The Team of Worship and Arts at River Rock Church serves two main functions:

1. To bridge the gap culturally between people who believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and the culture that we presently live in.

   This is an extremely challenging crevasse to cross but I believe wholeheartedly that this is essential in order to draw non-believers into our sphere of influence. I also believe that this has been modeled for us by Jesus Himself. Jesus used parables (short stories to illuminate deep truths) numerous times throughout His ministry. In the world we live in today, we have been given so many tools. These can be used to teach the Good News of salvation that we have through Jesus. Music, drama, videos, and other forms of multi-media are ways that we can work to help build a bridge to our friends and family that don't believe in God.

   To bridge this gap we at River Rock believe that we must be:

   1. Mission-Focused - Believing that God has big plans for our community, we'll serve our neighbors with everything we've got.
   2. Tuned-In - Believing that Christians are called to transform culture, we won't hide our heads in the sand. The goal of all our ministry efforts is to reach real people living in the real world.

   Both of these values are in response to the words of Jesus found in the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…"

2. To bring Glory to our Triune God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit), to ascribe unto God all worth and honor that is due to Him.

   This is our reason for existence. Whether you believe in God or not this fact still remains: you were created to bring glory to God and to have a relationship with Him. We as humans can either embrace this truth as reality or reject it, but it still remains.

   All people are created in God's image and matter deeply to Him. Central to the message of the Bible is that God loves people and invites them to live in communion with Himself and in community with each other.

   So with these two functions in mind, we are going to aggressively seek our God to give us fresh revelation into the present culture and discover ways to speak the love of Christ to the world we live in.

To be involved in the Worship and Arts Team takes commitment and hard work. We at River Rock have developed some guidelines for being involved that hopefully explain what is expected of you.

1. Being involved in Worship and Arts at River Rock Church must begin with a private and personal commitment to worship. We are not focused on "performing worship" (though there is an element of performance involved) but rather we are seeking to express and convey an attitude of heart-felt worship. This flows directly out of a relationship with God and being devoted to Him.
2. Being involved in Worship and Arts at River Rock Church is a privilege and must always be viewed as such. It is a big responsibility that God has given us and must not be taken lightly.
3. With this privilege comes the responsibility to live a life that is Christ honoring. There needs to be a willingness to walk with integrity both privately and publicly with the desire of becoming more like Jesus. (Eph. 5:1-4, Eph. 4:29-32)

   This responsibility also includes behaving and dressing in ways that point to God and not to ourselves. For woman this means dressing with modesty which is to be determined by the leaders of the church.

4. It is said that "the place of agreement is the place of power." This mentality is crucial especially because of the various backgrounds, musical tastes, ways of connecting with God there are. We need to be unified in our approach to worship. God delights in our worship when we glorify Him with one heart, one mind, and one voice. (Romans 15:5-6) At River Rock Church, we try to use music, media, and drama to help non-believers understand the message of Christ. We use primarily contemporary praise and worship music to do this.
5. A commitment to being ready for and at practice on time is important. We all lead busy lives and everyone's time is important.
6. The ability to be flexible.
7. It is important for a new church that the people that are seen on stage are also seen in the audience when they aren't playing that particular week. You can be a contagious worshiper in the congregation even when you're not playing.

If there are any questions regarding the Worship and Arts Team please contact the River Rock Office at 360.885.9000.