. . .

2009-04-07T01:07:00.001-05:00

The Tens is a blog series where I look at songs that have consistently stayed in CCLI's Top 10 List over the past five years. In each post, we discuss what makes these songs great and why they're important to churches.

For this post, we'll be looking at Matt Redmans beloved tune, "Blessed Be Your Name."

WHERE I HEARD IT FIRST:
I actually don't remember where I heard this one first, but I think it might have been on the radio. I know a band called Tree63 did a cover version and I think that may have been my first experience with the tune.

WHY IT'S SUCCESSFUL:
This one seems pretty easy...I mean, a song built around the idea of giving God honor even when our lives are difficult? Of course, people are going to respond to that! Here are a couple of things that I think work for this song.

Poetry. Matt and his wife wrote fantastic lyrics here. They've written a lyric that is broad enough to fit any situation, yet poetic enough to be personal. Even when we're experience joy...we still understand what a powerful message this song carries.
Honesty. This lyric still dwells in the hypothetical. We're singing these things "in faith" many times...almost reminding ourselves that we're supposed to be blessing God during trial. And then we hit that amazing line..."though there's pain in the offering." You know, that song probably would have done good enough without that line, but I'm so glad it's in there. Because suddenly it becomes real to us. We sing that and realize that we're not singing some feel-good campfire song. We're singing about real-life.
Simplicity. This is an easy song to follow. The verses are pretty wordy, but the tune is just paced so well. This is really a great example of a song that invites on a journey. I don't this a tune you can easily just sing one part of...you gotta' go all in, right?

3 TAKES:
I typically respond to worship songs in three ways: as a worship leader, as a songwriter and as a worshiper. Of course, those three things are constantly overlapping, but they each individually shape how I think about a given song.

Worship Leader - We read a lot about "laments." Lately, I've seen a lot of worship leaders talking about the need for the more confessional nature in worship. We all face desperate times - times when we feel far removed from God's care - and I agree with those that posit the need for songs that let us express as much. However, this can often be one of the many things that works theoretically but that poses so much trouble in its application. Laments are hard to pull off, folks. They're hard to place in a set, hard to maintain an energy level when playing, and hard to write. (Believe me on that one!) As a worship leader, I love this tune because it's so balanced. Yes, it's a song of hope and dependence, but it's also a song of honesty. I know that almost anytime I play this tune, somebody's going to connect with it. And usually, it's a lot of "somebodies."
Songwriter - Most any songwriter is probably going to have a weird response to a four-minute song that is essentially the same four chords over and over again. And this tune isn't that different...I'm still amazed that it works so well. Personally, I think the pre-chorus is the key in keeping this song alive. I think the melody of the "every blessing" section is so great - not only is it a pretty cool melodic twist, but the lead-up to the chorus is fantastic songwriting.
Worshiper - When this song is played by a good band with a great arrangement, it's fantastic. When it's not, well...it's not. This is that old standard thing so many of us face. How do you turn off your "musician mode" in worship? How do you stop listening to the tempo and watch for transitions and participate fully in the worship experience? Each of us have our own ways of making that happen, but I'll be honest, this song is often a hard one for me to sing along with. This has nothing to do with Matt's songwriting, but rather a very strong tendency for bands to rely on a crowd's excitement rather than to build energy into the tune using their skills. Personally, I'm always gonna' favor a big, ethereal version of this song. Of course, it works simplified, but I think big, rocking versions of this tune are so great for congregational worship.

So, what about you?
Thoughts on "Blessed Be Your Name"?
Got thoughts on why it's such a success?
COMMENT BELOW!

HATERS

2009-03-19T21:19:00.002-05:00

Contrary to what you're probably expecting, this isn't a post about peope who hate on your music.

No, instead it's a post about what a worship leader does when somebody requests a song that the worship leader absolutely hates.

In this case, I'm not talking about a song that you might not like musically...we all have our preferences and good worship leaders are pretty adept at checking their "style" at the door in most cases.

No...what do you do when somebody wants you to do a song and you have significant spiritual objections? Most of us adhere to an honesty-is-the-best-policy approach. And it's true that, as pastors, we need to be people of truth.

But I'll be real honest with you...this is a battle for me. Here, I'll get real honest here. And please know I'm trying to type this as gracefully as I can. It is not my desire to slam or disrespect anybody, but I am a practical guy and I think most of us benefit from practical examples.

Here's the deal:
________________________________
I've got spiritual issues with a song called "A New Hallelujah" that Michael W. Smith just released. It's a Smith/Baloche/Baloche co-write, I believe, and I think there are some elements to the song that are unhealthy for a congregation to be singing and/or trying to emulate.

Now...if I've got real issues that I'm passionate about and I've thought them through and someone comes with a request for the tune, I can defend myself. I can be honest and clear as to why I'd opt not to do the song.

But here's where the other side of my brain starts working. In most any case where something like this has happened to me, it's always been somebody who's really solid spiritually. And in any case where I've got the chance to hang out with artists or writers who might have created a song that I had problems with, I always end up really impressed by their sincerity.

My point is this...no worship songwriter starts out with a plan of writing something detrimental to the congregation at large. And I don't think most people sing along with these songs thinking heretical thoughts.

So how do we balance it? How do we serve our people as pastors - willingly standing in the lead and loving them enough to care very deeply about the types of songs we sing but also exercise some sense of control and understanding of the people we're charged with leading?

What do you think? Is there a happy medium?

2009-03-14T22:16:00.000-05:00

For this post, we'll be looking at Chris Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God," a song that's quickly risen to the top of CCLI most popular songs. For each of these posts, we'll be following this template.

WHERE I HEARD IT FIRST:
Many of us typically hear new worship songs in our churches, then go out and find the album with the tune. In the past, Chris has often introduced new songs in a live version via the Passion organization, then placed full-studio versions on his individual releases. I don't think "How Great Is Our God" had appeared anywhere before, though. If I'm remembering correctly, I think it was the first or second radio release, but I heard it first on the record.

WHY IT'S SUCCESSFUL:
I think there are a few reasons why the church has latched onto this song. A couple of those reasons are consistent with most anything that Chris releases.

First off, I think the song is emotive. Chris has done a fantastic job on the melody here. It's almost impossible to sing this song without becoming a bit excited by the overall "feel" of the way this melody works.
Secondly, it's singable. Think about it - slow tempo, a chorus that easy to remember and a dash of the unique ("sing with me...")
Third, it's a tune that hangs on that chorus. That's why the acapella choir part at the end of the studio version (and in live settings, too) is so cool...because it's the crux of this piece. The chorus is simple, but smart, songwriting.
Fourth, it's about God. We hear people complaining all the time about how there are so many "me" songs in worship. And that's true - there are a lot of those out there. Personally, I don't think those are all bad, but I do think that Christ-followers are prone to engage more fully and passionately with songs that are about God and not ourselves.

Worship Leader - Like it or not, "How Great Is Our God" has all the qualities of the old standby. It's one of those tunes that's crossed denominational, regional and age lines. You can throw this one into a set and be guaranteed that folks are going to know it. The danger with songs like that is that you can kill them quickly. My worship leader "take" on this tune is that it has to be placed just right in the set. I've got to really be watchful and aware of when I utilize this guy. Placed correctly and wisely in an order of worship, it can be a powerful tool to make sure our focus is on God alone. Placed wrongly, or used too much, and this song feels about an hour long.
Songwriter - As a songwriter, I marvel at this song. Personally, I've never really liked the verses that much. They're easy to sing and remember, which is good for worship songwriting, but I've always felt that the great chorus overcomes whatever shortcomings might happen in the verses. I think the bridge is fantastic...maybe one of the best worship bridges written in a long time. ("Bridges" tend to be the most difficult part of songwriting.) Tomlin and crew did a great job on this one...the strengths are so abundantly strong that the weaknesses don't even matter. I still think the song is too high. This might seem like a worship leader concern, but as a worship writer, I work really hard at being sensitive to congregational comfort when it comes to range. Sometimes, those can't be totally avoided, but the songwriter in me think the song would have done just as well a step or two lower.
Worshiper - I like this tune. It's got tons of stuff I dig...percussion, cool acoustic work during the verses, really great texture. Personally, I never felt it was the most awesome-song-ever, but I completely understand its appeal. This is one of those that's run its course for me.

So, what about you?
Thoughts on "How Great Is Our God?"
Got thoughts on why it's such a success?
COMMENT BELOW!

WHAT YOU LEARN IN A BOOKSTORE

2008-12-12T21:54:00.003-06:00

You can learn a lot from Christian sub-culture.

Take books, for instance.

Your Christian bookstore (or even overall mega-bookstore) is filled with books about church. In fact, the past 4-6 years have been a very busy time for authors who write on church matters.

And many, many, many of those books are about "how" to do church. There are books that teach you how to organize your teams. Other reveal how to re-imagine your mission and modes of ministry. Some of them are biographical...memoirs (if you will) of what God's done in a certain church and what its people have learned through that process.

A lot of these books are good. Heck, most of these books are good.

But as a worship leader, when I stroll down the aisle at my bookstore, I have one question...

WHERE ARE THE WORSHIP BOOKS?

I'm not talking about collections of chord charts. I'm not talking about piano books.

I'm simply asking why there are SO many books on the philosophy of church growth and preaching and other practical issues regarding church leadership and yet so few books about worship.

Don't get me wrong...there are worship books out there. But it's not a very even mix. It baffles me that the Christian Media Marketing Machine hasn't caught on to this need. (Personally, I imagine the Christian Media Marketing Machine to be a large, ominous black skyscraper from Stephen King's Dark Tower series...but then again, I have issues.)

I can't believe there aren't a few books about the success of the Hillsong worship projects. I'm amazed there aren't biographies of some of the churches that stand out as pioneers in worship. I think a "Passion" memoir is long overdue.

We, as worship leaders, need books like this. We need to be able to peek inside these icons of excellence in our given fields and be able to dissect them, learn from them and adjust those principles to our places of worship. Here's what we need...

1. THEORY
I can't speak for all worship leaders, but I can be honest. And I'm honestly telling you that most of us don't think near enough. I need books that will force me to look at scripture and hear wise council and engage my mind and experience as I plan and lead worship. I need books that will encourage me to be sound in my theology and yet gracious in my delivery. I need books that make me ask hard questions. I need to dig deeper into this calling of God - to know what it is I'm called to do and how I need to do it.

2. PRACTICAL HELP
What do I do when my band members are chronically late? How do I deal with overcrowding in the sanctuary? How much time should I give to the youth band? Questions like this are plentiful in a worship leader's life. I need books that will allow me to glean wisdom from folks who've gone before me. And what's more...it's all good. Meaning this - even if I read a book I might disagree with, at least I'm visioning, planning and thinking, right? Give me some everyday, real life practical help!

3. ADAPTABILITY
I need books on worship to be humble. I don't need books that pressure me into copying every decision. I need books written by pastors who are intent on equipping the body...and not just playing with multiplicity. I need books that encourage me to pursue my dreams, to take risks and to weigh every decision against the needs and journeys of my congregations.
____________
I love working in the church. It's where I'm supposed to be, because even when it's hard, it's still the best job I've ever had. But I need help. And so do you. And so does every worship leader in the world.

If you've got wisdom...tips...help to give, then do it. Write a book. Start a blog. Create a YouTube channel and start sharing wisdom. Because God's given it to us all in small doses, spread out all over the place. Let's learn from each other, huh?

The Process, Episode 2

2008-12-10T14:11:00.000-06:00

The Process, Episode 2 (Advent Video) from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

2008-12-06T23:43:00.002-06:00

Okay, worship leaders and musicians...

What's one song you've always wanted to do at church but never had the chance to play?

2008-12-02T11:26:00.001-06:00

The Process, Episdoe 1 (Advent Video) from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

2008-11-30T22:03:00.000-06:00

MISTAKES, Part I

2008-11-24T23:24:00.004-06:00

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about 'flubs,' those innocent mistakes that worship leaders make from time-to-time (or all the time, depending on what kind of season you're in, right?)

No, I've been thinking about bigger things. I've been looking and listening an pondering on what sort of "big mistakes" that worship leaders make. Please understand, I know that our God is gracious and merciful and able to forgive...but I also know that mistakes often bring consequences. We learn from them, and hopefully, learn to avoid repeating them.

So that's why I'm writing about mistakes. I'd like to examine some situations where a worship leader has messed up. Some of these situations are hypothetical, some will be true, and some will be (sadly) biographical!

Trey is 23 years old. He's wrapping up college, actively involved in his church, dating a great girl and doing a pretty good job of being a Godly young man in the world today. Like most 23-year olds, he's got his favorite bands. Since the line between sacred and secular disappears with each new CD release, his iPod is likely to be filled with every single genre and form of music you can imagine.

On Tuesday night, Trey is at dinner with his girlfriend and he spots the worship leader from his church. This excites Trey because Trey just got back from a fantastic retreat sponsored by a campus ministry. As an added bonus, the retreat planners booked one of Trey's favorite worship bands.

Trey walks over to his worship pastor and they talk for a few minutes. Trey then tells his worship leader about this great retreat. He's bragging on the planning, the study guide and application and then he hits the band. Can't stop talking about the band.

The worship leader, actually, is familiar with the band. And he doesn't really like them all that much. It's nothing theological, mind you...it's just a preference thing. The worship guy doesn't dig Trey's band because the pastor thinks the band uses too many programmed drum loops in their sets. So, as Trey wraps up his story, the worship guy starts talking abut the band. And within two minutes, he tells Trey that the drum loops are annoying. Not content to leave it there, the worship leader makes it another minute or two before he starts giving examples - singing snippets of popular worship songs and then trying to beatbox them. Then laughing uncontrollably.

And Trey...doesn't know what to do. So, he smiles at the worship leader's joking, and then leaves the guy beatboxing over the chips and salsa.

It's a sad thing, and almost all of us have done it. I'm not sure why we do it. I know what we tell ourselves, though. We tell ourselves that we were just kidding or that "music matters" as if we're somehow responsible for giving a college-level music course to each and every congregant. And for some of us, it's pure musical snobbery.

But whatever the reason, none of it works. That worship leader didn't do anything uplifting by slamming Trey's band. Not only did the worship leader quickly "reveal" that Trey's band is dumb, he also showed himself to be a very poor conversationalist.

Listen, worship leaders...preferences are fine. Making wise musical choices based on your congregation is fine. Heck, it's required! But disrespecting those that would come to you to engage in discussion or debate about worship - your field of expertise - is one of the most idiotic things you could do. That amateur hour stuff, right there.

If you've got valid concerns about a CD or artist, trust me, you'll get the chance to explain yourself on those.

But sometimes you gotta' keep your big mouth shut and be honored that a guy would even want to talk worship with you instead of eating fajitas with his girlfriend.

Let's remember that we are pastors on stage and off. Let's remember to use our words to uplift and to humble ourselves constantly. It's not enough to maintain the appearance of humility on stage if you're not able to truly walk humbly in every day life. Fix the every day stuff and the stage will take care of itself.

11/16 Confessional

2008-11-18T12:00:00.000-06:00

Confessional 11/16/08 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

I Need "Jesus"

2008-11-17T10:10:00.000-06:00

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there's just something about that name
Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Let all Heaven and Earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away
But there's something about that name!

Bill and Gloria Gaither (William J. Gaither, Inc.)
___________________________________________
This song by the Gaithers is one of my favorite hymns. If I'm being honest, I'd have to say that my first love for this song is musical...in other words, I love all the "7th chord sounds" and descending chords in the tune. As a kid, I used to love to sing this song in church.

But this song means a bit more to me, now.

Because I need more "Jesus."

I'm using quotation marks because I'm actually talking about the word "Jesus." You see, I use words like "Father" and "God" and "Lord" all the time. But for some reason, I don't speak the name of Jesus very often.

I'm not sure why.

I need "Jesus." I need that word - need to speak it, sing it, and keep it on my mind. I need the word because I need to remember Him. I need to remember that the name of Jesus represents His coming. When Mary and Joseph obeyed the command of God and called the child, "Jesus," my whole life changed. He came. He came to die. He came to beat death. He came to justify the sin-debt, and to forget His name is a travesty.

My encouragement to you this week is simply this:

Say, "Jesus."

Find a time this week to focus on His name. Speak it, sing it...maybe even SHOUT it! (His name is victorious!)

11/9 Confessional

2008-11-13T17:23:00.000-06:00

Confessional 11/9/08 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

Anything Else?

2008-11-06T23:40:00.004-06:00

Rob found this online posting recently for a worship leader position:

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Provide spiritual leadership to the church at large as part of the Leadership Team.
*Participate fully in the life of our church through membership.
*Take part in shaping the future of The Gathering through leadership events and staff meetings.
*Invest yourself relationally in the lives of the people within and beyond worship arts.

2. Design weekend services that create unforgettable experiences with God.
*Develop service plans and schedules in conjunction with Lead Pastor.
*Develop a sense of unity and camaraderie among all the artists of our church.
*Involve various arts such as video, painting/sculpture, acting, and spoken word in services.
*Schedule guest speakers, bands, and artists at various times of the year.

3. Lead a team of musicians that inspire people to live passionately for God.
*Recruit and develop a consistently improving team of musicians who have a passion for Jesus Christ.
*Mentor a growing number of competent worship leaders for adults, youth, and children.
*Practice a minimum of every Sunday before service and 3 times per month outside of Sunday nights.
*Collaborate in writing original worship music and creating a unique sound/voice for The Gathering.
*Style of music to be modern, high energy, and led by multiple vocalists.

4. Provide leadership and oversight for all worship-related technology.
*Make continual improvements to lighting, sound, and media.
*Responsible to oversee the technical production team leader.

5. Assist Lead Pastor with additional projects and tasks as assigned.

Anybody else overwhelmed by a job description like this?

What stands out to you?

What's right or wrong with this job description?

I've decided to leave this post up for a couple of days in an effort to encourage some discussion. But here's the deal...I don't want you to comment. I want you to email me. That's right - email me your 100 % honest opinion...what's great or horrible about this job description. I'm posting this over at my blog and on my SongDiscovery page, too. In a few days, I'll try to collect all the comments and let everybody take a look. Be honest...

Email me at toddwrightband@gmail.com.

2008-11-05T21:29:00.002-06:00

One of the best parts about being a worship leader is spending time with students/young adults who share that same calling. Most of us (30's and above) probably remember being young and interested in worship and having few, if any, mentors in worship.

When I was 15 years old, the worship movement was just starting to hit my little hometown and my church was a long way from joining the revolution. That's why I love hanging out with young worship leaders now. I am encouraged by their passion for worship and I get to share what little knowledge I have with them.

Lately, though, I've been noticing the absence of a critical component in my worship discussions with young leaders – PRAYER.

We have a whole generation of young worship leaders that now have access to resources (DVDs, CD, web YouTube tutorials, etc.) and yet still lack when it comes to prayer. And I'm not talking about the short, but sincere prayers we throw up to the sky just before rehearsals or before church on Sunday. (Although those are good, too.)

Lately, I've been encouraging young worship leaders to spend time, on their own, praying for the "x-factor." They look at me weird when I say things like this. But that's okay…because now I have their attention!

What am I talking about when I say "the x-factor?" I'm not quite sure. (Hence the name.)

But I think it's that special thing, that mysterious connection that happens between a worship leader and a congregation. Some call it the "anointing" or a "real gift," and maybe those are better words for it. I'm not sure. I just know that from time-to-time I sit under a worship leader who has something going for him or her that's more than training; more than study; more than experience.

It's this unnamed something that draws me in to what they are doing. I pray for that something…I pray that God will somehow, in His power and grace, allow me to "connect" with my crowd in a way that's different; in a way that's real and honest and filled with his power.

I want young worship leaders to hear me pray those types of prayers – to know that, in the end, it's God who empowers us to even breathe a breath or voice a song. I want those who watch me lead or serve alongside me to know that I'm always have that "X-factor," desperate for God to ignite worship in a way that only he can.

Thoughts on the "X-Factor?" What about young worship leaders? What do you try to share with those your mentoring?

11/2 Worship Confessional

2008-11-03T14:54:00.000-06:00

11/2 Worship Confessional from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

YIKES!

2008-10-30T07:46:00.004-05:00

Ever had a Sunday like this?

Take a minute and tell one your worst, most stressful, horrible Sundays.

REVIEW: "The Bright Sadness"

2008-10-28T23:38:00.001-05:00

Worship Confessional 10/26/08

2008-10-27T07:37:00.000-05:00

Let's get some comments!

2008-10-23T14:21:00.002-05:00

I'm at the WiredChurches.com "Regional" Conference in Garland, TX today.

I'll be blogging about the whole day later on over at Todd Blog. It was a great day and there were some pretty fun and memorable experiences.

Check over at www.brandontoddwright.blogspot.com later today for a recap.

Confessional 10/19/08

2008-10-19T23:54:00.001-05:00

Worship Confessional 10/19/08 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

At the end, my words are actually, "Um, really good.."

Although, it sounds like I'm saying "I'm really good," I'm not quite that arrogant.

Yet.

10/12/08

2008-10-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

Confessional 10/12/08 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

Definitive Worship Records, Episode I

2008-10-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

Definitive Worship Records, Vol. I from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

Confessional 10/5/08

2008-10-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

Confessional 10/5/08 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

REVIEW

2008-10-02T20:57:00.001-05:00

"Word Of God Speak" review from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

WHERE I AM

2008-10-01T10:30:00.003-05:00

If you'll allow me, I'd like to continue where I left off with the last "Where I Am" post. I talked a bit about the worship and tech side of Bethel - the strides we're making, challenges we're facing, lessons we're learning.

But the other aspect of my job relates to communication. Here are a couple of things we've done so far that seem to be helping communication.

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS ON SCREEN
When I got here, Bethel didn't run any sort of welcome or informational slides as folks come into church. While you certainly can't trust this as your only means of communication, I believe it helps...often a slide will provide just enough info and interest to prompt someone to find a staff member to get more info about plugging into ministry. In the near future, Bethel will be installing some screens in the foyer so that the announcements can run all morning as our services are going.

2. BETHEL BLOG/FACEBOOK
By now, most of you know about the Bethel Blog. (You're subscribed, right?) We did this for a a few reasons. First off, we wanted to give our folks the chance to stay connected to the church during the week. Right now, we're doing 'staff posts' each day where a staff members can share a devotional or video or update. Eventually, these posts will also offer informational updates - sort of a "blog-announcement." This allows each staff member to get a weekly shot at getting information dispensed.

We believe that Facebook will do this for us, too. Eventually, we'd like for ministries within in the church to let us know events that they need promoted. We would then use both the blog and Facebook to do that as well.

The third aspect of the whole blog-culture that we're working on is the underground-video concept. So far, many of our videos have been only on Facebook and the blog and NOT shown in church. This may seem weird - folks may think, "That's a good idea...share it everywhere!"

We understand that point, but we would prefer that these videos have 'treasure quality.' For me, 'treasure quality' describes how viewers/readers feel when the see a new post - this is the experience of feeling that you've discovered something. For Bethel folks, it's also a cool culture to create - that folks on the blog or on Facebook are connected to something cool and surprising.

At some point, we might seperate the blog and the Facebook page to where one is more relational and another is more informational, but right now we're trying to experiment to see what works and what doesn't.

* But communication is not without it's challenges. Our next two projects will involve a revamp of the church website and some reformatting of our weekly church bulletin. The website project will definitely be a big team effort as I know very little about building sites.

And that's...where I am!

2008-09-30T00:06:00.001-05:00

You all know how much I love doing the Worship Confessionals. Back when Los started that movement, the highlight of my Monday was surfing around to hear what songs/videos/scriptures/services other worship leaders had used on Sunday.

Not many of those folks still do confessionals, but I still enjoy it. And I got an extra cool surprise this week when Romack and Chris both posted video confessionals about their respective Sundays.

Let me tell you why I love the concept of worship confessionals (and specifically video confessionals.) It'scool to hear what my pals did in their church. But personally, I think the concept of 'confessing' in this way is an amazing peek into a huge part of a worship leaders life: analysis.

I believe most folks don't realize how much time worship leaders spend recapping, reviewing and repairing a given Sunday's service. It's a critical part of the job and if a worship leader doesn't do it effectively, he or she is in for a lot of stress and trouble.

With confessionals, you get a small glimpse of that process - thinking back through a service objectively and making notes (mental or written) about what worked and what didn't. I know that both of these guys worked really hard to get their cameras, editing software and uploading to work and I'm glad they did. Take a few minutes and see what these guys have to say about worship.

Romack:

Chris:

Confessional 9/28/08

2008-09-28T19:10:00.000-05:00

WHERE I AM

2008-09-27T07:00:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody...

Figured I'd give you a little status report on how Bethel's going. You certainly can get a sense of this from the confessionals, but for those inclined to want a little more info, I'm happy to share.

WORSHIP: I think worship is going great. Granted, I don't have that many sets under my belt and all of us are still getting to know each other...but I still think it's going good. Let me hit band/tech and then the congregation.

1. Band/Tech - Both the musicians and technical teams are excellent. For those of you who don't know, they've run worship for the past year strictly on a volunteer basis. (If you've ever served as a volunteer coordinator for worship, you know that it's not for the faint of heart.) The musicians have really impressed me with the amount of time they put into rehearsal. It is a rare thing to have musicians at rehearsal who haven't worked the music. Almost every member of my team works some pre-rehearsal rehearsal time during the week, which makes a big difference. They come armed...they mark their charts, they know their stuff. Which is awesome.

Sure, we've got some struggles. But in my experience, what we're dealing with is perfectly normal for a team with a new leader. We've got some groove issues. Sometimes we struggle to lock in together, simply because we're all learning new songs under a new leader in a new environment. We've got a lot of musicians on stage and all of them have good timing. But if songs dip or climb in tempo a bit (as they are often wont to do...) we're still figuring out how to adjust to that. At this point, we're not really obsessing about those problems. We could feasibly halt rehearsal to spend some extensive rhythm time, but at this point, we don't need that. We need to focus more on watching each other and listening for our place in the mix. In my opinion, the hang-out, "gel" factor right now is invaluable...we'll never get these initial rehearsals and services back. I'm much more concerned with us enjoying ourselves and the band knowing that they can trust me. In addition to that, the band is also learning my arrangement style. Right now, they're seeing that some songs stick to an arrangement and some don't! (Yay for spontaneity!)

One of the most impressive things has been the actual services. I've always held to this philosophy that rehearsals should not feel "awesome." In my experience, when I've left a rehearsal feeling like we had a set down cold, the actual performance falls apart. I'm okay with us shutting down rehearsal feeling a mix of confidence and concern. I think it helps us to come into the service remember that transition that's important or that bridge that threw us for a loop early on. I find that those type of service end up awesome! And Bethel has done that...worship on Sundays has been feeling great - reverent, yet energetic, Biblical, timely, preparation for the Word, etc. They've been great!

I'm looking forward to doing more teaching/pastoral stuff from the stage. I'm just trying to make sure I don't sound like an idiot. I'll tell you this - I am surrounded by some smart dudes: Ross (Senior Pastor) Jim (Ministry and Missions) and Mark (Family Ministries) are all so stinking smart. I just sit in staff meetings in awe of the stuff they say and dream. That's why I'm leery of just freestyle-teaching from the stage.

The congregation at Bethel is great - a good mix of ages, worship styles, etc. They approach worship reverently and they've been nothing but great to me during the transition. But I do want to teach. To pastor. I think Bethel is at a real important place where we're trying to understand what Biblical worship looks like. We're digging into the Word on a consistent basis and our worship should be no different - it should be Biblical. I hate to say it, but there's a lot of worship out there that ISN'T Biblical.

That's a hard thing, though; staying true to Scripture is difficult for churches these days. We are surrounded by the glitz and glamour of Christian celebrity, the pull of Christian media marketing and the drive to perform and please. I'm looking forward to walking this journey with the folks at Bethel as we seek to understand the will of God when it comes to how we give Him praise.

...next time, we'll hit on the 'communication' side of things. (It's going really well - some cool stuff happening that I can't wait to share with you guys.)

REVIEW: Today Is The Day

2008-09-25T22:23:00.000-05:00

WN Review #1 from Todd Wright on Vimeo.

Confessional 9/21/08

2008-09-21T14:53:00.001-05:00

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEXT

2008-09-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of years, I've noticed an interesting trend in the whole "blogging" scene. Initially, it was a blog thing, but now it's happening more commonly on Twitter feeds.

Here's the trend...

A minister/pastor/musician/tech person attends a seminar. (Usually a big name conference or conclave or symposium or...you get the drift.) Then, each night - or even during the presentation - that person posts "points" or principles from a given speech/sermon he or she is hearing.

After seeing this happen a few different times, I'm coming to some conclusions and actually learning a lot of from this whole 'journaling' thing.

Looking at these lessons and sermons purely as text make it very obvious that most of the truths are pretty simple ones. I read through these recaps and I'm thinking, "What's the big deal? Everybody knows that." I look at the headline of that blog and I know the person teaching is renowned and skilled and great, but looking simply at those points doesn't reveal anything to me.

And that's teaching me something.

It's teaching me that delivery matters. I know that the words "Jesus came to set captives FREE!" printed on a blog are very different than spoken aloud by T.D. Jakes. Delivery, building a case, setting up points and proclamations make these otherwise simple truths into powerful revelations.

I know we live in a culture (Christian and otherwise) that has gone too far on delivery - for many, the package is everything and the subject matter doesn't rate that high. I get that - we need to get back to making sure that we're saying things that matter, that appeal both to heart and head.

But as a worship leader, I'm reminded that most of the things I'm trying to say in a worship service are actually pretty simple. There's no "heavy revy" usually in what I do. I'm not speaking a new thing. I'm speaking an old thing. A timeless thing. A thing that speaks to our whole selves and not just our emotions.

But I can make my time matter. I can invest in making sure I deliver things in a way that connects. That relates to folks where they are. I can deliver truth the best, most sincere way I know how and send it out in faith knowing that God's Word doesn't return void. God's Word does what He wants it to do.

Unfortunately, folks like me tend to thing a slamming song set is enough. We think that if the songs flow well and build dynamically and sound good (all good things, mind you,) then we're good. But that's not necessarily true. We've got to care about "how" we're saying this stuff.

I don't spend enough time thinking about the whole of what I'm presenting. And I want to be better at it. I want to be skilled in communication. I want to be skilled in being clear and aware and on target.

What about you? What do you do to connect? How's your presentation skill? What works? What doesn't?

WHERE I AM

2008-09-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Some of you have experience with this, but for me, it's brand-new.

I love Bethel - I'm learning a lot, working a lot, and hopefully I'll soon be making a difference in the life of the church.

But transitioning is hard.

In this case, I'm not necessarily talking about missing old friends (although, I do!) I'm speaking more of the journey of meeting, learning and serving a new congregation. It's a slow process. And worship leaders don't like anything slow, do we?

So, from time-to-time, I'll be posting 'WHERE I AM,' articles where I get real specific as to my time and experience at Bethel. It's my hope that those of you who frequent this site might either find or offer some encouragement in these posts! Since I'm also overseeing a host of creative/communication projects, I'll probably venture from the music front from time-to-time to chronicle the whole journey of this new place.

Here a couple of things that are key for me right now in my ministry at Bethel...

1. COMMUNICATION
We're working really hard at utilizing technology to push more folks toward information. Last week, we revived a Bethel blog (www.bethelbible.typepad.com) and gave the church a Facebook page. The church as a website that is being revamped, so in the next few weeks, we'll be focusing our energies on making a new site a reality. I'm also going to setup a church Twitter account in the future, too. (But not yet...I'll explain in just a bit.)

There are those who would ask, "Why do you need a website, a blog, a Facebook, a YouTube page, a Vimeo page and a Twitter account? That's just a giant waste of time!"

While it's certainly true that each of those items can be time-wasters, we could say the same thing about Fantasy Football or the new season of 24 or lawn-care. Anything can waste time. It's how you do it, how you approach it and how you value that "thing" that determines whether it's healthy or not.

At Bethel, we'd like to use each of these formats to POINT at something. For example, last week we pointed to our Baptism service. And some of you got connected to that and enjoyed it and hopefully were encouraged by it. In coming weeks and months, we'd like to do that with upcoming events...things that we want our people know about and be a part of. There are still some kinks: How do we choose which events to spotlight? How far out do we promote? How much time/space do we devote to each event? Who chooses how to actually "promote" the information?

It's not gonna' be easy...and we're gonna' drop the ball sometimes, but we're not going to to not try just because we might not win everytime.

Right now, my big communication priorities are video, Facebook and the Bethel blog. I'd like to be throwing out videos every other week - either in service or strictly online. Facebook is a great way to do that - since SO many people are on it, there's not much chance of missing a new video post. As to the Bethel blog, this week we'll kick off staff posts. Each staff member will pick a day and post something, anything...the key is consistency. Hopefully, folks will make the blog a place to stop and check each day. Not only will they get more in-depth info on ministries, but I think they'll also get to know the staff a little better.

Once our blog output is consistent, we'll fire up the Twitter feed. I know Twitter is easy and probably would kick off quicker, but I'd like to focus the blog feel first and leave Twitter for the more random output.

2. MUSIC
Obviously, music is high on the list. (Always will be...)

Certainly, I'm going to be learning what the congregation likes and dislikes over the next few months. That's fine - that's a process and that's totally natural.

What's more important to me is making sure I'm putting in the time in prayer and study to equip myself to actually pastor this congregation. I'd like to do more teaching/exhortation about worship. I'd like to do a better job of wrapping my head around why we worship and how it makes a difference. I've committed to making time each week strictly for study regarding the worship service. (Apart from any personal Bible study stuff...) I need that time to pray and meditate on our text. Sometimes, that's gonna' prompt me to bring some encouragement from the stage. Other times, it's simply going to prepare my heart as I prepare songlists.

That's a few of the things I'm working on. In the next few weeks, I'll be giving you some updates on how that's going. For what it's worth, I'd love it if you'd add Bethel Bible as a Facebook friend and subscribe to the Bethel blog. I'm excited about what this church is doing and I'd love for you to see what's up, too!

Confessional 9/14/08

2008-09-14T19:39:00.001-05:00

REVIEW

2008-09-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

Chris Tomlin - "Hello Love" Released September 2, 2008

There seems to be a pattern to Tomlin's musical life. It goes something like this - Chris releases a studio record. Chris tours that album. Eventually, Chris shows up on a live CD, most likely a Passion release, with 2 or 3 brand new tunes. Historically, those 2-3 live tunes have been AWESOME. Next, Chris releases a newer studio album that includes studio remakes of his previous live hits, four or five new ballads and a couple of rock songs.

It's not a bad pattern...it's created a lot of hits for Chris and affords him the opportunity to play and sing before thousands of people each year. With Hello Love, the pattern continues. Some live favorites are there, some fresh new ballads pop up and a couple of standout rock and roll tunes round out the record.

For this review, I figured it might be fun to take it song-by-song. Hang on...here we go!

Track 1: "Sing, Sing, Sing"
I had not heard this song before Passion: God Of This City. While I tend to prefer Tomlin's live tracks to his studio ones, I do think the studio version of this tune is much stronger. Personally, it seems a bit more solid and thought out. Tomlin is great at these high energy tunes. I did notice on this track (and the whole album, really) less in the way of programming. The opening track has plenty of synth stuff, mind you, but pre-programmed rhythm stuff is noticeably absent. (Tomlin seemed to start stepping away from this with the last record...and apparently is continuing to do so.) This one is a great opener and a fun listen. As to playability, I'm not quite sure - there's a lot going on in the tune, but not a lot of chord changing, which can be frustrating for bands not used to learning parts note for note.

Track 2: "Jesus Messiah"
A friend of mine had mentioned this tune awhile back and I was able to find in on the "New Song Cafe" over at the www.worshiptogether.com website. As an acoustic number, it didn't too much for me, but the studio version is strong. It's a pretty straightforward "Tomlin" song - pretty simple melody and predictable arrangement with lots of power in the chorus. I'm still not crazy about the song, but it is interesting to see what production can do to an otherwise simple tune. I think lots of churches will be drawn to this one - lyrical imagery is strong, song is easy-to-emulate, over all production level is pretty ear-catching.

Track 3: "You Lifted Me Out"
Let me see if I can accurately describe this song: imagine the opening power chord hit from the Foo Fighters' 'Long Road To Ruin."' As it fades, the song explodes in your face, a strange hybrid riff that sounds like Crowder-meets-The Killers.

Got your attention? Track 3 is great. Definitely a rocker of a different feel for Tomlin. I like the jazzy chord inversions in the verse and the straight-ahead rock groove on the choruses. Lots of folks will also gravitate toward the reverb-piano-syncopated-Coldplay attack of the bridge section.

As to application, I'm not sure. There's lots of stellar playing here and this may end up one of those songs that was built for radio.

Track 4: "God Of This City"
This song may well be my 'worship find of 2008.' The live Passion version has encouraged and inspired me more than I can say. I absolutely love this tune.

I had hoped the studio version would stay close to the live one, but that doesn't happen. There are a lot of absences here - first off, the signature piano riff is absent from beat one. (I think it may show up later in the tune, but it's mixed very low.) Secondly, Chris plays with the melody in the second pass of the song. Through some research, I've read that this second verse melody is the original take as composed by the writers in a band called "Bluetree" who wrote this song. While it might damage some of the congregational feel of the tune, this variation does make for more interesting listening. I also loved the live version lead section. The studio version lead is very different and just didn't carry the same power for me, personally.

This is undoubtedly a song churches will do, but I think we'll find most of them doing the Passion version rather than this new take.

Track 5: "I Will Rise"
This song really hits two different ways for me. On one hand, I love the fact that it's a modern worship song about Heaven. (Ask any worship leader...there aren't many of those floating around.) From a songwriting perspective, I really appreciate the obvious time and effort put into this tune. On the other hand, it felt a little to predictable for me. Chris has done lots of piano ballads in his career and I think this one suffers for it's familiarity. I've read a couple of reviews of this record that make much of the "standard" nature of Tomlin's material - a "if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it" type of deal. I think there's some truth to that, but this song didn't really impress.

Track 6: "Love" (with Watoto Children's Choir)
I hope somebody gave Chris Tomlin a high five after he wrote this one. Or a pat on the back or a hug or something, because this has to be one of the most creative songs I've ever heard. Sure, adding an amazing, famous children's choir from Africa doesn't hurt, but even so, this marks a departure for Chris.

This may sound weird, but I think Tomlin picks up a mantle here - I think this song could set him up to be the next generation's Stephen Curtis Chapman. Regardless of your feeling about Stephen Curtis Chapman's music, he has consistently produced anthemic, creative, epic songs that hook us in. Tomlin's "Love' is just that epic. And I have no idea whether or not this was the plan, but this song could easily fit into secular radio play. That does speak to an absence of "Jesus" phrases, but I wonder what the worship-marketing-machine will do with this song.

I doubt any churches will pick this one up. It's definitely a performance piece, but one so refined it may remain performed only by the guy who wrote it.

Track 7: "Praise the Father, Praise the Son"
Again, far too predictable for my taste. I thought it take more of a hymn-like approach, but this one fell flat for me. I'll be interested to see if this one catches on.

Track 8: "God Almighty"
I really liked the orchestral opening on this one - very reminiscent of Rich Mullins. Overall, the song feels a bit like "Famous One." It's certainly different, but the waltzy-feel and lyrical direction seem very familiar. I wonder if churches could pull this one off without a string section...

Track 9: "My Deliverer"
My absolute favorite track on this record. My favorite Tomlin tune of all time is probably his version of "Everlasting God" from the last record. While I like the Brenton Brown and Lincoln Brewster versions, I thought the mellow, jangly take from Chris and band was an awesome version.

"My Deliverer" has those same qualities. I love the tempo, the guitar groove, even the chord voicings through the chorus are simple yet surprising at the same time. My fear is that this song will get overlooked by other tracks that are a bit more produced or flashy, but I sure hope not. This is an amazing tune.

Track 10: "Exalted (Yahweh)"
I never could get into this tune. It's another piano ballad. It's got some good stuff, but I just couldn't dig into it very much. Maybe just a personal preference, but this one didn't really register on the radar.

Like any record, there are highs and lows on Hello Love. I feel the highest points are where we hear Chris and the production team branching out...experimenting...taking ownership of new arrangement ideas or styles. Some folks will dig the more familiar stuff - the "old standby" idea - but I think these represent the lower points on the record.

All in all, I think it's a good worship record. I think it's a great listen for worship musicians...it offers some interesting points of discussion and analysis for those of us who make music on a regular basis.
Track 11: "All The Way My Savior Leads Me"

2008-09-08T20:18:00.001-05:00

CONFESSIONAL 9/7/08

2008-09-08T09:20:00.001-05:00

8/31/08 CONFESSIONAL

2008-08-31T16:23:00.000-05:00

"HEALER"

2008-08-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Many in the worship world were shocked last week when news broke of Mike Guglielmucci's 2-year deception regarding his illness and it's role in the history of his worship song, "Healer."

Now, information is being released that Guglielmucci has long suffered from sexual addiction and what seems to be some sort of psychosomatic difficulty. While the "why" still remains to be seen, moments like these are always great times for analysis and reflection for those of who are called to serve with songs, prayers, scriptures in the atmosphere of the corporate adoration of God Almighty.

In fact, I think there are a couple of key things that we can learn from this situation. It would be better for me to say "there are things I AM LEARNING from this situation" as it has rolled around in my head.

1. THIS IS LAME

I first found out about this through Ragamuffin Soul and I have to say that I was surprised at the initial responses. As I scrolled down, I fully expected to see lots of frustration...more "Holy cow!" or "Oh no!" Instead, I saw a majority of "This guy needs grace and forgiveness." While that is completely true, I was bothered by the lack of rage I saw. Of course, that doesn't mean that nobody felt rage, just that no one was commenting it.

But I believe it's important that people who care about worship take a moment to call "foul" on this one. This is deception on a global scale. This lie (and the work that went into maintaining it) has brought shame and hurt to multiple churches and quite a few music executives who gave this song a chance. This song, birthed in the Planetshakers movement, became an anthem for a generation of believers...and while the song remains the same, there are countless followers of God

2. THIS IS MARKETING

The most damaging thing about this song, this story, this lie...is that it shames a lot of us. I understand that a story like Guglielmucci's is a powerful one. And I don't blame Hillsong or the Integrity people for sharing it. But every song has a back-story and churches, ministries, labels, etc., have to make choices as to which back story they're going to promote. They'd be fools not to share this story...the blame is on me.

I'm better than this - I'm smarter than this - and so are all of you. You see, "Healer" suckered me, too. You know why? Because it was the story that got me. Yes, the song is good, but if I'm being honest, I'll tell you that for me, the song's biggest strength was it's emotionalism. This song was bounced off heartstrings to the top of the heap. And I don't think that's ever a good thing.

Yeah, emotions are a part of our worship. God built them into us and they do respond when we adore Him. But when we connect to things on an emotional level (which does happen,) we've got to be sure to take some time to also use our heads. Emotions are not static. They wane. And when we're connected to something built to honor a God who is forever, our connection needs to be steady as well and not victims to the whims of circumstance.

3. THIS IS IMPORTANT

We should be glad that "Healer" is, in fact, a good song. It says things that are true and right. These lyrics line up with scripture. They do not, in my opinion, present an unbalanced view of God's purposes or His provision. But can you imagine if they did?

What if "Healer" was a horrible song? What if the tune had shoddy theology and declared things that were detrimental to the faith and we missed it because of a guy's cancer story?

That's why we talk about these things. That's we take a moment to slap ourselves and get our heart and heads straightened out again. I'm surprised I'm not seeing more discussion about this song on worship-related blogs. Stuff like this matters...to those who lead worship and to those who don't.

Some questions...

1. Have you heard the song? What were your initial thoughts?
2. Think this revelation will hurt the song's success?
3. If the song still prospers, what are your thoughts on royalties? If the song survives, Gugglielmucci is bound to receive some pretty nice financial rewards from it? Does that make it better or worse?

Confess Yourself

2008-08-24T17:40:00.000-05:00

"YOUR" TUNES

2008-08-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Had another great "skribit" suggestion come through! Somebody out there asked how I go about adding my own songs in a worship set.

Once again, a great question from the Skribit movement! Thanks!

This is definitely a question that doesn't apply to everybody. I know lots of worship leaders who aren't songwriters and never have to deal with this. But I know lots of other songwriting worship leaders who struggle with it quite a bit.

This one is pretty close to my heart because the songwriting thing has always been a struggle for me. Here's why...

I love songwriting. I love it and I love the sense of purpose and fulfillment one gets when writing a song for a congregation. Because I love songwriting so much, I care about it a lot, which means I analyze it a lot. Which means I have opinions about it. A lot.

See where I'm going with this? When I was younger, I really did dream of one day being able to have an entire worship set of my own songs. There were a couple of reasons for this.

1. I was arrogant and thought I was the best songwriter in the world. I thought my songs deserved to be in every setlist.
2. I had a messed up view of "success" in worship leading.

It's been a long (and strange) journey, but I can honestly say that I have no problem leading worship without one of my tunes in the song service. God's been so good to me, and I do feel confident in my songs, but in His grace, He's changed my heart about the issue.

Here's "when" I use my own songs.

The song should support the service.
That's key for any worship leader, right? Like a lot of other songwriters, I tend to write songs to fill gaps. For example, I may be sitting in church, hearing a sermon about Heaven and then realize that there are very few modern worship songs about Heaven. So, I go and try to write a song like that. I may not use it ever or I may play it on the next Sunday, but I like songwriting this way. Writing to fill gaps really brings a new level of creativity to your writing and it also helps to keep you focused.

Because of that, my songs are often specifically targeted. While that may not make them "hit material," they do lend themselves to very specific instances. So, if you hear me do one of my songs in church, it's probably because I felt like that particular tune did the best job of supporting what's been said, prayed or analyzed.

It should also be noted that I do travel as a worship leader from time-to-time. In those cases, I'm sometimes playing to people who have my CD and have asked me to their event based on their feelings about that CD. In those cases, I think it's important to use whatever tunes the event sponsors are digging. I usually ask them which songs connect the best and try to do those. That's a very specific instance that doesn't really apply to weekly worship in a church, but I thought it was fair to note that exception.
Here's "how" I use my own songs.

Sneaky is always best.
There are a few things to note when trying to introduce your own songs. These are lessons learned on stages and in churches. (Many of them hard lessons.)

Lesson 1: Take your time. Sometimes if I've got a new song I want to use, I'll split it up. Maybe I take the chorus and attach it to more well-known song. I might do that two or three times to get the congregation familiar with it. If I do this for a few weeks and then decide to move into a full version of the song, I might initially start with chorus first, that being the part my people would know and sing.

Lesson 2: Keep quiet. Personally, one of the worst things a songwriting worship leader can do is to let people know he or she is doing original stuff. (I know this from painful experience.) This happens a few different ways...
-Putting your own copyright info onscreen.
-Introducing your own song with some story of why you wrote it.
-Telling people that this song "means a lot to me."

Here's why that's bad...by putting your copyright on a screen, you're going to open yourself to every form of compliment. Think about it. If your info is up there and folks come up to you and compliment your tune, how do you know they're not just being nice? How do you know they've responded on the merit of the song? You don't. Since I don't put my copyright info on slides, I usually have a great way to find out if a song is working or not. If folks come up then, I know the song is strong enough to stand on it's own.

Introducing a song with the behind-the-music just doesn't work. Why would you want to talk about that? Why not mention something about the song as you would with any other tune (not written by you!) Not only does it present a song in humility...it also builds humility into you.

I don't think any worship leader anywhere should tell folks a song is being done because "it means a lot to me." Primarily because worship and setlist planning isn't about the worship leader...it's about the congregation. And secondly, if it's your own tune, of course it means a lot to you. Why state the obvious, right?

_____

This may seem like overthinking or overreaction, but I don't think it is. I think it's important for worship leaders who write to be very careful about the way in which they present their songs. A little planning and some humility will go a long way in making the inclusion of your song a seamless, beneficial addition to your worship service.

THE MIX

2008-08-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Everybody approaches "the mix" differently. Some churches like new stuff. All the time. New stuff.

Other church like the old stuff, the familiar, the standby, the tried-and-true.

Some churches like a blend.

And some churches don't really care.

Since I'm in the process of changing churches in the next few weeks, my approach to this will probably change once I get in place, but for now, let me share how I've approached song selection/rotation in my time at First Methodist.

WHAT'S OLD
As introduction, let me say that when I speak of "old" in this post, I'm not necessarily talking about hymns. Sure, they can fit in that category, but I'm using "old" to refer to songs that the congregation has been singing for some time. It might be a Vineyard song written four years ago, but the church has sung in 800 times and knows it cold.

THE CATALOG
I don't want you to get the wrong idea here. There's not an actual "catalog" of songs sitting in my office. There's no giant whiteboard calendar or spinning wheel program on my computer. No, the "catalog" I speak of resides primarily in my head. Here's how I manage a song catalog.

Since I put all the songs on a website, I also keep a running list of what we've played. There are programs that do this - Planning Center, some CCLI apps, etc., but I just keep them in a Word document. Here's what that list does for me.
#1. Allows me to track song usage. I notate the first six times I do a song. (Research tells us a congregation "learns" a tune by 6 plays.) So, for the first six appearances, my tunes have little 1-2-3-4-5 or 6 beside them. Once I hit six performances, I know that the song is fairly ingrained, meaning it's not necessarily considered a "new" song anymore.

#2. Allows me to keep up with CCLI reporting. Now, CCLI is usually very good about sending a letter telling me it's time to start reportving again, but my little database file helps me know a bit further out that my reporting season is coming up soon.

#3. Keeps me fresh. Here's the thing...a song catalog simply cannot be more than about 25 songs, in my opinion. I don't think it's wise to consider every song you've ever done, ever will do and ever can do as your catalog. It's just too many songs. And I think congregations get that, too. At any given time, there are 20+ songs that you're probably focusing on. Sure, you've got more tunes that that, but you and I are staying in certain areas at different times of the year. A massive database like this helps me when I want to do something different. I can scan back through my list to find that "old" song that we haven't done in awhile. No, it's not part of our current catalog list, but it's familiar enough that I can throw it in to add some freshness.

OLD VS. NEW
I like teaching new songs. I think it's important to constantly be on the lookout for tunes that are going to galvanize moments or ideas for our crowds. Lots of new songs don't work...usually by about the 4th use, I know if a tune is going to work or not. That's okay if some songs don't work. Because some do.

I'd say I try to introduce 1 new song a month. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. But that's probably a fair average overall.

In a set with a new song, I'd say three of them are fairly familiar (10+ plays) one is new and one is "old" (20+ plays.)

KILLING TUNES
I think it's okay to kill a tune. (Because you have the power to resurrect it at any time!) I've read some guys who say every time they add a new song, they remove a current one from their "top 25" list. I'm not quite that particular about it, but I do think it's okay to realize that a song may have very little life left in it. This varies from place to place, of course!

When I'm planning way in advance, I can be way more creative with song usage, but when I'm pressed for time, having a database is a big help.

SO....

How do you rotate? Use software or some other application to keep setlists straight? And what songs have been "sung to death" at your church?

RIGHTEOUS ROCK

2008-08-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

"Secular songs in worship."

That's a biggie these days, isn't it?

That one came through the Skribit suggestion box over on the toolbar, and even though it said "anonymous," I know who did it. And you will pay...

No, this is a great issue for discussion. And as with almost everything we talk about around here, every church is different. Every congregation responds in its own way to stuff. It should also be noted that I've got friends in churches that do use secular tunes and my friends and I politely and respectfully disagree...like Christians should, right?

But...this is my blog and I typically try to give my honest opinion, so here we go.

_____

I actually don't like the idea of using secular songs in worship. I have a few reasons. Some of them are serious, some of them may seem a little silly, but hopefully they'll make sense. Here's why I don't dig the secular tunes...in no particular order.

#1. WANNABEs
My first reason is a pretty simple one. I don't like doing secular songs because of what they produce in a band dynamic. Time after time, I've seen praise bands take on a secular song as if it's their one chance to finally "rock" in church. And let's face it - aren't most praise bands filled with middle-aged white dudes who used to dream of being real rock stars? In my experience, doing secular tunes brings out a lot of silliness. Players tend to overplay and ham it up on stage, which I personally don't think benefits worship. It's true that there are lots of great secular songs out there - full of truth, honest questions, musical creativity. I just don't like what it does to us. (Why do rehearse the Lifehouse cover 13 times but play through our worship set barely once in preparation?)

#2. WHAT WORSHIP IS FOR
Let me start off by saying that I like evangelism. And I do not consider myself a Calvinist. But I do hold Sunday worship as "the Lord's day." Now, we can argue about the actual "Sabbath" all you want, but I believe that Sundays are for worship. The saints to gather, give praise unto God and study the scriptures. No doubt, lots of people give their lives to Christ on Sunday mornings, but I'm always going to be leery when someone starts talking to me about what we can do to our Sunday worship to bring in more "seekers." There are times and places for intentional evangelism. I just don't believe that worship is up for debate - I don't believe we approach that sacred time before the Father with a sideways glance to all those "other" folks who might be watching.

And this is about as "postmodern" as I get, gang. But I do believe that the community which we share as we sing, pray, study scriptures, baptize and take communion speaks volumes of who God is. I believe that our worship "paints a picture of the Father." I believe the promise of God that "if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." I strongly believe that Sunday worship is a time dedicated to lifting God up - exalting, extolling and seeking Him. And I believe He's big enough to reach someone regardless of the song that's playing.

#3. BRANDING
This one is gonna' go off the rails a little bit, but I think it's pretty sound...for the most part.

I don't like secular songs in worship for the same reason I don't like doing a sermon series based on the TV show "24" or "Lost." (I'm indebted to Andrew Osenga for his wise words on this trend.) It always seems like we trying to steal a brand here.

When we do a series called "What Not To Wear," are we really doing anything remotely close to that fashion TV show or are just lifting the title so folks will come to church? Because if somebody shows up at your church because they think two very well-dressed, fit TV hosts with shiny white teeth are going to give out makeovers to the audience, then they are going to be pretty disappointed.

To me, secular songs are like this. As I said, secular songs have a lot of good questions in them. Some even have some pretty significant truth statements in them. I just don't know what those songs are supposed to do to our congregants. Show our faithful that we're cool because we know secular songs? Show our guests that we're "doing church differently" by recognizing truth within non-Christian songs? I don't think using cover tunes does either one of those things.
______

I think what really hurts in doing stuff like this is that we don't really have a way to judge success or failure here. I was once at a church that did a very awkward cover of a classic rock and roll song. It wasn't cool and it wasn't funny and I'm still not sure why they did it. And there was pretty obvious confusion and apathy in the crowd, too. But did the band ever hear that? Did anybody find a pastor the next week and say, "Hey, that was weird and it made me feel like somebody just hijacked our service for about three minutes." I didn't.

I think secular songs are way cool for the band and service planners...I'm just not sure they fit into a time of worship.

My two-cents. Now...what's YOUR take?

CONFESS YOURSELF

2008-08-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

Okay...what did you church sing?

REVIEW

2008-08-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hillsong Live - This Is Our God
Integrity Music

If you're a part of the American church, you probably know who the Hillsong folks are. Now, back in the day, they were the biggest deal in worship music. Their album output is amazing...there for awhile, it seemed like there was a giant Hillsong CD machine popping them out once every ten months.

Then, two or three years ago, most of the worship world woke up to United. The powerful, seperate musical entity birthed in Hillsong Church's student ministry. And that's when it got crazy.

As the United songs became more popular, more of them started showing up on records by Hillsong proper. And, of course, debate ensued. (Which version of "Salvation Is Here" is better? Why did they kill that guitar riff? That sort of thing.)

Well, Hillsong's new record is out (along with a companion DVD) and its causing quite a stir. Normally in CD reviews, I tend to approach them very systematically. But for this review, I'm just gonna' hit the high points - the things that stand out to me about this record.

STICKING WITH WHAT WORKS
This sounds like a United record. Hillsong's frontwoman Darlene Z. is in the mix, but not near as much as in previous records. This is a Joel Houston/Brooke Fraser affair. And it works, big time. I think the United team are bringing a nice dynamic approach to the Hillsong catalog - lots of atmosphere, relatively easy-to-follow arrangements and a dash of rock and roll.

PET SOUNDS
While there's lots of trademark stuff here, there's also some new territory. The most noticeable thing is the use of toms. Previous Hillsong records have been relatively straight-ahead projects, but This Is Our God experiments with tom-drumming in a way that's creative and yet still stays away from knocking off Coldplay. The vocals are really well done, too. Previous Hillsong records have felt a little too crowded for me - five or six singers, giant choir, crowd mics, etc. All of those things are there again this go 'round, but I feel like the record is mixed to give a pretty intimate feel to the melodies.

I'm also glad that the United Rhodes isn't all up in my face. United records are well-known for their liberal use of a Rhodes keyboard/electric piano organ patch. It's a cool sound...but a little predictable. It's still there in the new record, but it's used way more thoughtfully and simply, which really makes skillful use of it's tone.

The one thing that keeps sticking around is high, tremolo/delay lines. United has loved this sound for awhile and it's on the Hillsong stage, too. Imagine three or four guitar tracks...and then this little single note warble running throughout the song. Like the Rhodes and organ, it's cool, but it's getting less cool the more I hear it.

The production quality of this record feels way more "thought out." Instead of just blistering through tracks, we get some real subtle arrangement embellishments. The vocals and melodies are outstanding and I think they've got some musical backing just as amazing.

SAYING SOMETHING
I really like the lyrical direction of this record. This Is Our God leaves behind some Hillsong's name it-claim it, I've-got-the-victr'y approaches. There's also not a lot of United's trademark we're-gonna-start-a-revolution, fire-storm-rain, come-on-get-up-shake-your-booty themes either. These songs are God-focused prayers, many of them focusing on placing our trust in God in our most difficult times.

WHO'LL DO IT?
That's always the question, huh? Can these songs be done? Can your church team pull them off? Who knows? So far, I've got three tunes marked for consideration - the nice jangle of "Run" would be a nice opening groove for worship; Brooke Fraser "Desert Song" feels pretty welcoming; and "Healer" is something of a powerhouse. (Although I think songs about healing often require a little bit of scriptural background...just to get our minds right.) I'm sure there are other tunes that are accessible and available to teams. So far, those are the three that feel the best for my team.

This Is Our God is really one of the best Hillsong releases we've heard in a long, long time. I think you'll love it.

2008-08-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

YOUTH BANDS, PART II

2008-08-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

The second section in our "youth band" segment involves the non-essentials. In other words, "what can we leave behind?"

As before in our first section on youth worship, the non-essentials in this post are 100% opinion. I have worked with youth bands and feel pretty confident in my list, but as always, these are up for discussion.

So...what can we forget about? What's non-essential?

COVERS
I think leaving behind the idea that "we have to nail this song perfectly" is a wise move.

But not an easy one.

If you have teenagers who dig a song (or at least are willing to listen to something an old fogey like you want to play,) they're going to want to do it like the CD version. Because they like that version.

And that's okay...sometimes that happens.

But I think killing this idea that we have to (or even able to) perfectly replicate the song really makes a big difference in your team.

It's not a hard sell, really. A simple ten minute discussion about overdubs will quickly show your kids that there's no way a 4-piece band is going to nail that Casting Crowns' version. Eliminating this pressure to perform frees your kids up - both to experiment within their own ability and to realize that worship songs must be used in the congregational context. Teaching our bands this goes a long way toward building pastoral care in them.

LABELS
Labels have killed many a youth band.

Look, I don't have a problem if the youth band wants to have a "name." But we name the band and talk about the band and encourage them to particpate in community Battles of the Bands and make flyers with their pictures and promote them like we would any other "event" or concert within in our ministry.

But here's what that does:
1. It reinforces the very thing we need to kill in our hearts. Musicians are egotistical, applause hungry individuals. I know. Believe me, I know. Labeling a youth band only feeds that rock star mentality, which I can guarantee is already living inside each of us. And the rock star monster is insatiable...he consumes things like applause and stage lighting and web hits and gushing.
2. If the band doesn't "make it," all those labels feel pretty silly. To them and you. Christening your youth band is dangerous because, even at it's best, this band is not going to win a Dove award. They're not going to get a record deal and eventually, some of them will graduate out of your ministry. What do you do with all the fylers and promotion then?
3. Labels force kids to pick an "image." Start talking about naming your youth band and getting them gigs and pretty soon you'll have an all-out war about the band's "sound." Once you add a whole new dynamic - playing in front of strangers - you run the risk of beginning to select songs on their performance value rather than their worship worth.

DIY
Youth bands are hard work. And too many of them have suffered from a lack of support and encouragement. I think it's important to make sure we take a long time before we give control over to the students. And that's a hard thing, really. Once they're functioning pretty well together, it's easy to just buy them some music, make sure their sound gear is working and let them have it.

Lots of ministry resources talk about letting kids "own" ministry, and I agree. I just think a lot of us are too quick to give total control to our students in an area like worship - that's so hard most adults are still trying to figure it out!
_____
It's not my intent to sound negative here. I really do think that every youth band is different and so my ideas may not work for your team. But in my experience, these little lessons can help us to be better and do better for those students within our congregations who step up to serve.

YOUTH BANDS, PART I

2008-08-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

Thanks to our very cool new "Skribit" window, I've had a couple of cool suggestions come through for possible subjects for worshipnotes to tackle.

The first one I want to approach is this question:

Priorities of youth bands...what's important? What can be left alone?

Wow! What a question! As always, it's best to remember that this is a blog run by me, one dude, with his own opinions about worship. What I offer on this site is a mix of what I believe theoretically about worship alongside what I've actually seen and experienced as well.

I can really only hit this question from personal experience. In other words, what do I prioritize when I'm in charge of a youth band? (I'd like to hit this in two parts...first talking about what's important and then, in a later post, what is non-essential.)

DISCIPLESHIP
There are essentially two modes of operation for youth bands. (And adult worship teams, too.)

One approach is evangelistically motivated. Meaning, that we open the youth band to find kids who are interested in music. In this mode, we're not really making a student's spiritual life a deciding factor. We use music as the "bait." We get kids involved and then, prayerfully and hopefully, influence them for the Kingdom.

The second approach is ministry motivated. This means that we view worship leading as a high calling - something that the Father calls discipled believers to do. If we take the "leader" seriously, we understand that students in the worship team need to exemplify spiritual leadership in all its forms. (Holiness, prayer, study, integrity...)

Personally, I am of the second thought. In my experience, evangelistically motivated youth bands have a strange record. I've seen it work, but for the most part, I've seen it become a disaster. I've seen a lot of youth bands filled with great musicians who lead pretty self-centered, Godless lives. This can only hurt worship, because it creates an attitude among their peers...students in the crowd aren't going to fully trust that worship is a God-motivated issue if the folks leading them are living lives that are God motivated. I prefer to use students on stage who are devout - certainly not perfect - but kids who are most definitely and obviously making God the utmost pursuit of their lives.

Regardless of your approach, discipleship has to be key. If you're leading youth band as outreach, you're going to have to invest a lot of time in teaching and leading by example. If you're running things "ministerally," you're going to have to work hard and making sure your kid stay faithful to their commitment to God as you all delve deeper into what God desires in our praise.

MENTORING
To most, this is considered a "no brainer." The truth is that most every ministry is going to have mentoring as a key component. But for youth bands, I think it's pivotal. Of course, there is musical mentoring...talking about artists, arrangements, different song ideas. But even more important is the idea of investment - that we make a passionate effort to involve ourselves in the lives of the students. That we care about them as people, not just players on our team. In all honesty, this is typically the hardest aspect for me personally. I've always struggled to find the time and opportunity to engage in students' lives in this way. In my experience, my best "youth band leadership" jobs have included positive, intentional, relational mentoring. My worst jobs, of course, have not.

DYNAMICS
Again, this ought to be taught, discusses and modeled in every kind of team, but I can honestly say that teaching students appreciation for and application of dynamic playing is critical to the success of any team. More than learning scales, memorizing charts or filling their iPod with setlists, learning how and when to play is vital. Teaching a team the benefit of thinking sectionally within a "linear" song arrangement is going to grow your musicians by leaps and bounds. Encouraging students to explore their own music - the stuff they dig - for dynamic builds and arragements is a great way to get kids to appreciate what skilled interplay among good musicians can bring to a worship set.
HOMEWORK

To me, these are the four biggies. As I said - this is all opinion - but I do believe there are some essential things that we simply cannot let go when dealing with students in worship.

Personally, I'd like to see more students "moving up" in worship. Because my job now doesn't involve as much student ministry, I can definitely see the giant worship gap in adult teams. I'd love to the be the type of worship leader that trains, enables and encourages teenagers and college students to continue up into the adult team, bringing with them passion, creativity and fun.

We'll hit the "what to leave behind" section in a couple of days, but for now...what do you think? Got some essentials I left out? Disagree with something in my list? Almost everybody who reads worshipnotes has some sort of youth-band experience. Please share!

CONFESS YOURSELF

2008-08-10T17:05:00.000-05:00

2008-08-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

Hey, worshipnotes readers!

I'd love to know what you guys would like to see on worshipnotes.

Check out the blog and make a suggestion in our Skribit suggestion box!

A CONVERSATION

2008-08-03T22:52:00.002-05:00

Heard a great question on Sunday from a guy at church.

We were talking about worship and new songs and he mentioned that he spent a lot of time in his car, listening to worship music.

He also said he would love it as a member of the congregation if he could be listening to some of the worship songs we're teaching before they're actually introduced.

This is a great concept - I tend to plan sets in advance, so my band has the songs relatively early...and here's a congregant wanting in on the fun. So I started thinking how I might make that available. Burning CDs or sending him the little band website doesn't really seem like the best way to do it. What to do...what to do.

And then I remembered MUXTAPE. If you follow my other blog, you'll see that I just setup a Muxtape Site for all the stuff I'm digging. Since Muxtape prevents folks from actually "downloading" the tracks, it might be a great way for folks to check out what we'll be singing over the next two months. Sure, it requires some early planning, but who doesn't benefit from that, huh?

Go over and check out Muxtape. It's a cool site. It makes me sad that we, as leaders, have access to some great web applications that could really help us stay connected, get info and involve ourselves in "faith matters" every single day.

Thoughts on Muxtape? Thoughts on other tech developments that might bless and encourage the church?

NEVER FAIL SONGS

2008-07-30T23:28:00.004-05:00

What's one your "Never Fail" songs?

Meaning this - what's one song that your church always, always, always seems to dig. Usually, the sorts of tunes work with full band, one guitar, acapella, with pipe organ, with children's choir, etc.

Got any of those? Got a song or two that just always works?

What is it?

Confess Yourself...

2008-07-27T18:40:00.001-05:00

SETLIST SIMULATOR #1

2008-07-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

Alright....we're kicking off a brand new thing here at worshipnotes called the "Setlist Simulator."

As you guys know, I love resourcing - sharing ideas and songs and tips and lessons with each other to make us better at this very odd job of ours called 'worship leading.'

So here's where the Setlist Simulator is going to come in. For this new feature, I'm going to throw a setlist challenge out there. Your job is to take the info I come up with and then "build" a figurative list of songs, scriptures, prayers, videos, etc. to meet that challenge in the best way you see fit!

And the more specific, the better! Tell us what key you'd do a song in or how you'd transition from media to a hymn or how you'd teach something new to the congregation. It will be great creative exercise for you and a fantastic way for us to learn from each other.

Alright...here we go. Here's your first Setlist Simulator. Have fun!

Setup: "Back To School" weekend - Pastor is kicking off a new series focused on making a fresh commitment to ministry. Pastor will be using two-three New Testament text to challenge people to do more than just attend church - they need to serve! They need to live out of their gratitude for God's grace and provision.
Need: Twenty-five minutes of worship, relatively free flowing. (No announcements, special speakers, etc.) Pastor pretty intentional about having at least one song tied strongly to the sermon theme.
Special Additions: New volunteer director of greeter ministry wants to run a two minute informational video on how to sign up for Greeter Duty. Video is a fast-paced, lighthearted look at greeting ministries. Video was purchased from an online church video provider and has been downloaded onto projection computer for quick projection within the service.

What would you do?

LINK UP

2008-07-24T20:20:00.003-05:00

Hey gang...

I've been following this blog in my reader for quite some time. The guy tends to talk a little too much about the "postmodern" movement for my tastes, but I think he's saying some really good stuff in today's recent post.

I think the idea of church labels bothers us all, but I think David Fitch puts it perspective in this post.

Check it out...and rather than comment on it here, get into the game on David's blog. I'm happy to send you all over there!

http://www.reclaimingthemission.com/

SOMETHING CLOSER

2008-07-23T10:40:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with my friend, Kyle, about worship.

Kyle is a gifted vocalist and bass player, but his real passion is leading worship. As a college student, he gets a lot of opportunities to lead worship and he and I can spend hours talking about techniques and philosophy and song ideas and a whole host of other worship-related issues.

As we were talking, I was very passionately expressing the need for young worship leaders to watch other worship leaders. One of the most distressing things I come across in my worship travels is meeting young worship leaders who sit at home watching Passion DVDs or going to worship concerts by famous CCM/worship artists...unfortunately for a lot of young adults in worship, this is the only other worship they see (other than their own churches.)

My heart is to encourage young adult worship teams to branch out and experience Something Closer. The Passion DVDs are very cool and extremely moving. I love watching them. And I've been to more Paul Baloche concerts than I care to reveal. I get it...

But it's dangerous when our only exposure to worship leading is what I call "event worship." The dudes at Passion are great and so is Paul Baloche, but those things really aren't close to my life. And I believe that if I'm going to be excellent in what I do for my congregation, I need to find people who are good at it and who I can learn from. I'm talking about everyday folks from the church down the road or the worship leader at my parents' church - somebody that I can call on the phone and ask questions...somebody who's leading week in and week out, knowing his or her congregation and ministering as a pastor to them.

And then I realized that, for guys like Kyle, there's not always Something Closer.

Are there great worship leaders in your town? If you told young worship leaders to get out in the community and learn from those pastoring their congregations in worship, would those kids even be able to find anybody?
It convicts me and it should. I need to remember that, in addition to all of the main reasons why I should be good at my job, there's another side. To be Something Closer for those kids out there; to make myself, my songs and my resources available to those next generation leaders that God is raising up.

I think we're always in a scary place when we have a generation of leaders who have learned all they know from edited, packaged and polished and controlled releases (CD, video, etc.)

Think about those kids out there in your crowd who the Lord is calling...and be Something Closer for them.

CONFESS YOURSELF

2008-07-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

Okay, gang...

What did you play on Sunday?

How was it?

GO.

GET OUTTA' HERE

2008-07-15T21:43:00.004-05:00

If you follow this blog or my personal site, you know that I spent last week leading worship for youth camp in Pennsylvania.

I usually do five-to-ten travel dates each year leading worship. Usually, my "gigs" are smaller...dNow weekends or retreats. But last week I got to do a whole week of worship leading, which was really fun. I missed my family like crazy, but I had a blast playing with some great musicians in front of a group of kids that really had their heads on straight with regard to worship.

Just a couple of weeks before camp, somebody had asked me about travelling...they wanted to know what travelling "did" for me. What did I get out of going off and leading these things?

Since I don't travel very much, it was hard to think of an answer right off. I'm sure if I was on the road more, I'd see lots of benefits on a regular basis. But after thinking for awhile, I realized what travelling does...

It makes me better.

Everytime I come home from an event to lead worship at my church or at something more local, here's what I notice about my leading.

1. More Confidence
Every time I return, I feel like I approach worship with such a better attitude. I feel more confident about worship - not in anything I'm doing, but rather in worship itself. It's as if by immersing myself in a more dedicated way, I start to see all of the wonders of gathering as God's children to give Him praise. I find that I approach worship at home with more expectancy and more focus.
2. More Creativity
Leading worship over an extended period of time typically improves my skill level. I sing stronger, I'm much more comfortable on my guitar and I'm more at home in the songs, which frees me up to watch and listen to the crowd...which in turn, provides me the chance to be creative with the songs and sets...which in turn makes me a better worship pastor!
3. More Control
When I return home from a gig, I feel much more aware of worship. Because I've spent so much time at the "event," thinking, planning, praying, practicing, I come to "home worship" with a much better sense of purpose and control over what I'm bringing to the table.

So, here's my recommendation to all of my fellow worship leaders:

GET SOME GIGS!

Okay, maybe "gigs" isn't the best phrase for it, but I do think that there's some real value when we get out of our comfort zones and stretch ourselves musically and spiritually.

If you're interested in "Getting Out There" to lead worship as a guest, but don't really know how to make that happen, here are a couple of ideas that might help.

1. Associations - Chances are your church is in some sort of "association." This could be denominational or regional. Even if you're a part of a non-denominational church, chances are your church is still affiliated in some way. Typically, these like-minded fellowships are great places to get out of our comfort zones and take a shot at leading for folks we may not even know! Check with your pastor or youth pastor to learn more about regional meetings that might need some worship. You probably will get paid with a free hot-dog supper, but it's still a great (and pretty easy) way to road-test your chops.

2. Other Folks - Another great way of leading worship out in your community is to use your own connections. Maybe you have lunch with another worship leader in town once-a-month...what a great opportunity to plan something for both your praise teams to do! Maybe your church regularly brings in guest worship leaders from nearby...learn from those guys! Ask them how they got started.

3. Be A Partner - When you get a gig, the absolute smartest thing you can do is to get very involved in the event as soon as possible. Nabbing the gig and then not speaking with the event planners until the day before you play is pretty dangerous. Rather than adopt an attitude of "WE'RE THE BAND..." come at it like you would at your church. You're a part of a team that wants to do ministry - stay in dialogue with the folks bringing you in...get a clear picture of what they want and need for their event.

I know very few worship leaders who are out to get rich and famous. 99% of the leaders I know want to use their gifts to bring glory to God and to support the work of the church. Don't be afraid of pursuing these little experiments in worship leading - we learn a ton from them!

WN #5

2008-07-13T16:46:00.002-05:00

Camp Confessional #3

2008-07-09T09:14:00.001-05:00

Camp Confessional #2 (late!)

2008-07-08T13:13:00.000-05:00

Camp Confessional #1

2008-07-07T10:35:00.001-05:00

The Week To Come...

2008-07-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

I HATE CROWDER

2008-07-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

Actually, I don't.

I just know that somebody's gonna' start reading this post and immediately jump to that conclusion. But you shouldn't.

I like him. He's good. Great guitar player, fantastic band behind him, good songwriter...trendy as all getout.

But I am going to use him as an example.

I have to say that I'm really interested in the fact that Crowder won our little poll.

Here's why:

I talk about this over here, but I'll be honest - the survey is what got me thinking about it.

I think we as worship leaders do a really poor job of distinguishing between what we think is cool and what is actually beneficial to our congregations. (This is where having a very small readership helps...I know most everybody who voted. And where they go to church.)

When I see that the majority of you picked Crowder as the dream "guest leader," all these questions pop into my head.

1. Could your sound system handle Crowder's setup?
2. Do you have room on your stage for a DJ table?
3. Would they know "O Praise Him" or "Here Is Our King?" Would they know any Crowder tunes? Would they dig "Undignified" or "I Saw The Light?"

You see, while I like Crowder and I'd love to go see him play somewhere, I don't think he's the best fit for my church. I don't know that they'd "get it." Sure, our students would go nuts, but the whole church? Probably not so much.

Maybe I'm wrong and the people who voted are strangers to me who attend churches with which I am not familiar. Or maybe the voters are not worship leaders, and therefore not necessarily typically thinking of the church in a pastoral mindset.

But if not, let me say this: as worship leaders, we've got to balance this sort of stuff out. When somebody asks me who I'd want guest-leading, I don't need to pick the guy I think is coolest...I don't necessarily need to pick the guy that I think writes the most amazing songs.

I need to pick a guy that my church will dig; I need to pick a guy who can stretch us a little bit; I need to pick a guy who I can trust with my service.

I like to listen to Crowder live at Passion...but my church wouldn't be that. Would yours?

From my experience, I think probably the most congregationally friendly of our poll would have to be Baloche, Aaron Keyes or Lincoln Brewster. (Yes, yes...I know he wails, but if you watch him live, he's pretty great at engaging various congregations.)

So, I'm wondering...did you pick somebody 'cause they're cool-to-you or because they'd be good-for-your-people?

I'd love to know your thoughts on this, gang. If you think I'm off the mark, let me know. If you get what I'm saying or want to add something to the mix, please jump in there!

Worship Confessional - 6/29/08

2008-06-29T14:37:00.001-05:00

WHAT MATTERS MOST

2008-06-27T21:37:00.003-05:00

If you voted in our recent poll (see sidebar to the right,) I'd love to know what influenced your vote.

I think the responses in this poll speak volumes about us...but I want to wait to share my theories until I hear from you. So...who did you pick? And why?

WN #2

2008-06-22T15:55:00.000-05:00

Subscribe to me on YouTube!

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE CROWD?

2008-06-19T19:47:00.001-05:00

Do me a favor! Open up this video on YouTube and "subscribe" to my YouTube feed. For now, I'll be including the videos here on the WN site, but some stuff may be YouTube posts only. (I want to see if I'm able to connect/reach/build relationships with a whole other technological segment of the globe!)

Tuesday Talk!

2008-06-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

PLATFORMS, Part 1

2008-06-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Last week, we touched on the need for more and better "teaching" from worship leaders. Over the next few posts, we'll be hitting this issue and trying to find some practical helps to bless and grow what you all are you doing on your platforms.

The reality is that we need do a better job of instructing our folks as to what's going on when we get together to give praise to God. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be interviewing a few worship leader friends that excel in this aspect. The guys we'll be talking to are brilliant communicators and have countless hours of experience in pastoring congregations in worship.

One aspect we'll be talking about is how to get started. What do you do if you've never really been much of a "teacher" from the stage, but you'd like to do better? These folks we're interviewing have got some great things to say, so I'll go ahead and give you my piddly little advice before the big boys show up.

Let me start by saying that I'm still very new at this. Even though I've led worship for quite awhile, I'm still trying to find my voice in this whole teaching thing. So far, here are some things that tend to work for me.

Use The Set
Teaching works best for me when I can see it in a setlist. This means that I can see and know a particular song is coming and build my teaching around the theme of that particular song. This is probably the easiest way to teach from the stage, since you've got a whole musical selection waiting to come in a support what you've just talked about. And since I'm the one who makes the songlist, that ends up working pretty well. For me and for my church, not all services are necessarily right for a teaching moment, but I look for them constantly. This works even better if you plan your music thematically along with the sermon. If you and the person preaching work together in planning services, this can make the teaching moments really, really good.

Use Scripture
I'm a bit of a dummy. Don't worry. My friends know this, but fortunately, my church doesn't. Why? Because I use scripture. I don't really know enough Hebrew or Rob Bell-esque cool tidbits from Jewish culture or amazing historical quotes to use in my teaching times. I really have very little to say on my own. That's why I use scripture. Using scripture for my teaching time is a win-win. (What church doesn't need more scripture, right?) It keeps me focused and forces me to really work on my scirpture analysis.

Use Your Time Wisely
When I teach from the stage, it's rarely freestyle. You know what that means? It means I practice.
Each time I'm teaching in a set, I make some time in the week leading up to that set where I can get alone and try out my teaching to see how it feels. Let's be honest - worship leaders don't have a lot of free time on stage to ramble, so I want my messages to be clear and concise. Of course, there are lots of times where God prompts me to say something fresh and unplanned, but "planned speaking" also assures me that I'm going to get across exactly what I believe needs to be said. We've probably all got a horror story or two that involves a minister on stage saying something on stage that sounded great in his or her head but came off sounding like utter nonsense.

Use Your Instrument
One of the most common problems for worship leaders is knowing how to end things. Sure, we can do that big chord crash at the end of a tune or segue from song-to-song, but a lot of us don't do so great when we're actually speaking/teaching. If you happen to lead from an instrument, you can drastically improve your "endings" with just a few tips.

First off...make sure your team knows to stop playing while you're teaching. A lot of us have that keyboardists or acoustic guitar player who's GREAT, but who loves to play in every blank space. the instant you start talking, they start playing a little instrumental behind you. Sometimes, it's awesome, but sometimes it's not. If you can get your team to provide you with a little silent backdrop, the ending transition will be a lot better.

Second...wait until you're reaching the end of your talk before you start playing. (If you don't lead from an instrument, you can easily have one of your bandmates do it.) This playing-at-the-very-end prevents your teaching time from seeming like a muzak-filled-emotional-ploy. It also is a fantastic cue to your people - that we're about to sing this song. When folks hear that, they know it's time to sing about what they've learned.

____________________
What we do as worship leaders is important. It's more than just honing our skills and bringing excellence to the music and media. Those things are great, but there's so much more. And while considering that your job is to be "the frontman" may seem petty and very non-religous, it's kinda' true. You've got a platform, you've got a microphone, you've got a team of people and you've got a crowd of folks who trust you and typically take-to-hear the things you say.

Next week, we'll be hearing from some worship leaders that are very good at this teaching thing. I hope you stick around.

TUESDAY TALK!

2008-06-03T10:00:00.000-05:00

Guess What? We're PODCASTING!

2008-06-02T10:00:00.001-05:00

Will the ideas ever stop here at worshipnotes?

Click here to download first ever "ToddCast!"

SOMEBODY DOES IT BETTER

2008-05-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

A while back, I attended a funeral for a family in our church. Mark, the drummer on my Sunday morning praise team, lost his mom on Mother's Day, so our Associate Pastor and another friend and I packed up and made a road trip to be there for the service.

Mark's parents were devout Catholics and the service was held at their home church.

This was my first time to attend a Catholic service of any kind. I realize that a funeral is certainly not the same as a worship service, but I have to say that this service blew me away.

I'm sitting there, amazed at what I'm experiencing in the service. And it wasn't reverance. (That's what everybody talks about when they start bragging on liturgical services...that they are more reverent.) But that wasn't it...it wasn't a new sense of reverance. It was something, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Toward the end of the service, I finally leaned over to my friend and said...

"What's different about this? Why is it so good?"

He thinks for a minute, then leans back over.

"It's more personal."

Personal? At a Catholic church? Surely not...churches like this are supposed to be stuffy and impersonal and cold and mired in tradition, right? Yet, here was a place that felt more alive and God-centered than many, many of the services I've been a part of.

So, I started thinking about "personal." And then it dawns on me...here's a sampling of what I saw and experienced at the service.

Singing/Speaking
There were no words printed for these songs. But folks sang 'em anyway. That might not be the best thing for new folks like me, but there was a passion in these voices. In addition, their responses were so quick. There were quick to pray out loud with the priest and quick to respond during the congregational responses.
Kneeling
There were three different times where folks utilized the kneelers. Each of those times, the priest gave the direction, but most of the time, the people were already kneeling before he was finished asking it.
Lifted Hands
I saw seventy-year old men raising their hands at different points in the service. There were two seperate times where the entire congregation raised their hand during prayer and worship.
Water
A large fountain stood just inside the church's entrance and it ran the entire length of the service. So, throughout the service, we could hear running water behind us. It was nice...very soothing.
Fire
Of course, candles were a big part of this service. And we all know candles are just cool.
Incense
As the service ended, the priest brought the incense down to the casket. In just a few minutes, that aroma filled the worship space.

As a worship leader, there were a few things at play in this service that made it good.

PHYSICALITY - There was an understanding among these people that church was requiring something physical of them. (Kneeling, singing, speaking, raising hands, etc.) It wasn't a choice. These people did it. Maybe they did out of tradition or simple respect for their reverend, but the fact remains that those things are Biblical and they are doing them. I saw more physicality from this Catholic crowd that I see in one of my weekly Sunday services.

ELEMENTS - Not to get all "pomo" on you here, but this mattered. The fire, water, incense, the overall "airy" nature of this service made a difference...some would say it's something big, some reminder of God's creative hand in all things. That's true, I guess, but for me, it was calming. It was as if suddenly, microphones and lighting and sound systems and all other sorts of modernized things didn't matter.

The power of this service, for me, wasn't reverance. It was obedience. It was people obey what scripture says about the worship of God and my spirit instantly was bearing witness with the presence of God's presence in the room.

We've got to figure this thing out - this way of teaching out people what worship is. We've got to model for them what the Bible says about what we're to do, how we're to approach the throne of God. We've got to make it understood...make it normal...make it the way we operate.

I don't have the answers. Maybe it means our churches need to let our worship leaders preach more or teach classes or give them more time on stage to talk through worship. (And maybe worship leaders need to start learning how to teach/preach...)

HOW DO YOU GO OLD SCHOOL?

2008-05-27T10:00:00.002-05:00

REVIEW

2008-05-22T10:00:00.003-05:00

Tommy Walker - I Have A Hope
Maranatha Records, Released 3/18/2008

Tommy Walker is no stranger to most worship leaders. For years, he's been the white, West Coast guitar player who writes funky worship/gospel numbers and is backed some of California's finest studio musicians and singers.

Walker showed up on most of our radars with his song "He Knows My Name." Walker is renowned for his jazz and R&B tinged live worship albums and his songs are widely embraced by worship programs attempting to blend jazz and gospel into their current-day worship setup.

However, all of those die-hard Walker fans better get ready, because I Have A Hope is whole new thing.

What's different? First off, it's a studio album. Secondly, it's produced by Ed Cash, a fine artist in his own right, now mostly known for his production success with Chris Tomlin. Third...well, because it's different.

WHAT WORKS
There are a lot of things that work here. First off, the studio element clears away some of the clutter of Walker's live jams. The songs are a bit more sparse, leaving room to hear the really amazing musical underpinnings. I also like that the music has come slightly closer to the mainstream. Walker's gospely-vibe is still there, heard mainly in the vocal jam ending of the record's standout track, "I Have A Hope," and in the closing "Holy Spirit Come." But the other tunes are different. Both "Hallelujah, We Will Sing" and "In The Light Of Your Glory" are both beautiful piano pieces that seem a bit more simple melodically. The rock tunes are great, from the Tomlin/Cash formula in "Do It, Lord" and the nice jangly "Pass It On" to the hyper-funky "Your Love," Walker and band bring their expert hands to pop and rock.

Lyrically, most of the songs are superb. There's a little too much repetition in a few tracks ("I believe, I believe, I believe in Jesus" and "Do it, Lord; Do it, Lord,") but the other songs are written so well that nobody's gonna' be thinking about those elements. Most of the tunes seem to be in singable keys, although I've yet to pull out my guitar and test any of them.

I also think that I Have A Hope is a really solid collection of songs. There's nothing more frustrating than picking up a new worship album and finding two good songs, is there? That's why I love this record. The songs have their challenges, sure, but I get excited at hearing stuff that is so good and yet so different from what my team and I tend to use in our church. The possibilities on this record excite me.

WHAT DOESN'T
In addition to some of the repetition issues, the big obstacle here in musical prowess. I've been trying to figure out what sort of proficiency an average church praise team needs to have to pull off these tunes, and I'm getting upset thinking about it.

These songs definitely require a rock solid rhythm section. Without a drummer and bassist who understand groove and don't mind getting funky, the songs are gonna' fal flat. The other undeniable element is keys. Without somebody adept at piano, Hammond and rhodes, some of these songs just aren't going to fly. I think it's also important to seperate which of these songs are "fun to listen to" and which ones are "this will work in the service." It's a hard thing - sometimes we love songs so much (too much) that we force them into our setlists without even realizing that they might not work.

WRAP UP
Most of this record is phenomenal, and the part that isn't ends up being a guilty pleasure. Some of the more gospel-stuff is so out there that I would never even try to use it...but it's fun to listen to!

I'd suggest that worship leaders buy this record for a couple of reasons:
1. 4-5 possible tunes for almost any "contemporary" worship service.

2. This could end up being a landmark album in modern worship - I think it could possibly rank up there with Baloche or Tomlin in this regard. It's so different, and so well done that you won't regret picking it up.

3. Great production work, which always helps us in our arranging (or lack thereof.)

This review was written by Todd Wright.

2008-05-21T21:30:00.001-05:00

Just got word that one of Steven Curtis Chapman's adopted daughters was killed today in a car accident.
If you want to read what happened you can find the link here. If you're not interested in the details, just pray for them.
Sorry to spread such bad news...but these things can mobilize the community of faith. Pray for Steven and Mary Beth and the entire Chapman family.

WATCH OUT!

2008-05-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

When I was much younger, my church was really into a song called "Draw Me Close." It was written by a guy named Kelly Carpenter and was first made famous by a worship leader named Lindell Cooley who led worship at the Brownsville Revival.

Soon after that, the song was recorded a CCM group called the Katinas and was played on Christian radio. At that point, the worship leader at my church started doing the song during worship. It went well...after a few weeks, we were all singing it, enjoying it, finally getting it memorized where we didn't even need to look at our songsheets or the screen.

And then, a few weeks later, the worship leader had a moment of genius. It happened on Sunday morning as we were nearing the end of "Draw Me Close." The tune was nice and big, having reached the end of its dynamic capabilities when, all of sudden, the band launched into a chorus of "Shout To The Lord."

It was great. Our church was fairly nuts about "Shout To The Lord" at the time. (What church wasn't, right?) It was a cool moment - it was necessarily spontaneous, the band had definitely worked the transition to maximize the flow of songs since the tunes were in slightly different tempos. In retrospect, the songs weren't even linked that well thematically, but they were in the same key and it felt GOOD to do those songs together.

And from then on, that's how we did it. "Shout To The Lord" became the ending of "Draw Me Close." It

Building those kind of moments is a cool thing. It's so much fun to figure out two songs that work well together thematically or musically (or even both! Egads!) But we've got to be careful that we don't take those moments of creativity and turn them into systems.

I don't think my church should have stopped doing those two songs together. I just think they should have realized they didn't have to always do those songs together. When we latch onto those moments and make them staples of our setlists, I think we run a few risks:

1. We risk the appearance of laziness.
When we continue to use the same mini-medleys over and over, we look lazy. I think it speaks something to our people about our work ethic. Now, laziness may not even be an issue, but I for one never want my people to think I just dialed in a service. When I step up and lead, I want my people to know that they trust me and follow me and pay me for good reason - that I work hard to give them a quality opportunity to worship God every single week. I think too many mini-medleys kill that. I think they make us look like we didn't care enough to change anything since last time. (We're not cool when our pastors do that, are we?)

2. We risk our congregations becoming too comfortable.
I think the best, healthiest, most effective churches are ones that surprise their people. No, I'm not talking confetti guns or lights shows or a different stage design every week. I'm talking about people leaving a service remembering what they've heard or seen. Sometimes that happens with a sermon - folks leave thinking about scripture in a way they've never heard, or someone unchurched coming away having his or her misconceptions blown away by a powerful and honest look into God's Word. Sometimes in happens with art - a song takes folks to a place they weren't expecting or a video breaks through some defense of theirs or the sunlight through a stained glass causes someone to look at the cross for the first time in months. Mini-medleys kill that, too. We drop into that song and our congregants turn off...we're all set for that giant, jamming transition and our people just mindlessly sing along, not too excited and not too bored. Just...there.

It's a balance, I get that. We want our people to feel comfortable in worship and know what's going on, but I don't think it's necessary for them to always know exactly what's coming next.

3. We risk making our job into something it shouldn't be.
Too much of this "arranging" changes our job because it allows to move away from truly pastoring our people in worship. If I'm always going to transition from "Everlasting God" into "Salvation Is Here," then I don't have to plan something new or needed for my people and I certainly don't have to work at listening to God while I'm on stage. Yes, ours is a job of planning and preparation, but it's always one of watching and listening and obeying what God tells us to do. I know not every church is spontaneous in nature...but too many of these tidy little song collections and we make our job one of showmanship and not one of waiting on God's leading.
___________________________________________________________________________
I'm not against cool song combinations. I have some that I really like. But I have to be careful because not every time calls for those songs in that way. It can't..two or three completely different songs that are probably full and rich enough to stand on their own can't be demoted to medley material indefinitely.

Watch out for this very tempting aspect of leading worship. Don't be afraid of creativity...use what works, but try lots of stuff...not just the thing that worked that one time.

MY 5

2008-05-08T09:50:00.002-05:00

One feature of the new worshipnotes blog is going to be a post entitled My 5.

The My 5 will focus on five suggested songs, ideas, themes - a brief little "best of" from my experience.

While this post is 100% opinion and open for debate, my real hope in this feature is to find some of "your 5." After you read my five votes, share your own in the comment box below!

5 Songs Every Church Should Be Doing

1. Ross King - You Alone Can Satisfy
This track from King's Soulspeak record is absolutely phenomenal. I've used it personally in my church and seen it led by Ross himself and it works great. The song operates simultaneously as a confession song as well as a worship tune centered on God's provision. The arrangement is easy to learn and follow. The song works well as an acoustic number but can be utilized with full-band as well.
Website Blog Buy It

2. Paul Baloche - Our God Saves
Yes, I am the biggest Paul Baloche fan in the world. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't do this song. This tune has so much going for it. The lyrics and melody are stellar, and obviously the work of a very skilled writer. But I think the hidden benefit of this song is musical in nature...with "Our God Saves," a worship band is asked to delve into a song that has some aspects that are rather rare in most modern worship music. Four on the floor is nothing new, but thestraight ahead nature of the chorus has a nice, almost alt-country jangle. It's a slow song that actually feels fast and powerful.
Website Buy It

3. John Sherrill - God Is Faithful
John may not be a household name in worship circles, but he's built a phenomenal reputation across Texas as a gifted leader, writer and teacher. John's new worship album is still unreleased, yet it's already creating a buzz. "God Is Faithful" is a strong song combining enough elements to make it absolutely at home at any church. First off, it works in two keys, has a great tempo for congregational worship, has fantastic lyrics and a bridge that might extend your worship service by a good ten minutes!
Website Blog

4. Michael Neale - "From The Rooftops"
Michael Neale's "From the Rooftops" is a combination of very simple lyrics and extremely brilliant music. From the opening, jazzy acoustic guitar octave riff to the nice augmented feel of the bridge, this tune is pure fun to play. It's instantly unforgettable and also tends to offer some great chances to talk and teach about worship's physical expression...how do we really "shout it from the rooftops?" Bands and congregations alike will love the key change choruses at the end.
Website Buy It

5. United - "Salvation Is Here" (SLOW)
Lots of folks know this rocker from the Hillsong crew, but I think every church ought to try this one much, much slower. Over the past few months, I've done this song both ways - the original version and a much slower, more soulful arrangement - trust me, there is no contest. Not only does a slower version allow your band to really accent those quick chord changes, it seems to add a weight to the lyrics. The song has great lyrics, but we tend to spit them out so fast that they get lost. I don't have anything against fast tunes, but I think this one is so much better slow. Give it a shot!
Website Buy It

So, there you have it. My pick for 5 songs that every church ought to try. So...you got a 5? Wanna' share your story?

Well, get to commenting!

REALIGNING...AGAIN

2008-05-01T09:00:00.010-05:00

I work at a church. A good church, working hard, struggling a little bit to find its identity...you know the drill.

Last week, we were hit by a Phantom Gifter.

The Phantom Gifter hit Monday or Tuesday, leaving cool little magnets for all the women on staff and tiny wooden crosses for the guys.

I heard the crosses referred to as "pocket crosses," so as soon as I got mine, I put it in my pocket. It's lived there for most of the week (when I've remembered it,) and it really helped me out today.

In addition to being a worship leader, I'm a songwriter. I love writing songs. I know a lot of folks don't get that jazzed about writing worship music, but it's my passion. In January, I released a CD of my songs. I hired a great producer, used amazing musicians, spent a lot of time on it, and I'm very proud of it.

But about a month ago, something weird happened. I started worrying about songwriting. I suddenly got really concerned that the stuff I'm writing now isn't nearly as good as the stuff on my record. I started worrying about "the next record" and whether or not folks would like it. I started worrying about how I'd approach these songs on the studio, which musicians I would use and what I could do to promote these new, unwritten songs on this yet-to-be-created album.

Ridiculous, right?

So, the other day, when I put my hands in my pocket, and felt that wooden cross, it was like the horrible, jarring ending to Somewhere In Time. The cross seemed to rush me back to reality.

And in that moment, I got a small glimpse of my place in the Kingdom. It was as if God said this:

You know, Todd? You're a part of my Kingdom. I've called you to serve me. You're stressing about writing songs that are "good enough?" You're worried about how your songs are going to spread around? What difference does it make whether or not you use your songs? Isn't your job to serve me, to obey me? You better start worrying more about making your life look like my Son and worry less about looking good.

I've called you. I've used you. Shut up and do the work.

Sometimes God tells me to shut up. You and He might now work that way, but He has to tell me that a lot. And every once in awhile, I listen.

I can't track down the Phantom Gifter and thank him or her for that little cross that reminded me to get my priorities right. But I can live my life a little better - I can stop being selfish and vain and do the Kingdom work God's called me to do. And I can love every minute of it.

ANOTHER TRY

2008-04-25T23:52:00.001-05:00

Well, if you're here, then that means you probably encountered "worshipnotes" in its more legitmate form.

While I'm not trying to bring back the whole website, I have decided to make this a place where I can post my worship-related thoughts.

As it stands right now, we'll try to post a worship blog each Thursday. Stick around...I think it's gonna' be fun! (So subscribe, all you "readers" out there!)