Have you ever wondered who writes the beautiful confessions we recite each week at Grace? Meet Network Worship Pastor Mike Price – our very own MVP.
Pastor Mike, how does it feel to share a name with Pastor Mike?
Well, it’s funny because about five minutes after I got to Grace, I realized that Pastor Mike had the corner on the name “Mike,” and he had beat me by like six years, when he founded the church! And we actually kept adding Mikes after me, so we have a bunch of Mikes, and it just got confusing.
It’s crazy to think that with my words I can either tear someone down, or I can lead them to see Jesus as their Redeemer and cause all of heaven to rejoice.
Fortunately, early on, someone on staff found out that my initials are MVP (Michael Vincent Price), and they started calling me “MVP,” or sometimes just “Price.” Which is ironic because I’m not very athletic, and I feel like those are both athletic ways to name someone. I just imagine someone yelling, “Hey Price, go cover center field – you’re our MVP!” And none of that works for me at all.
Except it DOES work when it comes to putting together a Grace worship service! You have been a Most Valuable Player throughout 2020 as Grace launched a brand new Online Worship Experience, and recently you transitioned into the role of Network Worship Pastor. What does that position involve?
As Network Worship Pastor I get the opportunity to lead a group of worship leaders across our campuses. I’d say that we grow, learn, and lead as a team. And so by doing that, we hope to empower and equip the people of Grace to see the beauty of God each week in worship.
Practically, in my week-to-week, it means that I’m writing different components of our service, most notably our confessions, but I also get to be instrumental in what our bigger events look like – stuff like our Good Friday and Easter services, our Nights of Worship, Christmas Eve services, and any other vision nights. So really, I’m just kind of directing what our liturgy (or flow of service) looks like across our campuses.
Does Grace Church have a philosophy of worship?
Yes! I would say the House Rule we think of in terms of worship is Modern Liturgy. One of the primary aims in our worship services is to build history into modern services because we are called to carry an ancient faith into the future.
Practically, that just means that we believe church traditions throughout history should empower us rather than encumber us. We believe the same Holy Spirit who spoke to hymn writers in the 4th century is still speaking to song writers today. He hasn’t changed, but our people and culture have. So we want to build history into our services, but then also look toward what the Spirit is doing now. That’s why you might hear an ancient Nicene Creed that goes into a song that was written six months ago. That’s intentional.
By standing on the shoulders of those who have worshipped God before us – by hearing their stories, reciting their creeds, and singing their songs – we actually begin to grasp a more beautiful picture of the grace of Jesus.
Are there any other principles that influence worship at Grace?
Philosophically, we always go with the guiding principles of light and heat, which is a Jonathan Edwards concept. “Light” refers to the Truth of the gospel, which inflames our hearts with zeal for God, and “heat” represents a full reliance on the Holy Spirit to stir our affections for God. And really, Jonathan Edwards didn’t come up with that; Jesus did in John 4, when He said true worshippers “must worship in Spirit and Truth” (John 4:24). So John 4 is our guiding philosophy.
What principles about worship can we learn from the book of James?
I think James aims to show us – especially in chapter 3 – that God has gifted us with tools that we can use to worship Him or dishonor Him. To me, it’s crazy to think that with my words I can either tear someone down, or I can lead them to see Jesus as their Redeemer and cause all of heaven to rejoice. Just with my words!
James hits us hard with this undeniable truth that the tongue can easily get out of control and cause massive destruction. However, under control, our words can give life and hope and redemption and beauty. And so our question is, how do we get our speech under control? James tells us that no human can tame the tongue, which is kind of sad and despairing, but then I think there’s our answer: Just as our worship of God is dead and ritualistic without the empowering of the Spirit, so our words are a deadly poison without the Spirit guiding us.
It goes back to the principles of “light” (Truth) and “heat” (the Spirit). It’s easy to represent Christ well when we’re singing a hymn around other people who represent Christ, but it’s in the darkness that light shines brightest. So if we want to worship in Spirit and Truth, we must stay tied to the gospel. I would even say “tethered” to the gospel, because there’s a sense in which it pulls us, anchors us.
We must be anchored to the Truth and empowered by the Spirit in order to worship not just in church, but in life. And our proximity to the Spirit will yield that which human hands cannot: A tongue that brings beauty rather than pain, hope rather than despair, and ultimately, life rather than death.
