Worship Together Blog

WT Writer Retreat Photos

Here are some photos taken during our worship writers retreat a few weeks ago here in Nashville. This was a fantastic time of refreshing, learning, and relationship building.

Matt Maher and Steve Fee having a spiritual discussion about where we are eating dinner that night.

Michael Gungor lost in Mac world. Our writers all together looked like an Apple ad.

Vicky Beeching and Kelly Minter working on the next "How Great Is Our God".

Johnny Parks and Kevin Huguley from Rush of Fools. Kevin is playing Johnny's phat new Avalon acoustic guitar. It's nice to be Johnny!

EMI's own Matt Ewald. I think Matt was reading a love note from his wife, which he had not seen in 2 days.

Daniel Doss looking tired. Right after I snapped this shot, Daniel passed out and his Mac tumbled to the floor. JK!

Behind the Scenes at The New Song Cafe

We all love the New Song Cafe videos at WorshipTogether.com. I thought you might be interested to go behind the scenes at a video shoot to see how it's all done.

First, let's talk location. We've done video shoots in many different venues. Last year we did a shoot during GMA week at a Nashville hotel. We had to turn the AC off during the recordings, so it was hot as all get out. We've also done shoots here at EMI, rented buildings, and this spring we are using an old church in downtown Nashville. No matter where we do them, we have a very creative set designer that makes them look great.

The videos are shot with 3 cameras by Jon Ward and his team here in Franklin, TN. Just recently, Jon upgraded to Panasonic HD cameras, so the latest New Song Cafe videos are in high def! Except, once it is smashed and uploaded to the website, it's low def again :). A separate audio track is recording in Pro Tools and synched up during editing.

The artist and host arrive 20 minutes prior to taping for makeup. Yes, that's right. All our super-spiritual worship leaders get pancaked so that they have a great complexion on film! See Johnny Parks getting his mug frosted :).

Once we start the taping we herd everyone through like cattle, recording song after song. Almost every song is one take. The longest session we ever did lasted for 9 hours and we taped 33 songs. Once the songs are recorded, we record the introductions and we are done.

So there's our behind the scenes look at the New Song Cafe. I've attached a few more pictures we shot at the last taping.

Easter Music

The Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday services are often difficult to navigate musically. Just like Christmas, there are many great old hymns of the faith that are foundational for many believers. However, many of these are difficult to translate musically into a modern sound.

Last year for Easter Sunday I tackled "Christ Arose". Talk about a challenge! I found a pretty contemporary groove for the verses, but there was just no getting around the awkward metering on the chorus "Up from the grave He arose!". I made several attempts to "straighten it out", but I just couldn't come up with anything that worked. In addition, that song is so well known within my church denomination, I was afraid they would sing it the traditional way no matter what I tried to do to it!

I ultimately decided to just go with the traditional version of the song. I figured our teens and twenty-somethings needed a shot of tradition on Easter. In the end it worked and was very meaningful. I could see some smiles from the older folks as they recalled the last time they had sung the song. The young folks probably thought it was some new retro style post-modern worship anthem :).

So don't be afraid of digging out the traditional hymn every now and then even if you can't  make them sound like Chris Tomlin. In the end it will bless your people and connect the generations.

So what big songs are you planning this Easter, new or old? Let's hear about it!

Set List Survey from Tim Hughes

From Tim Hughes' blog at Worship Central...

Do you ever find you get to the place where someone starts a song in worship and you think; 'if I hear that song one more time I'm going to throttle someone!'

Recently at HTB/SPOS we've been thinking about the songs we use in our times of worship on a Sunday. We have 7 services on a Sunday and for the last 3 months have asked each worship leader to send through their set lists. Our intern and budding mathematician, Beth Coulson has collated this information and come up with the graph below.

It's been a really useful exercise for us as a team. As you can see the songs we've been playing lots include, 'Mighty to Save,' 'Love came down,' 'Never let go,' 'Everlasting God,' 'Great is Your faithfulness,' and 'Happy Day.' Because these songs work really well they end up on the set list all the time. However we've definitely got to a place where we've overdone these songs and are in danger of killing them off once and for all! As a result for the next 2 months we've decided to rest, 'Mighty to Save,' 'Love came down,' 'Everlasting God,' and 'Great is Your faithfulness.'

One of the reasons for doing this is that it forces us to think more creatively when choosing a set list. Sometimes it's so easy to pull out and rely on the classics. Now we're having to find other songs that perhaps we haven't used as much. We're on the search for some new material. All of this brings a freshness to the church. Also it means we don't kill the songs off for good. In 2 months time it will be great to re-introduce some of these songs again. People will enjoy singing them having not sung them for a while."

Read the rest of this post at Worship Central and take a look at the graph...

What songs are you singing a lot and in danger of wearing out?

Worship Pop Stars and a Celebrity Church Culture?

From Vicky Beeching's blog...

Its been an amazing week for me... I spent time at "Re:Create" a think-tank gathering for worship leaders from across the US and abroad. Great to meet new friends - "Re:creaters" please join my Blog and keep in touch! (A big hello to Rick and Laura Muchow and the gang from Saddleback CA, Carlos and Heather Whittaker from Buckhead ATL, Brian and Alicia Chandler from Fulsom CA...and too many other names to mention all the GREAT people I met, but you were all such a breath of fresh air to me : )

Here is my Blog thought for today... It's a conversation I'm excited to start with you guys, as I love your insights....

We need to get great songs out to the wider church, and we need worship leaders and songwriters. But how do we ensure we are not creating a 'celebrity culture' within the Church? How do we as worship leaders approach marketing and imaging, without trying to look like Worship Pop Stars? Where are the lines and are we crossing them?

Are we creating an unhealthy division between local church worship leaders or people who play guitar in home group (who are the true unsung heroes!) and what we now refer to as 'worship recording artists'?

Read more of this post and other great stuff from Vicky at her blog...

What are your thoughts on what Vicky has to say?

Gear Insurance

In the last week, I've heard two different accounts of worship leaders who either had an instrument stolen or damaged while traveling. In both cases, the airline refused to reimburse them for the stolen or damaged goods.

To top things off, your homeowner and/or auto insurance may not cover your stolen instrument if it is used as a part of your worship leading job.

Be sure to check with your insurance agents to make sure your equipment is covered. If you need instrument and/or equipment coverage, there are several companies that offer it. I found www.musicproinsurance.com online.

I'd love to hear from you of any other companies that you have worked with.

How do you start your week?

As worship leaders Sunday's can be our most rewarding and also most exhausting days of the week. Every Monday we begin our week with a devotion and prayer time with the entire staff at the office. It's a great way to just take a few minutes to slow down before things get crazy.

What do you do on Monday's to clear your head and refresh your spirit for the next week?

Life after Re:Create and WT Writers Retreat

Okay it's Monday - the Monday following the week of Re:Create and the Worship Together writers retreat. What a blizzard of activity! I'm so thankful for all the Re:Create folks and our staff here at EMI CMG.

God did so many amazing things that I'll have plenty of blog content for the next few months. Here are some highlights of the weeks for me:

Al Andrews, Stephen Mansfield, Jim and Kim Thomas - you are all amazing. The things you shared with our group will bear fruit for months and years to come!

The Wednesday night Re:Create dinner at the Anchor was magical. The church was magnificent, the fellowship was beautiful, the songs shared were inspiring.

I'm so thankful for a job that allows me to participate in these special events where you sense that God is doing something amazing.

Worship and Missions Part 2

I think the problem is that we've divorced worship from missions. God spanked Israel by saying "you honor me with your mouths, but your hearts are far from me". So how do we bring our hearts near to God? Micah 6:8 says "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

How can we stand up in front of our churches and lead people to worship God if we are unwilling to live by Micah 6:8? Ouch! I've heard the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit at times say to me "your heart is far from me"!

Surely there is more to worship ministry than creating set lists, recruiting musicians, and leading music. The real excitement is in missions! Nothing fuels the fire of worship like a fresh missions experience.

I remember the my first Sunday back at church leading worship after returning from a mission trip to Nicaragua. As I sang the lyrics "You're the defender of the week. You comfort those in need", I broke into tears because I was recounting the orphans that we ministered to. It was a powerful moment as I shared our experiences with the congregation.

True worship should always lead to missions. As worship connects us to God's heart by bringing our hearts near to Him, we begin to love what God loves and hate what God hates. 

 

New Service - New Songs

About five months ago I started leading worship for a more traditional church here in the Nashville area that wanted to incorporate a more contemporary service.

This has been a slightly challenging experience for me because I am used to a congregation being more familiar with what I consider to be a few "standards",  or favorites, such as "Here I Am To Worship", "Blessed Be Your Name", "Above All", "Open The Eyes Of My Heart", "Heart Of Worship, etc. This has not been the case though, as these songs are still new to many of those in the congregation.

I have taken the approach of teaching a new song almost every week. This is coupled with me learning one or two new hymns every week and chording them out to be a little more modern.  This give and take seems to be working well.  The service is growing and people are excited and are responding well, but this does prompt a few questions:

1. How many new songs do you introduce a week/month?
2. How long should it take to introduce a modern worship style in a more traditional church?
3. What can we do as worship leaders to bring the congregation along without alienating them?