A Few of My Favorite Things (Christmas 2013)

Most of you already have your Christmas song sets and resources put together but a friend of mine recently said, “Christmas music is like wrapping paper, you buy it the year before and then look back at it the next year to see what you’ve got”. So here’s my list of favorite finds for this Christmas season and if you haven’t finalized your plans hopefully you can grab a couple of these.

Can You Hear Them? (10 Tips for Unleashing a Singing Congregation)

 

This past I week I had the chance to be part of the congregation while one of our teams lead worship without me on stage. (It’s one of the great joys of leadership when you get to watch the team you have trained and cared for lead with as much excellence and power as if you were on stage with them.) I had been standing in the back row worshipping until it was time for me to come forward to do the communion meditation and prayer when I got to the front row it hit me. The congregation was singing out LOUDLY! There are few things on earth that I love more than that sound.

Backing up a bit, I was having a conversation with an elder at another church recently and he mentioned that he has noticed a growing trend of people standing and watching the band and vocalists during worship instead of singing along. He then asked me if I thought that was okay? I told him it was not only NOT okay, but that there were some simple ways to make it easier to help and encourage them to do so with joy.

Danger- Change in Worship Ahead (tips on transitioning worship style)

So you’ve taken that new job and you’re trying to figure out how to make some much needed transitions without causing yourself or your church unnecessary “bloodshed”.

I’ve been talking to some worship minister friends of mine who are either in this phase of ministry or about to experience it. During these conversations I’ve found myself telling the story of my very first worship mentor and decided to share it with the hopes that it can be helpful even to those of us in established ministries.

Beyond Songs and Themes: Part 1 (Responding to The Story Together Every Sunday)

I was sitting in a Thai food restaurant discussing the various things that people expect out of a worship service like songs, volume, scripture readings and other things with a friend of mine when he asked the question that brought on the last couple of years of clarifying the “why and how” of worship design.

He simply asked, “what are you trying to accomplish when you plan worship services?”

Song Set Coach (Excel in Worship Planning: Tool #4)

In baseball, it amazes me how stats are kept on everything. How many pitches thrown in a game, in a series, in a season and in a career.  How many fly balls are caught, how many base hits are made, how many fouls.  They probably even keep numbers on how many times a pitcher spits or something silly like that.  Stats are kept so that progress, growth, and success of teams and players can be tracked and recorded.

What if we thought about worship song sets the same way?