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Hill Road Journal
Issue 9 (Jun 2002)
| Contents: |
The Church in the Pluralistic Religious Context There are 5 articles and 7 book reviews |
| No. of Pages: | 139 |
| Price: | HK$100 |
| Thematic Articles | ||
| Fook-kong Wong | Religious Commitment in a Pluralistic Society: An Old Testament Perspective | Abstract |
| Poling J. SUN | The Challenge of Religious Pluralism: The Book of Acts as a Test Case | Abstract |
| Nathan Ng | The Church and Pluralism in the Patristic Period: A Reconsideration of the Progress of Christianization of the Roman Empire during the Time of Constantine | Abstract |
| Joshua Cho | Dialogue on Religion: A Postliberal Perspective | Abstract |
| Chun-wah KWONG | Religious Freedom in Hong Kong's Religiously Pluralistic Situation: A Review of Several Cases Concerning Religious Freedom during the Transitional Period of 1997 and a Discussion of the Responsibility of Hong Kong Churches | Abstract |
Religious Commitment in a Pluralistic Society: An Old Testament Perspective
WONG Fook Kong
This essay begins with Brueggemann's observation about the “amazing pluralism” both within and without the Church. I agree with this statement with the qualification that this has been the experience of Asian churches all along. Pluralism both within and without its ranks is not new to Asian churches. When we look at the Old Testament against the background of the ancient Near East, it is evident that ancient Israel also lived in a pluralistic society. Different gods competed for loyalty among the nations. Within Israel too there were different views about YHWH . It is against these competing ideologies that the authors of the Bible affirmed their commitment to worship YHWH as the one and only God. Thus pluralism should not be a reason for abandoning one's commitment to worship YHWH as the one and only God. Rather, it is exactly in face of alternatives and competing claims that one needs to make a firm commitment to worship YHWH.
The Challenge of Religious Pluralism: The Book of Acts as a Test Case
Poling J. Sun
Since the 80s of the last century the issue of plural religiousism has become a challenge to Christian communities. Granted the highly developed connections among nations in this electronic age resulting in conversations and mutual influences, a plurality of cultural and religious phenomena seems inevitable. This is similar to the situation in which the early Christian communities found themselves, addressing and being addressed by a world characterized by cultural inter-penetration. With this in view, this article offers a study of several passages in the Book of Acts, attempting to explore how the early Christian communities encountered their surrounding culture in the course of finding their identity and appropriating their mission.
The Church and Pluralism in the Patristic Period: A Reconsideration of the Progress of Christianization of the Roman Empire during the Time of Constantine
Nathan K. Ng
The reason for the conversion of Constantine has long been a matter of scholarly debate. Traditionally, the emperor is believed to have been converted religiously by the power of Christ. Modern scholarship, however, tends to attribute the conversion to political reason. This article intends to reevaluate the controversial conversion through a reexamination of the progress of christianization of the Roman Empire.
The first section tries to show that the political stature of paganism was actually at that time much higher than the church. It would be very difficult to explain why Constantine chose to become a Christian if, as many modern scholars suggest, political stability was his sole concern. On this foundation, the second section argues that the emperor's bias towards Christianity was at least partially religious. Putting all evidences into consideration, a proposal of the spiritual journey of Constantine is tentatively reconstructed at the end of the discussion.
Kit-ying Law
Assistant Professor (Worship and Church Music)
As I studied theology, I noticed that many theologians emphasized “faith seeking understanding.” As I delved deeper into worship study and practical theology, I observed that teachers of worship theology like John Witvliet1 applied this motto to church traditions, music, and worship ministry. Accordingly, I have paid more attention to the content of our prayers to see if they express the truth of the Bible and our faith in the Lord. I have also looked at how our prayers and the life witnesses of the church community could be integral to each other through faith in today’s context (Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, and thus Lex Vivandi).2
Although evangelical churches seldom use scripted prayers for public worship, there are some common sayings that worship leaders use inadvertently when they pray. Some believers habitually end their prayers with the words “Our prayer is unworthy.” Would saying “Our prayer is unworthy” over and over again weaken our faith in the Lord? Is it not the role of ministers to encourage believers to affirm their identity as sons and daughters of God and to pray boldly to the Heavenly Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? What biblical interpretations or church traditions give rise to saying a prayer may be “unworthy”? 3
“The Crumbs That Fall from the Table”
In the Synoptic Gospels, both Matthew and Mark record an incident in which Jesus, retreating into the territories of Tyre and Sidon, granted an “unworthy” request of a Canaanite woman and commended her great faith. This unnamed woman pleaded with Jesus repeatedly because her daughter was suffering from demonic possession. Jesus did not respond to the Gentile woman’s pleas until she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (cf. Matt 15:21-28). This woman’s repeated pleas to the Lord may be the most humble example of certain human attitudes toward Him. She was not angry at being called a “dog.” Out of motherly love and eagerness to seek help, she knew exactly what she wanted, even when the disciples were in the way and Jesus’s response seemed cold and uncaring, she humbly supplicated to Jesus over and over again, saying, “Lord, help me.”
Breaking “Safe Social Distance”: Bowing Down at the Lord’s Feet
In the Gospel of Matthew, this incidence is preceded by another story where Jesus had a dispute with the Pharisees and the scribes over hand washing, and after the dispute, He said to the people, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Jesus, as Messiah, had not yet been able to transform the scribes and Pharisees of His people from the inside out. Then Jesus departed from the land of Israel and encountered this Gentile woman’s persistent pleading. In contrast to the lost or faithless sheep Jesus saw in “the house of Israel,” this Canaanite woman believed wholeheartedly that Jesus was the “Son of David,” the Savior, and Messiah. In this story, she did not even need to bring her daughter to touch Jesus’s garment; He simply spoke and her daughter was healed at that very moment. This not only foreshadows that Gentiles would also be saved through faith but also means that the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah were going to be fulfilled in Jesus.
The Jews had always taken their national identity and the laws of purity very seriously, so they kept a distance from the Gentiles who were considered unclean, not to mention interacting with the Canaanites who were worshipers of other gods. Looking back at Old Testament history, Joshua conquered Canaan, but throughout the ages, there were still people in Israel who intermarried with the Canaanites and worshiped their gods, resulting in tensions within the nation.
In the past, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land, was a magnificent event. On the contrary, the incarnate Christ retreated to the territories of Tyre and Sidon, keeping a low-profile, and Mark 7:24 tells us that Jesus “entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.” This woman heard about Jesus and believed that this was her hope, so she came to Jesus and bowed down at His feet. The Greek word for “bow down” means to worship. Because of the woman’s desperate plea, Jesus stopped and finally responded to her, “Be it done for you as you desire” (Mt 15:28). And Jesus commended the woman’s great faith. Do we have the same faith when we come to the Lord? Do we have such a humble attitude? The Canaanite woman’s prostration to Jesus showed her heartfelt surrender to the Lord and her total dependence on Christ’s authority and power.
Who Is “Worthy” to Receive the Body and Blood of the Lord?
In light of this passage, we will now examine “The Prayer of Humble Access,” a prayer that is often used by many Christian denominations at the Lord’s Supper. This was first composed in 1548 for the administration of the Lord’s Supper by Thomas Cranmer, an English Reformation leader. Through this prayer, we may understand the meaning of “unworthy” prayer when we pray and live our lives.
First of all, the prayer centres on the statement, “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.” Does this single statement contrast with the Canaanite woman’s response of faith? According to the liturgical order of the Lord’s Supper, this prayer is preceded by a confession of faith, a confession of sin, and the song “Agnes Dei” (“Lamb of God”), and followed by an invitation to the Lord’s Supper—so is it not a bit “anti-liturgical” to say this prayer? Is there not a risk that the congregation will take the prayer literally and not come to the Lord’s Supper because they feel themselves to be “unworthy”?
Hyperbole is used in the Scripture passage as it refers to the woman as a puppy gathering up crumbs from under the table, which is an expression of “self-humiliation” and humility. It goes the same with the prayer. Both express a humble attitude in coming to the Lord and begging Him to be gracious and merciful to sinners like us. In fact, the first line of the prayer also conveys such meaning: “We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great mercies.”
It is just as Jesus proclaimed on the mountain, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). From the perspective of theology and worship, this prayer is not hyperbolic at all: we are indeed poor in spirit, and we are beggars before the Lord. This prayer helps us confess that we are in desperate need of the Lord and that we need to turn to His gracious embrace. As Paul said, both Jews and Gentiles are sinners before the Holy Lord (Rom 3:9), and none are “worthy” to come to the Lord but by His grace and mercy.
Insights for Believers from the Worship in the Book of Revelation
When apocalyptic literature in the Bible speaks of salvation, it tends to be black and white, pitting good versus evil. In Revelation 5:1-10, John reminds us not to be saddened or trapped by earthly things, but to grieve that we do not see Jesus in the present. Why is that? According to the passage, John saw various visions in heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth, but he did not see Christ at first, and no one was able to open the scroll and the seven seals, so he wept loudly. However, when he saw the Lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, his sorrow turned immediately into joy and worship. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, fell down before the Lamb and sang a new song, “Worthy are you to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (Rv 5:9-10).
While we emphasize the “priesthood” of believers, the passage highlights the fact that we will inherit the kingdom of heaven and reign on the Earth. However, learning to sing this eschatological hymn of faith and hope on Earth would be a tension-filled process. Are we “able” to sing this song, especially in the face of extreme adversity or the loss of a dear friend or family member? What song can we sing to support those families and friends who are still here on Earth in the midst of trouble and grief?
During the rehearsal of this year’s Spiritual Revival Concert “Apocalyptic Vision, Victorious Lamb,” the HKBTS choir made an attempt to present the ultimate worship described in Revelation 14 in the form of a dramatic reading of the Scriptures. The story begins in Revelation 12 and involves different characters and scenes, including the battle between the red dragon and the woman, and the persecution of the unyielding believers by the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth. One of the beasts imitated Christ and used both hard and soft tactics to lure believers into obedience. Yet, believers conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rv 12:11).
God loves the world, and His grace and mercy are freely given, but the chorus of the “Song of the Lamb” dedicated in ultimate worship is not to be sung by all the people of the world. The Scriptures reveal that this song is exclusively for the heavenly choir of this heavenly worship, which consists of the followers of Christ. “No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth” (Rv 14:3). This is a song of salvation, declaring that the Lamb will triumph. The believers’ victory is by the blood of the Lamb; this saving power of His blood not just worked in the past but works forever. Through Christ and in union with His resurrected body, the Church becomes a heavenly worshiping community awaiting the consummation of the kingdom of heaven.
The “Goodness” and “Beauty” of Humble Access
Can we see the Lord’s presence in our daily lives? Theology and hymns tell us that this world is not our home! The tension of the “already but not yet” is still there because we have not yet seen the full manifestation of God’s kingdom.
Every Monday when we come to HKBTS, we see “everywhere” (in hyperbolic terms) the traces left behind by the visitors who came to the pebbles beach nearby to “kite-fight” on weekends and holidays. We are often caught in the strings of kites that drifted to the entrance of our canteen or the chapel. Even though we try to be good neighbors and regularly clean up the kite debris scattered around the campus, there are still many kites with broken strings hanging outside the windows of the campus buildings and in the trees along the road. Passers-by takes extra care to avoid getting scraped by the kite strings. No matter how hard our staff try to remove the kites and strings with gloves on, and even to build a platform to clear up the mess for them week after week, there is still endless cleanup work to be done. However, the Lord showed me one thing which I find most grateful in all these: we have someone to walk together, to give reminders to each other along the way, to build our dreams together, and to watch over each other.
In this pilgrimage, we have all come across times when we have felt ourselves “unworthy.” Such experiences of introspection and repentance allow us to realize that when faced with challenges and opportunities in life and in ministry, we can only plead for the grace of the Lord. When every one of us comes forward to the Lord with a humble heart, and utilizes the gifts our Heavenly Father has given us to worship the Lord together, just like God’s people in the old days who came to Jerusalem, singing Songs of Ascents and marching together to Zion, we will be able to catch a glimpse of the vision of this heavenly worship: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man” (Rv 21:3).
I am thankful to be able to receive the Lord’s Supper with all the teachers and students at the Spiritual Formation Camp every August. Since the COVID pandemic in 2019, the seminary has not held an off-campus camp until recently. I remember the one held at the end of August 2023, many students said it was their first time to taste the experience of “when brothers dwell in unity” (Ps 133:1). Students left their summer internships and ministries behind and came to the camp to make room for listening to God’s Word and to learn listening to one another and living in fellowship.
The Lord’s Supper is not only a reminder of His unceasing grace but also a stimulus for us to long for unity in the Lord: to look upon the Lord with all our hearts, to abide in Christ, and to discover the goodness and beauty of God with us. What we receive at the Lord’s Supper is never leftovers or crumbs under the table, but the most precious of all—the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we may find our prayers “incomplete” or we may not be able to understand the will of God right away, God is loving and merciful, so we just need to humbly come to Him in faith and make supplications in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Hallelujah!
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1 John D. Witvliet, Worship Seeking Understanding: Windows into Christian Practice (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003).
2 Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi refers to the integration of faith into practice, which means that prayer reflects the law of practice of faith (Lex Vivendi).
3 Part of this article was presented by the author on September 14, 2023 in the morning chapel service of HKBTS. This article is a revision of the author’s article “Gathering up Crumbs under the Table—Is It Also ‘Unworthy’?,” which was published in the publication of the HKBTS Alumni Association, Soul Care (Issue 51, November 2023).
The Resources Centre
HKBTS has been offering church music courses for years and has been striving to enhance the quality of worship in churches. Since the establishment of the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre, we have further developed a number of music and art training programs to promote the spiritual quality of churches in the areas of worship, Christian life, ministry, and services.
The centre is named after Mrs. Edna Wong (-1996), who loved God and her church all her life, and spared no effort in the promotion of church music. She served as a lecturer and a board member of HKBTS and contributed to the establishment of scholarships for our students. In accordance with Mrs. Wong’s last wishes, her church, the Hong Kong Baptist Church, made a large donation to support the Edna Wong Church Music Development Fund which was set up by HKBTS to cultivate religious education and church music practitioners in churches. In 2002, the Fund supported the establishment of the Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre, which was named after Mrs. Wong.
In 2002, the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre was formally established in our Applied Theological Education Centre on the 9th floor of Christian Centre, 56 Bute Street, Mong Kok. The centre launched its first programs and courses in October of the same year and has been providing a wide range of music and arts training to help churches to present better worship to God.
Kit-ying Law
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology (Worship and Church Music)
Christ-centred worship and the arts are the vehicles of the Word and the medium of God’s grace, testifying to the power and truth of the Gospel of Christ.
Worship is a sacred time and space in which God’s presence is here and now, as if the gates of Heaven are open. God’s intangible grace is made available to us through the means of hearing, touching, and even eating (the Lord’s Supper) and through communal reception so that we can partake of the taste of God’s grace together, which is so good and pleasant.
In worship, music and hymns with lyrics are the “art of time,” while architecture and the layout of the worship space are the “art of space.” Through these art forms, we worship and serve God in fear and joy according to the truth of the Bible. The Word of God is living and active, penetrating our hearts and minds (cf. Heb 4:12). Therefore, Christ-centred worship through the arts can lead us to respond to the love of the Lord and turn us to God the Father with all our hearts and souls. It can also help us discern with heavenly wisdom how to walk on the path of blessing in our worship life.
Proverbs of Wisdom on Worship and the Arts
With reference to the document “Worshiping the Triune God: Receiving and Sharing Christian Wisdom across Continents and Centuries” (2010 edition) published by Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, I would like to share three proverbs of wisdom on worship and the arts as a guideline and a direction for the seminary to build up Christians and churches in this aspect.
1. Life-Transforming Worship
Wise is the church that seeks to be “in” but not “of” the world (Jn 15:19), resisting aspects of the culture that compromise the integrity of the gospel, and eagerly engaging its culture with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ who comes to each culture, but is not bound by any culture.
The Gospel of Jesus is at the same time transcultural, contextualizable, cross-cultural, culture-resistant, and challenging believers to live transformed lives, influence the world, and act as culture transformers. The arts should be based on God’s revelation and the teachings of the Bible, guiding people to think rationally, playing an educational role, and deepening people’s understanding of God, the world, and themselves.
2. Faith Integration Not Limited to Verbal Expression
Blessed is the congregation in which the Word is proclaimed and prayers and praise are offered not only through words but also through artistic expression: through gifts God has given to each local community in music and dance, in speech and silence, in visual art and architecture.
This kind of multi-dimensional and multi-level expression makes worship colorful and allows Christians to establish a deeper relationship with God in different ways. Art should not be seen as a domain entirely separate from faith; instead, Christians should integrate art into their lives of faith, so that art can become a means of proclaiming the gospel and witnessing Christ.
3. The Image of God and the Second Commandment
Wise are artists who are grateful both for the limitations offered by the second commandment, and also for the example of the biblical artists called by God and equipped by God’s people for service according to God’s commands (Ex 35:30ff.).
Human creativity is a gift from God and reflects the image of God (Imago Dei). In art-making, Christians endeavor to reveal God’s wisdom, goodness, and glory so that the arts become a form of worship and praise to God. The commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image,” points ultimately to the promise of Jeremiah 31:33: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” The true ministry of the arts is to allow the Holy Spirit to shape our lives into the image of Christ (Gal 4:19) so that what our hands make is but a natural outpouring of a graceful heart—like a stream reflecting the light of the moon, which, though it is not the moon, testifies to “the true light” in the darkness of the world, making people long to draw near to the Lord.
Bible-Centred, Interdisciplinary Worship and the Arts Education
The Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary (HKBTS) always seeks to promote worship and arts education and has been providing training programs in these areas. Our Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre was established to “provide Christians with a renewed knowledge of worship by seeking wisdom from the Bible, theology and church history, and then coming to a correct understanding of genuine worship,” and to “provide a combination of diversified training in arts to widen the scope of students’ ministry and to enrich their experience.” * Over the years, the centre has been offering courses conducted by lecturers who have rich knowledge and practical experiences in the field of worship and the arts. These courses have been of great help to Christians who wish to equip themselves in this field. In addition to education programs, the centre also provides a resources centre for our students and offers classroom and venue rental services for them to practice and perform.
Looking ahead, the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre will, on the one hand, continue to offer different types of courses on worship, music and the arts to enrich believers’ understanding of worship and the arts, and to enhance participants’ related skills and broaden their horizons. On the other hand, we will actively develop more Bible-centred interdisciplinary courses that integrate different fields to better enrich the preaching in the worship of the Chinese churches and to help Christians integrate the Word, worship, the arts, spiritual practice, and Christian life. Our “Drama Art at Church” series (e.g., “A Mindset for Drama Writing” workshop, “Bible Study through Drama” workshops) and the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts, conceived in collaboration with the Lay Theological Education Department (LTED) last year, are a few examples of our endeavors in this regard.
Take the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts as an example, this masters-level degree program provides believers with more systematic and comprehensive training in such areas as worship theories, church music, the arts, practical application, theological reflection, etc. The existing courses on worship offered by other theological seminaries in Hong Kong are mostly focused on worship studies or worship services, without much emphasis on cross-disciplinary integration. The integration of the arts into worship is what the centre has always strived to promote. To this end, our program provides worship art training, including church music, worship and praise, spatial arrangement, drama, painting, and other diversified elements as well as theological reflection so that students can better integrate biblical teaching, worship, pastoral care, and the arts.
On the one hand, the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts emphasizes giving students a solid grounding in the Bible and theology that strengthens the foundation of truth for their worship ministries, helps them to understand the spiritual origins of worship, and explores how the arts (e.g., music, drama, and visual art) can be brought into dialogue with the theology of worship. On the other hand, it emphasizes the integration of artistic practice and pastoral care in response to various contexts. The program breaks through the traditional framework of worship studies and highlights the concept of “art as pastoral care.” Students not only learn practical skills such as worship leadership, spatial arrangement, and liturgy design for various feasts but also reflect on how to respond to believers’ life stages and social contexts through the medium of art in worship. For example: How can the message of salvation be presented through drama during Lent? How to use visual art to create an atmosphere of hope during Advent? These topics integrate theological interpretation and creative practice so that students can become “pastorally minded ministers of worship and the arts.”
One example of pastoral integrative courses is “Funeral Design and Pastoral Theology” offered in this quarter. It incorporates life and death education as well. (For example, it examines such questions as “How can the design of Christian funeral services inspire us to express our personal and communal grief and hope to the Lord in times of loss?” “What are the principles for the use of laments and hymns in worship and funeral services?”) We combine insights from the Bible, church history, and pastoral care to explore how worship can be centred on the Triune God. From meditating on the laments in the Psalms to lifting our voices in praise, we can show how the Church is redeemed by the Christ event and express this hope of passing from death to life in Christ in funeral services.
Cross-Departmental Integration
In addition to actively organizing Bible-centred interdisciplinary integrative courses, we have also been actively collaborating with other departments of the seminary in recent years. The Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre and LTED have not only collaborated on program development but have also made some of our courses compatible with each other, thus providing a better and more convenient learning experience for students. For example, students who have completed two designated four-session courses (each course with a total of 18 class hours and an attendance rate of 80% or more) and who subsequently register for the LTED’s Lay Theological Diploma/Certificate Programs are exempted from taking one elective subject.
Finally, we will perpetuate the Baptist tradition of upholding the foundational importance of the Bible and further the integration of the arts and worship, cultivating the spiritual soil of the “people of the Bible” so that they can holistically worship, witness, and serve God, who is good. Whether you think you “know about art,” as long as you are willing to open your heart for the Holy Spirit to work in your unique life, you will be an indispensable piece of the puzzle of God’s mission, completing a picture that testifies to the love of God.
May all glory be to God, the Creator of Heaven and the Earth, who does not stop revealing His goodness in our lives!
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* Please see our website https://www.hkbts.edu.hk/waec
Sanson Lau
Honorary Director of Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre
Visiting Lecturer
Holistic Worship
The Church is established by God to reveal His truth, goodness, and beauty. Believers respond to God’s grace, word, salvation, and call through praise, prayers, proclamations, and bearing witness. That is the “worship” of God. Augustine of Hippo stressed that beauty is the pure manifestation of truth. Since God is the essence of truth, the source of goodness, and beauty, whether we can shine through our worship of Him by reflecting His divinity and declaring His works will demonstrate whether we are truly serving Him: the Bible describes “serving God” as worshiping Him.
From the biblical narrative, we see that in the Old Testament world as well as in the new Heaven and new Earth in eternity, when people gather to worship God, they do so using multimedia, creating multisensory dialogues, experiences, and responses. The form of expression that we call art is the most effective way of communicating this.
Variety in Art
Nato Thompson, Artistic Director of Philadelphia Contemporary, pointed out that art and culture in Western societies had long been a part of daily life. However, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, people focused on technical skills, which led to the emergence of the so-called “High Art.” In the mid to late twentieth century, avant-garde artists reasserted that art should be part of the everyday and that everyday life should be an artistic expression, subject to the will, consciousness, and self-definition of the actor. *
This is a good reminder that all cultures and art are deeply related to people in terms of their mutual fulfillment and influence. From thoughts, emotions, consciousness, actions, and the understanding of self-identity, to interpersonal, communal, class, and inter-ethnic relationships, to all aspects of social systems (including politics, economy, education, family, religion, etc.), there are significant interconnections.
The definition, origin, and application of art have been explored from different perspectives and been based on different evidence, resulting in the formation of a variety of art theories. But generally speaking, all theories involve two major aspects: one focuses on the aesthetic response, using such notions as harmony, beauty, and sublimity; and the other is about the mediums of creation, considering the acquisition and application of skills and techniques, etc.
God is the Creator and Redeemer of all things, the source of truth, beauty, and goodness; and we only know the ultimate truth, beauty, and goodness in the state of God being with us, the true meaning of “Emmanuel.” Experiencing divine presence is a way of worshiping God in practice. Through the daily acts of communication and expression, Church members manifest beauty and goodness as God-created beings (that is an expression of art); this is an essential enactment of worship.
Christian Worship and Arts Education
The Church is on a mission to witness God’s divinity and works while holding on to our hope and entering into the eternal procession of worshiping God. This process initiated by God and responded to by all created beings is described by different names such as spiritual growth, worship, teaching and learning, pastoral care and counseling, evangelism and service, fellowship, etc., depending on the different emphases that we place within God’s kingdom. As far as theological education is concerned, it obviously focuses on such activities as teaching, imparting, researching, studying, reasoning, synthesizing and discovering, in order to provide holistic training for students in their development of spirituality, character, mentality, knowledge, ethical practices, and so on. For organizations responsible for arts education, it is their role to design, plan, and launch relevant courses and to promote them to churches and Christians.
HKBTS’s Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre also plays this role. Established in 2002, the centre’s mission is to renew Christians’ understanding of worship through wisdom from the Bible, theology, and church history, to broaden the scope of and enrich their experience in their ministries, and to enhance their ability to use the arts in worship and other church ministries through diversified and integrated arts training.
In this postmodern age, a trend toward a multisensory approach to communication has taken shape. Our programs are also geared toward the worship of God with all our senses. For more than 20 years, we have been offering courses in music (auditory), art (visual), dance (tactile), drama (multi-sensory), and electronic media (all-sensory), with the aim of nurturing believers for churches, so that they may enrich the worship of God with various forms of art and enhance the expression of their services.
Since its establishment, the centre has been organizing a wide range of in-depth programs and courses that are related to or integrated with various art forms that are relevant to our local context. Programs and courses are offered in more than ten different but interrelated major areas, including worship, church music (including music arts, hymnology, keyboard playing, vocal training, etc.), dancing, drama, visual arts, cinematography, electronic media, architectural space concepts, floral art, humanistic quality, Chinese opera, lyrics studies, and so on. It also provides students with publications and teaching materials, as well as venues for teaching and performing. We hope that churches would find the arts to be a powerful medium for worshiping the Lord, spreading the gospel, fellowship, Bible teaching, and community service.
Forward on a Narrow Path
In reviewing the churches’ response since the establishment of the centre, it seems that music courses are generally given more attention; singing, voice training, and musical instrumentation are the most popular among our students. The rest of the courses are often neglected. Therefore, we are actively striving to help churches realize and utilize other forms of art.
In fact, art forms are inherently infused within worship services at churches. For example, words, actions, and things involved in each part of a worship service as well as their sequence, and the division of labor among the various persons in charge are just like a drama where there are also characters, an order of appearance, dialogues, movements, actions, etc. Let’s take another example. When a chairperson of a worship service calls to worship, reads the Scriptures, prays, or greets the congregation, or when a pastor gives a sermon, they will pay attention to their voice, tone, volume, and pace. All these are similar to the requirements of a dramatic production. In addition, when the congregation stands, sits, or kneels, lifts or bows their heads, or raises their hands, all these movements are the basics of dancing. Furthermore, the setting of the venue, air conditioning, lighting and sound, color selection, and general ambience are all expressions and extensions of the visual and architectural arts. One of our objectives in offering different courses is to arouse the interest of our students and to bring about their awakening of the close relationship between worship and the arts.
Nowadays, Hong Kong society tends to emphasize the outcome and focuses on utilitarianism and quick results; it seems that some churches cannot escape from following this trend. However, when it comes to the art of worship, artistic skills need to be developed gradually through repeated practice over time. Therefore, we have been trying to grasp appropriate opportunities and look for suitable areas for cultivation in the hope of gradually renewing the culture of worship through a variety of educational programs. In order to counteract the current trend of “entertainment first” and the “culture of immediate gratification,” the centre has invited scholars and experts to design various courses in the hope of constructing a discourse that reshapes our thinking and our discussions in context of the values of mass culture; this will lead to a biblical and theological worldview in which one can judge, define, discern, and break through the often-confusing talk about art forms (e.g., the false proposition of “traditional” versus “modern” for church singing).
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* Nato Thompson, introduction to Culture as Weapon: The Art of Influence in Everyday Life (Brooklyn: Melville House, 2017).
What does worship have to do with art?
What is the role of the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre in promoting worship and arts education?
What are the features of our newly launched Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts?In this issue of the Newsletter, we have invited Mr. Sanson Lau and Dr. Kit-ying Law to share their thoughts on these topics. Mr. Lau has been serving in the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre for more than 20 years, and is currently the Honorary Director of the centre and the visiting lecturer at HKBTS. Dr. Law is the Assistant Professor of Practical Theology (Worship and Church Music) at HKBTS.
I decided to come to faith in the Lord at an evangelistic meeting when I was in junior high school. Later on, my classmate brought me to the fellowship and worship services of their church, and I began to have a regular church life. I was baptized into the church in 1997 and began to try different service positions. I am thankful that in the following days, I experienced God’s graciousness in my work, love, marriage, and parenthood, which greatly strengthened my faith in God.
“Perhaps Later”
The idea of equipping myself to become a minister came to me in 2015 when I participated in a mission trip to Cambodia. When we visited the missionary in Cambodia with a group of brothers and sisters from our church, he not only took us to the local church to understand the needs of the ministry but also invited us to his home to listen to the sharing of a group of missionaries and to pray together. I felt their passion for evangelism and their devotion to the Lord. After the gathering, as I was sitting in the tuk-tuk staring at the sunset on the way back to our lodging place, there was a voice in my heart asking, “Are you ready for this?” which I answered, “Perhaps later.”
In the days afterward, I had the opportunity to participate in mission work in other places. Whether it was joining the church choir to share hymns at the churches in Mainland China during Christmas or working with brothers and sisters to organize English classes in Mainland China during summer vacation, all these made me realize the need for evangelism. Then the verse, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” suddenly popped into my mind. In the summer of 2019, I joined a mission trip to northern Thailand and eastern Myanmar organized by the Hong Kong Baptist Mission. One of the most memorable moments of the trip was visiting a church in rural Myanmar, where I sang and played in the meadow with local children, whose smiling faces were deeply imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I asked myself, “Would you get equipped to serve with all your heart?” But, in my heart, I still said, “Perhaps later.”
Then came the local social unrest, the COVID pandemic, the civil war in Myanmar, and so on. All of these made me realize that every good thing could be lost in the blink of an eye and that people and things that I used to take for granted could be gone all of the sudden. The deaths and partings in the church also made me recognize that “time waits for no one.”
“Stop!”
Changes in my job caused me to further reflect on whether I was pursuing earthly comforts or pining for heavenly things. At that time, I was working in a foreign bank and primarily responsible for customer service, creating a stable life. In mid-2023, when I learned that my company was going to reorganize, the nature of my work would change, and my colleagues whom I had been working with would have to change positions, I was very upset and troubled. On the evening of August 18, I went jogging, with my mind in turmoil. Halfway to my destination, I heard a voice say to me, “Stop!” Jesus’ call to Matthew the tax collector came to my mind. I stopped. Although there were tears streaming down my face, in my heart, there was an extraordinary peace and quiet.
At that moment, I thought, “Is this the call of God? Do You really want me to stop, leave everything, and serve as a full-time minister? Can I commit myself to preaching the Gospel without any regrets? Do I have the ability to do so?” I prayed earnestly to God on all of these questions and asked Him to show me the way I should go. In addition to sharing this with my wife, I told my pastor, brothers, and sisters about this experience and asked them to pray for me. Certainly I hoped to receive confirmation that it was His call and not just my wishful thinking.
The Answer and the Action
Thank God for His prompt answer. On August 20, Chaplain Cheung from the Shatin Hospital’s Chaplaincy Ministry came to our church to preach. She not only shared her own testimony of God’s calling but also gave a message from Exodus 36 to encourage us. On August 27, Pastor Lee from the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service gave a sermon on the parable of the ten virgins, and God reminded me once again to get ready with all my heart. So I resigned in September, left my job in November, and started looking for a seminary that suited me while enrolling in some evening courses for lay believers. At the end of February 2024, I attended the Experiencing Seminary Life Day Camp at the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. Apart from talking with the professors, there were also students sharing their testimonies of God’s calling and their lives on campus, which was very helpful to me.
My experiences on mission trips gave me a strong sense of commitment to mission work. But, I know that I have to go step by step and build a solid foundation: not only do I need to learn theological knowledge, but I also need to accumulate pastoral experience in order to cope with all sorts of challenges. I hope to build up a group of brothers and sisters with shared aspirations through my pastoral ministry so that together we can fulfill the Great Commission God has given us.
I am looking forward to not only acquiring theological knowledge and pastoral skills at the seminary but also building up fellowship with my fellow students and supporting each other to meet the challenges of pastoral work in the future, so as to become a worthy worker for the Lord.
Finding the Meaning of Life
I was born into a family that practiced Chinese folk beliefs, and ever since I was a child, my family had established a spiritual kinship (shangqi) between me and the god of the earth (Tudi Gong). My parents were very strict, and as a result, I was short-tempered and had low self-esteem during my primary school years. I did a lot of bad things, such as running away from home, smoking, drinking, swearing, self-harming, and bullying my classmates: in the eyes of my teachers, I was a problem child. In Primary 5 and 6, I often asked myself, “What is the point of living?” I figured that no matter how successful I may be in the future, or even if I become the richest man in the world, I will not be able to take anything with me when I die. I even thought I could not choose how I came to this world, but I could decide when to leave.
I am so thankful that when I progressed to secondary school, I enrolled in the Macau Baptist College and learned about the Gospel through the weekly assembly. Through my faith, I experienced a remarkable change in my life. I recognized Jesus as my Savior and gradually realized my God-given values, so I no longer found life meaningless. I went from a problem teenager to a committee member of the youth fellowship at the church. I even made peace with those I bullied when I was a kid. The unfulfilled emotional needs from my family life were filled by God through different people and things. I learned to accept compliments and to share my worries with God through prayer. I have experienced many graces in my secondary school and university years, and in recent years, I have become a teacher who promotes moral education. Every time I look back, I can only marvel at God’s work in my life, making me always want to respond to God’s love and better serve Him.
From Being Fervent to Weary
During my secondary school and university years, I became more and more passionate about serving God, from serving as a fellowship committee member to a fellowship mentor pastoring a group of young people. I have been in various positions in the worship service at different times. After graduating from university and returning to Macau, I developed an immense interest in Bible study through fellowship meetings, personal Bible readings, and preparation for Sunday school. I wanted to spend more time studying the Bible every day. As I studied the Bible, I was inspired to enter a seminary, hoping to know God and study the Bible more deeply.
However, when I had this idea, I experienced a difficult breakup. I thought God was telling me to stop, so I put aside my plan to enter a seminary and instead pursued a master’s degree in education. I then served in the church as usual and continued with my work. Three years went by and I became more and more tired of my life due to frustrations in both my job and my service in the church. Such weariness even spread to the youth ministry and Bible teaching work which I had always been so passionate about. Instead of getting more and more fervent in my service, I became increasingly tired of it. When my faith hit rock bottom, I asked God, “Do You really exist in my life? Is the grace that I have experienced in the past just a rare coincidence?” At that moment I wanted to deny all the grace God had given me over the years.
Awakening at Rock Bottom
The turning point came on the evening of March 19, 2024, when I listened to a hymn I had never heard before called “For Thy Kingdom and Thy Name.” The hymn brought back memories of my eagerness to enter a seminary. The lyrics went like this:
All the gold and silver in the world
And all the delights that this world can offer
I would lay them down, but to follow You
To answer Your glorious call
After listening to this hymn, I suddenly saw the light. I was so tired of life that I went to work every day just waiting for the end of the day, and I didn’t even want to go to church; this was because I was running away from the problem that I already had at the time when I first became a Christian: one cannot take along anything in this world when one dies. No matter how hard I work, and how much fame and fortune I have, I cannot take anything with me when I die. No matter how many lives are changed by my instruction and counseling, what is the meaning if their souls are lost? What is most important is saving people’s souls!
I realized that my tiredness stemmed from compromising with the world and forgetting God’s call. Deep down inside, I had always longed for success, to be recognized and admired by my family, relatives, friends, and everyone else. In fact, I had been pondering: Is it more glamorous to be a teacher, a dean, or a preacher? Is it more honorable to study education or theology?
I thank God for reminding me through this hymn not to forget and not to let go of His calling. I made up my mind right away to dedicate myself to the Lord, to study theology, and to be equipped for the Lord’s use! At the moment I made the decision, I felt a profound sense of peace that I had never felt before in my life.
Glory and praise be to the Triune God!
Kit-ying Law
Assistant Professor (Worship and Church Music) As I studied theology, I noticed that many theologians emphasized “faith seeking understanding.” As I delved deeper into worship study and practical theology, I observed that teachers of worship theology like John Witvliet1 applied this motto to church traditions, music, and worship ministry. Accordingly, I have paid more attention to the content of our prayers to see if they express the truth of the Bible and our faith in the Lord. I have also looked at how our prayers and the life witnesses of the church community could be integral to each other through faith in today’s context (Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, and thus Lex Vivandi).2
Although evangelical churches seldom use scripted prayers for public worship, there are some common sayings that worship leaders use inadvertently when they pray. Some believers habitually end their prayers with the words “Our prayer is unworthy.” Would saying “Our prayer is unworthy” over and over again weaken our faith in the Lord? Is it not the role of ministers to encourage believers to affirm their identity as sons and daughters of God and to pray boldly to the Heavenly Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? What biblical interpretations or church traditions give rise to saying a prayer may be “unworthy”? 3
“The Crumbs That Fall from the Table”
In the Synoptic Gospels, both Matthew and Mark record an incident in which Jesus, retreating into the territories of Tyre and Sidon, granted an “unworthy” request of a Canaanite woman and commended her great faith. This unnamed woman pleaded with Jesus repeatedly because her daughter was suffering from demonic possession. Jesus did not respond to the Gentile woman’s pleas until she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table” (cf. Matt 15:21-28). This woman’s repeated pleas to the Lord may be the most humble example of certain human attitudes toward Him. She was not angry at being called a “dog.” Out of motherly love and eagerness to seek help, she knew exactly what she wanted, even when the disciples were in the way and Jesus’s response seemed cold and uncaring, she humbly supplicated to Jesus over and over again, saying, “Lord, help me.”
Breaking “Safe Social Distance”: Bowing Down at the Lord’s Feet
In the Gospel of Matthew, this incidence is preceded by another story where Jesus had a dispute with the Pharisees and the scribes over hand washing, and after the dispute, He said to the people, “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Jesus, as Messiah, had not yet been able to transform the scribes and Pharisees of His people from the inside out. Then Jesus departed from the land of Israel and encountered this Gentile woman’s persistent pleading. In contrast to the lost or faithless sheep Jesus saw in “the house of Israel,” this Canaanite woman believed wholeheartedly that Jesus was the “Son of David,” the Savior, and Messiah. In this story, she did not even need to bring her daughter to touch Jesus’s garment; He simply spoke and her daughter was healed at that very moment. This not only foreshadows that Gentiles would also be saved through faith but also means that the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah were going to be fulfilled in Jesus.
The Jews had always taken their national identity and the laws of purity very seriously, so they kept a distance from the Gentiles who were considered unclean, not to mention interacting with the Canaanites who were worshipers of other gods. Looking back at Old Testament history, Joshua conquered Canaan, but throughout the ages, there were still people in Israel who intermarried with the Canaanites and worshiped their gods, resulting in tensions within the nation.
In the past, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land, was a magnificent event. On the contrary, the incarnate Christ retreated to the territories of Tyre and Sidon, keeping a low-profile, and Mark 7:24 tells us that Jesus “entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.” This woman heard about Jesus and believed that this was her hope, so she came to Jesus and bowed down at His feet. The Greek word for “bow down” means to worship. Because of the woman’s desperate plea, Jesus stopped and finally responded to her, “Be it done for you as you desire” (Mt 15:28). And Jesus commended the woman’s great faith. Do we have the same faith when we come to the Lord? Do we have such a humble attitude? The Canaanite woman’s prostration to Jesus showed her heartfelt surrender to the Lord and her total dependence on Christ’s authority and power.
Who Is “Worthy” to Receive the Body and Blood of the Lord?
In light of this passage, we will now examine “The Prayer of Humble Access,” a prayer that is often used by many Christian denominations at the Lord’s Supper. This was first composed in 1548 for the administration of the Lord’s Supper by Thomas Cranmer, an English Reformation leader. Through this prayer, we may understand the meaning of “unworthy” prayer when we pray and live our lives.
First of all, the prayer centres on the statement, “We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table.” Does this single statement contrast with the Canaanite woman’s response of faith? According to the liturgical order of the Lord’s Supper, this prayer is preceded by a confession of faith, a confession of sin, and the song “Agnes Dei” (“Lamb of God”), and followed by an invitation to the Lord’s Supper—so is it not a bit “anti-liturgical” to say this prayer? Is there not a risk that the congregation will take the prayer literally and not come to the Lord’s Supper because they feel themselves to be “unworthy”?
Hyperbole is used in the Scripture passage as it refers to the woman as a puppy gathering up crumbs from under the table, which is an expression of “self-humiliation” and humility. It goes the same with the prayer. Both express a humble attitude in coming to the Lord and begging Him to be gracious and merciful to sinners like us. In fact, the first line of the prayer also conveys such meaning: “We do not presume to come to this your table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your abundant and great mercies.”
It is just as Jesus proclaimed on the mountain, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). From the perspective of theology and worship, this prayer is not hyperbolic at all: we are indeed poor in spirit, and we are beggars before the Lord. This prayer helps us confess that we are in desperate need of the Lord and that we need to turn to His gracious embrace. As Paul said, both Jews and Gentiles are sinners before the Holy Lord (Rom 3:9), and none are “worthy” to come to the Lord but by His grace and mercy.
Insights for Believers from the Worship in the Book of Revelation
When apocalyptic literature in the Bible speaks of salvation, it tends to be black and white, pitting good versus evil. In Revelation 5:1-10, John reminds us not to be saddened or trapped by earthly things, but to grieve that we do not see Jesus in the present. Why is that? According to the passage, John saw various visions in heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth, but he did not see Christ at first, and no one was able to open the scroll and the seven seals, so he wept loudly. However, when he saw the Lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, his sorrow turned immediately into joy and worship. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, fell down before the Lamb and sang a new song, “Worthy are you to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (Rv 5:9-10).
While we emphasize the “priesthood” of believers, the passage highlights the fact that we will inherit the kingdom of heaven and reign on the Earth. However, learning to sing this eschatological hymn of faith and hope on Earth would be a tension-filled process. Are we “able” to sing this song, especially in the face of extreme adversity or the loss of a dear friend or family member? What song can we sing to support those families and friends who are still here on Earth in the midst of trouble and grief?
During the rehearsal of this year’s Spiritual Revival Concert “Apocalyptic Vision, Victorious Lamb,” the HKBTS choir made an attempt to present the ultimate worship described in Revelation 14 in the form of a dramatic reading of the Scriptures. The story begins in Revelation 12 and involves different characters and scenes, including the battle between the red dragon and the woman, and the persecution of the unyielding believers by the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth. One of the beasts imitated Christ and used both hard and soft tactics to lure believers into obedience. Yet, believers conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rv 12:11).
God loves the world, and His grace and mercy are freely given, but the chorus of the “Song of the Lamb” dedicated in ultimate worship is not to be sung by all the people of the world. The Scriptures reveal that this song is exclusively for the heavenly choir of this heavenly worship, which consists of the followers of Christ. “No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth” (Rv 14:3). This is a song of salvation, declaring that the Lamb will triumph. The believers’ victory is by the blood of the Lamb; this saving power of His blood not just worked in the past but works forever. Through Christ and in union with His resurrected body, the Church becomes a heavenly worshiping community awaiting the consummation of the kingdom of heaven.
The “Goodness” and “Beauty” of Humble Access
Can we see the Lord’s presence in our daily lives? Theology and hymns tell us that this world is not our home! The tension of the “already but not yet” is still there because we have not yet seen the full manifestation of God’s kingdom.
Every Monday when we come to HKBTS, we see “everywhere” (in hyperbolic terms) the traces left behind by the visitors who came to the pebbles beach nearby to “kite-fight” on weekends and holidays. We are often caught in the strings of kites that drifted to the entrance of our canteen or the chapel. Even though we try to be good neighbors and regularly clean up the kite debris scattered around the campus, there are still many kites with broken strings hanging outside the windows of the campus buildings and in the trees along the road. Passers-by takes extra care to avoid getting scraped by the kite strings. No matter how hard our staff try to remove the kites and strings with gloves on, and even to build a platform to clear up the mess for them week after week, there is still endless cleanup work to be done. However, the Lord showed me one thing which I find most grateful in all these: we have someone to walk together, to give reminders to each other along the way, to build our dreams together, and to watch over each other.
In this pilgrimage, we have all come across times when we have felt ourselves “unworthy.” Such experiences of introspection and repentance allow us to realize that when faced with challenges and opportunities in life and in ministry, we can only plead for the grace of the Lord. When every one of us comes forward to the Lord with a humble heart, and utilizes the gifts our Heavenly Father has given us to worship the Lord together, just like God’s people in the old days who came to Jerusalem, singing Songs of Ascents and marching together to Zion, we will be able to catch a glimpse of the vision of this heavenly worship: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man” (Rv 21:3).
I am thankful to be able to receive the Lord’s Supper with all the teachers and students at the Spiritual Formation Camp every August. Since the COVID pandemic in 2019, the seminary has not held an off-campus camp until recently. I remember the one held at the end of August 2023, many students said it was their first time to taste the experience of “when brothers dwell in unity” (Ps 133:1). Students left their summer internships and ministries behind and came to the camp to make room for listening to God’s Word and to learn listening to one another and living in fellowship.
The Lord’s Supper is not only a reminder of His unceasing grace but also a stimulus for us to long for unity in the Lord: to look upon the Lord with all our hearts, to abide in Christ, and to discover the goodness and beauty of God with us. What we receive at the Lord’s Supper is never leftovers or crumbs under the table, but the most precious of all—the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we may find our prayers “incomplete” or we may not be able to understand the will of God right away, God is loving and merciful, so we just need to humbly come to Him in faith and make supplications in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Hallelujah!
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1 John D. Witvliet, Worship Seeking Understanding: Windows into Christian Practice (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003).
2 Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi refers to the integration of faith into practice, which means that prayer reflects the law of practice of faith (Lex Vivendi).
3 Part of this article was presented by the author on September 14, 2023 in the morning chapel service of HKBTS. This article is a revision of the author’s article “Gathering up Crumbs under the Table—Is It Also ‘Unworthy’?,” which was published in the publication of the HKBTS Alumni Association, Soul Care (Issue 51, November 2023).-
The Resources Centre
HKBTS has been offering church music courses for years and has been striving to enhance the quality of worship in churches. Since the establishment of the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre, we have further developed a number of music and art training programs to promote the spiritual quality of churches in the areas of worship, Christian life, ministry, and services.
The centre is named after Mrs. Edna Wong (-1996), who loved God and her church all her life, and spared no effort in the promotion of church music. She served as a lecturer and a board member of HKBTS and contributed to the establishment of scholarships for our students. In accordance with Mrs. Wong’s last wishes, her church, the Hong Kong Baptist Church, made a large donation to support the Edna Wong Church Music Development Fund which was set up by HKBTS to cultivate religious education and church music practitioners in churches. In 2002, the Fund supported the establishment of the Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre, which was named after Mrs. Wong.
In 2002, the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre was formally established in our Applied Theological Education Centre on the 9th floor of Christian Centre, 56 Bute Street, Mong Kok. The centre launched its first programs and courses in October of the same year and has been providing a wide range of music and arts training to help churches to present better worship to God.
Kit-ying Law
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology (Worship and Church Music) Christ-centred worship and the arts are the vehicles of the Word and the medium of God’s grace, testifying to the power and truth of the Gospel of Christ.
Worship is a sacred time and space in which God’s presence is here and now, as if the gates of Heaven are open. God’s intangible grace is made available to us through the means of hearing, touching, and even eating (the Lord’s Supper) and through communal reception so that we can partake of the taste of God’s grace together, which is so good and pleasant.
In worship, music and hymns with lyrics are the “art of time,” while architecture and the layout of the worship space are the “art of space.” Through these art forms, we worship and serve God in fear and joy according to the truth of the Bible. The Word of God is living and active, penetrating our hearts and minds (cf. Heb 4:12). Therefore, Christ-centred worship through the arts can lead us to respond to the love of the Lord and turn us to God the Father with all our hearts and souls. It can also help us discern with heavenly wisdom how to walk on the path of blessing in our worship life.
Proverbs of Wisdom on Worship and the Arts
With reference to the document “Worshiping the Triune God: Receiving and Sharing Christian Wisdom across Continents and Centuries” (2010 edition) published by Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, I would like to share three proverbs of wisdom on worship and the arts as a guideline and a direction for the seminary to build up Christians and churches in this aspect.
1. Life-Transforming Worship
Wise is the church that seeks to be “in” but not “of” the world (Jn 15:19), resisting aspects of the culture that compromise the integrity of the gospel, and eagerly engaging its culture with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ who comes to each culture, but is not bound by any culture.
The Gospel of Jesus is at the same time transcultural, contextualizable, cross-cultural, culture-resistant, and challenging believers to live transformed lives, influence the world, and act as culture transformers. The arts should be based on God’s revelation and the teachings of the Bible, guiding people to think rationally, playing an educational role, and deepening people’s understanding of God, the world, and themselves.
2. Faith Integration Not Limited to Verbal Expression
Blessed is the congregation in which the Word is proclaimed and prayers and praise are offered not only through words but also through artistic expression: through gifts God has given to each local community in music and dance, in speech and silence, in visual art and architecture.
This kind of multi-dimensional and multi-level expression makes worship colorful and allows Christians to establish a deeper relationship with God in different ways. Art should not be seen as a domain entirely separate from faith; instead, Christians should integrate art into their lives of faith, so that art can become a means of proclaiming the gospel and witnessing Christ.
3. The Image of God and the Second Commandment
Wise are artists who are grateful both for the limitations offered by the second commandment, and also for the example of the biblical artists called by God and equipped by God’s people for service according to God’s commands (Ex 35:30ff.).
Human creativity is a gift from God and reflects the image of God (Imago Dei). In art-making, Christians endeavor to reveal God’s wisdom, goodness, and glory so that the arts become a form of worship and praise to God. The commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image,” points ultimately to the promise of Jeremiah 31:33: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.” The true ministry of the arts is to allow the Holy Spirit to shape our lives into the image of Christ (Gal 4:19) so that what our hands make is but a natural outpouring of a graceful heart—like a stream reflecting the light of the moon, which, though it is not the moon, testifies to “the true light” in the darkness of the world, making people long to draw near to the Lord.
Bible-Centred, Interdisciplinary Worship and the Arts Education
The Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary (HKBTS) always seeks to promote worship and arts education and has been providing training programs in these areas. Our Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre was established to “provide Christians with a renewed knowledge of worship by seeking wisdom from the Bible, theology and church history, and then coming to a correct understanding of genuine worship,” and to “provide a combination of diversified training in arts to widen the scope of students’ ministry and to enrich their experience.” * Over the years, the centre has been offering courses conducted by lecturers who have rich knowledge and practical experiences in the field of worship and the arts. These courses have been of great help to Christians who wish to equip themselves in this field. In addition to education programs, the centre also provides a resources centre for our students and offers classroom and venue rental services for them to practice and perform.
Looking ahead, the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre will, on the one hand, continue to offer different types of courses on worship, music and the arts to enrich believers’ understanding of worship and the arts, and to enhance participants’ related skills and broaden their horizons. On the other hand, we will actively develop more Bible-centred interdisciplinary courses that integrate different fields to better enrich the preaching in the worship of the Chinese churches and to help Christians integrate the Word, worship, the arts, spiritual practice, and Christian life. Our “Drama Art at Church” series (e.g., “A Mindset for Drama Writing” workshop, “Bible Study through Drama” workshops) and the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts, conceived in collaboration with the Lay Theological Education Department (LTED) last year, are a few examples of our endeavors in this regard.
Take the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts as an example, this masters-level degree program provides believers with more systematic and comprehensive training in such areas as worship theories, church music, the arts, practical application, theological reflection, etc. The existing courses on worship offered by other theological seminaries in Hong Kong are mostly focused on worship studies or worship services, without much emphasis on cross-disciplinary integration. The integration of the arts into worship is what the centre has always strived to promote. To this end, our program provides worship art training, including church music, worship and praise, spatial arrangement, drama, painting, and other diversified elements as well as theological reflection so that students can better integrate biblical teaching, worship, pastoral care, and the arts.
On the one hand, the Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts emphasizes giving students a solid grounding in the Bible and theology that strengthens the foundation of truth for their worship ministries, helps them to understand the spiritual origins of worship, and explores how the arts (e.g., music, drama, and visual art) can be brought into dialogue with the theology of worship. On the other hand, it emphasizes the integration of artistic practice and pastoral care in response to various contexts. The program breaks through the traditional framework of worship studies and highlights the concept of “art as pastoral care.” Students not only learn practical skills such as worship leadership, spatial arrangement, and liturgy design for various feasts but also reflect on how to respond to believers’ life stages and social contexts through the medium of art in worship. For example: How can the message of salvation be presented through drama during Lent? How to use visual art to create an atmosphere of hope during Advent? These topics integrate theological interpretation and creative practice so that students can become “pastorally minded ministers of worship and the arts.”
One example of pastoral integrative courses is “Funeral Design and Pastoral Theology” offered in this quarter. It incorporates life and death education as well. (For example, it examines such questions as “How can the design of Christian funeral services inspire us to express our personal and communal grief and hope to the Lord in times of loss?” “What are the principles for the use of laments and hymns in worship and funeral services?”) We combine insights from the Bible, church history, and pastoral care to explore how worship can be centred on the Triune God. From meditating on the laments in the Psalms to lifting our voices in praise, we can show how the Church is redeemed by the Christ event and express this hope of passing from death to life in Christ in funeral services.
Cross-Departmental Integration
In addition to actively organizing Bible-centred interdisciplinary integrative courses, we have also been actively collaborating with other departments of the seminary in recent years. The Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre and LTED have not only collaborated on program development but have also made some of our courses compatible with each other, thus providing a better and more convenient learning experience for students. For example, students who have completed two designated four-session courses (each course with a total of 18 class hours and an attendance rate of 80% or more) and who subsequently register for the LTED’s Lay Theological Diploma/Certificate Programs are exempted from taking one elective subject.
Finally, we will perpetuate the Baptist tradition of upholding the foundational importance of the Bible and further the integration of the arts and worship, cultivating the spiritual soil of the “people of the Bible” so that they can holistically worship, witness, and serve God, who is good. Whether you think you “know about art,” as long as you are willing to open your heart for the Holy Spirit to work in your unique life, you will be an indispensable piece of the puzzle of God’s mission, completing a picture that testifies to the love of God.
May all glory be to God, the Creator of Heaven and the Earth, who does not stop revealing His goodness in our lives!
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* Please see our website https://www.hkbts.edu.hk/waec
Sanson Lau
Honorary Director of Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre
Visiting Lecturer Holistic Worship
The Church is established by God to reveal His truth, goodness, and beauty. Believers respond to God’s grace, word, salvation, and call through praise, prayers, proclamations, and bearing witness. That is the “worship” of God. Augustine of Hippo stressed that beauty is the pure manifestation of truth. Since God is the essence of truth, the source of goodness, and beauty, whether we can shine through our worship of Him by reflecting His divinity and declaring His works will demonstrate whether we are truly serving Him: the Bible describes “serving God” as worshiping Him.
From the biblical narrative, we see that in the Old Testament world as well as in the new Heaven and new Earth in eternity, when people gather to worship God, they do so using multimedia, creating multisensory dialogues, experiences, and responses. The form of expression that we call art is the most effective way of communicating this.
Variety in Art
Nato Thompson, Artistic Director of Philadelphia Contemporary, pointed out that art and culture in Western societies had long been a part of daily life. However, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, people focused on technical skills, which led to the emergence of the so-called “High Art.” In the mid to late twentieth century, avant-garde artists reasserted that art should be part of the everyday and that everyday life should be an artistic expression, subject to the will, consciousness, and self-definition of the actor. *
This is a good reminder that all cultures and art are deeply related to people in terms of their mutual fulfillment and influence. From thoughts, emotions, consciousness, actions, and the understanding of self-identity, to interpersonal, communal, class, and inter-ethnic relationships, to all aspects of social systems (including politics, economy, education, family, religion, etc.), there are significant interconnections.
The definition, origin, and application of art have been explored from different perspectives and been based on different evidence, resulting in the formation of a variety of art theories. But generally speaking, all theories involve two major aspects: one focuses on the aesthetic response, using such notions as harmony, beauty, and sublimity; and the other is about the mediums of creation, considering the acquisition and application of skills and techniques, etc.
God is the Creator and Redeemer of all things, the source of truth, beauty, and goodness; and we only know the ultimate truth, beauty, and goodness in the state of God being with us, the true meaning of “Emmanuel.” Experiencing divine presence is a way of worshiping God in practice. Through the daily acts of communication and expression, Church members manifest beauty and goodness as God-created beings (that is an expression of art); this is an essential enactment of worship.
Christian Worship and Arts Education
The Church is on a mission to witness God’s divinity and works while holding on to our hope and entering into the eternal procession of worshiping God. This process initiated by God and responded to by all created beings is described by different names such as spiritual growth, worship, teaching and learning, pastoral care and counseling, evangelism and service, fellowship, etc., depending on the different emphases that we place within God’s kingdom. As far as theological education is concerned, it obviously focuses on such activities as teaching, imparting, researching, studying, reasoning, synthesizing and discovering, in order to provide holistic training for students in their development of spirituality, character, mentality, knowledge, ethical practices, and so on. For organizations responsible for arts education, it is their role to design, plan, and launch relevant courses and to promote them to churches and Christians.
HKBTS’s Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre also plays this role. Established in 2002, the centre’s mission is to renew Christians’ understanding of worship through wisdom from the Bible, theology, and church history, to broaden the scope of and enrich their experience in their ministries, and to enhance their ability to use the arts in worship and other church ministries through diversified and integrated arts training.
In this postmodern age, a trend toward a multisensory approach to communication has taken shape. Our programs are also geared toward the worship of God with all our senses. For more than 20 years, we have been offering courses in music (auditory), art (visual), dance (tactile), drama (multi-sensory), and electronic media (all-sensory), with the aim of nurturing believers for churches, so that they may enrich the worship of God with various forms of art and enhance the expression of their services.
Since its establishment, the centre has been organizing a wide range of in-depth programs and courses that are related to or integrated with various art forms that are relevant to our local context. Programs and courses are offered in more than ten different but interrelated major areas, including worship, church music (including music arts, hymnology, keyboard playing, vocal training, etc.), dancing, drama, visual arts, cinematography, electronic media, architectural space concepts, floral art, humanistic quality, Chinese opera, lyrics studies, and so on. It also provides students with publications and teaching materials, as well as venues for teaching and performing. We hope that churches would find the arts to be a powerful medium for worshiping the Lord, spreading the gospel, fellowship, Bible teaching, and community service.
Forward on a Narrow Path
In reviewing the churches’ response since the establishment of the centre, it seems that music courses are generally given more attention; singing, voice training, and musical instrumentation are the most popular among our students. The rest of the courses are often neglected. Therefore, we are actively striving to help churches realize and utilize other forms of art.
In fact, art forms are inherently infused within worship services at churches. For example, words, actions, and things involved in each part of a worship service as well as their sequence, and the division of labor among the various persons in charge are just like a drama where there are also characters, an order of appearance, dialogues, movements, actions, etc. Let’s take another example. When a chairperson of a worship service calls to worship, reads the Scriptures, prays, or greets the congregation, or when a pastor gives a sermon, they will pay attention to their voice, tone, volume, and pace. All these are similar to the requirements of a dramatic production. In addition, when the congregation stands, sits, or kneels, lifts or bows their heads, or raises their hands, all these movements are the basics of dancing. Furthermore, the setting of the venue, air conditioning, lighting and sound, color selection, and general ambience are all expressions and extensions of the visual and architectural arts. One of our objectives in offering different courses is to arouse the interest of our students and to bring about their awakening of the close relationship between worship and the arts.
Nowadays, Hong Kong society tends to emphasize the outcome and focuses on utilitarianism and quick results; it seems that some churches cannot escape from following this trend. However, when it comes to the art of worship, artistic skills need to be developed gradually through repeated practice over time. Therefore, we have been trying to grasp appropriate opportunities and look for suitable areas for cultivation in the hope of gradually renewing the culture of worship through a variety of educational programs. In order to counteract the current trend of “entertainment first” and the “culture of immediate gratification,” the centre has invited scholars and experts to design various courses in the hope of constructing a discourse that reshapes our thinking and our discussions in context of the values of mass culture; this will lead to a biblical and theological worldview in which one can judge, define, discern, and break through the often-confusing talk about art forms (e.g., the false proposition of “traditional” versus “modern” for church singing).
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* Nato Thompson, introduction to Culture as Weapon: The Art of Influence in Everyday Life (Brooklyn: Melville House, 2017).
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What does worship have to do with art?
What is the role of the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre in promoting worship and arts education?
What are the features of our newly launched Postgraduate Certificate Program in Worship and the Arts?In this issue of the Newsletter, we have invited Mr. Sanson Lau and Dr. Kit-ying Law to share their thoughts on these topics. Mr. Lau has been serving in the Edna Wong Christian Worship and Arts Education Centre for more than 20 years, and is currently the Honorary Director of the centre and the visiting lecturer at HKBTS. Dr. Law is the Assistant Professor of Practical Theology (Worship and Church Music) at HKBTS.
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I decided to come to faith in the Lord at an evangelistic meeting when I was in junior high school. Later on, my classmate brought me to the fellowship and worship services of their church, and I began to have a regular church life. I was baptized into the church in 1997 and began to try different service positions. I am thankful that in the following days, I experienced God’s graciousness in my work, love, marriage, and parenthood, which greatly strengthened my faith in God.
“Perhaps Later”
The idea of equipping myself to become a minister came to me in 2015 when I participated in a mission trip to Cambodia. When we visited the missionary in Cambodia with a group of brothers and sisters from our church, he not only took us to the local church to understand the needs of the ministry but also invited us to his home to listen to the sharing of a group of missionaries and to pray together. I felt their passion for evangelism and their devotion to the Lord. After the gathering, as I was sitting in the tuk-tuk staring at the sunset on the way back to our lodging place, there was a voice in my heart asking, “Are you ready for this?” which I answered, “Perhaps later.”
In the days afterward, I had the opportunity to participate in mission work in other places. Whether it was joining the church choir to share hymns at the churches in Mainland China during Christmas or working with brothers and sisters to organize English classes in Mainland China during summer vacation, all these made me realize the need for evangelism. Then the verse, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” suddenly popped into my mind. In the summer of 2019, I joined a mission trip to northern Thailand and eastern Myanmar organized by the Hong Kong Baptist Mission. One of the most memorable moments of the trip was visiting a church in rural Myanmar, where I sang and played in the meadow with local children, whose smiling faces were deeply imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I asked myself, “Would you get equipped to serve with all your heart?” But, in my heart, I still said, “Perhaps later.”
Then came the local social unrest, the COVID pandemic, the civil war in Myanmar, and so on. All of these made me realize that every good thing could be lost in the blink of an eye and that people and things that I used to take for granted could be gone all of the sudden. The deaths and partings in the church also made me recognize that “time waits for no one.”
“Stop!”
Changes in my job caused me to further reflect on whether I was pursuing earthly comforts or pining for heavenly things. At that time, I was working in a foreign bank and primarily responsible for customer service, creating a stable life. In mid-2023, when I learned that my company was going to reorganize, the nature of my work would change, and my colleagues whom I had been working with would have to change positions, I was very upset and troubled. On the evening of August 18, I went jogging, with my mind in turmoil. Halfway to my destination, I heard a voice say to me, “Stop!” Jesus’ call to Matthew the tax collector came to my mind. I stopped. Although there were tears streaming down my face, in my heart, there was an extraordinary peace and quiet.
At that moment, I thought, “Is this the call of God? Do You really want me to stop, leave everything, and serve as a full-time minister? Can I commit myself to preaching the Gospel without any regrets? Do I have the ability to do so?” I prayed earnestly to God on all of these questions and asked Him to show me the way I should go. In addition to sharing this with my wife, I told my pastor, brothers, and sisters about this experience and asked them to pray for me. Certainly I hoped to receive confirmation that it was His call and not just my wishful thinking.
The Answer and the Action
Thank God for His prompt answer. On August 20, Chaplain Cheung from the Shatin Hospital’s Chaplaincy Ministry came to our church to preach. She not only shared her own testimony of God’s calling but also gave a message from Exodus 36 to encourage us. On August 27, Pastor Lee from the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service gave a sermon on the parable of the ten virgins, and God reminded me once again to get ready with all my heart. So I resigned in September, left my job in November, and started looking for a seminary that suited me while enrolling in some evening courses for lay believers. At the end of February 2024, I attended the Experiencing Seminary Life Day Camp at the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. Apart from talking with the professors, there were also students sharing their testimonies of God’s calling and their lives on campus, which was very helpful to me.
My experiences on mission trips gave me a strong sense of commitment to mission work. But, I know that I have to go step by step and build a solid foundation: not only do I need to learn theological knowledge, but I also need to accumulate pastoral experience in order to cope with all sorts of challenges. I hope to build up a group of brothers and sisters with shared aspirations through my pastoral ministry so that together we can fulfill the Great Commission God has given us.
I am looking forward to not only acquiring theological knowledge and pastoral skills at the seminary but also building up fellowship with my fellow students and supporting each other to meet the challenges of pastoral work in the future, so as to become a worthy worker for the Lord.
Finding the Meaning of Life
I was born into a family that practiced Chinese folk beliefs, and ever since I was a child, my family had established a spiritual kinship (shangqi) between me and the god of the earth (Tudi Gong). My parents were very strict, and as a result, I was short-tempered and had low self-esteem during my primary school years. I did a lot of bad things, such as running away from home, smoking, drinking, swearing, self-harming, and bullying my classmates: in the eyes of my teachers, I was a problem child. In Primary 5 and 6, I often asked myself, “What is the point of living?” I figured that no matter how successful I may be in the future, or even if I become the richest man in the world, I will not be able to take anything with me when I die. I even thought I could not choose how I came to this world, but I could decide when to leave.
I am so thankful that when I progressed to secondary school, I enrolled in the Macau Baptist College and learned about the Gospel through the weekly assembly. Through my faith, I experienced a remarkable change in my life. I recognized Jesus as my Savior and gradually realized my God-given values, so I no longer found life meaningless. I went from a problem teenager to a committee member of the youth fellowship at the church. I even made peace with those I bullied when I was a kid. The unfulfilled emotional needs from my family life were filled by God through different people and things. I learned to accept compliments and to share my worries with God through prayer. I have experienced many graces in my secondary school and university years, and in recent years, I have become a teacher who promotes moral education. Every time I look back, I can only marvel at God’s work in my life, making me always want to respond to God’s love and better serve Him.
From Being Fervent to Weary
During my secondary school and university years, I became more and more passionate about serving God, from serving as a fellowship committee member to a fellowship mentor pastoring a group of young people. I have been in various positions in the worship service at different times. After graduating from university and returning to Macau, I developed an immense interest in Bible study through fellowship meetings, personal Bible readings, and preparation for Sunday school. I wanted to spend more time studying the Bible every day. As I studied the Bible, I was inspired to enter a seminary, hoping to know God and study the Bible more deeply.
However, when I had this idea, I experienced a difficult breakup. I thought God was telling me to stop, so I put aside my plan to enter a seminary and instead pursued a master’s degree in education. I then served in the church as usual and continued with my work. Three years went by and I became more and more tired of my life due to frustrations in both my job and my service in the church. Such weariness even spread to the youth ministry and Bible teaching work which I had always been so passionate about. Instead of getting more and more fervent in my service, I became increasingly tired of it. When my faith hit rock bottom, I asked God, “Do You really exist in my life? Is the grace that I have experienced in the past just a rare coincidence?” At that moment I wanted to deny all the grace God had given me over the years.
Awakening at Rock Bottom
The turning point came on the evening of March 19, 2024, when I listened to a hymn I had never heard before called “For Thy Kingdom and Thy Name.” The hymn brought back memories of my eagerness to enter a seminary. The lyrics went like this:
All the gold and silver in the world
And all the delights that this world can offer
I would lay them down, but to follow You
To answer Your glorious call
After listening to this hymn, I suddenly saw the light. I was so tired of life that I went to work every day just waiting for the end of the day, and I didn’t even want to go to church; this was because I was running away from the problem that I already had at the time when I first became a Christian: one cannot take along anything in this world when one dies. No matter how hard I work, and how much fame and fortune I have, I cannot take anything with me when I die. No matter how many lives are changed by my instruction and counseling, what is the meaning if their souls are lost? What is most important is saving people’s souls!
I realized that my tiredness stemmed from compromising with the world and forgetting God’s call. Deep down inside, I had always longed for success, to be recognized and admired by my family, relatives, friends, and everyone else. In fact, I had been pondering: Is it more glamorous to be a teacher, a dean, or a preacher? Is it more honorable to study education or theology?
I thank God for reminding me through this hymn not to forget and not to let go of His calling. I made up my mind right away to dedicate myself to the Lord, to study theology, and to be equipped for the Lord’s use! At the moment I made the decision, I felt a profound sense of peace that I had never felt before in my life.
Glory and praise be to the Triune God!
