The Last Song Ruined it for Me

A friend of mine, whom I had lead worship with a while back, called me to chat. During our conversation he told me of an encounter he had with a woman that approached him after the service we had lead together. She told him, with arms crossed, "The last song ruined it for ME."

I'm sorry, that last song wasn't actually for YOU, ma'am. Wow!

Let's remember who worship is intended for. Worship service isn't a concert or an entertainment venue. Sometimes as musicians we can make mistakes that seriously distract others during their time of corporate worship.... but I want to get to a place where I am loving God so much during worship, the least of my concerns are a missed note from the pianist, a tired voice from the song leader, or even a personal preference not being met concerning musical style.

Introducing New Music to Congregations

If you are like me, you spend a great deal of time praying, selecting appropriate and inviting worship music, narrowing down the selections, and finally introducing them to those whom you lead in worship. It IS a distraction for your congregation when you "spring" a song on them that few have heard. While a new song in the rotation can breath "new life" into the service, it can also alienate people and cause a bit of anxiousness.

Here is a tip:

4 weeks leading up to introducing a new tune, play a recorded version during "walk-in" time each Sunday. (Between Sunday School and Worship Service, etc. prior to service starting.) People will hear it and become subconsciously familiar with it. They probably won't have the words memorized or even know the name, but it will be less of a shock for them and a nice subtle segue into even a completely different song or style that you will be introducing. Another great benefit... you may receive feedback from it from those in the congregation such as, "I loved the song that was playing before church this morning" or a response I once got (lol), "since when do we play that rap music before church" (it wasn't rap... it had a beat and this person probably just didn't have any other way to describe it.)

Just a tip I have learned from experience! Have a great day.

Dan

Moving from Traditional to Blended

Great article that a friend of mine wrote. I can identify with all of these, having led two churches from Traditional to Blended(or contemporary-ish) services. I would have written my own list, but I couldn't have stated it any better than this.... enjoy!

The following list, although not exhaustive, details lessons we have learned through this process:
Take Your Time. This should come as no great surprise, but putting it into practice is another thing. Although we thought we were moving at a good pace, we were not. Key church leaders must take time to communicate why changes are being made and how those changes will be implemented.
Do Your Homework. We may think we know everything about leading a church, but sometimes we miss the obvious. For example, I missed understanding the music philosophy taught by past church leaders and its influence.One of my predecessors had voiced a strong conviction about not using any instruments other than organ and piano in worship. Needless to say, people who had grown up under his leadership had a hard time accepting a full orchestra, especially the drums and electric guitars.
Know Where You Are HeadedMany wonderful church members have little frame of reference outside their own church. Some may fear that a change in worship style would not be consistent with their theology or comfort level. Worship leaders must take time to educate and to explain where any change is leading.
Work to Earn TrustThe religious, political, and business scandals of past decades seem to have led to an inherent distrust of leadership in general. Though many in leadership positions call this attitude unfair (and it is), it remains a reality. Trust comes out of respect and relationship. Once trust is earned, leading change becomes more manageable.
Expect ChallengeIt would be naive or perhaps foolish to not expect challenge or criticism during a time of change. People grieve loss, not change. This should give us a better understanding during transitional times.Try to discern between legitimate concerns and petty complaints. Listen to those who come in a spirit of concern. Use that time to teach and explain why you’re making certain changes and heading in a new direction.
Transition Is a Process, Not an EventMany who answer the call to ministry want to see things happen fast. This is a good quality when casting vision, but not if change is expected overnight. Be patient. Wait on God. Wait on your people. Let God lead the change.
Call the Right PersonnelDo not overlook this. Many talented people do a phenomenal job leading music, but not everyone has the ability and temperament to lead change. Make sure any individuals or groups leading change are big-picture people who see the many facets of the church, not just the worship side.
Don’t Compromise QualityA familiar criticism of contemporary music is that it’s not “real music.” Though I understand the gist of such criticism, it is not always true. Perhaps some churches have helped perpetuate this criticism by lowering standards when singing or preparing for contemporary pieces. Make sure that whatever you do, you do all for the glory of the Lord. Give Him your best, regardless of the style.
Understand Technical IssuesWe added two large IMAG (Image Magnification) screens in our new worship center. This element alone brought tremendous new challenges to worship planning each week! Don’t forget that for every new application, someone who knows how to put it together must be behind the scenes. A bad production is worse than no production. (See lesson 8)
Be Prayerful and CarefulNever forget it is God’s church, and Jesus is the head. Don’t become trapped into thinking you have to find and follow the latest trends. Pray about the direction you should go, and let God affirm that direction. He’ll speak to people and help them understand the change. While methods come and go with every generation, the message never changes. Don’t attempt to lead a church through any change until you and your leadership have spent time in prayer.
Remember that though risk is always present, the reward of seeing lives changed by the gospel is worth all the work and worry that accompanies any change.

Interactive Worship Stations

I've been thinking for a while now about how to more comfortably allow people to participate in worship. As a worship leader, sometimes you look out into the congregation and see people who maybe aren't connecting in a vocal or physical way. That doesn't, however, mean they aren't worshipful.

As I've spent a great deal of time speaking to people on how they worship, etc... I've found that some say:

1.) I am uncomfortable singing.
2.) I am uncomfortable raising my hands or dancing, or whatever physical form of worship is going on around them.

Why can't we be innovative as worship leaders and come up with some innovative ways for this group of people to be interactive in worship (if they choose).

Some ideas I have had are:

SIN & PRAISE BOARDS
1.)Place two coruplast boards up front of the auditorium on easels. One white and one black.
2.)The white board is the praise board. The black board is the sin board.
3.)Have black markers at both boards for people to write. (The black will show up invisible on the black board.)
4.)As the praise band plays a song related to forgiveness of sin and praise for the grace extended to us as sinners.... people would feel free to move about the auditorium and pray (for themselves or with others). As they feel led, they come to the front and write the weeks praises on the white board and give up their sins on the black board.


SIN SHREDDER
This one works similar to the idea above, except tables could be placed around the auditorium for people to write their sins on. As they feel led they could make their way to the shredder and shred them for good. Just how Christ blots out our transgressions. Also set up a microphone for people to spontaneously speak praises to the Lord while all this is going on. All the while, the worship team is singing or playing a relevant song.

What ideas do you have?

What Churches are Singing

This month... the top five songs in churches are:

How Great Is Our God

Blessed Be Your Name

Here I Am To Worship

Mighty To Save

Open The Eyes Of My Heart

Who are you exalting?

9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” LUKE 18:9-14

As worship leaders, in the spot light, and holding a number of others attention.... let us be humble and know who must increase and who must decrease.

The Worship Community

I found a neat forum where anyone involved in worship production can read, ask questions, comment, discuss, study... just about anything to do with worship. Check it out! I've been having lot's of fun there.

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/

Church Marketing

What if Starbucks marketed like your church? Would it look something like this?



I found this on blog that I read every now and then. It really made me think.

Do these five things!

1 Chronicles 16:8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.9 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works

1.) Give thanks the Lord

2.) Call upon His name

3.) Make known His deeds among the people

4.) Sing to Him

5.) Talk about His wondrous works

As a worship leader or member of a worship team, make these 5 things the ingredients of your day.... EVERY DAY! It's the recepie to a healthy worship life. Naturally, there is more involved than just this. I challenge you, however, to work these 5 things into your every day life. See if you can tell the difference as the weeks go by, as you lead worship. You will be a better worship leader because of it!

Word Like Fire

"Is not My word like fire?" declares the Lord......

A new friend of mine, and fellow church musician/leader/ songwriter, Joel Hinck has a website that I want to recommend. Joel says on his website, "I decided to quit my job and commit totally to doing what I knew God was calling me to do. " God had been calling Joel to write Christian music. I know many of us could learn a valuable lesson from that simple statement. COMMIT to doing what God wants us to do. Is His word not like FIRE? I know when He speaks to me it certainly is!

Let's support Joel in following God's command for his life and visit his ministry at http://www.wordlikefire.com/ , check out what the Lord has laid on his heart. I've listened to a lot of what is offered for musical selections and believe you will be blessed by it too. Who knows, you may find your worship set for Sunday on the site. Some great stuff at a minimal expense.

Check it out! http://www.wordlikefire.com/

TEAM

Teams are organisms in themselves. They start in infancy and hopefully grow into a fully functional, usable, and profitable bodies within the church. There are various types of teams, each with their own purpose. If you are reading this, however, you are most likely part of or leading a "worship team." Your team may still be in it's infancy, others may be full grown, and some may be in old age. Where ever your team is in maturity and growth, I want to challenge you to asses the health of the "team" or body. Just because you are full grown doesn't mean you are in good health just the same as being in your infancy doesn't mean you aren't perfectly healthy. I've seen 70 year old men in better health than some 25 year olds. The same can be said about your worship team. So this is about HEALTHY teams not success or numbers or anything like that.

Answer the following on a scale of 1-5. If certain areas score low from several team members, it could be time to do a "check up" and find opportunities to build individually and as a group.

SCORING
5 = Strongly Agree. Fully operational and exceeds the description.
4 = Agree Operational and meets all or nearly all aspects of the description, but not ideal.
3 = Slightly Agree Operational, but incomplete. Partially meets the description.
2 = Slightly Disagree Nearly operational, but some way to go. Doesn't yet really meet the description.
1 = Disagree We have started on this, but there is a long way to go. The descriptors do not apply.
0 = Strongly Disagree Nothing has been done - this does not apply at all to our team.

Purpose / Direction
a. - The team has a clear mission/purpose, known by all team members.
b. - The team has a vision and success criteria which are challenging, meaningful and exciting to the team.
c. - The team understands how the work of the team fits into the larger picture.

Team Leadership
d. - Balances appropriate direction with support and openness.
e. - Discusses key issues with the team.
f. - Delegates responsibility and leadership to individuals in their area of expertise.

Understanding Differences
g. - Team members understand what their roles are, and where these overlap with other team members.
h. - Team members are clear about what is expected of them individually by the rest of the team.
i. - Team members are clear about what individual strengths each member of the team brings.

Processes
j. - Team meetings are effective.
k. - The team has found and implemented better ways of working.
l. - The team has an efficient process to solve problems and take decisions.
m. The team has sufficient resources (people, money, time) to do its work.

Communication
n. Everyone feels their ideas and input are listened to by the rest of the team.
o. Differences and conflicts are resolved openly and constructively.
p. Members' interaction is open and honest.

Relationships
q. The team's different experiences, skills and gifts are accepted and used.
r. There is trust and openness between team members.
s. New members feel valued and quickly become productive members of the team.
t. The team takes responsibility for its successes and failures, and avoids blaming other people or groups.

I've used this with worship teams at conferences and various consulting opportunities. If you can spend some time on this, an all day session or a series of "enrichment classes" with your team.... I know you will see results happen quickly. I first began using this when I was the pastor for education & students at a very established large church who's teams within the education department were established, experienced, equipped, and STAGNATE. The church had been there for 100 years and had a lot of great things going for it. Healthy team participation wasn't one of those things. You can be a church plant or the oldest church in town... taking assessments of where everyone on the team is can and WILL prove itself to be an excellent tool in serving others and Christ.

CCLI

Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) was established in 1988 to provide churches with simple, affordable solutions to complex copyright issues. CCLI helps churches maintain their integrity and avoid costly lawsuits, while also giving churches the freedom to worship expressively and spontaneously.



If you aren't currently reporting your song usage for copyright purposes, you may want to consider http://www.ccli.com/



The copyright law is very clear on copying music. If you do not have express permission from the rightful owner of the song, you cannot make a copy. Many church music leaders who have made efforts to honor the law and have tried to obtain permission first from the copyright owner before making copies have found this to be a time-consuming challenge and in many cases, an administrative nightmare. CCLI is an excellent solution and the right thing to do.

What You Can't Do if your church doesn't have a license.
Print songs, hymns and lyrics in bulletins, programs, liturgies and songsheets for use in congregational singing.
Create your own customized songbooks or hymnals for use in congregational singing.
Create overhead transparencies, slides or use any other format whereby song lyrics are visually projected (such as computer graphics and projection) for use in congregational singing.
Arrange, print and copy your own arrangements (vocal and instrumental) of songs used for congregational singing, where no published version is available.
Record your worship services (audio or video) provided you only record live music. Accompaniment tracks cannot be reproduced. You may charge up to $4 each for audiocassette tapes and CDs, and $12 each for videotapes and DVDs.

Projection Software

Download a free 30day trial today!

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE TRIAL

I would like to recommend this product to anyone who uses projection lyrics, dvds, and other media types during worship service. This takes all the difficult planning and hard work out of the logistics portion of your job. In addition, your media volunteers will love you for making their job a no brainer.

Trust me on this one. No more interruptions while they change DVD's or switch between hardware. This allows you to do EVERYTHING from the laptop. There is not a better software package on the market and you can purchase this for under $300.

Visit www.easyworship.com

Where to start?

"May the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever."

• If you are "God called" to lead worship, you already have a good start. Start by praying and asking God how you can use your gifts to glorify Him even more.

• Look for areas in your life and ministry where God is "equipping" you. We will continuously grow as new experiences and situations are put in our path. Treat them as an education and wisdom from God Himself. Put your knowledge to use!

• Surrender to that tug in your heart, to do what is pleasing to Him. Often times it can be a challenge, but it is your "duty" to move forward when you feel God calling.

• Give God ALL the glory (for ever and ever). It is easy, as a worship leader or member of the worship team, to become caught up in the encouragement others give as you showcase your calling before them and God in hopes of leading them into God's presence. Just make sure you (as their leader) point them toward the cross and not yourself.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and God Bless!

Daniel Whitaker

5 Tips for CREATIVITY

Anyone who knows my children say that they come by it honestly. They can come up with some of the coolest stuff to do. Games, drawings, songs, and who knows what else to occupy themselves sometimes. I like to think they get all their creativity from 'ol Dad, and some of it they probably do. I would say the biggest influence, however, is that I create an atmosphere that allows them to be creative. Trust me, I believe in structure.... but I also believe in just good old fashion "hang out" time. I believe in it for my kids, for me, and for my worship teams. My kids come up with awesome crazy things to do and make use out of some of the most odd everyday house-hold items to accomplish their leisure time activities. So if you want to get creative: Take some leisure time!

Another thing I do with the kids that probably influences their creativity the most is "thinking BIG." When riding in the car somewhere, I can keep them occupied if we are all involved in something more structured since we are confined to small quarters. If not, fighting breaks out. Usually things are fine until one of them gets punched at the first sight of a VW Beetle. So we tell stories (this whole approach to a car ride is pretty creative in itself I've been told.) We tell made up CRAZY stories. They all know they are "made up" and there is a difference in having some fun making up FUN stories and telling lies. So off we go, telling some very creative stories to each other. It teaches them to dream (and dream BIG!) Every so often I can tie in some pretty unbelievable stories from the Bible into one of theirs and their little eyes just light up with amazement. They often ask if the story I'm telling or they have come up with could "really be true." I hope I am correct when I say, my children won't be held back by small ideas as they grow up. They can DREAM BIG, pray, and seek wise counsel. They know of the BIG things God has done and that if it's His will, their BIG THINGS will come to pass too!

I said all that to say this:

If you want to be more creative....

1.) Take some time away from your regular routine. Just do something different today!

2.) Be Still. Take some time off. Just relax and THINK of the biggest, craziest, and unreachable things that you can think of. Include your ministry, your family, your friends, and God. You might just come up with a worthwhile creative idea.

3.) Share your ideas with others and see if they can expand on it. (or possibly bring you back to reality) Seek wise counsel!

4.) If you work as part of a team, create an atmosphere where they are allowed to share ideas and thoughts. Not only that, encourage them to be creative. (Just do it in a creative way and they WILL become involved!)

5.) Be open minded, pray for Gods Spirit to be in control, and for Him to influence your creativeness. I know just by looking around at the beautiful and wonderful creations I see on earth and in the heavens that God's imagination is much larger than mine. Ask Him to share some of that creativeness with you and USE YOU to accomplish something creative and God honoring!

YOUR CHALLENGE: GET STARTED TODAY!

Daniel Whitaker

Have you ever thought to have your picture made on a dumpster in the woods? GET CREATIVE!

Once I was leading a worship band "start-up" and things were getting "dry" as the week of rehearsal went on. The same songs over and over. Much of these young people's enthusiasm and creativeness (as a result in the disappearance of enthusiasm) began to vanish about mid-week. All the songs we were adding started to sound the same, their stage presence was just mediocre, and nothing really catchy was going on by this point. Without them even realizing it, I re-energized these young people into being more enthusiastic and creative in their approach in one simple creative idea of my own. We just stopped rehearsal and took silly pictures of eachother and as a group. It was spontanious, FUN, crazy, different, relaxing, and exactly what they needed to finish that week of rehearsal. I still don't think they knew exactly what my purpose was for telling one of them to grab the camera and everyone else go outside for some pictures.... but they did it anyhow and came back in read to JAM like I've never seen or heard them before. Check out those crazy pictures at PhotoBucket.com.

If you would like to see the photos, please just email me and I will be happy to share. :-)

Resource Focus

www.planningcenteronline.com

Hey All,

This is an excellent resource I would like to reccomend. I have used it for a few years and it is a very helpful tool in planning, communicating, and driving your worship/media ministry with other team members. Check it out!

Daniel Whitaker

Biblical Leadership & Vision

Since many who read this are worship "leaders", here are some practical verses I have found on leadership. Obviously there are many more, but these have helped me stay focused on Godly leadership and keeping with His will when I've had the responsibility of leading others. Enjoy!

Principal #1

Understands that the ultimate leader is God, and seeking Him is paramount to success. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Pricipal #2

Prays continuously and all actions are guided by the Holy Spirit. “Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek His face continually.” I Chronicles 16:11

Princiapl #3

Personal characteristics are modeled after the Fruits of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” Galatians 5:22

Princiapl #4

Plans projects with careful consideration. “For which of you, intending to build a tower, sits not down first, and counts the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it”? Luke 14:28

Principal #5

Supports the promotion and success of those who assist in his ministry and other worshipers. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others”. Philippians 2:4

Principal #6

Communicates vision and goals clearly with motivation. “Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run that reads it.” Habakkuk 2:2

Principal #7

Exhibits excellence and diligence. “Seest though a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Proverbs 22:29

One last thing!

I didn't include this next one when I had originally posted these 7 principals of leadership. I have, however, learned since then that having a VISION is very important to leading others. "Where there is no vision, the people perish". Just make sure you include the senior pastor when praying about and developing a vision for your music & worship ministry. The vision for your ministry has to tie in and have a common thread with that of the direction of the church or I'm afraid success will be slow to come.

Top 5 Songs Churches Are Singing

March 2009

1. Mighty to Save
Fielding, Morgan
2. How Great Is Our God
Tomlin
3. Blessed Be Your Name
Redman
4. Here I Am To Worship
Hughes
5. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Tomlin

The Top Three Mistakes in Contemporary Worship

Here is an article written by a trusted colleague of mine when contemporary worship was beginning to become an "issue" at churches around the coutry. When I first began the "contemporary leg" of my ministry, this article helped me a great deal. I pray that it does the same for you.

Daniel Whitaker
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hear of traditional churches who’ve started contemporary services only to see
them fail. I've seen it all - I've visited famous megachurches and new, small
churches that meet in storefronts, and see common problems. Here are three
which can be easily fixed and will greatly enhance your congregation's worship
experience:
Problem 1: Plugging praise songs into a traditional format. Contemporary
worship is NOT business as usual! Gone are the days of three songs and a sermon,
turning to hymn #235 and trying to figure out the bass/tenor/alto part as you
watch the song leader wave his arms (who reads music these days, anyway?)
Traditional worship is often described as being "horizontal," meaning that we're
talking ABOUT God instead of TO God. For instance, many hymns speak of God's
attributes ("I Sing the Mighty Power of God.") Many old-time Gospel songs speak
of our personal testimony ("Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine.") Of course, there's
nothing wrong with this. But contemporary worship music usually directs our
thoughts directly TO God - "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord," "Lord, I Lift Your
Name On High." This is an important distinction. Praise songs aren't Shakespeare,
they're prayers!
The mindset of contemporary worship is a bit different from traditional. It's more
personal, intimate. You'll find greater success with your contemporary service if
you build it from the ground up instead of simply plugging praise songs into your
traditional service order. Examine every part of your service: what will help or
hinder your goals?
A common example are announcements. Either get rid of them by putting them in
your bulletin, or bookend your service with them. Put announcements either at the
very beginning or at the very end so you can have an uninterrupted block of
worship time.
Solution: Realize that traditional worship is usually horizontal (singing ABOUT
God) and contemporary worship is usually vertical (singing TO God) and plan your
services accordingly.
Problem 2: Stopping between songs. If praise songs are prayers, then think of
your praise sets as prayer meetings! The traditional service order of separate
event after separate event (song, announcement, song, testimony, song, reading,
etc.) breaks up contemporary worship flow. George Barna states in his book "The
Habits of Highly Effective Churches" that successful churches have at least twenty
minutes of uninterrupted worship.
Think of it this way: people need time to settle in and focus on God. They've had a
stressful week and probably have yelled at their kids on the way to church. It will
take five minutes of music before most people's minds are cleared and they can
even start worshiping.
If an extended praise set is new to your church, don't try 20 minutes of worship
right off the bat - work up to it. Start with two or three songs in a row and
gradually build up to five or six when you sense the congregation starts to "get it"
and begins hungering for more worship.
Solution: Music is the glue that ties your worship together. Choose upbeat songs
in the same or similar keys so you can flow directly from one to another without
stopping. Find keyboardists and guitarists who can improvise and play quietly
under prayers and Scripture readings, then lead directly into worship ballads.
Problem 3: Disrupting the mood. Have you ever planned the perfect praise set,
ended with a beautiful worship ballad and a holy hush fell over the room, only to
have a pastor/elder/deacon hop up on stage and crack a joke? Holy hushes can
make people who don't "get" worship nervous so they tend to crack jokes to break
the "tension." I call this "worship sabotage." It happens all the time, and destroys
and demoralizes the worship leader who has prayerfully spent hours planning the
music to lead people into God's presence.
Solution: Only hand off the worship time to people who "get worship." Don't ask
people to participate in leading the service unless they're sensitive to God's
leading. If you're required to use elders/deacons on a rotation (taking the offering,
giving announcements, etc.) creatively move the offering/announcements to the
beginning or end of the service where they'll do the least amount of damage.
One person I know who had this problem complained that the pastor was the one
responsible for sabotage! Even after explaining the problem, the pastor just didn't
understand. In this case I'd suggest encouraging the pastor to give up complete
control bit by bit. Help him understand that you want to help take the weight of
carrying the entire service off his shoulders by giving announcement/offering
duties to others.
And if all else fails and you find yourself continually frustrated and unfulfilled,
perhaps it's time to be praying and looking for a new ministry opportunity.
Remember, anything worthwhile takes time so don’t give up. And don’t forget to
pray for guidance every day

Welcome

After much prayer and encouragement from a few friends, I will be blogging once again. For those of you who have been avid readers of this blog in the past, I will have all NEW articles. Check back often.

If you are new to the blog, I hope you stick around. I will be discussing topics on worship and practical advice and tips for worship leaders and their teams. Please email me any particular situations or subjects that interest you.

In Christ

Daniel Whitaker