Welcome to Trinity Talks, everyone. I am so excited that we have the worship team here,
or some of the members of our amazing worship team joining us today for this wonderful talk.
So because we have the worship team here, I'm officially changing the name of Trinity Talks
to Trinity Sings just for today, and it's going to change back to Trinity Talks as of
tomorrow. But top of the morning to you, it's the St. Patrick's Day here. So welcome to
Libby and to David and to Stephanie. Thank you. Thank you so much.
All right. Thank you guys for joining me. I'm hoping that over the next little bit,
we can talk a little bit about the music ministry here at Trinity. And I think it would be nice
if we also just get to know you a little bit better as well. We see you up there all the
time doing your amazing thing and showing your amazing skills and sharing your amazing
gifts. And I think it's time that we get to know a little bit more about who you are.
So thanks for joining me. Thanks for having us.
Now true to Trinity Talks style, I think it would be very nice if we all play a little
game just to warm us up and to have a little fun. What do you think? Let's do it. All right.
So the game I've decided to come up with is called Love Song or Worship Song. All right.
Now to make this a little bit fair, I didn't make the songs too challenging. All of the
songs are songs that have been on the top billboard, at least top 10. So they aren't
like some weird obscure song. And all of the worship songs, I think are songs that you've
sung before here at Trinity. So I guess what I'm saying is there's no excuses to get it
wrong. Danger, danger. Danger, danger. All right. And I'm not going to single you out.
I'd like to see you guys work as a team to show off your amazing team skills. All right.
So we're going to start with this one here. Every place I go, I'll think of you. Every
song I sing, I sing for you. That should be a worship song, but I don't think. I think
it's a love song. You think it's a love song? It's a love song. All right. Do you know which
love song? Every place I go, I'll think of you. I know it. Every song I sing, I sing
for you. Sounds like sting. Yeah. No, it's not. It's not. It's not. You think in every
breath. Yeah. Yes. That one. I sing for you and I come back. I wear your wedding ring.
It's a leaving on a jet plane. That's what it is. Oh, nice. It's a leaving on a jet
plane. Actually number one in 1969, that was Peter, Paul and Mary. Yes. All right. So that
was a pretty good one. All right. Here's one that, I mean, I think, I think you'll know
this one and it just sounds like the opposite. Like an unforeseen kiss and my heart turns
violently inside my chest. One of my favorites. Is it? All right. So what is it? Love song
or worship song? Worship song. Worship song. And what song is that from? Do you know the
name of that song? I know it. Yeah. All right. At the same time? At the same time. Three,
two, one. How he loves us. Wow. Very good. That's right. So that's a... Technically
you're right. I added the us. You did. It's just how he loves. Okay. We'll forgive you
here. Okay. Here's another one. All right. Such a funny thing for me to try to explain
how I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame. That's a love song. Not a worship song.
That's not a worship song. But I know what that is too. What is that? It's really hard
not to sing it and just say it. Can you repeat it? Such a funny thing for me to try to explain
how I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame. Oh, I know. I should know this. When
you tell me what it is, I'm going to like... I know. Number one in 2003. Crazy in love
Beyonce. Yes. That's okay. Oh. It's a funny thing for me to try to explain. Oh yes. It
is. That's right. You need that melody. Such a funny thing for me to try. Yeah. I know.
It's so hard not to say it like that. All right. The riches of your love. This might
be for... You're going to get this one. The riches of your love will always be enough.
The riches of your love will always be enough. Yeah. I think I know this one. Can I go? Yes,
you do. Forever rain. Excellent. Well done. Wow. The riches of your love will always be
enough. Why am I singing? I love it because it's Trinity Sings. Trinity Sings. All right.
We could maybe just take this one off the list here. Okay. We've got another one here.
Capture my heart again. Your love is extravagant. Your friendship, it is intimate. In fact,
I don't think we do. Nevermind. We don't do that song. We don't do that song. You know,
it's very... But you know it, don't you? It's very special. I just turned up the album
this past couple of days and it brought me back to a long, long time ago when this song
was playing. Yeah. What song is that? It's either extravagant love or... Yeah. Your love
is extravagant. Your love is extravagant. All right. I was very good. So that was something
by Daryl Evans, right? Wonderful. Wonderful. All right. Here's another one. I believe in
you. You know the door to my very soul. You are the light in my deepest, darkest hour.
And you are my savior when I fall. Those were a lot of lyrics there. That's a lot of beautiful
lyrics that could very well be in a worship song. But I think for the sake of what you
might do in a game, that it is... When you throw the word savior in there. It is a love
song. I think it's too specific. Too specific to... To actually... Yeah. So I'm going to
say it again with a little bit of a rhythm and let's see if you know what song it is.
I believe in you. You know the door to my very soul. You're the light in my deepest,
darkest hour. You're my savior when I fall. I don't think I did a rhythm there. Well,
that didn't help me. How deep is your love? 1970s. Oh my gosh. So I was right. Okay.
That's right. All right. So welcome. So if you've got six out of six out there, then
you are just as good as our worship team. So again, I said we've got Libby, we've got
David and Stephanie here with us. And thank you for playing with me. That was a lot of
fun. You did well. Now we can relax a little. And I would just love to get started by talking
about maybe people out there are not familiar with seeing you up there on the stage. Maybe
you're just watching the Trinity Talks for the first time. Could you let us know what
instruments you play here at Trinity, but also maybe what instrument you got started
with and how you got into worship music. Let's start with Libby. Well, mine is a bit of a
long winded thing, but okay. So first instrument that I ever played was actually the fiddle,
which I've played on occasion at Trinity, but not often at all. And then I moved on
to guitar. And that's what I mostly play here at Trinity, guitar and sing as well. Yeah.
The getting into worship is a longer story we might want to hold on to for another time.
Okay. All right. You've piqued my curiosity. We're not going to let you get away with it.
I want to come back. We'll come back to it for sure. For sure. So Libby is our worship
director here at Trinity. So yeah, we'll have to hear that story. Now what about you, David?
Yeah, I started, I joined a school marching band actually. No way. I played the trombone.
Was that a high school? Yes, it is. And it's all the way back in Malaysia. Okay. And yeah,
that's where I learned the ABCs of music. I moved on to playing the bass because I knew
the ABCs of music. But then eventually I got involved in playing in church. But it wasn't
until maybe five years after that, that I learned how to play the guitar. Right. Okay.
But I had the foundations there and that was a good place to start. Yeah. Cool. So you
got involved in worship music through your church in, was it in Malaysia? Yes. Nice.
Yeah. Awesome. What about you, Stephanie? I started playing piano. So I play piano as
part of the worship team. But I started lessons when I was seven and I did the sort of royal
conservatory training all the way up to grade eight. And then I stopped playing or stopped
attending lessons rather when I was in grade eight and then sort of lost interest, fell
off a little bit and then came back to it and did grade nine on my own. So I've been
playing piano for a really long time and I love it. During my high school years, I also
played the flute, the clarinet and the steel drums as part of a steel drum band. That's
awesome. So a lot of skills. So we could always bring in some steel drums. Yeah, I heard that
there was a steel drum band at one point before. I think you're right. Yeah. I think there
was. I've seen footage. Yeah. It was good too. That would be really cool. All right.
Well it's no pressure. No pressure. That's right. You already do a lot so we won't put
you in anything else right now. But if we had to think about your favorite style of
music. So we know that you're part of our worship team and you're all really great at
that. Do you have any favorite styles of music that you listen to or play outside of Trinity?
I like a lot of different styles of music. I am a recovering country singer. So there's
that for sure. But I like pop and I like funk and I like jazz and I like everything. You
like music. I like classical. I like it all. Yeah. I enjoy it all. Does anyone else have
a favorite style? Well, growing up in the 90s, it was definitely alternative music,
alternative rock. But I grew to love jazz, grew to appreciate the conversations that
happen in jazz. And I like how bands when they come together and they're really tight,
they know what each and everyone is doing. It's just a sight to behold. Yeah. I love
that you said conversations. As someone who's not musical, that just sounds so intriguing.
Yeah. I also have quite an eclectic style, but right now I'll just say I'm really into
60s soul music. So yeah, some Smokey Robinson and Aretha. Nice. Got that playlist on loop.
Good stuff. Yeah. All right. So last quick question before we get into the meat of our
conversation. If you could play another instrument that you don't already play and you could
just magically play one, which one would you choose? Maybe why? Piano. Definitely piano.
Like to really, really play piano would be amazing. Just because it sort of stands alone,
you know, like, I mean, acoustic guitar does sort of too, but not the same way piano is
just this magical thing. And, you know, it can, it really elevates a song and, and really
helps you come up with melodies too. I mean, as a writer, it's just bigger, you know, I
just love, I love the piano. Nice. Yeah, me too. And I didn't know we have the same interests,
right? So that's kind of cool. But yeah, I would love to learn how to play the piano.
So I've been tinkering a bit, but with no professional training, I still can pull something
up and I use the key signature changes just to play everything on C. And interestingly
enough, I, I would love to learn to play the guitar. Oh, yeah, I know. We should probably
hang out. Maybe it's like grass is always greener on the other side. And give each other
lessons. That's great. Well, you all are, all are part of our worship team here. And
worshipping God and music in general has deep biblical roots. I was really interested to
find out that the very first mention of instruments in the Bible is actually way back in Genesis,
Genesis four. And the first mention of a worship song is in Exodus and that's Moses. Moses
has a worship song. And why do you think, and maybe I'm going to direct this to you,
Libby, as our director, that worshipping God through music is so significant?
Well, I mean, for me, and I think it's the same for a lot of people. Music accesses a
part of us that, that we can't readily access any other way. Music takes us to a place.
When we worship, we're fixing our eyes on Jesus and music really helps us to do that.
It helps us to focus outside of ourselves. That's, yeah, that's not a hugely theological
answer, but that's, David had mentioned something. We were talking about this last week and David
had some really good thoughts. So I just want to pass it over to David on that one. That's
good too. Yeah. In my journey kind of, you know, growing
up, one of the things that I encountered was a very wise person. He's a friend of mine
and his dad mentioned this to me, right? He said, in every single people group represented
on earth, right? Every living thing even produces sound, whether it's using their hands or using
a tool or using an instrument or even your own voice boxes, right? To worship something,
to attribute to something, right? So, you know, it's either rubbing against something,
hitting something. And I was watching a video about didgeridoo, right? And I wanted to give
that answer didgeridoo, but I don't think I'll ever... It doesn't, yeah. But it's really
cool the fact that every single people or human being or living thing creates sound
to worship something. So that's something that really drove me to dive deeper into accessing
music and using it as a form of worship unto God, right? So, yeah.
So, yeah. Yeah. Well, those are really good answers. And
one thing that I want to mention, Libby, is that when I sit in a service and I'm there,
I notice that the music seems to not just be chosen at random, but I feel...
Thank you for that, Elizabeth. I do notice that. And I can tell that there's
this intention that goes into selecting the music. And I'm wondering that maybe you can
just give us some insight into how music or a worship director at a church, yourself particularly,
goes about selecting the songs that we use collectively as a church on a given Sunday.
Well, it begins with sort of giving some thought to what it is we're talking about, whatever
the sermon series is on and what the focus is there. And we're hoping to lead people.
So then from there, then I will take some time in prayer and look at the scripture passage
that we're going to have for that Sunday and just wait. I listen to a lot of worship music
and whatnot. So I have a sort of library of lyric floating around in my head. And so the
Holy Spirit often just will give me a line that corresponds when I'm listening and then
I'll be like, oh, right, that song. And so there's that sort of aspect of it, the trying
to make the connections, right? Because we do walk out of church with songs in our head,
right? And if the song can carry the message with it, it's great for learning as well.
And then there's all the other extra stuff of keys and how do we want it to flow in the
service. And if this song is important and what song could flow out of that nicely and
where all the sort of musical side of picking the songs and that sort of thing as well.
But yeah, most importantly, it's about creating that sacred space and trying to keep us fixed
on what we're learning about that day, right?
And I'm just going to throw out this other question is that a service that we had a few
weeks ago during our offertory, I believe, you had actually decided, I think while you
were up on the stage to have everyone sit and reflect quietly while you sang. And it
seemed like that was almost a decision you made maybe in the moment or maybe just not
too long before. And was that sort of like the Holy Spirit just telling you that or is
that something?
Well, fly by the seat of your parents worship leaders are not going to enjoy this answer.
But no, actually, I did prepare to do that. I knew in my heart that as soon as I read
the scripture passage, that was the first thing. So before I even knew what we're doing
for opening worship or anything, that song was definitely happening because I knew that
Rob was going to be talking about care, right? That was the sermon where he was talking about
a woman, here's your son, and this is your mother.
And I knew because I know we have a relationship, right? And I know Rob and we talked about
these things. And so it really helped to inform me on that. And I've known that specific song
for a really long time, By Our Love by Kristi Knuckles. And it's a really good opportunity
for us to remember what we're called to. And I just thought, this is a good, there's room
for this and we're going to do it. It was a bit of a risk sometimes with people, but
that's a beauty, that one.
It was. It was. I just love how you use the worship in so many different ways to really
allow people to enter into those types of prayers. So that was great.
Now it's you guys, it's the three of you are part of the worship team, but I don't know
the number offhand, but certainly there are many more who play several different instruments.
There's other vocalists, other people who lead sometimes. What is the best part about
being part of a team like this?
Yeah, well, there's got to be something. It's got to be something okay about it.
I think it's the fact that all of us can focus on one thing that we can do together, right?
And there's this thing about the click. So just to share a bit more technicality, right?
When we hear a click, it goes, and there's a tempo, there's a timing, there's a rhythm
to it. And it's all of us, not just aligning on the playing and the timing of things and
the cues of where to go to, but we're all also in step spiritually, right? And we're
playing together, we're not just offering our lives as living sacrifice unto God, right?
Because that's our acceptable form of worship unto God, but it is also us coming together
physically and committing to something that is beyond us. I think worship or being on
a worship team is beyond us, right? We're just there to facilitate through creating
an atmosphere, using music, right? To encourage everyone to participate in. As you mentioned
earlier, I wanted to butt in, but I'm not nice. But the fact is that we're allowing,
we want people to participate in the worship, right? Which is through us all singing together.
And that is what happens on Sunday mornings. And we're all geared up towards doing that.
And if we play together and hit the right notes together, that's a plus, right?
Yeah, totally. I was going to say something very similar to that. I think it's just together,
the music and the people. And so being part of this team, we rehearse on Thursday evenings
and it's great because we get that... We feel the music in us. We feel the Holy Spirit in
us and we're there just making really wonderful music. But then when we come here on Sundays,
I just love when I hear everyone else. You'll see it. We all have earbuds in, right? Because
we need that click and those cues. I'm learning so much right now.
But there are some times, and I don't know, maybe they'll catch it one of these days on
the live stream where I can hear the congregation over what I hear in my ears. And I'm playing
and I just smile. Every single time it just gets me just to hear it all come together.
We're worshiping together.
That is the best. And I guess what I would say also the best part of it is it's the we-ness
of it, right? The us. And I think that's what's so amazing on a Sunday morning when we get
together for worship and we have that together as a team ourselves. But it's different when
we're all in the space together, right? And there's something extra special about that,
right? And that's why God gathers us together like that. That we're all fixed on Him, right?
We've all come together to offer the worship that He deserves. And we look around the room
and everybody else agrees with us, right? We're all there for the same thing.
It's like the team expands.
Yeah. And there's something absolutely beautiful about that. I totally see what God's doing
there. It's an amazing thing to all be together.
Yeah. I just wanted to add, right? As a team, I'm so encouraged by everyone and everything
that they go through on their daily lives. And when we come on Thursday, like, wow, how
was your week? We're all human too, right? We have horrible bosses right now. This is
going to be on YouTube. But it's the camaraderie and our coming together and sharing life together.
And that was one of the things that I felt deeply. And it's not just among us too, right?
But on Sunday, when someone comes up and say, hey, thank you for leading, thank you for
serving along. And that's something that just brings meaning to what we do, not just playing
and performing, right? That's not what we're doing.
I think actually I asked Libby this a couple of weeks ago. I said, do you ever feel drained
after a Sunday? And you mentioned, you said, as I pour out, I'm being filled up.
Yes. And I think that really sums up maybe what
you're saying here is that as you bless, you're blessed as well. And it's just, it's beautiful
to see that. I think that's true of every volunteer ministry
at Trinity, right? I mean, people who do welcome, you know, like, that's their, you know, they
have a very obvious gift in that area and they're sharing that and they're putting that
forward and they're giving it to God and it's a beautiful thing. And so in that work they're
doing, they're being blessed by it. I mean, I think that's probably true of all of us,
right? Yeah, that's true.
Okay. So we talked about some of the great things. Maybe I don't want to dwell on this,
but this is hard work as well. We know that you mentioned a couple of times that you come
in on a Thursday. What is one of the hardest things about being part of a worship team?
Maybe I should have led with this one first. I sound like a negative Nancy.
Living up to Libby's standards. Wow.
Okay. I'm just kidding.
I think it's 6.30 in the morning. Well, right?
That's the hardest part. I was expecting that answer to be honest.
For me it's 6.30 Sunday morning. That's the hardest part about it. Yeah. Just the getting
up super early to make sure everything is set and ready for everybody to come in. But
yeah. Yeah. So there's some prep that goes on this
Sunday morning beforehand. But really in the whole big picture of things,
what's that? That's nothing. It's a drop in the bucket.
And I'm really lucky. I've heard stories from other worship directors and stuff. I mean,
I just want to say I'm super, super blessed with the team that I have. And I love each
and every one of them dearly. And I couldn't do any of what we're doing here without every
single one of them. And yeah. So I'm just super grateful. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, I mean, it shows what a great team it
is when we see it on a Sunday morning. And before we wrap up guys, I have not forgotten
that you have a story to share with us, Libby. Oh dear.
I'm also wondering if there's anything else that anyone wants to share about the importance
of worship music or just why we think it's important specifically here at Trinity. I'm
just wondering if you have any extra thoughts before we wrap up here. So remember Libby,
you're going to tell us how you got into worship music because we did hear that recovering
country singer story. You're not wearing a cowboy hat right now. So something changed.
Something happened. Yeah. But do you guys have anything else you think?
I think it's not just worship music, right? So music is music. Music's just a medium of
how we express ourselves. There's so many ways to worship, right? Worship if you're
living, worship if you're time, worship if your conversations, like we have it over coffee
hour. Right now, right? We're having it, right? And worship in our lifestyle, right? So in
a context of being together on a Sunday morning or even online, you know, when you sing along,
worship along, that's what unifies us, right? But you know, the fact that worship is a lifestyle,
it's every single decision that you make in again, as an offering unto God. You know,
I think that's the context of worship that I've learned, grown to appreciate and grown
to be impacted upon, right? One of the things you mentioned earlier, what's difficult, frankly,
sometimes it's singing the songs because we have challenges ourselves, right? You know,
like we sing, I all to Jesus, I surrender. Are we really surrendering everything? And
we're in front singing it, but we reflect first and foremost, right? Are we in a state?
And if we're not, you know, God's gracious, right? But we're here to encourage everyone,
right? To come alongside, you know, you're struggling, I'm struggling. It's okay. We're
just here to worship God because he's much bigger than all of these items and all of
these things. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, I just want to say one of the reasons that almost
10 years ago now that I decided, you know, this is the church I want to come to, many,
many reasons, you know, the people and the ministry is all really great, but it was my
first time coming to church and hearing this style of worship. I hadn't, you know, been
going to church for a long time. I was at the very beginning of, you know, curiosity
about having relationship with God without having that myself until that time. And, you
know, it speaks a little bit to what we talked about earlier. It touches you in a different
way. When I heard the music that very first day, it just broke me right open in a way
that I had never felt before. And I think that that was my first maybe encounter with
the Holy Spirit, maybe my whole life, you know, that comfort and the beauty that I had
just felt from hearing the music, reading on the screen, the words that came with it.
One of the reasons that I decided I should come back and keep on with it. And so I just
think it's interesting, you know, we never know where people are when they come to church
and maybe music, maybe the ministries, whatever small thing that we do here, it could impact
someone in a very big way. And I think that's really special.
It is. That's well said. And thanks for sharing.
See, I get these guys, aren't I lucky?
Yes, you are. And they're lucky too.
Okay, so the story. We're just going to get down to it. Okay, so I grew up in a musical
family and I started playing the violin when I was three. And then I got away from that
for a while. And then picked it up again at like 18. Got a gig and a tribute show and
hopped in a van and went out on the road where I met Scott. Okay, that's my husband. He's
the man with the giant beard in the back. And so we got together, we've been together
ever since. But then, you know, I got to know his mom and we started talking, we go for
walks and she brought up the Holy Spirit. And I'd kind of dwindled a little. I was raised
Catholic but I kind of, you know, put it on the shelf for a while.
While you're in the van. Yeah, while we were in the van, as was convenient.
But she sort of rekindled that for me, which was really rekindled my spark and I really
appreciate that. Love you, mom. And so I started, you know, looking for a place for us to go
to church and so we got back into church. But I always did kind of want to keep music
and church separate because I had a problem like with the idea that I would mix them.
Because worship at church is a very real, true raw thing. It's not a performance. And
I had all my training in performance, right? And so I was asked and asked and asked to
be a part of the team and I just said, no, Scott served on the team. And I was like,
I just can't, I can't do it. And then finally we had this wonderful worship leader, Melissa,
who was like a magnifying glass for the Holy Spirit. And so I caved and I said yes to her.
And so I just, but I didn't sing. I just was playing acoustic guitar and eventually some
harmonies and that sort of thing. And then she left. So that was that and I was done.
And then I got talked back into, almost talked back into coming and helping the next person
who was doing it. But I just was uncomfortable and I thought, I can't. And one day at home
church our group was trying to encourage me to become one of the leaders for the worship
team and stuff. And they'd done that a lot. And so that Sunday I got upset and I smacked
my hand on my table and I'll never forget this day because God left. And I said, listen,
that's never going to happen. Like never. So just drop it. And I get what you're doing
and that's cute, but I'm not doing it. So just forget it. I think it was six weeks later,
I was leading the worship team. Yeah. Never say never. No, I, I'll never forget. I was
driving in my car listening and Charles Stanley came on, which was again, not something that
was normative for me at that time. Right. And I said, you, you know, you've got gifts
to offer, but, and you just keep telling God, cause you think you're humble, that you're
not ready yet. Or you think that, you know, maybe you just don't have what it takes and
you think you're being humble, but you're being disobedient. And then my phone rang
and it was our pastor asking me if I would take over the worship team. And I just said,
you know what? Yes. Get me some books. I don't know why I'm saying yes, but get me some books.
And so he did. And his name was Phil and he was a wonderful pastor and he helped me grow
into a worship leader. Wow. That's a really nice story. Under duress. God wants what he
wants and he gets it. And he doesn't give up. What a lovely testimony actually to share
with us and with Trinity about how you came to be where you're at. And I have to say,
we really do appreciate all of the work that all of you give to the church and all of the
time and the sharing of your talents. And you've also raised up several new worship members of the
team, right? So we've seen many new people come and join your team as well. So not only are you
leading, but you're facilitating that raising up of new leaders as well. So I just want to say a
big thank you. We all do enjoy the music. I'm pretty sure I'm speaking for most of you who are
watching. If you would like to watch more of their worship songs or worship along with them,
and we do have a great playlist on our YouTube channel. So make sure that you check that out
as well. And I just, again, like to say thank you. Thank you for having us. Thanks so much.