articles

David Santistevan encourages praise bands to play from memory. When you hear the word “memorize”, you probably have one of two reactions. I can’t do that. Not a chance. There’s something about memorizing that is scary to us, but I don’t think it has to be. We all know there…

Shawn West offers ideas to help your church stay connected in the digital age. “Why should we stream our church services?” People often ask me this question, usually followed by a quote from their pastor saying, “If people can stay at home and watch church in their pajamas & slippers, why…

Matt Boswell from 9marks.org asks: can we sing any kind of song when gathered together? Christians are a singing people. Muslims don’t gather to sing. Neither do Hindus, Buddhists, or Rastafarians. Christians do. Also, while not everyone preaches, or leads in prayer, or publicly reads Scripture, we all sing.[1] But…

Jamie Brown offers helpful tips for your praise set. Each week, worship leaders are given a fresh opportunity to choose songs to put on people’s lips when they come together on Sunday. In a church with an informal liturgy, the slate is more blank than at a church with a…

David Santistevan tackles a difficult topic. I’m hoping this post will help you process why, when, and how to approach this difficult experience we all face. 1. Lack of Respect for Leadership – Something I look for in a high pressure rehearsal setting is the “rolled eye”. If a musician…

David Mathis: new mercies, new music. We all love old music. Whether it’s centuries old or even just a few months, the tunes we enjoy most are unavoidably the ones we already know. And there’s no getting around it. Music has a strange power to capture thoughts and feelings from…

Russell Moore asks: Do we choose Millennials or Jesus? From time to time we hear some telling us that evangelical Christianity must retool our sexual ethic if we’re ever going to reach the next generation. Some say that Millennials, particularly, are leaving the church because of our “obsession” with sexual…

Diana Davis has complied a list of ideas. It happens every year in May, and pastors anticipate it expectantly. Mother’s Day promises a high energy, high attendance Sunday, with a smiling, eager congregation. There’ll be extra guests galore — sons, daughters and grandchildren attending worship services with their mother. There…

Well it’s that time of year again.  Here’s a collection of Mother’s day video clips and creative ideas of how you can celebrate Mother’s day in your Sunday Worship service. Continue reading.

Leaders weigh in on whether churches should celebrate Mother’s Day in worship services. “I certainly think we should want to support motherhood; parenthood is the cornerstone of the family. We should be celebrating cultural rhythms liturgically. I think we can choose secular holidays to blur the line between secular and…

Rob Rash is working to find better and more efficient ways to communicate and practice. I’m always tweaking things. I tweak my phone, my computer, my office, and even my house. I’ll work at something until it fits, works, or just looks right. As a guitarist, I’m never satisfied with…

Ed Stetzer talked with about 60 staff members from three megachurches. What do you think of when you hear the word megachurch? Maybe polished productions, big personalities, an expansive building, stellar programs (lots and lots of programs) and crowded parking lots with orange-vested attendants, come to mind. Maybe a great…

Chris Huff explains that audio production is hard work and mixing is only part of it. What They Don’t Tell You About Church Audio 1. Worst-case scenarios really do happen. If it can break, blow up, catch fire, power down, or in any way outright fail at the worst time…

Tim Adams: The leadership has asked you to tell them how much it will cost to get a live stream of the service out to the Internet…now what?!?!? Ok, first off, you’ll need to figure out your signal flow. Let’s assume that you’ve got a couple video cameras, some kind of recorder…

Joshua Watts likens worship leading to storytelling. One thing that was drilled into me through my communications and theatre classes in my schooling was that “art tells a story.” An artist is simply a storyteller. Many artists struggle to find a story to tell, and undoubtedly some stories are worth…