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Andy Stanley Trashes Expository Preaching

May 25, 2015

Ed Stetzer, whose employer – Lifeway “Christian” Resources – sells more than a few Andy Stanley books, interviewed the Georgia pastor on the topic of preaching related to his book, Communicating for a Change. The second of such interviews on this topic, Stetzer posts the Q&A on his blog, hosted byChristianity Today. What follows is nothing short of a shocking (but refreshingly honest and explicit) rejection of expository preaching, and although is not new, is making its way around social media as of late.

The question posed to Stanley was this…

What do you think about preaching verse-by-verse messages through books of the Bible?

Stanley’s answer…

Guys that preach verse-by-verse through books of the Bible– that is just cheating. It’s cheating because that would be easy, first of all. That isn’t how you grow people. No one in the Scripture modeled that. There’s not one example of that.

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PCUSA Loses Membership after Embracing Gay Marriage

May 25, 2015

The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) is seeing a significant decline in church membership after it made the decision to support gay marriage last year. Charisma News reports the number of PCUSA churches has fallen to fewer than 10,000 after pastors parted ways with the denomination.

A report from the Office of the General Assembly said that the total number of PCUSA membership at the end of 2014 was 1,667,767, a drop from 1,760,200 in 2013 and 1,849,496 in 2012.

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Top 10 CCLI for week ending 5/23/15

May 25, 2015

1 Holy Spirit
Bryan Torwalt, Katie Torwalt

2 10000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Jonas Myrin, Matt Redman

3 This Is Amazing Grace
Jeremy Riddle, Josh Farro, Phil Wickham

4 Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)
Joel Houston, Matt Crocker, Salomon Ligthelm

5 Lord I Need You
Christy Nockels, Daniel Carson, Jesse Reeves, Kristian Stanfill, Matt Maher

6 How Great Is Our God
Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash

7 One Thing Remains
Brian Johnson, Christa Black Gifford, Jeremy Riddle

8 Cornerstone
Edward Mote, Eric Liljero, Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan, William Batchelder Bradbury

9 America The Besutiful (Materna)
Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel Augustus Ward

10 Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, John Newton

CCLI, TOP 10

How to EQ Worship Vocals in Six Easy Steps

May 18, 2015

Vocal EQ work can make or break a mix. A solid vocal mix will capture the listener’s ear. Follow these six steps to create a better mix with vocals that pop.

1. Select the Right Microphone

Proper vocal mixing begins before ever touching an EQ knob. It starts on the stage. Microphones differ in many ways, from type (ribbon / dynamic / condenser) to sensitivity to polar pattern to where step one is focued; microphone frequency response.

Each microphone make and model treats frequencies differently. For example, some microphones will boost certain frequency ranges while other might cut them or not affect them at all. Look at the frequency response charts for a few popular vocal microphones from Blue, Shure, and Sennheiser.

2. Start the sound check with the lead vocalist in mind.

The standard sound check involves setting gains and then EQ’ing the band, going from low-end up to high, with singers on top. For example, setting the gain for the drums, then bass, electric guitar, etc. until getting to the vocals. The next part would be doing the same with the EQ process until reaching the point oft EQ’ing across channels for blending. EQ’ing across channels would be like setting the EQ for the bass so it sound different than, yet fits with, the kick drum. But before touching the first EQ knob…

Keep in mind the sound of the lead vocalist. Let’s say the band is starting the sound check by playing their first song. While working on the EQ of the different instruments, keep in mind the sound of the lead vocalist. The thought is that while EQ’ing the instruments, you’re consciously carving out a bit of room for the lead vocalist to sit in the mix. By the time you are up to the lead vocalist, you already have a spot for them to sit in the mix. All you need to do is tweak their vocal EQ settings. This leads to point number 3.

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3 Must-Have Microphones for Any Worship Team

May 18, 2015

Jordan Tracy lists his favorite mics and why:

A question many churches face these days is which microphone is best suited for my worship team vocalists? There seems to be an unending array of options to choose from. You also have to ask the question – how can I pick a great quality microphone and still be a good steward of our church budget? Well, I am going to introduce you to 3 microphones that you will want to have in your audio arsenal every weekend.

The Workhorse

The first is the SM58 by Shure. This is one of the most widely used vocal microphones out there. It is the very definition of industry standard. Church Tech Directors and Music industry producers across the globe agree that the SM58 is the best investment you could ever make. At a price of $99 new or about $60 used, your church budget will not even notice the purchase. I myself own 4 of them and bring them to every gig I ever work. It has a standard cardioid pattern, its dynamic so it requires no phantom power, and it is built like a tank. These microphones are the ones you want in your youth ministry. They can take a variety of abuse, dropped, kicked, thrown, dented and scratched and still sound and work beautifully. On the rare occasion that you ran over one with your truck, parts are readily available or you can replace it with a new one for a hundred bucks. When it comes to signal quality, every audio engineer knows that the SM58 will provide a quality image of the signal source. I have a personal story that will shock and amaze some of you about the SM58, but Ill wait ‘til the end of the article to share that with you.

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How to Make Lead Vocals Sound Amazing

May 18, 2015

Kade Young offers tips for getting your vocals heard clearly in worship.

I have been in many church worship services where you can hardly hear the lead vocal. To tell you the truth, I have even led some of these services. There are many causes to this problem, so let’s go through the chain of events so you can get your lead vocal sounding amazing.

First, examine the source.

This may seem obvious, but the first thing you need to check is if the lead vocal is actually projecting. In worship, you often come across people who have little to no training or experience, so they have yet to discover how to put the ‘umph’ behind their singing voice. Generally, they just need to learn proper breathing technique or how to open up their throat and let the sound move freely. I found this great post on breathing: Learning to Breath.

Next, pick the right the microphone.

Not all microphones are created equal. Yet, we often give every vocal the same one. I like to have three different microphones on hand: Electro-Voice N/D767a, Sennheiser e835, and the good ole’ Shure SM58. When I bring a new vocal on the team, I have them sing the same chorus of a song, with the band, on each microphone. The mic that sounds best wins the prize and is assigned to that specific person. Keep in mind, you should level the EQ on the soundboard before running this test so you have a level testing ground.

Don’t forget about the importance of microphone placement. You should address this before testing microphones as microphones react differently depending on how close or far away it is form the mouth. The microphone should be no more than 1″ from the mouth. Also, never put your hand over the mesh part of the microphone.

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Are You Skipping This Key Element of Preparation?

May 18, 2015

Jon Nicol explains a worship team’s dress rehearsal is a run-through.

It’s that time we play through a song, or full set, or even the full service just like we’re going to do it in the service. And just like the dress rehearsal, it gives us confidence to know that we know the music and transitions. And it can also reflect back to us that there are moments that aren’t prepared as well as we think.

My team is currently running staggered rehearsals. The band comes in on Thursdays at 6:30pm and rehearses till 8pm. The vocalists join us then, and we do a full run-through of the songs. After that, the band leaves and the singers work out any parts that they didn’t get figured out during the run-through.*

So we essentially get two run-throughs. Besides our run-through at the end of the Thursday night rehearsal, we also do run-through after Sunday morning sound-check.

The Thursday night run-through is about making sure each song is ready. The Sunday morning run-through makes sure the whole set is ready: we practice transitions, scripture readings, prayer, etc.

When It’s Skipped

For a particular service few weeks ago, we had fewer songs. At the Thursday night rehearsal, the band had finished rehearsing all the songs by 7:30. I didn’t anticipate this. So rather than make them wait 30 minutes for the vocalists, I dismissed the band and just ran a vocal rehearsal when they arrived.

Our first service that Sunday was a mess.

The band was forgetting transitions and vocalists were missing cues for when to come in. By the second service, it came finally together. Why is that?

We missed our run-throughs.

Our Sunday morning warm-up became the run-through we missed Thursday night. So instead of working out cues and transitions and other service elements, we were making sure the songs were right.

Because of that, our first service essentially became a “run-through.” We were practicing all the different elements of the set—in front of the congregation.

Not awesome.

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Rockstar Monk: The Role of the Worship Leader?

May 18, 2015

At least two extremes exists when describing the role of the worship leader. Today, we ask for rockstar-monks to lead us in worship. I have heard an influential leader say repeatedly at conferences, “Your role is more important than mine as the preacher.” Really? This made me feel important at the moment, but reality says something else. As a worship leader we prepare people to hear the word, lead them in prayers, but how is that more important than leading and forming a congregation spiritually through preaching? As a worship leader, my role is surely significant as I serve the whole congregation and have a part in the spiritual formation, but not a superior part. I am simply just a part. And, to put that on me or any worship leader is to raise this role to monk status.

Did you know that the role “worship leader” is not even biblical? You will not find it next to pastor, preacher, evangelist in the Bible. It is more biblical to be called “musician” than “worship leader” and so I must protest all the hoopla. We seem to want a rockstar-monk person to be our worship leader–an extremely humble, super-spiritual people magnet. In reality, the calling might often be prophet, musician, and servant. The rockstar-monk is born.

I must draw attention to the fact that being a musician is a high calling. The discipline, skill, and leadership all contribute to the congregation in significant ways. Yes, theology is expressed. Yes, people are prepared to meet Jesus. However, to place the onus on the worship leader to “bring people into God’s presence” is to over-amplify reality. Congregants should be held responsible to grow mature enough to own their listening and meeting with God together. The worship leader’s music simply assists in this process. We set the table, but surely are not the meal. Christ is the meal.

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