What Selah Is Who we Are What we Believe Description of Service
What Selah Is
Selah is not a band, it is a time and it is a place. It is a time for believers,
seekers, and non-believers to come and be in the presence of God. It is a
place to come face to face with our maker. Each week we come together to seek
communion with God, worshipping Christ and seeking the movement of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts and the hearts of all present.
Worship at Selah is a time for all travelers on the road of faith to seek
out God where they are at - and to allow God to meet them there. Worship is
aimed at moving people out of their comfort zones in their praise of God without
forcing the worship styles of those leading on them. Worship is a time for
all believers regardless of denomination or political views to come together
to praise our Father. Selah is not a soapbox or a platform for any one agenda
– it is non-denominational and non-political.
What Selah is Not
It is not a “group” with members, nor is it a band. It is not
a fund-raising entity or a time of entertainment. Selah’s focus is on
worshipping God and conducting any activity directly related to this purpose.
Who We Are
Those who lead this time of worship are St. Olaf students, committed to prayerfully
seeking God’s will, heart, and guiding Spirit above any of their own
desires, ambitions, or beliefs about what Selah is or should be on any given
week. The mission of those leading is to prompt those who have come to lift
their highest praises to God, who alone is the audience we seek to lift our
voices to.
What we believe
1. God is three-in-one with the Holy Spirit and with the fully-human but fully-divine
man Jesus of Nazareth.
2. All people are sinful and deserve death and separation from God, but those
who follow Jesus as Lord are saved and reconciled to God through His free
gift of grace in the death of His son Jesus. We believe that Jesus was raised
from the dead and won victory over the powers of death and evil – John
14:6.
Description of Service
Worship in music is the main focus of Selah. The musical team strives to do
their best because we believe God deserves our best effort, but also believe
that He smiles on our heartfelt worship whether musically flawless or rough.
Selah is generally an hour-long worship service, made up of music, prayer,
the sharing of scripture and, when so led, brief messages. The exact order
of the service and the combination of music, prayer, and scripture are flexible
and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Students plan the service, play
the music, lead the worship, take care of all organizational details, etc.,
but the power of each service and the soul behind it is and always must be
God. Those playing are God’s vessels through which He guides each service
leads and prompts His people in worship.
The different large group meeting times at St. Olaf have different missions
and aim to minister to different groups of people, in an attempt to bring
God’s word to all people. As a result of those different missions and
goals, each group ministers to those who attend in different ways and also
lead worship in different styles. The worship time of Fellowship of Christian
Athleete (FCA) may be led by an electric/acoustic team, while InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship (IVCF) time is led by an acoustic team, and bible studies
may be led by one or two people acoustically, because that method best brings
God’s word to those attend. Because Selah ministers to people on both
extremes of the Christian journey – non-believers, pastors, missionaries,
and skeptics – the worship time of Selah is generally led by a full
band electric team. Electric guitar solos, bright lights, loud sounds, etc.
draw people – the curious, seeking, or even on looking – to the
Pause just to see a good “show” but wind up hearing the Gospel.
The same elements can also reach those interested in praising God in their
loudest voice, surrounded by sounds of praise. All forms of music are used,
but we are neither ashamed nor apologetic for the style of music we use as
we feel it is the one God has given us to reach His people.
Bearing this in mind, music is appreciated at different levels and in different styles. The Technical and Musical teams make every effort to ensure that the “presentation” of Selah stays true to its mission of being a time for believers, seekers, and non-believers to encounter God. As such, the levels and styles of both the music and lights are adjusted to be inviting to the wanderer and uplifting to the believer.
A special focus of Selah is to follow the admonition of Psalm 96:1, “Sing
to the Lord a new song.” Leaders seek to find and use the best contemporary
worship music, and are also express their worship in original music for use
in the service. We believe that using modern musical styles in worship is
important for not only expressing our own worship, but also to attract non-Christians
to the service, where they might come to know Christ.