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4 Fast Measurements To Tell If Your Worship Is Going South

A tape measure is the carpenter’s best friend. As the saying goes, “Measure twice, cut once.” Knowing where you are and what you’ve got can go a long way in reevaluating your worship strategy for the future. This might help. Did you recently start including the children (you know, Sunday…

Church Sign Madness!

These links are good for a few chuckles: 15 Hilarious Church Signs 11 Funny Church Signs from Reader’s Digest Make Your Own Virtual Church Sign Online Database of Church Sign Sayings! Igniter Media Church Sign Countdown

Massive Cathedral to be Rebuilt with Cardboard

Cardboard may play a key role in resurrecting a New Zealand landmark that was leveled in a natural disaster earlier this year. In the aftermath of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake in February that rattled Christchurch, New Zealand, officials for the quake-ravaged ChristChurch Cathedral — which had served as the city’s centerpiece…

3 Common Contemporary Worship Problems

Over my career I’ve visited and played in countless contemporary churches. I’ve noticed a few reoccurring problems that can easily be fixed to help the quality of your contemporary worship. A Stale Sameness. We all have our favorite worship leaders, but if you’re a Joel Houston fan, does every song in your…

Music Biz Trials

The story of Evanescence member and former worship leader David Hodges shows that getting a record deal may not be all it’s cracked up to be. My drummer friend Jon Skaggs has moved to LA and joined the new band of Grammy award winning writer/producer David Hodges, and I’ve had the…

Evangelistic Worship

Dr. Timothy Keller of Redeemer Church in New York City writes that worship isn’t just about honoring tradition or keeping up with culture, it’s about attracting nonbelievers through comprehensible worship and leading those people to personal commitment. One of the basic features of church life in the United States today…

Do You Have Blended Or Modern Vocals?

I had dinner with some friends the other night – we had formed a singing group around the turn of the century and led worship in churches with some of my songs. For old time’s sake we gathered around the keyboard and sang our “hits.” One in particular, Grace to…

Pendulum Swing: Horizontal Worship

I remember a few short years ago when the contemporary worship wave hit the church, the big thrill was that we actually got to sing TO God (vertical) instead of singing ABOUT God (horizontal). I worked at one church where the worship leader enthusiastically threw out all the horizontal songs.…

Four Copycat Sins Churches Commit In Worship

At a recent Hillsong concert the guy I stood next to said “this sounds like every church in America.” He’s right – in the quest to become cool and relevant most churches have adopted the jangly-guitar style of worship. This isn’t a bad thing as most people love jangly guitars…

How To Leave Your Church

You have gone through much struggle, agony, prayer and counsel – and you’ve come to a point where you feel that you need to move on from your church. Ok, but your next steps are the most important – leaving well and in a way that doesn’t bring destruction and…

Building A Praise Team

by Joe Glass I played the bass guitar in my first garage band when I was 12 years old. It was the early 70’s, and the ‘Peppermint Wave,’ as we called ourselves, was very popular at local birthday parties, picnics, and gas station openings. Our rendition of ‘Wipeout’ was truly…

10 Things I’ve Learned from 10 Years in Ministry

Blogger and church communications director Tim Schraeder shares ten lessons he’s learned in ten years of ministry, including “Surrender your ego at the door” and “Submit to the vision and to your leaders.” Read more at his webiste TimSchraeder.com.

Nancy Beach: The Role of the Arts in Worship

Nancy Beach, programming director for Willow Creek Community Church for over 20 years, talks about the role of the arts in worship: “We come to church to learn about truth, but also to be inspired, to be lifted, and to be moved. And the arts move us! Our goal should…

Are You A Professional Worship Leader?

Worship leader Fred McKinnon posted this article on his blog, and has given us permission to reprint it here at WorshipIdeas. You can design a masterful flow of songs… You can recite Scripture, encourage, and effortlessly transition between songs… You can close your eyes, raise your hands, and demonstrate physical acts…

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