Hello all, my name is Casey White and I’m the worship leader here at the Orchard Church. I was raised on a Southern Baptist flavor of Christianity, so needless to say I was used to worship services that consisted almost entirely of hymn-singing, a long sermon, and an altar call. Now you can listen to long sermons for hours, and in the end you might be inspired or instructed but would you have engaged in ardent, legitimate worship with God? When I got out of high school I began to realize that my particular walk of faith needed something that resonated to me personally. There is nothing wrong with the old school style… In fact, I love it! But honestly, it was certainly not catching my interest any more. I love rock and roll, so why wouldn’t we worship with it?
The worship experience we strive for at the Orchard Church is this, one of relevance, honestly, and self-abandonment. Where you and your God can interact in a deep and significant way. Not approached in a “Jesus is my boyfriend” love-song fest, but an environment that engages women AND men. I really feel that men haven’t been connecting to the church like they should, and it makes sense. Love songs aren’t manly. BUT when we sing of power, victory, and how awesome God’s grace is, it is engaging to the hearts of men.
The songs I choose are so important to our congregation’s level of participation. If the song is too new, no one knows it. Too old, and I feel like I’m doing them an injustice by not challenging their worship song repertoire. So I mix the old and the new on purpose so that we can all come together, truly inviting God to have His way in our lives.
So here it is, church… Worship is NOT just contained in the two hours we have together on Sunday. It is the 166 that we have the rest of the week as well. We come together to celebrate in that fact. So let’s arrive at the throne holding nothing back, in an environment that we can have authentic and lasting life change, right there in front of everyone.
-Casey White