The Power of Collaboration: Worshiping together in trust and participation

By Zack Armfield

If you were to visit College Wesleyan Church (CWC) in Marion, IN on any given Sunday, you would enjoy wonderful experiences  – welcoming and friendly faces, a large congregation, and a beautiful space among other things. Underneath all that, you may notice the craftsmanship of the worship services, as CWC strives to weave together a service that truly reflects its members. As you worship, you will see and hear a collaboration stretching across skill levels, ethnicities, generations, and life stages. You will see the people of CWC.

Speaking to this Jordan Rife, Worship Pastor, says that the goal on Sunday is to build a service that reflects the family of God. That means their style is made up of their people. It would be easier to use a manufactured sound of professionals, but they have made an intentional choice – from the mix of the sound, to the inclusion of various generations, to singing and reading in languages represented in their congregation – to foster participation within the congregation. “Whatever is happening on the platform, you are hearing the people of CWC,” says Rife.

However, collaboration is not something that can be simply executed out of one planning meeting. It takes time. It takes trust. Rife speaks to this in saying “I’ve been working at it for thirteen years” and she still feels there is much more to be done. Along with her husband Danie, who serves as Liturgy and Formation Director, Rife has worked faithfully to foster a sense of collaboration by building relationships of trust within their teams at CWC.

This has produced a unique sound that, while having many challenges to produce, is full of joy in seeing people work together to worship. One of the most beautiful aspects of this is the cross-generational worship that happens when the children are involved. Rife works with their children's pastoral team to weave together a service that involves the kids, while also engaging the adults. It’s not simply a time to smile at the energy of little ones, but a time to worship together in an embodied way. This blended worship time has even stretched into their main service with Rife weaving in physical movement, “motions,” rooted in ASL in order to have the adults experience that child-like worship regularly.

Thankfully, Rife and CWC’s story is not unique to them; they are one of many great examples of people willing to be open to working with others instead of being wary of them. Even within their own city of Marion, there is another congregation, smaller and of a different makeup entirely, that throws itself into collaboration – mixing regularly with other small congregations to create ‘Super Sundays’ to bolster worship. This has been a great encouragement to Rife and CWC, and now CWC is joining in with what this smaller congregation is doing, in order to learn from them!

So, how can the Church take encouragement? In a culture of hyper-individualism and personal preference, how can leadership lay aside differences and control to cultivate an attitude of working together? Rife would point to two words – Trust and Participation.

It all starts with Trust. Work flows best when ideas are given out of mutual trust. Trust that, even if this doesn’t work at all, there will be grace given rather than condemnation. Trust that the relational foundation is built to last. This takes much time and Rife recommends that those working together spend time around one another before actually serving together. It is about trusting and empowering others to work and use their giftings for the glory of the Kingdom, bringing in a diversity of style and voice.

Then there is Participation. Without full involvement of the leadership, collaboration will not move forward. There need to be key people who will commit, lean in, and not shy away from hard work. People who, in Rife’s words, throw themselves in “when the risk is high and the proof of concept low.” These are the crucial people who move things forward to involve others at all the other levels. Intentional team members who exhibit grace, love, and purpose.

Rife’s last advice rings loud – “if collaboration was easy, everybody would be doing it.” While this might seem discouraging to some, it is a great reminder that collaboration is worth pursuing. For while it is challenging, the reward is massive in that it reflects the Kingdom of God – many voices, faces, hands, people groups, and ages all singing, dancing, and worshipping their King Jesus.