A workshop was conducted by the Worship and Music Ministry on 15 January 2011 (Saturday) at the AGAPE for all the worship leaders, back-up singers, musicians and sound crew from the English, Mandarin and Youth. The speaker for the workshop, the Rev Barnabas Chong, Pastor-in-Charge of Cairnhill Methodist Church, led the whole session on Presence-Based Worship Leading. Feedback to this workshop was very positive as the participants felt the points highlighted by the speaker as well as his personal testimony helped them to better understand and appreciate what it meant to enter into a deeper worship of God.

Read what three of the particpants have to say about the workshop:

Participant #1 - "I learnt that the aim of worship is to help the people enter into a time where God can speak personally to them, that at some point of the worship, we have to "pull out" and let God speak to His people... I wish more members from our worship teams could attend."

Participant #2 - "I learnt that a worship leader cannot take people to a level of worship that he or she has not been. As a worship leader, I am therefore challenged to live a personal life of presence-based worship that is deep and intimate."

Participant #3 - "I have benefited very much and have experienced the "in-deep" connection with God indeed. What I've learned is that God is real and He cares for me; we are to reply to His call to be a living sacrifice; what presence-based worship is all about and how to help the congregation to connect to God and be transformed as well... Pastor Barnabas has shown us a new perspective in worship."

Most, if not all, of the participants are looking forward to many more of such workshops to be organized by the Worship and Music Ministry.