articles

Mark Driscoll helps put a service’s tone in context for worship leaders: How many times have you misunderstood a letter, an email, or a text because you misread the intended tone? Whether it was haste perceived as anger, friendship perceived as romance, or sarcasm perceived as sincerity, anyone living in…

Daniel Renstrom: It seems to me that when the modern worship movement came into town, churches became more and more age segregated. This is pure speculation, but it seems to me that when the modern worship movement came into town, churches became more and more age segregated. There is probably…

Jamie Brown: Most worship leaders serve congregations who don’t exactly make it easy. The dream of every worship leader is to serve a congregation who makes their job easy. They sing every song with gusto. They never complain or gripe. They learn every song after singing it once. They’re always…

Marion Aldridge asks: what happens when it’s obvious an individual and a church are no longer a fit? (This blog describes a problem I have never heard named. Unfortunately, I have not proposed a solution. I hope I am starting a helpful conversation, since I don’t have a Final Answer.…

Keith Drury comically compares church sanctuary lingo: Tell us what you call that place up front in your church building and I bet we can tell you a lot about your church’s worship. The term you apply to the “up front area” in your church either affects or reflects your…

Alex Duke lists nine must-haves for anyone leading a congregation: My local church is in search of a worship leader. To that end, our senior pastor cobbled together a group of 12 members for a Worship Leader Search Committee. Despite my musical ineptitude, I was among those asked to serve.…

Barna’s latest study examines a combination of regular Bible reading with belief in the Bible’s accuracy across the top 100 metropolitan areas. The social, economic and political values of any given city compose a richly distinct cultural climate—but what about the spiritual values? How does one city differ in spiritual…

Chris Mack dispels social media mysteries:

I love this article: David Santistevan hits it out of the park: It started out with an email and ended in heartbreak. You know what I’m talking about. A beautiful soul with total confidence wants to join your worship team as a vocalist. The only problem is, they can’t sing.…

Matthew Sigler analyzes the two styles in today’s worship: Michael Hawn, a professor of church music at Perkins School of Theology, uses two basic categories when speaking about music in the church: cyclical and sequential. Cyclical music is typically made up of short texts supported by a simple melody that…

Craig Gilbert asks: As a worship leader, how much worship can I actually do while leading? I was asked this question: As a worship leader, how much worship can I actually do while leading? It seems like my mind is always on the band, or the flow, or the time,…

Taylor Blomquist offers staging tips for your worship ministry: Intimacy, honesty, and transparency are keys to creating organic and authentic worship. Our organic worship blog series gives you the secrets of creating a heartfelt worship experience in a collective setting. The best part—we focus on DIY ideas, so it won’t…

This Hillsong United musician may surprise you: I’ve been thinking lots about our 10 campuses here in Australia, thinking about the musicians and singers that join our team, the variety of skill level we encounter, the variety of programs/opportunities we have on a regular basis, the 52 different services we…

Mark Condon says: yes! “Do We Still Need Choirs? I am asked almost every week in my travels about choirs vs. praise teams. Is choir still relevant? Should we keep working to make this happen? Are we behind-the-times by having a choir? My answer in short is YES, we still…

Zac Hicks wonders if modern evangelicals are looking more like medieval Roman Catholics than Protestants: I was at a worship concert a few years ago with a friend who remarked that the leader up front was singing in such a beautiful and un-follow-able manner that all my friend felt encouraged…