mentor at OCHS since 2006.

For the past seven years, I have had the privilege of attending the Calvin

Symposium on Worship with members of the Chapel Leadership Team here at OCHS.  This year, Melanie Kraut and I took eight students to this event which is hosted by Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.  This is an event for worship planners, worship leaders, and pastors and includes people from almost every Christian denomination. It also includes people from countries on every continent around the world.  To learn more about this event, please see this link. (To see other perspectives from this event on social media, please search the hashtag "#wsymp15" on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.)

Over the course of the next days and weeks, we plan to release a number of blog posts from the students who attended this event.  We hope to give a glimpse into our experiences.  We also hope to encourage you with how this class (Chapel Leadership) and this event are shaping the next generation of worship planners and worship leaders.  Please feel free to send any feedback or questions to me at bdykhouse@ocschools.org.

A few of my thoughts:

One of the first worship services we attended set the tone for the three days of the conference.  The focus verse of the message in that service was 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”  I was reminded that “jars of clay” were typically used for transporting water.  Also, these jars are extremely fragile and utterly replaceable.  Not the biggest boost to a worship planner/worship leader’s ego.  

However, the second part of that verse is so important.  We are fragile and replaceable so that whatever power, goodness, talent, etc. exists in us is obviously from God.  Our self-worth, goodness, talent, etc. come from another source.  What a freeing thought!  How good is God’s grace.  He is our strength, our goodness, the source of all life and light.  While this may not be an “ego boost”, it put me in exactly the right Spiritual place to draw from the deep well that God provides each year at the Worship Symposium.  

A few "snapshots" from the trip:

• A workshop for song writers and worship leaders that explored writing singable songs that are also deep in Biblical theology.
• A seminar with Graham Kendrick that taught people to sing through a Psalm during a worship service.
• Participating in worship services with people from different denominations all over the world.
• Traveling, eating, worshiping, learning, and hanging out with eight incredible high school students

For me, one of the major "takeaways" from this year at Symposium is how we make worship services accessible for those who are "different." Specifically, at Symposium, we were considering how to make worship more accessible for our friends with special needs. Could a person with Downs Syndrome, Autism, or another cognitive condition come into a worship service, understand what was happening, and feel welcomed? Or, and perhaps more relevant for the worship setting at Ontario Christian, could a person with no context for Christian worship come to one of our services, understand, and feel welcomed? In other words, what are some ways to show the love and hospitality of Christ in our worship? This is one question I've been wrestling with for awhile, but I was renewed and equipped to give some answers during Symposium this year.

Please come back to our blog for more reflections on Worship Symposium 2015.

February 19, 2014 Chapel Video

Video from an amazing chapel:

February 12, 2014 video

Here's the video from last Wednesday's chapel:


O.C.H.S. Chapel on December 11, 2013 from Ontario Christian School on Vimeo.