Not too long ago, I took a group of about twenty of our praise team members to a large-scale worship conference with thousands in attendance. Our group stuck out like a sore thumb, compared to other groups we were noticeably very diverse. There was almost an equal amount of Hispanic, White, and African-American people with a few Asians sprinkled in. It was then that it really hit me; without even making an effort, our team literally represented a truly multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-generational congregation. I was amazed. I asked myself, “How did this happen?”

Seven years ago when I was hired, Jay Pankratz, our Senior Pastor, told me to be sensitive to the multi-ethnic ministry of Sunrise. As the Worship Arts Pastor, my job was to continue to develop a worship ministry in support of this vision. I quickly learned that we all have a cultural bias and I needed to think outside of my own cultural bias and be intentional in incorporating diversity in two key areas: musical style and the people on the platform. I had to constantly challenge myself when it came to selecting music and recruiting team members. I would always ask myself, “How is this decision going to affect the worship and how is this going to support our vision for a multi-ethnic ministry?”

Our mission statement as a worship arts ministry is “To celebrate Jesus’ life transforming power through creative arts, to create an atmosphere that invites people of all ethnicities to worship the living God and to cultivate spiritual growth and character development in all of our members.”

Apart from diversity on the platform and musical styles, my first priority is to keep things biblical, authentic and sincere. Above all, we want:

1. To recruit people who are seeking to follow God and worship Him sincerely.
2. To pick songs which express the truth of God’s word regardless of style.
3. To exalt Christ in whatever we do and keep our worship focused on Him.
4. To worship God with a passion; a passion for God’s glory, a passion for excellence and a passion that is expressed in exuberant, heart-felt praise and worship. People respond to passion regardless of ethnicity.
5. To reflect the musical preferences of the main ethnic groups in our church when we can. I believe that reflecting the different styles of music actually communicates respect to the various ethnic groups within our community. In essence we are showing them that their culture is worthy of being a part of God’s worship.

In a typical weekend it is not uncommon that we will go from a rock song to a gospel flavored riff to a Latin beat. We have, on occasion, incorporated Spanish “Folkloric” styled dance, ballet and hip hop in our worship. We may have a driving electric guitar solo, an infectious conga rhythm or a jazzy saxophone riff, but it somehow all comes together to honor God and communicate respect to our people.

I have realized that we can’t please everyone and that we can never do every style perfectly but, we always endeavor to do our best. Our volunteers are really challenged to stretch musically to learn different types of music. It requires sacrifice, time and energy to pull it off consistently. This dedication has helped us to grow in our skill and sensitivity to the people in our congregation. As our community continues to evolve ethnically, we are constantly challenged to get out of our “comfort-zone” so that we can all continue to grow.