Worship profile: Tony Bowell

If you tune in to any classic rock radio station, you’re bound to hear a fair amount of squealing electric guitar solos, pulsating bass riffs, and—at least once an hour, if you’re listening to the right station—the psychedelic lyricism of Led Zepplin’s granddaddy of all rock ballads, “Stairway to Heaven.” Something you won’t typically hear are overtly worshipful religious lyrics—explorations of spiritual identity, exultations of praise, expressions of divine longing. But at the CrossRoads Church in Salina, Kans., worship leader Tony Bowell is changing all that by fusing that familiar classic rock style with the modern praise and worship songs of the contemporary church.

“We play in a style that touches our target group [of baby boomers and their families],” says Tony. Backed on Sunday mornings by a full band playing in a self-described “classic rock style,” Tony hopes that the message of these powerfully spiritual songs will be enhanced by this familiar musical.

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Tony acknowledges that true worship moves beyond just Sunday morning singing: as Christians, he says, we are to “live lives that are pleasing to God as our acts of worship. Ultimately the goal is for us to be able to ‘offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.’ As we strive toward that goal, anything that helps us recognize God’s supremacy is an expression of worship.” And he’s aware of the many forms of that expression—particularly music.

“I’m most comfortable expressing myself in music,” says Tony. Working with the Crossroads Community congregation, Tony has incorporated a number of unique elements of discipleship into the Sunday morning worship service, all of which are aimed at providing a more holistic worship experience. For example, Tony has prepared what he calls a “teaching moment” for one song during each Sunday morning worship service. “Basically we talk about the song’s basis in Scripture and what the Lord is saying [through the song], or we provide a short testimony of how the song has been used by God in our lives.”

While Tony recognizes that this classic rock worship style has been successful in drawing a certain demographic into a more fulfilling worship experience, he is certainly aware that styles change and that, eventually, new “classics” will come along.

“I’ve seen a shift in worship styles, but the goal is the same—the glory of God. Mature believers should always be able to worship, regardless of the style, and should never confuse the former with the latter.”