“You are loved.”
My pastor always ends letters to our congregation this way.
You are loved.
It’s a great reminder of that in the midst of a community of people – no matter how large or small – you are loved. You, individually, are loved. The leaders of our church love the person not just the people…
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We all struggle at times as worship leaders, musicians and techs on the right balance between presentation and performance, humbleness and showiness, reverent yet engaging. There are a hundred words to describe the point where a worship service crosses our proverbial red line. In many ways our creativity is at war with our conscience. To aggravate things, musicians and techs are often called out as being too slick or showy – much more than teachers and preachers are – even though we implement many of the same techniques to communicate with our audiences…
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Worship leader. Artist. Seldom have the two labels blended as seamlessly as in the music and message of multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Evan Wickham. His debut album, Mysterious Things, released in 2006, is a tour-de-force collection of intimate worship, heartfelt expressions of joy and wonder at God’s blessing, and a celebration of the redemptive power of salvation in Jesus Christ. “Keeper of the stars, Lord of time and space,” Wickham sings on the album’s gorgeous centerpiece, “Hallelujah Jesus.” “I will live my life lifting up your name.” These lines are clearly the heart of Wickham’s music and ministry.
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Our words do matter. And I have a concern with the way that we use a couple of particular words: I don’t want to be called a ‘worship leader’ anymore.
In between working as Worship Arts Director at a church and The City Harmonic becoming a full-time job for me I ran a small marketing company. And if I learned anything at all in that time it’s that our ideas, our habits and our words really do matter. I learned that a lot effort and resources have been spent studying the mind – how we make decisions, what governs some of our instinctual actions, etc…
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As worship leaders, we know how tough it can be to find enough songs that can be used to open your service. That’s why we are excited to bring you Stand Up and Ready For You, two great anthems from Luke Hellebronth & Worship Central. Both of these worship songs will fit perfectly at the beginning of a worship set and encourage your church to dive in to the worship service…
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Whenever I teach about preparing for worship at an event, I inevitably have someone raise their hand and say “I don’t like to plan too much. I’d rather be spontaneous and respond to what the Spirit is doing.” Or I’ve heard people say they won’t use tracks during worship because it limits there spontaneity.
Let’s think this through. There is nothing spiritual or unspiritual about making a plan. In fact, Proverbs 16:3 says “Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed.” The Bible is filled with examples of people who made detailed plans to do something important for God. Nehemiah rebuilt the entire wall around Jerusalem. David built the first temple for God. Jesus’ plan was to endure the cross…
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It was cold, although not “Polar Vortex” cold. My family and I were crammed into our minivan and were two-thirds of the way through our thirteen-hour drive from Nashville to Canada just four days before Christmas. Every once in awhile messages from family with news of an impending Ontario ice storm would grab our attention but, as it was, all we could see before us was rain and road. One hour after another on one of America’s most boring drives. That is, until dark.
Besides the obvious (it was dark), the darkness was blinding – turning our minivan into a rolling death trap – street lights, car lights, reflections of any light of any kind suddenly transformed into bizarre laser beams headed directly for the eyes – I was suddenly unable to see much of anything around me…
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I had a very wise pastor tell me once to never do ministry alone. As worship leaders we need to understand that we can lead a band every week, be surrounded by a team of people, but still operate our ministry as a “lone ranger”. Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if you are really building a team…
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As 1/4th of the Juno and Covenant Award winning band The City Harmonic Elias has traveled the world to worship alongside churches and Christians of all kinds. He is passionate about faith, ideas, music, culture and the Church, writing and songwriting, worship leading, and all of the ways they collide. Though originally from Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) Elias now lives in Nashville, TN with his wife Meaghan, four kids and a cat who is presently missing (having not come back the very next day).
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We have 3 new songs from Martin Smith, best known from his time as the lead singer for Delirious. Be sure to check out each one; listen to the audio, learn how to play it by watching the New Song Cafe, and the download the Free Lead Sheets!
