Transforming Worship Planning and Leading Sunday Services as If Spiritual Formation Mattered by Rory Noland

Transforming Worship Planning and Leading Sunday Services as If Spiritual Formation Mattered by Rory Noland

Spiritual formation is the key to the survival of our faith.

There is an urgent need today for church services that are substantive and purposeful. Stigmatized by scandal, the church in North America and throughout Europe has been branded as useless and irrelevant. To stem the tide of nominal Christianity, we need to get serious about making disciples who can make other disciples.

Rory Noland is a worship leader who has led in contexts ranging from megachurches tosmall retreat settings such as the Transforming Center with Ruth Haley Barton. Combining discipleship and worship--what Noland calls transforming worship--he offers a vision for worship as spiritual formation. We need to reclaim our worship services as a formative space, and through that we will become the light of Christ in a dark world.

Rory Noland is the director of Heart of the Artist Ministries, an organization dedicated to serving artists in the church (www.heartoftheartist.org). A songwriter, speaker, church leader, and consultant, Rory is also the author of three books, all published by Zondervan: The Heart of the Artist: A Character-Building Guide For You and Your Ministry Team; Thriving as an Artist in the Church: Hope and Help For You and Your Ministry Team; and The Worshiping Artist: Equipping You and Your Ministry Team to Lead Others in Worship. Rory currently serves part-time as Pastor of Worship at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, contributes regularly to Worship Leader magazine, and also leads worship for the Transforming Center, a ministry that cares for the souls of pastors and leaders. Rory graduated from the Chicago Musical College at Roosevelt University with a degree in theory and composition and served as the music director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois