For three weeks in a row last month, the Billboard 200 included a Christian album debuting in the Top 10. Lecrae’s “Gravity” entered at No. 3, and TobyMac’s “Eye on It” did even better, soaring straight to No. 1 in its first week of release. Until TobyMac, a Christian album hadn’t debuted at No. 1 since 1997.
Avoiding Experiments at Christmas
Christmas planning at your church is most likely underway. And while some churches may be further along in the process than others, there’s one thing I want you to think about this year. Are your services going to be an experiment or something tried and true?
The inspiration for this question stems from a 2012 Echo Conference session where Stephen Brewster talked about the creative process. As Creative Arts Pastor at Cross Point Community Church in Nashville, Tennessee, he was honest and open about how he ruined Easter one year. They dreamt big and did something very experimental that ended up missing the true message of Easter: the hope that comes from Jesus’ resurrection. He went on to talk about how big weekends at churches, like Easter and Christmas, are times to avoid experiments. He said, “We have 50 other weeks to try something new.”
Why New Churches Should Sing Old Songs
Stephen Miller on using hymns in contemporary worship:
While it is important to continue to sing new songs to the Lord and to continue to write new songs to the Lord, I am often grieved to hear people say, “I don’t like hymns,” or, “That’s for the older people.” Perhaps the only thing that grieves me more is the lack of good doctrinal content in much of the newer corporate worship music.
Israel Houghton Says Joel Osteen Is ‘Real Deal’
Grammy Award-winning Christian singer Israel Houghton, who finished the last leg of his “King’s Men” tour in mid-October, recently testified that pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church is “the real deal.”
Houghton reportedly said that although Osteen has been criticized for not taking a more hardline approach to the topic of sin, he has seen the megachurch pastor make positive changes in the lives of his congregants.
Create Effective Slides for Projecting Worship Songs
Apart from a substandard worship team on stage, the 2 biggest distracters during the worship session are:
Badly mixed overall sound
Onscreen lyrics that are not easy to read
Here are some tips to take care of potential distractions:
1. Font. There are fonts which are glitzy and look hip and then there are fonts, which are clear and easy to read. Here is where we need to understand ‘serif’ fonts and ‘sans serif’ fonts.
Worship Improv
I’ve talked before about how I’ve visited some of the largest churches in the country and have been surprised at their lack of worship flow. One gigachurch in particular was bad – they’d do a song, come to a complete, dead stop and then start another song.
Music is the glue that ties your entire service together. Select upbeat songs in the same or related keys so you can flow directly from one into the other without stopping.
Then, to transition into ballads and a more worshipful part of a praise set, you’ll need a musician who can improvise. He or she can softly play the keyboard or acoustic guitar while the worship leader talks – reading Scripture, praying or giving a short testimony.
This is an art form in itself, as the improviser is actually accompanying the Scripture/prayer/testimony, and must anticipate when the worship leader is finished and ready to begin the next song.
The improvisation shouldn’t be complicated or elaborate. It needs to be like a movie underscore, enhancing what’s going on without getting in the way. Use piano, electric piano or synth pad keyboard sounds. A good improvisation might be based on the intro or verse of the upcoming song, repeated as needed until the Scripture/prayer/testimony is finished.
For those musicians who can’t improvise I’ve created a website to solve the problem. Download a free keychange and underscore at WorshipFlow.com and try it out for yourself this week in your own ministry.
Better Song Backgrounds
Len Wilson on worship backgrounds:
My favorite way to do song backgrounds in worship is not shifting blobs of color.
Most large, contemporary-style worship services have settled into a routine for worship projection that displays individual lines of songs over random colors, shaped and lines.
How to Write Music for a Congregation
Artist Michael Gungor on songwriting:
While crafting is important for most songwriting expressions across genres, it is particularly important for congregational music. The songs we sing in our churches don’t just express our theology; they help form it. When we write songs for people to sing as a spiritual act of worship, those songs soak into people’s souls. The words we ask them to sing help shape their view of God, the universe and themselves.
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