Audience of One

By Nicole Lai

It was September 13, a Friday, the last day of Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW), the week full of chapel schedules and spiritual goodness.

At 3:10 pm, the bell announced the end of school, causing students to run out of classrooms onto their next activity. For some members of the worship team, this was the start of their last 3-hour rehearsal for the final night session of SEW.

Many students were already preparing for the session; some were seen working the tech logistics, clearing chairs, or even putting together individual stations for the night. Those on the worship team were also ready to do their part, bringing their instruments and song sheets with them into the Harbor Hall to begin practice.

To set a God-oriented atmosphere, the worship leader began practice with a word of prayer, helping those on the team focus more towards serving God and how to be a vessel of Christ through their music. Due to the short interval between sessions, the worship team was left with little time to practice the various songs together. As practice went on, heads could be seen bobbing up to look at the clock at the back of the hall, members mentally marking the remaining time left to practice together. Thankfully, rehearsals finished smoothly, leaving the team satisfied despite initial worries.

SEW was the busiest week for the worship team, needing to practice many praise and worship songs for both morning chapel and evening sessions all through Tuesday to Friday. While some may see it as tiring, many members of the worship team found the experience very meaningful. Julia Jun (12) commented, "Even though the worship team couldn't be a part of the student body, just seeing everyone praying for each other made it all worthwhile. There was this one time with everyone shoulder to shoulder, swaying together to the music. And for us to be able to see the impact that God was having on the lives of the students made being on the worship team even more meaningful."

"I thought it was cool to be part of a team that facilitated people's personal connection with God," remarked Celestine Teoh (12), "It was really nice worshipping God, and I really liked that as we were doing that, nothing else was on our mind except serving God."

Sure, the technical aspect of worship may not have always been "perfect," but the team sang and played with a heart of worship for an audience of one, the one that mattered most.