articles

Molly Broomer says to make sure everyone is very clear on expectations: WHAT TO LOOK FOR Consider the merits to recruiting people personally, face to face, making open calls to your congregation, or just letting people come to you. What will work best for your church? For us, a little…

Mike O’Brien offers a few practical worship tips: After 18 years of leading worship for the same church (14 of those in the same building), I’ve had the privilege of over time adding some helpful tools to our setup that serve the congregation and band in simple ways. Check out…

Karl Vaters visits two churches who couldn’t have worshiped more differently: There is no right format for worship. This week I spoke at a ministers’ conference. In the closing commissioning service, most of the new ministers who came forward were wearing jeans and short-sleeved shirts. Those commissioning them were dressed…

Glenn Packiam explores emotional expressiveness in worship: I. Why do Emotions Matter? Contemporary worship is framed within a paradigm of encounter: we gather to sing and to meet with God. In fact, many scholars have remarked that in charismatic worship, singing is the place of encounter. It ought to be…

Bob Kauflin highlights areas that might be problematic: 1. Pastors, not worship leaders, will give an account to God for the people in their church. (Heb. 13:17) Pastors are ultimately responsible for the teaching and song diet of the church. Pastors should know in advance what songs will be sung, and…

Allen Paul says those of us that love God must have a resource beyond our music alone. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the…

Hillsong Worship says bringing big creativity to smaller services is always a challenge. Have you ever found yourself saying, “We can’t do that”... …“if only we had more people/resources.” …“we don’t have enough budget.” …”that would never work here.” Bringing big creativity to smaller services is always a challenge. You might…

Chris Gill says one of the most powerful, yet underrated tools on a mixing console is the mute button. One of the most powerful, yet underrated tools on a mixing console is the mute button. While that may sound odd, I’ve had more issues getting volunteers to use it correctly…

Ryan Holck says the Church could learn a few things about Disney’s dreaming: At Disney’s California Adventure there is a room called The Blue Sky Cellar. This room showcases the newest projects, dreams and plans that Disneyland is working on. They invite you to follow a project from the no holds…

Scott Lencke asks the question: There are not a few tragedies in the history of the church. The Crusades, the killing of those who do not line up with the Christian faith (or one particular branch of the faith), mixing the Christian faith with colonialism, particular church denominations aligning themselves…

Petri Nauha gives an excellent analysis on a problem that plagues today’s churches: Is the church platform exclusive for the select few or should it be a place to raise up people who are gifted to lead? There are many great worship bands that tour and record albums to spread…

Ed Stetzer says there must be good continual open communication between the pastor and the worship leader. Dear worship leader, You are one of the most important people in the life of our church. You are entrusted with the task of standing before our people weekly and leading them into…

Slingshot Group’s Monty Kelso offers practical and spiritual ideas:   Know yourself: Be in touch with your complete story. Your family upbringing, life experiences, significant relationships and education all shape who you are. The redemptive work of God in you is never finished. Being vulnerable about your strengths and weaknesses…

Karl Vaters says it’s time to put art, creativity, passion and beauty front-and-center in the church again: I wish there were more artists in the church. No, not painters and sculptors. Actually, yes, those too. Mostly I wish there were more church leaders who saw the art in their ministry.…

Aaron Armstrong shares a friend’s cult-like church experience: When I went off to college as a bright-eyed 18-year-old, I found a church to get involved with right away. The church had a college group that met in my dorm, and I loved it from the beginning. It was an incredibly…