Worship in Polyrhythm

This course provides a framework for preparing and leading worship by exploring the biblical and historical foundations of Christian worship.

With the help of expert coaches, you will learn practical skills for worship ministry through a polyrhythmic metaphorical lens. These skills include producing liturgies and services, using visual arts in worship (Joy Banks), leading a band, songwriting (Brian Doerksen), and strategies for intercultural worship (Vania Levans). We explore the relationships between worship and work, worship and justice, and worship and prayer. And we refresh our understanding and practice of the sacraments, drawing especially upon the practices of the early church to reinvigorate the spiritual life of the church today.

In music, “polyrhythms” involve multiple, different rhythms that are played at the same time. Polyrhythmic music is complex, requires attention and focus, and playfully reframes our expectations. This course explores the idea that Christian worship can also be understood, metaphorically, as a kind of polyrhythm: the layering of multiple stories (personal, communal, local, denominational, historical, Biblical, calendrical, intercultural) that form the music of our spiritual lives, if you will. When we plan, lead, and think about worship “polyrhythmically,” we can deepen our attention to complex possibilities while opening up space for playful experimentation.