Our Story

Dance as an expression of praise and worship burst forth in Resurrection Lutheran Church in the late 1970s and for over 30 years was an integral and regular part of worship expression in the Sunday morning services and the overall worship life of the church. Growing from a group of passionate new believers who with abandon praised God and desired to make Christ fully known through dance and drama, to a still passionate yet more spiritually mature, biblically grounded worship arts ministry, school of worship dance for all ages, and internationally connected resource center – is truly God’s story of goodness, grace and faithfulness as well as a testimony to His Divine Purpose and Calling.

Based upon Scripture’s exhortation to “Praise His Name with Dancing” (Psalm 149:3), the Resurrection Dance Ministry (RDM) grew from ministering locally to regionally and nationally sharing its ministry with other churches, schools, outreaches and conferences and then on to ministering internationally through worship conference missions trips – literally making God’s praises known around the world.

As an outgrowth of RDM, Zion Center for Worship and the Arts (ZCWA) was established in 2002 as a non-profit organization to accommodate ministry venues beyond the capacity of the local church. Among these venues, ZCWA serves as a resource and training center for the larger Body of Christ in the areas of biblical worship teaching and the technical training of worship artists, particularly those involved in dance ministry. The establishment of this ecumenically oriented umbrella organization, which is not affiliated with any particular denomination, enabled the heart of the worship arts expression of Resurrection Church to extend to the larger and more varied Body of Christ.

ZCWA serves through national conferences, local classes, workshops, community outreaches, a free inner-city multi-cultural dance program for the underserved, and short-term missions trips. Teresa Gardner is the founder and director of Zion Center for Worship and the Arts and continues to serve as the director of the Resurrection Dance Ministry of Resurrection Church. Learn more at Dancing His Story and Staff: Teresa Gardner