We just finished a fantastic weekend doing a What Is Worship? event in Edinburgh, Scotland. We had a beautiful crew of Scots, gathered from approximately 15 churches, including the Church Of Scotland, Baptist, Vineyard, independent and Episcopal churches. Some others came from Norway, and a beautiful worship team of nine from a new Vineyard Church in Heidelberg, Germany came to join us (we had lunch together with them at an Edinburgh pub, and talked about everything from tightening background vocals to the character of worship team members).
It was a rich and fun time, and full of laughter – the Germans understood my English better than they understood the Scots! Of course, I cheewww my words when I speak….
My favorite part of these weekends is the interaction; especially when we start plumbing the depths in larger and smaller groups of the different passions and “soul languages” represented in the room, and begin explore how they are encountering grounds of worship for us – and primary arenas of calling that God has never meant us to shut down in the name of “sacrificial discipleship.”
So many came alive to their passions in a fresh and living way, sometimes with tears of joy, and began to see the imago Dei shimmering within themselves, as we continued to embrace the reality that we are broken BeautyBearers in this world. In honor of the traditions of Celtic spirituality, we kept three candles burning at the front during all the teaching times, reminding us of the creative love of the Father, the healing gift of the Son, and the everpresence of the Holy Spirit.
Our amazing host, Greig, donated his candles to this worthy cause, and then fed us like royalty at his beautiful home. We laughed deep into the night after sessions with him, and were welcomed into the world of Haggis when our defenses were down. Graeme Campbell, the worship leader at the Vineyard there, was an amazing organizer of the event worship, and continues to be a dear friend. So many others, including David and Liz Hart made our time unforgettable.
In our times of ministry, good friend, photographer, wise guide, design fiend and travelling companion Matt Frise played soaring, touching violin melodies up close to individuals as we prayed for them. Truly transforming moments will mark the memory of our time there. The Edinburgh Vineyard, who hosted the event with Vineyard Records UK, was an incredible host.
I’m putting together a new media site this trip that will have pictures and a new DanWilt.com podcast coming soon. Right now, we have just arrived in Hull, UK, and have a day of rest coming up tomorrow. Days of speaking, leading worship, and praying later, we’re looking forward to a breather.
Again, if you pray for us and these events as you read the post, we are grateful.