Alexander Green

Do You Need A Worship Producer?

Big churches aren’t the only churches who need a worship producer. A few years ago when I was the music director at a church of about 300 I found myself in a typical scenario: I was so consumed with making sure the singers and band were on track right before the service I didn’t have the bandwidth to worry about much else.

After a trip to one of those megachurch worship conferences we learned about the concept of a “worship producer.” One of my friends, Joe, took up the mantle, so I’ve asked him to create a list of what he did each week as producer:

Overall Goal: Protect/Enhance the Worship Experience.
I basically just kept my antennas up for anything that would negatively impact the worship service.

Prep:

  • Come early to make sure the tech team is ready to go.
  • Sound system on BEFORE rehearsal.
  • Mics checked BEFORE rehearsal.
  • Videos tested BEFORE rehearsal – does each video play successfully with audio?

Rehearsal:

  • Ensure the sound was not too loud for our group (this can range anywhere from 85-105 db depending on your congregation)
  • Make sure the sound is loud enough (if you have electric guitars, you at least need to be in the low 90 dbs) – This is normally a problem for newbie sound guys to have the sound too low. When the sound is too low, it sounds muddy because you’re hearing stage monitors instead of hearing the house speakers.
  • Ensure the MIX was good – can I hear all the parts well? Is any one part too loud?
  • Ensure the words used for media are on time OR EARLY! Late words are death to congregational singing.

Room Considerations:

  • Check the room temperature.
  • Pick up any trash on the floor.
  • Are the chairs straight?
  • Are any of the tables dirty?
  • Check for any annoying lights coming in through the windows.
  • Is the stage clean? Band members often leave coffee cups and other trash on stage during practice.
  • Are the aisles wide enough? (We set up chairs each week) Sometimes seats and rows are put too close together and no one can get in or out.
  • Keep the doors closed while rehearsing – only people directly participating in the service should be in the room to prevent distraction.

Top US Gigachurches

A gigachurch is a church over 10,000. ChurchRelevance.com has a list of the top gigachurches in the USA. Here are the top 10:

  1. 43,500 – Lakewood Church (Houston, TX) – Joel Osteen
  2. 27,429 – North Point Community Church (Atlanta, GA) – Andy Stanley
  3. 26,776 (2009) – LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) – Craig Groeschel
  4. 24,377 – Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) – Bill Hybels
  5. 23,900 (2006) – Without Walls International (Tampa, FL) – Paula White
  6. 20,801 – Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY) – Dave Stone
  7. 20,000 (2008) – West Angeles Church of God in Christ (Los Angeles, CA) – Charles Blake
  8. 19,742 – Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) – Rick Warren
  9. 18,386 – Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX) –  Kerry Shook
  10. 18,223 – Central Christian Church (Las Vegas, NV) – Jud Wilhite
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Why Your Church Is Small: Leadership

Tony Morgan is dissecting church growth – something I’ve very interested in myself. I’ve always believed the size of a church is directly proportional to the leadership in that church.

In my own experience, I recall being at an exciting, growing young church only to see progress halt when the ministry became “big” and “mature” enough to start forming stifling committees. The typical doctor/lawyer-type manipulative elders trying to reform the ministry to their own agenda didn’t help much, either.

Tony writes “In small churches, leaders are controlled. This typically happens through the way churches are structured. Instead of giving pastors and other ministry leaders the freedom to make decisions and make ministry happen, churches will add layers of boards and committees, rules and processes to prevent leaders from doing just about anything on their own. The smaller the church, typically, the more complex the structure.”

Continue reading at TonyMorganLive.com

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Who’s Driving?

I was recently talking to a worship leader with a dilemma: everyone in his band plays their instrument for all they’re worth, all the time, for every song.

It’s a typical problem – volunteer musicians want to be doing something on stage every minute. But good music is about dynamics – some people play on some parts of a song and they all play together (maybe) on the final chorus.

Step one is to decide who’s driving. I’m sure you’ve heard of a song referred to as being guitar or keyboard driven. And just like you could have a fender bender as you drive your car down the street, you could have a musical wreck in your praise band if you don’t know who’s in control.

A guitar driven song is generally in the key of D, E or G. You’ll usually find just one or two chords per measure, whereas piano music is a bit more complex – there might even be a different chord on every beat (think of the hymnal.) As you assemble your weekly praise set, decide which songs are keyboard driven or guitar driven. For instance, “Your Grace Is Enough” is a guitar song and “Breathe” is usually piano driven (for variety, try swapping – do a guitar driven song as piano driven.) I like to group guitar songs together and keyboard songs together, as in starting sets with two or three upbeat guitar songs and tapering down to a few piano ballads.

On guitar songs, let the guitarist take control by setting the tempo and providing the momentum. The keyboardist should take a back seat, adding fills and harmonic support, maybe playing just a string pad or other texture. If the next song in the set is keyboard driven, let the keyboardist take over the intro and establish the feel. The guitarist should drop to a supporting role, adding arpeggios or a light strumming pattern. Musicians should not get in the way of each other.

Of course, in a full band, the drummer will set the tempo and groove, but you’ll still need to maintain the delicate balance of driver and passenger. You want to avoid a musical drag race — you know, the musical power struggle that erupts when keyboardists and guitarists pound and strum for all they’re worth. In the context of “who’s driving,” your musicians will know who’s the leader and who’s in the supporting role for each song. With everyone playing appropriately, suddenly your praise set will gel and all will be well.

Bottom Line: By recognizing songs as being piano or guitar driven, you’ll improve the professionalism of your praise band as the appropriate instrument takes the lead.

Worship Shoes?

Flying back from recording in LA a few weeks ago I sat next to a guy with the most unusual shoes.

“Where’d you get those?” I asked.

“They’re my company!” He replied. He’d been at some shoe trade shoe showing off his product – Piro Shoes. He was quite proud of them – super light and super comfortable with some extra special arch support.

Of course, being one to try the latest thing, I ordered a pair as soon as I got home.

Now, as I’m getting old and decrepit, I’ve noticed my back is starting to hurt when I’m standing at a keyboard as I’m playing in church. You know, you stand for hours… rehearsals, multiple services…

I got my black Piro bburst shoes in the mail. Wow, they are super light. And cool looking.

I wore them to church two weeks ago when I played the keyboard standing up. Unreal – I didn’t have an ounce of back trouble. I wear them every day and just ordered another pair. Check out the bburst shoes at PiroShoes.com.

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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 School kids) in your weekly worship attendance count?

One of the most obvious signs that a church is slipping southward is the numbers “reorg” strategy. That’s where you start adding numbers on to your diminishing worship figures. A church in Texas has started adding into their weekend “body count” every person who attends an activity that takes place during the week.

While that may seem inappropriate and extreme to you, I assure you that the subtle “institution ego” phenomenon at play here tends not to report sliding numbers. Many pastors refuse to join two “lightly” attended services together because canceling one of them would send the wrong signal to the congregation and outsiders. News flash, dear pastor—the signal was sent a long time ago.

Continue reading at ChurchCentral.com

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