Worship Together Blog

Gear Purchasing - A Good Rule of Thumb

As worship leaders, many times the responsibility of purchasing sound and lighting equipment with the church budget falls upon us. Church music has become a major target audience for most gear manufactures and is a growing market while other markets are shrinking. 

Churches are becoming much more tech savvy and in some cases have worship rooms rivaling the best music venues in the country.   

As pastors and stewards of God's resources, it is our responsibility to make "God inspired" decisions on spending church money. So I thought the following guidelines might prove helpful when you get ready to make that next A/V purchase:

1. Do your research. Getting good advice is a huge part of making a smart purchase. Read information on-line. Visit other churches and see what they are using. A sound or lighting consultant is well worth the cost.

2. Make a positives/negatives list for each product. This makes it easier to compare products, especially complex products like a front of house mixer or a lighting package.

3. Target upper mid-line versus top of the line. There is diminishing return on products once they reach a certain price point. For example, a Shure SM58 is a great mid-line mic for about $100 and most of your congregations would tell a big difference over a $29 mic. However, the average person could not tell the difference between the SM58 and a mic costing twice as much. There is a diminishing return. The following chart represents this fact:

  

There are some exceptions to this, especially churches that double as a concert venue or if the ministry is tech driven to achieve its ministry goals. But for most churches, you can waste a chunk of precious church funds on high end gear that no one will appreciate other than your musicians and the person that sold it to you.

4. Leave room for growth. It doesn't save money to buy a 16 channel mixer if you will need 24 channels within a couple of years. The cost difference to move up is usually way less than trying to re-sell and buy again.

5. Buy used when possible. There are really good deals out there on "experienced" gear. I especially recommend this for items that have a long life such as mics, lighting, amps, guitars, drums and rack gear.

Remember, to be as frugal as possible. Every dollar you save could be a real blessing to someone in your church that is sick or hurting financially. Blessings!

Featured Song: "Kingdom"

This new song from Kristian Stanfill is a high-energy anthem that will get your congregation's attention and stir their hearts to rise up and truly be the kingdom of God.

 

Go listen to it, learn how to play it in this week's New Song Cafe and download the Free Sheet Music!

New Song Track & EasySlides: "Happy Day" from Tim Hughes

Tim Hughes' "Happy Day" is the newest release in our series of new tracks for your favorite songs found at WorshipTogether.com. Part of the IgniterTracks collection, "Happy Day" delivers stunning visuals combined with the original artist's recording and instrumentation!  

 

IgniterTracks are visual media vignettes geared specifically for individual songs and hymns. IgniterTracks are designed with both the small and large church in mind as each song comes with its own unique arrangement and recording. There is also an accompanying click-track and split-track that is in sync with the visuals to be played on screen. Let IgniterTracks help your audience visually connect the message in the music to their worship. Watch and buy the "Happy Day" song track here!

 

If you want to be in control of the video and not be limited to the recorded arrangement, you can also get "Happy Day" in a flexible Easy Slides format that gives you the visual media vignette separated into separate lyric video slides. Click here to take a look at the Easy Slides for "Happy Day"!

Give Us Your Thoughts

Hey worship friends,

Here is a brand new worship song called "Your Name" written by Rick Altizer and John Driver. We would really love to have your feedback on it. It's a demo recording, so you'll have to "hear through" the production.

Please post your comments on the following:

-Lyric
-Melody
-Theology
-Corporate Singability

And of course, if you like it, sing it with your church! Thanks!

Download Audio
Download Chord Chart

Team Building - Thoughts from Nehemiah

I was reading through the first couple chapters of Nehemiah today and realized how many great leadership lessons there are to learn from our Biblical contractor.

1. Nehemiah had a passion for people first, church second. It says in chapter 1 verse 2 that Nehemiah questioned Hanani about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. In ministry, we often get these two things reversed. We have a passion first for our ministry and second for the people. This often leads to "using" our flock to accomplish our ministry goals.

2. Nehemiah was courageous. He knew that allowing the king to see him unhappy might be a death sentence. Not to mention his bold request for time off, letters of permission, and resources. However, he was willing to take the risk in order to accomplish something great for his people. We need more courage from our church leaders (speaking to myself as well) to do and say the right things even when it hurts.

3. Nehemiah had a plan. In the second chapter, Nehemiah slips out of Jerusalem by night to get a firsthand look at the damaged walls. He knew he would probably get one shot to present his case to the people. He had to have a plan that was practical and inspirational. As creative people, sometimes planning isn't our strong suit. However, it is vital that we know where we are going as a team for everyone to feel safe to contribute.

4. Nehemiah was patient. Notice in chapter 2 verse 11 that he stayed in Jerusalem for 3 days before heading out to inspect the wall. Now 3 days isn't very long, but there's a principle here that is often violated in church leadership. John Maxwell calls it the Law of Buy-In. It simply means that people buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. Many church leaders have crashed and burned in their first year of ministry by violating this principle. People need time to get to know a leader and for the leader to build relationships with the people. Putting programs before people will result in hurt and inevitably broken relationships. 

Lead well! 

The Glorious Unseen: Cries Of The Broken EP

We ran into this young fellow at the Christian Musician Summit in Buffalo, NY last weekend. Be sure to watch to the end to see the transliteration of the song back in English. Pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/brentonbrownmusic 

Checkout this great new mini-movie from Matthew West in the WorshipTogether.com Media Store!

This unique and powerful animated illustration will challenge your congregation to rise above merely going through religious motions into a lifestyle completely energized and motivated by Christ’s love.

Click here to buy "The Motions" in the WorshipTogether.com Media Store!

One of the most challenging Scriptures in the Epistles is Galatians 1:10 when Paul says, "Am I now trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Paul is writing in the context of preaching the full Gospel. Parts of the Gospel message were offensive to listeners. And it required great courage for him to preach the whole Gospel and not just the parts that were easy to swallow.

As a servant of Christ, we are called to please one person - Jesus Christ. How easy it is for us (especially those of us who are natural people pleasers) to seek the accolades of people. Let's face it, we all appreciate an encouraging word or a well done slap on the back from others. The rub comes when things are not going so well in our ministries. Attendance is down, giving is down, or there is a critical spirit in the church or the leadership.

This is when the temptation arises to try and change things, to make things better. Later we realize we are operating more in the flesh than the spirit. And all our efforts and energy have not generated a lasting change, but merely placated some of the nay sayers. 

Thankfully, when we choose to please God and Him alone, we will please those around us as well. But there will be times when we can't make everyone happy. It's during those times that we need great courage to walk the path of faith, choosing to please the only One who gave up everything for us. 

The quality of worship music has advanced tremendously in the last ten years. We have better sound, lighting, video and room acoustics than ever in history. Worship conferences and the internet have allowed worship leaders to access unlimited songs, teachings on worship and training for worship musicians.

But another trend has risen up along side our advancements. It seems that we've gotten so good and slick in our musical presentation that we (the congregation) find ourselves spectating at times instead of worshipping.

Recently, I overheard an interesting conversation betweentwo of the students at my church. They were discussing the use of motion backgrounds behind the lyrics. The conversation when something like this, "The motion backgrounds distract me when I'm trying to worship." The other replied, "You're not suppose to pay attention to the background."

"So why use them if I'm not supposed to pay attention to them?" The other replied "Well you can't just having nothing in the background."

I think this conversation says much about how we use technology in worship and the danger it poses to create spectators instead of worshippers. Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

There seems to be a move away from the busy screens and worship bands lit up with $100,000 lighting packages. I'm seeing more black backgrounds behind lyrics and worship bands even set up on the side to avoid becoming a distraction to the congregation.

I'm not a technology hater. There's no doubt that worship presentation software has eliminated a ton of distraction caused by searching for the next lyric in PowerPoint or swapping out an overhead slide. 

But as worship leaders, we must keep one finger on the worship pulse of our congregations and one hand on the heart of God. If ever these two become disconnected, then our worship leading is no better than a decent karaoke performance.  

"Everlasting God" from Quebec

We ran into this young fellow at the Christian Musician Summit in Buffalo, NY last weekend. Be sure to watch to the end to see the transliteration of the song back in English. Pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/brentonbrownmusic 

New Mini-Movie: The Motions

Checkout this great new mini-movie from Matthew West in the WorshipTogether.com Media Store!

This unique and powerful animated illustration will challenge your congregation to rise above merely going through religious motions into a lifestyle completely energized and motivated by Christ’s love.

Click here to buy "The Motions" in the WorshipTogether.com Media Store!

Pleasing God, not men

One of the most challenging Scriptures in the Epistles is Galatians 1:10 when Paul says, "Am I now trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Paul is writing in the context of preaching the full Gospel. Parts of the Gospel message were offensive to listeners. And it required great courage for him to preach the whole Gospel and not just the parts that were easy to swallow.

As a servant of Christ, we are called to please one person - Jesus Christ. How easy it is for us (especially those of us who are natural people pleasers) to seek the accolades of people. Let's face it, we all appreciate an encouraging word or a well done slap on the back from others. The rub comes when things are not going so well in our ministries. Attendance is down, giving is down, or there is a critical spirit in the church or the leadership.

This is when the temptation arises to try and change things, to make things better. Later we realize we are operating more in the flesh than the spirit. And all our efforts and energy have not generated a lasting change, but merely placated some of the nay sayers. 

Thankfully, when we choose to please God and Him alone, we will please those around us as well. But there will be times when we can't make everyone happy. It's during those times that we need great courage to walk the path of faith, choosing to please the only One who gave up everything for us. 

Worship Spectators

The quality of worship music has advanced tremendously in the last ten years. We have better sound, lighting, video and room acoustics than ever in history. Worship conferences and the internet have allowed worship leaders to access unlimited songs, teachings on worship and training for worship musicians.

But another trend has risen up along side our advancements. It seems that we've gotten so good and slick in our musical presentation that we (the congregation) find ourselves spectating at times instead of worshipping.

Recently, I overheard an interesting conversation betweentwo of the students at my church. They were discussing the use of motion backgrounds behind the lyrics. The conversation when something like this, "The motion backgrounds distract me when I'm trying to worship." The other replied, "You're not suppose to pay attention to the background."

"So why use them if I'm not supposed to pay attention to them?" The other replied "Well you can't just having nothing in the background."

I think this conversation says much about how we use technology in worship and the danger it poses to create spectators instead of worshippers. Just because we can doesn't mean we should.

There seems to be a move away from the busy screens and worship bands lit up with $100,000 lighting packages. I'm seeing more black backgrounds behind lyrics and worship bands even set up on the side to avoid becoming a distraction to the congregation.

I'm not a technology hater. There's no doubt that worship presentation software has eliminated a ton of distraction caused by searching for the next lyric in PowerPoint or swapping out an overhead slide. 

But as worship leaders, we must keep one finger on the worship pulse of our congregations and one hand on the heart of God. If ever these two become disconnected, then our worship leading is no better than a decent karaoke performance.