It has been really exciting to see the emails flying between Richard Lyall and Sunil Chandy as they thrash out what they'll be doing at the Engage Worship Day 'Worship Tech' session (we recently changed the title a little, by the way). They are so passionate about seeing how new, creative technologies can help release worship that is truly participative, authentic and glorifying to God. We asked them to sum up what the session will be about:

Richard writes:
"God, creativity and technology: three of my great loves. I'm always on the lookout for opportunities to do all three together. When our greatest passions line up, we're not far from our life's calling and purpose. So it's exciting to be able to contribute to this workshop at the Engage Worship day on 23rd Feb.

The whole "God + creativity + technology = ??" equation leads to a couple of things for me. Firstly, I like to dream and imagine crazy creative ideas harnessed for the purposes of God, be that worship and prayer, mission or whatever. There is a great need for baptised imaginations in the body of Christ.

Secondly, more practically, I love to use digital creative tools for personal worship, and also to create opportunities for other people to connect with God too. This means taking current technologies and using them in real worship settings. It might be live mixing video, or using music tools to allow a group of people to create a live mix, or capturing prayers from a group of people and blending them into a live visual presentation.

The sky is the limit. We can only whet your appetite - there is so much more to discover. We hope the workshop will encourage, inspire and equip you to take it further. All we'd ask is that you let others know what you've discovered as you explore!

I'm looking forward to our time together, and we can promise you a fun session of collaborative electronic creativity!"

Sunil writes:
"Right through the story of the Bible, humanity has used what tools and technologies they have to worship God. From Abraham building the altar in Genesis, to Bezalel designing the tabernacle in Exodus, to the temple musicians; they all used what they could to worship and lead God's people in that worship. Through the life of the church we have seen many radical technologies in the form of great cathedrals to organs and orchestras.
However sometimes it feels as though technology rules the world and we as a church struggle to keep up. So I'd like to discuss how can we best use what we have? Is latest 64 channel mixer what we really need? How do we invest in technology? And how much? How does technology enhance who we are in Christ? Is it just a crutch or a tool?
So along with these questions we'll experiment with a few technologies and reflect on how effective or ineffective it might be in our own local churches. This is not just for techies! Anyone who's interested in expanding the way our communities worship, is welcome!"



Their plan for the workshop is to give you thoughts, ideas and inspriation for using technologies, then get some hands-on time actually creating something, which may well be used in the final worship set. So if you resonate with what's being said here, or you're just curious, book yourself in!