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Check out this great new song from Matt Maher's new CD Empty and Beautiful, releasing on April 8th. Matt introduced this song to a group of worship leaders here in Nashville at the Re:create conference back in February and everyone was asking us for a chord afterwards. So take a listen and download the chord chart below!
Listen to the song:
Download the chord chart for this great new song!
In all the worship teachings, ponderings, and musings that I read, I don't hear much about worship mentoring. I have never been a part of a church that does this intentionally. The reason for this may be that in the Nashville area there is such an abundance of good musicians that there is not a need to recruit young people to help. While it's great to have good players, I believe we are missing the blessing and a mandate of raising up the next generation of lead worshipers.
I think there are several reasons why worship leaders avoid working with young people:
1. There's not an immediate payoff. Most worship leaders I know are more concerned with this Sunday than 5 years from now. It's easy to fall into this way of thinking. We want instant results and Lord knows, working with teenagers is 2 steps forward and 1 step back! Many times in ministry leadership we have the mindset of "What can this person do to help me and my ministry?" We must change this to "What I can do to develop this person?"
2. We fall for flash instead of fulfillment. When selecting players, everyone wants the guitar player who can mimic all the tasty licks from the recording, versus the teen who plays everything with hi-gain distortion :). At the end of the day, nobody's going to remember the great guitar riff in "Let God Arise", but a you may direct a young person's destiny by giving them the opportunity to serve along side you.
3. Nobody wants extra baggage. Beware! Integrating young people into your band will cost you. There is a certain amount of hand-holding that must happen, especially at first. My son Christian, who plays guitar and is 12, has started helping me when I lead. The first few times he helped out I had to double check that he packed all his gear, set up his guitar rig, and help calm his nerves. Now that he's been doing it awhile, he knows what gear to bring, sets up his own rig, and is getting more confident with the band.
4. We believe the lie that teens don't want to be involved with adults. This is so bogus. I hear this argument against older youth pastors or adults who work with students. I turned 40 this year and my wife and I both have incredible relationships with a bunch of teens. Nobody cares that we are old enough to be their parents or that we are not cool. All they care about is that we care about them enough to invest into their lives.
5. We feel pressure from the pastor and/or congregation to have a professional sounding band. Okay, I'm going to try and stay off my soap box, but... I sometimes think that the church has forgotten why it exists. In visiting some churches, I get the feeling that the most important thing is how good their music is. We relegate our young people's service to the youth service or the once a year "youth Sunday". That sends the message "this is big church and there's no place for you to help here". If we want more young people in our church services, how about giving them a place to serve?
The seed we sow now will yield an abundant harvest in time if we are faithful to plant and water. So get that spiky haired kid with the Flying V involved in your ministry. You will change his life and he will change yours.
Recently, our staff has been discussing the possibility of adding some additional digital print products to WorshipTogether.com. The digital Piano/Vocal/Guitar (PVG) format is very popular and one of our best selling products at the site.
But I also know that one size doesn't fit all in the worship leading world. Therefore, we plan to supplement our current PVG format with Chord Chart and a Leadsheet formats. I mostly use chord charts when leading worship, but love to have the PVG for my folks that read music. A Leadsheet is sort of a blend of the two.
So what format works best for you? I'd love to hear from you. Also, what do you think is a fair price for a correct chord chart?
For all those, like me, who have eagerly awaited the new album from Leeland, the wait is over! I really liked the first album, but I was completely won offer as a fan when I saw Leeland live last summer at Creation East.
Leeland's live set is a mix of modern worship and Jesus movement. But it's more than a music set, it's a worship experience. Leeland himself, does things from a musician and worship leading standpoint that most 40 year old worship leading veterans struggle to do.
From the new record, my favs are "Opposite Way", "Enter This Temple, and "Brighter Days". I would love to try "Enter This Temple" in my worship set. Of course, I'd need to bring it down about 3 steps into mere mortal vocal range!
"Opposite Way" is super hooky and "Bright Days" just makes me happy.
I'd love to hear what you guys think about it.
Here at WorshipTogether.com we are always looking for ways to provide better service to worship leaders. Many of the improvements we make at WT.com are a direct result of your suggestions. Our goal is to get the best new worship songs to you in a way that allows you to work them into your set lists with ease.
We would love to hear any suggestions you might have on how we can improve, no matter how crazy it may sound!
The last couple of weeks at my church we have been singing this song by Tim Hughes and Nick Herbert from Tim's last CD. The song has a nice Irish swing to it and sounds like a classic, even though it's new.
The song has really energized our worship. It's a tremendous statement of praise. I really love the building up through the lyric "lifting You high, higher and higher". Once it flies back into the chorus, the whole congregation is singing full on.
Anyone else singing this with a similar response?
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