Worship Together Blog

Worship and Missions Part 1

One Sunday after our morning rehearsal I was approached by a man who looked in his 40's. I could tell by his dress (and smell!) that he had walked in off the street and was probably looking for some money. Since the service was about to begin, I asked if he would mind staying through the service. After which, I would try and find him some help. 

My first impulse was to search out our pastor who was over benevolence. I figured that would be the easiest way of getting him help and relieving me from the responsibility. Of course, I couldn't find the pastor anywhere!

In the end, I think I did the right thing. My dad and I drove him to where he needed to go, stopped and bought him some comfortable shoes, paid his hotel bill, and gave him some money for food.

Experiences like that always stand to remind me that it is impossible to separate worship and missions. I've been a part of some great worship services and had some incredible private worship moments with God. But "when the music fades" that great "top of the mountain" feeling never lasts. It's almost like a fix that wears off only to leave us empty and wanting more. Can you identify?

More to come...

   

Worship Together 2008 Events Schedule

It's always great to get out of the office and mix it up with worship leaders and worship music fans across the country. This year Worship Together will be very busy attending several worship conferences and Christian music festivals.

Here's a list of conferences and events in case you want to drop by and say "Hi!":

Feb 5-8     Re:Create Conference, Franklin, TN (www.recreateconference.com)
A great small event for future thinking worship leaders. Randy Elrod caps this conference at 120 attendees. Since it's located near Nashville, there's always surprises of great speakers and worship artists.

Apr 11-12  Passion Regional, Atlanta, GA (www.268generation.com)
For college students, this is the best thing going. Why couldn't there have been something this cool when I was in college! :)

May 15-17 CMS, Buffalo, NY (www.christianmusiciansummit.com)
Bruce Adolph and his staff do a tremendous job with this event. It's unique in that you can bring you're whole worship team and there are seminars from everyone from guitar players to, yes, drummers.   

June 9-12  East Coast Worship Summit, Wayne, PA (www.eastcoastworship.com)
This is the first year for this conference, but they are starting off strong by bringing in worship leaders Brenton Brown, Vicky Beeching, and Steve Fee.

June 12-14 Ichthus Festival, Wilmore, KY (www.ichthus.org)
WT has never been to this festival, but we are super excited to be going this year. Be sure to stop by and visit us at the New Song Cafe Live seminars!

June 23-26 Saddleback Worship Conference, Lake Forest, CA (www.purposedriven.com)
What can I say? Southern Cali weather, Delirious?, Leeland, and a kicking facility. Come to the conference, then head up the Pacific Coast Highway for a couple days of well deserved rest!

July 1-5     Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, IL (www.cornerstonefestival.com)
This is one of the choice festivals to attend if you love a variety of Christian Music. On July 4th, WT is sponsoring an entire evening of music centered on the theme of Justice and Mercy. David Crowder Band, Robbie Seay Band, Michael Gungor Band, Glorious Unseen, and others will be performing on main stage.

July 21-24  National Worship Leaders Conf, Austin, TX (www.nationalworshipleaderconference.com)
Last year was the first year for this event and you would have never guessed it if you attended. Suzie Stablein and her staff do an excellent job. River Bend Church is incredible and Austin, TX is a fun city.

July 30-Aug 2  Soulfest, Gilford, NH (www.thesoulfest.com)
Dan Russell and his staff do a great job. Located at Gunstock Mountain Ski Resort, the surroundings are breathtaking. Be sure to drop by the Mercy Street Cafe for our New Song Cafe Live seminars.

Sept 18-20 CMS, Bayside, CA (www.christianmusiciansummit.com)
Bruce Adolph and his staff do a tremendous job with this event. It's unique in that you can bring you're whole worship team and there are seminars from everyone from guitar players to, yes, drummers. 

Nov 13-15  CMS, Redmond, WA (www.christianmusiciansummit.com)
Bruce Adolph and his staff do a tremendous job with this event. It's unique in that you can bring you're whole worship team and there are seminars from everyone from guitar players to, yes, drummers. 

Worship Together Writers' Retreat

February 5-7, Worship Together is hosting its first ever Worship Writers Retreat in Franklin, TN. There has been a truck load of thinking, planning, and work that has went into this event. Now that we are a week out, I'm brimming with anticipation about what God is going to do in this group.

Here's a list of those who are attending:
-Matt Maher (Your Grace Is Enough)
-Brenton Brown (Everlasting God)
-Robbie Seay (Robbie Seay Band)
-Antonio Phelon (EMI Gospel Artist)
-Michael Gungor (Friend of God)
-Ben Crist (Glorious Unseen)
-Vicky Beeching (Yesterday Today and Forever)
-Kelly Minter (New Kingsway Artist)
-Kevin Huguley (Rush of Fools)
-Wes Willis (Rush of Fools)
-Steve Fee (All Because of Jesus)
-Vernon Williams (New Gospel Worship Leader)
-Paul Oakley (Be Lifted Up)
-Daniel Doss (New Worship Artist)
-Johnny Parks (Worship Artist from Ireland)
-Aaron Keyes (New Kingsway Artist)

Usually these folks are ministering to worship leaders like you and I at various conferences and events around the country. This will be a time for them to be ministered to. I get giddy thinking that what God does at this retreat, could possibly impact hundreds of thousands of people around the world for the glory of God!

I'll be blogging some thoughts and hopefully will have some pics to share after the event. Go God!

Worship Band Rehearsal - Part 2

Continued from prior post...

4. Make sure your rehearsal is at least 3 hours. Seriously people, unless your worship band is going on tour, this is ridiculous. The last thing your volunteer musicians want is to spend an entire evening away from their famliies for a worship rehearsal that should have ended after the first hour. If you are only introducing 1 new song (see point 2), then you should be able to run through that song 2 or 3 times, practice your known songs once, spend some time in prayer, and still be done within an hour!

5. Consistantly show up late and allow others to do the same. It's amazing how much this is just expected and tolerated among musicians. When people are consistantly late, it says to everyone else "my time is more important that yours". As the leader, if you refuse to deal with this, eventually everyone will begin showing up late. Then your rehearsals will run long (see point 4).

6. Give everyone only words with chords. It's amazing how many worship leaders bring only lyric chord charts to rehearsal. Playing a new song with a chord chart is like fumbling around for the light switch in a dark room. Companies like www.praisecharts.com or www.ccli.com/songselect/ can help you with charts. If you are committed to only using chord charts, at least allow your band to hear the song in advance.

These are not a sure fire formula for success, but if you follow these suggestions, you will navigate safely through the dangerous field and avoid many pitfalls that others (including myself) have painfully experienced!

Blessings on your ministry!

Worship Band Rehearsal - Part 1

One of the most asked questions I hear from worship leaders who are just starting to lead is how to organize and facilitate worship band rehearsals. This sounds fairly simple, but it is a pretty pasture filled with land mines!

I've been involved in worship, either leading or as a musician, for the last 12 years and I've had all different experiences with rehearsals, good and bad. If you want your band to run screaming from the building, vowing to never play their instrument again, here's my top list of surefire irritations.

1. Don't prepare anything in advance. Nothing is more frustrating to the band than for the leader to show up with a big stack of song sheets, plop them down on floor, and ask "so what do y'all think we should sing this week?". Part of the leadership role is to discern in advance which songs should be sung that week, pull appropriate charts (I'll talk more about this next), and show up at rehearsal with a thought out plan. This doesn't mean you can't make changes, but at least everyone has a starting point.

2. Introduce 5 new songs. When the new Passion album releases, you must resist the temptation to introduce half of the songs to your band the next week. I suggest not introducing more than 1 new song per rehearsal. Your church will thank you as well :).

3. Create unique arrangements for every song. There are some exceptions to this no no. If all your songs are charted specifically for each instrument, all your players read music, and the song is new to your church, then I say go for it. However, if your band plays mostly by ear and chord charts, you're going to have problems. Also, once people learn the standard way to play or sing a song, playing different arrangements is difficult for the band and for your church to follow.

More to come...      

Disappointment and Discouragement - Part 4

As soon as we face up to the fact that we all struggle at times, the sooner we can help one another along. Satan wants nothing more than to keep us self-focused, thinking that our struggles are unique and that we will never overcome them.

In C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, the elder demon advises the younger demon to keep his man focused on himself and his present circumstances. And to not let him think about more eternal things. When we focus too much on our current situation, it's hard to see beyond the trial. God gently lifts our heads and shows us the bigger picture of His kingdom.

Hebrews 10:19-25 gives us great encouragement. The title of this chapter in my Bible is "A Call to Perseverance". If you are in a season of disappointment, you should turn there now and read it. The writer reminds us that our faith is in God, not ourselves. We should draw near to him.

And finally he writes, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (My emphasis added).

So whatever you're dealing with right now that has knocked the wind out of you, don't give up! God has not given up on you. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

-Peace

Disappointment and Discouragement - Part 3

And King David is not an anomaly. Most every major Bible personality experienced periods of disappointment and hardship, most of which would make our problems seem a bit trivial. The interesting point is that the Bible writers decided not to gloss over these hardships, but to show them in all their ugliness. Perhaps this is somewhat cultural. I believe westerners tend to be more "positive thinkers" with a "you can do anything" mentality.

I love the website www.despair.com. They create "demotivators", which are a tongue-in-cheek slam on those motivational posters featuring a whale or an eagle soaring. Here's a description that I pulled from their site:

AT DESPAIR, INC., we believe motivational products create unrealistic expectations, raising hopes only to dash them. That's why we created our soul-crushingly depressing Demotivators® designs, so you can skip the delusions that motivational products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!

Maybe I've got a cocked sense of humor (probably!), but I love the honesty!

Seriously, we have to face up to the fact that things don't always turn out just the way we want. And when we are in those places during our lives and ministries, we need to be able to talk honestly about it. God can handle it, we think others can't.

Disappointment and Discouragement - Part 2

So what are we so afraid of? Is God any less victorious even if we aren't? I've been reading recently in 1 and 2 Samuel the accounts of King David. He experienced some pretty extreme highs and lows during the course of his life. For sure, his story is not an example of spiraling up toward God.

As you read the account, here's how it progresses: he goes from shepherd boy, to giant killer, to Israel's superstar, to running for his life from Saul, to becoming King, to fighting and killing everyone who wasn't an Israelite, to dancing naked, to killing Uriah and taking his wife, to losing his son, to uniting Israel, to running for his life from his son, to causing the deaths of 70,000 Israelites, to dying.

And this was a man who the Bible says "was after God's own heart".