Among the metaphors that were shared in the book Worship Pastor(Hicks, 2016) the churches
that I currently serve at in Japan seem to emphasize the following: Worship Pastor as Church
Lover, Prayer Leader, and Tour Guide.
One commonality is that no speci c individual is designated as worship pastor. Church leaders
share the responsibilities of worship pastor. The dynamics of planning a worship are slightly
di erent. Church leaders emphasize the church lover, encouraging a strong commitment to the
local church, to re ect our ability to love others as God does. As mentioned in the Worship
Pastor(Hicks, 2016),"A church lover passionately loves and believes in the church" (Hicks, p.
26). Actively and passionately believing in the local church creates a community that is focused
on God and is dedicated to embracing all.
The worship leader is the facilitator of corporate prayer and our introduction and example to
encounter God. The church places a strong importance on prayer. The churches that I serve in
are Reformed and as such, there is a base belief that we are helpless apart from God’s mercy
—prayer is vital. We weekly recite the Lord’s Prayer, Apostles Creed and 10 commandments.
The worship service is anchored by prayers and gives the congregation ample time to engage
in dialogue with God.
My local church is good at emphasizing the role as tour guide. The conservative and Reformed
traditions of the church place a lot of sway on the narrative of the Bible. This translates to
worship that has a lot of structure with smooth and continuous ow. It may be perceived as a
bit formal and sti to some people.
As for the neglected roles: Curator, Emotional Shepherd and Mortician. In smaller churches it is
easy for the curator to fall into habit and not assess the elements of worship. Worship becomes
ritualized and less relevant to the congregation.
Since there are fewer people willing to participate in church; the church may have di culty
ful lling their role as Emotional Shepherd. Culturally too, Japan tends to be introverted and
often hides their emotions to “save face”. It is a challenge to create a space where the
congregation feels comfortable enough to open up.
Churches that I serve at occasionally have songs and worships themes on death, but they are
few and far between. This makes it di cult for the worship leaders to act in the role of
Mortician and address the needs of the congregation in terms of mortality.
Practical steps to improve the neglected roles would be to prioritize worship planning. It would
be helpful to have the speci c role of the worship pastor assigned to an individual. If that is not
possible, it would be helpful to set aside time where the church leaders review the elements of
worship planning and actively adjust elements to contribute to a cohesive and meaningful
worship. “We must think about how to tether emotions to the truth of His story” (Hicks, p.189) I
believe that worship could de nitely be improved if we spend some more time focusing our
strengths on curating the worship.
ffi
fl
ffi
fi
fi
fi
fl
ff
ff
fi
As an Emotional Shepherd, it is so important to be open and vulnerable to other peoples’
emotions. A wide range of elements can be used during worship to encourage the
congregation to connect more deeply with God. Since, one can hardly deny the power of
music, taking extra time to carefully curate and plan music that is used in worship can be used
to become a better Emotional Shepherd. Further education in counseling and bible study
would deepen the churches’ ability to be better shepherds of emotion as well.
fl
Becoming a better curator and emotional shepherd, will in turn help us to do a better job in the
role of Mortician. It is evident that we need to expose the congregation to the concept of
mortality and take the opportunity to use hymns and prayers that acknowledge the realities of
death. By creating space for lamentation and re ection, in and out of worship, the
congregation intentionally becomes engaged with mortality.