By: Ashley Emmert 

Originally published in Engage Magazine, 2019

For David Norris, leading worship was always the natural choice. “I grew up in the church and was very musically inclined, so I fell into worship. I led worship at my church plant youth group, and then for the main services when I was older. And I went to undergrad at Belmont University with worship leading in mind.” But at Belmont, David’s calling became a bit more complicated. “In my first Christian Doctrine, I realized I had a deep passion for theology. From then on, and even during my time in Denver Seminary, I went back and forth between being a worship leader and being a theologian. I felt like I had to choose.”

David then attended Denver Seminary, where he tried to better discern his calling. “At the time, I was thinking more about academia, but I was leading worship at a church. Eventually, I came to realize that I could do both and carry both callings. I could be a good theologian and teach people while also being a good worship leader and pastor.” After graduating from seminary in 2015, David became a worship pastor and deacon at Wellspring Englewood, an Anglican church in Englewood, Colorado.  

“My primary role now is focusing on our corporate worship services. I’m involved with anything that happens inside our sanctuary. I lead music, but I also select liturgies for various seasons, and ask people to write liturgy or create art installments for our worship space I meet with people to get them meaningfully incorporated into our church, collaborate with other staff members to think about ways that we can involve people of all ages and various demographics in our services.” 

While David’s primary role centers on worship, teaching has become a regular part of his job. “My callings have intersected in really interesting ways. Our staff sees its primary role as equipping others for ministry. I lead worship twice a month, and we have a couple other people who lead. I work with them a lot—I observe, coach, give feedback, train. I’ve been able to do some classroom teaching as well. I taught a catechism class on the Apostles Creed recently. And I’ve been getting more involved in pastoral care—just meeting with people and hearing about their sorrows and joys, and how the Christian life is actually realized in their lives.”  

David says his training at Denver Seminary prepared him to be a worship pastor. “I draw from my education at Denver Seminary daily. If I didn’t have the kind of theological training I got from Denver, I would be much less prepared to do what I do in a meaningful way. Dr. Buschart, who I had for a number of theology classes, said, ‘The things we think and say about God are the most important things that we think and say.’ My job is about more than picking songs—I’m telling people what to say to God. That’s unbelievably formative. Are the things we are saying true? Not only to who God is, but to the human experience?” 

David says his seminary professors’ pastoral experiences prepared him for his current pastoral role. “Most of my seminary professors were pastors themselves at some point. I learned about pastoral ministry from them. I learned that people are primary. I’m not just a song leader or worship director, I’m a pastor. Denver Seminary really helped me engage with that part of my calling. I lead worship as a pastor. I am thinking about peoples’ troubles and journeys while I lead them in worship. I’m shepherding people to Jesus.”