I'm consolidating! Now you can find my thoughts on Worship Arts Ministry & Leadership in general at.
http://davidlindner.wordpress.com/
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Worship Arts Ministry - Weekend Review
This weekend was pretty good. It was different, but still good. We did scripture reflection as our out of our comfort zone worship, and the coolest part of the weekend for me was seeing people worship in response to the scripture they had been meditating on.
I'm still working on the talking thing. I really want to say what I'm going to say as effectively and efficiently as possible, and be engaging as well.
Here's the order for the weekend, in case you wonder what it is.
Salvation is Here
Tell the World
You Are Good
Easter Invitations Announcements
Comfort Zone Worship
My Savior My God
Fellowship
Sermon
I'll go where you want me to Go
Do you have any thoughts on more comfort zones when it comes to worship?
I'm still working on the talking thing. I really want to say what I'm going to say as effectively and efficiently as possible, and be engaging as well.
Here's the order for the weekend, in case you wonder what it is.
Salvation is Here
Tell the World
You Are Good
Easter Invitations Announcements
Comfort Zone Worship
My Savior My God
Fellowship
Sermon
I'll go where you want me to Go
Do you have any thoughts on more comfort zones when it comes to worship?
Friday, March 07, 2008
Worship Arts Ministry - Comfort Zone Worship - Pt. 3 - Reflection
This coming weekend we're going to be encouraging our congregation to take time for reflection. Last week our Pastor talked about the Gospel. It was an insiders talk on what the content of the Gospel is so that our people will know better how to share it with the people in their sphere of influence.
This week we're going to give people a few minutes to reflect on either one of their own favorite verses of Scripture, the verse for this weeks sermon, or the verse from last weeks sermon. I'm going to encourage them to stop and ponder the verse, to not just read over it quickly, but to stop and think about what the scripture means, what its saying, how they have experienced the truth of that scripture in their lives or how they need to experience the truth of that scripture in their lives. And then to pray that scripture back to God as an act of worship, either thanking God for the truth, thanking God for how the truth has changed their lives or asking God to change their lives with the truth.
The key will be us stopping for a couple of minutes to reflect on a scripture without interruption and allow the truth of the scripture to sink in. This is uncomfortable because it's not something that we do much in church, and because it has the possibility of being awkward.
This week we're going to give people a few minutes to reflect on either one of their own favorite verses of Scripture, the verse for this weeks sermon, or the verse from last weeks sermon. I'm going to encourage them to stop and ponder the verse, to not just read over it quickly, but to stop and think about what the scripture means, what its saying, how they have experienced the truth of that scripture in their lives or how they need to experience the truth of that scripture in their lives. And then to pray that scripture back to God as an act of worship, either thanking God for the truth, thanking God for how the truth has changed their lives or asking God to change their lives with the truth.
The key will be us stopping for a couple of minutes to reflect on a scripture without interruption and allow the truth of the scripture to sink in. This is uncomfortable because it's not something that we do much in church, and because it has the possibility of being awkward.
Worship Arts Ministry - Comfort Zone Worship - Pt 2 - The Foundation of Worship
Well, the result of the first week of our comfort zone worship was great. In fact, the results of the carried on into the next week. At one point in the service I didn't give any specific direction, and people chose to respond on their own in worship.
The second part of this should have been the first part. I decided to talk about how we often make worship something that it's not. At the very foundation of worship is God. It seems silly to have to say this, but it's very true and we often lose sight of this. We make worship about music - we refer to that portion of the service as worship, or we make worship about other elements of the service, offering, communion, prayer, video, etc. Those elements are forms of worship, but the forms are empty if they are the end. The forms are designed to point us to God, but so many of us get caught up on the form and forget that we're supposed to be connecting with God.
The dangerous thing, the uncomfortable thing I had people do was connect with God. For some, maybe they hadn't connected with God all week, and they needed to do so before they continued in worship. For others, they may have been letting the hectic morning keep them from connecting with God, and they need to do that. For others, maybe we needed to ask for forgiveness of a sin in our lives. And maybe for some, we needed to ask God to forgive us for making worship about anything other than Him.
The second part of this should have been the first part. I decided to talk about how we often make worship something that it's not. At the very foundation of worship is God. It seems silly to have to say this, but it's very true and we often lose sight of this. We make worship about music - we refer to that portion of the service as worship, or we make worship about other elements of the service, offering, communion, prayer, video, etc. Those elements are forms of worship, but the forms are empty if they are the end. The forms are designed to point us to God, but so many of us get caught up on the form and forget that we're supposed to be connecting with God.
The dangerous thing, the uncomfortable thing I had people do was connect with God. For some, maybe they hadn't connected with God all week, and they needed to do so before they continued in worship. For others, they may have been letting the hectic morning keep them from connecting with God, and they need to do that. For others, maybe we needed to ask for forgiveness of a sin in our lives. And maybe for some, we needed to ask God to forgive us for making worship about anything other than Him.
Worship Arts Ministry - Dangrous Worship pt1 - Comfort zone worship
So we're in a series right now called Living Dangerously. The foundation for the whole series is that "our comfort zone could be the most dangerous place on earth." We'll be talking about many different areas of our spiritual walk where we tend to get into a comfortable place and stay there.
in our discussions about what topics we should cover, worship was in there. However, after we talked about this for awhile, we decided it would be better to make the first part of the service about getting people out of their comfort zones when it comes to worship.
The first week (actually the second week of the series) we talked about our posture of worship. This is a phrase that I've actually used for quite some time. I've talked about how from time to time we need to put ourselves in a posture of worship that is a sacrifice for us. We need to get out of our comfort zone and make a gesture that signifies our humility towards God. For some of us that meant standing voluntarily, for others it mean sitting in our seats and pondering the words of the songs we were singing and not just singing them haphazardly. For others it meant raising hands, and maybe for some kneeling. The point was to respond to God voluntarily in worship, not simply because someone upfront asks us to.
It was great to see the congregation respond of their own accord. There were various representations of these postures, not all were standing, not all were sitting, not all were raising their hands, not all were singing. Yet, it felt like all were worshiping.
in our discussions about what topics we should cover, worship was in there. However, after we talked about this for awhile, we decided it would be better to make the first part of the service about getting people out of their comfort zones when it comes to worship.
The first week (actually the second week of the series) we talked about our posture of worship. This is a phrase that I've actually used for quite some time. I've talked about how from time to time we need to put ourselves in a posture of worship that is a sacrifice for us. We need to get out of our comfort zone and make a gesture that signifies our humility towards God. For some of us that meant standing voluntarily, for others it mean sitting in our seats and pondering the words of the songs we were singing and not just singing them haphazardly. For others it meant raising hands, and maybe for some kneeling. The point was to respond to God voluntarily in worship, not simply because someone upfront asks us to.
It was great to see the congregation respond of their own accord. There were various representations of these postures, not all were standing, not all were sitting, not all were raising their hands, not all were singing. Yet, it felt like all were worshiping.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Worship Arts Ministry: Weekend Worship Review
So, this weekend, we did something that I've never done in my career as a worship leader. We only did three songs as a part of the worship time at the beginning of the service. That is the fewest number of songs I've ever done as part of a worship time.
It was very interesting. I was a little concerned about it, but when we were practicing it felt good. It felt good to learn the songs, and then have enough time to do a tech run through. It was also nice in the service to not feel like we were rushing through songs in order to be able to check them off.
I'm wondering what some of you other worship leaders think?
It was very interesting. I was a little concerned about it, but when we were practicing it felt good. It felt good to learn the songs, and then have enough time to do a tech run through. It was also nice in the service to not feel like we were rushing through songs in order to be able to check them off.
I'm wondering what some of you other worship leaders think?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
My Thoughts on Special Music
This is my response to a post on Raising up Worship Leaders about Special Music.
For me, special music should be done when the point of the song would be better made if the people aren't singing. Also, often times the songs we choose for Special Music are very specific in their message and only fit well with the topic/scripture we're using them with, and won't work as well in general worship.
As to Tim's comment, I do agree that post-modern's will appreciate special music less and less unless we adapt special music. I don't know all of how special music should morph in the future, one way we're changing special music is to create a video that goes along with the special music to enhance the message of the song. We're careful with this too though because video, as great as it is, has a tendency to narrow the imagination that can come with a song to something very specific. And while we're using a specific song with a specific theme, we want the application of the song to be as wide as possible.
For me, special music should be done when the point of the song would be better made if the people aren't singing. Also, often times the songs we choose for Special Music are very specific in their message and only fit well with the topic/scripture we're using them with, and won't work as well in general worship.
As to Tim's comment, I do agree that post-modern's will appreciate special music less and less unless we adapt special music. I don't know all of how special music should morph in the future, one way we're changing special music is to create a video that goes along with the special music to enhance the message of the song. We're careful with this too though because video, as great as it is, has a tendency to narrow the imagination that can come with a song to something very specific. And while we're using a specific song with a specific theme, we want the application of the song to be as wide as possible.
Gaining Some Perspective
Yesterday I had the privilege of sharing a few minutes with a friend of mine. It's a friend I don't get to see very often, and I also don't get to communicate with him very often because he's a missionary to Indonesia. He was telling a story about a fund-raiser his church did over there, and while culturally acceptable there, there are certain activist groups here that would consider their activities murder.
However, another thing that I heard and observed is what's really sticking with me. Another one of his friends was at the table and gave him 60 worship albums, and an iTunes gift card to buy some more. He did this after looking in my friend's ipod and saw all of the old worship music he had on it.
In America, we get so hung up on the petty. I'm not talking about my church right now, I'm talking about the American church. There are churches in the world that are thrilled to sing songs based on their content, not on their style.
How many articles have been written over the years about blending worship or about how to lead your church through a music transition? How much time have church leaders wasted trying to keep the people in their church happy with the music? If we get just get people to see the reality that we are so blessed to have the freedom we do to worship, if we could just get people to see that we're so fortunate to get to go to Christian bookstores and buy the music they like, that we're so lucky to be here, many of our church wars would be done with.
Of course, the reality is that this is not the case, and very few churches are able to have an attitude like this. That's why we have church leadership. If people just did what we wanted them to with nothing more than us asking them, we'd be unnecessary.
I'll talk more about this in future posts, but for now, the most import thing to know, (in my opinion) is that the arts in the church must be relevant. It's not an option. For churches that want to reach people (which by the way is the most foundational purpose for the church, the first command given by Jesus to to the church), we must always be learning from culture, we must always be learning from society and redeeming culture for God's Kingdom. A lot of people talk about this as optional, I don't. I think it's a must.
However, another thing that I heard and observed is what's really sticking with me. Another one of his friends was at the table and gave him 60 worship albums, and an iTunes gift card to buy some more. He did this after looking in my friend's ipod and saw all of the old worship music he had on it.
In America, we get so hung up on the petty. I'm not talking about my church right now, I'm talking about the American church. There are churches in the world that are thrilled to sing songs based on their content, not on their style.
How many articles have been written over the years about blending worship or about how to lead your church through a music transition? How much time have church leaders wasted trying to keep the people in their church happy with the music? If we get just get people to see the reality that we are so blessed to have the freedom we do to worship, if we could just get people to see that we're so fortunate to get to go to Christian bookstores and buy the music they like, that we're so lucky to be here, many of our church wars would be done with.
Of course, the reality is that this is not the case, and very few churches are able to have an attitude like this. That's why we have church leadership. If people just did what we wanted them to with nothing more than us asking them, we'd be unnecessary.
I'll talk more about this in future posts, but for now, the most import thing to know, (in my opinion) is that the arts in the church must be relevant. It's not an option. For churches that want to reach people (which by the way is the most foundational purpose for the church, the first command given by Jesus to to the church), we must always be learning from culture, we must always be learning from society and redeeming culture for God's Kingdom. A lot of people talk about this as optional, I don't. I think it's a must.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Logo
So, tonight I started working on a logo for the worship arts dept. It's going to be a while before it's actually looking how I want it to, but I wanted an actual logo. I wanted a graphic that people would be able to look at and identify as the worship arts department, without any words. I think I'm getting there, I'm just struggling to make it look like I want it to, and not look old school. Since I'm no pro when it comes to graphic design this is actually quite a task for me.
Those are my thoughts on that.
Those are my thoughts on that.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Worship Arts Ministry - Scheduling
I'm using a service called planningcenteronline.com and it's actually a really nice service. You can send out requests to people to serve on a given weekend, and they can confirm or decline your request which is nice, and can be a very efficient way to communicate with people and do scheduling.
However, it is in that technology world that many have not ventured into, or are not completely immersed in yet. Some people don't check their email more than once a week, some don't have email, some have dial-up, some don't even have a computer.
I've never been fortunate enough to have a tool like this in the past, so I'm faced with a new, but good problem. I'm not sure how to confirm in a way that I can know for sure out in the future that people will be there. With paper schedules, possibly people were less likely to back out because it required a phone call, but with email, it seems like people are more likely to back out at the last minute. I know this will fall in line with expecations, when I start asking things of people, but not it's kind of a catch-22. I have a tool to help me schedule, but it's kind of making it more difficult in other ways.
However, it is in that technology world that many have not ventured into, or are not completely immersed in yet. Some people don't check their email more than once a week, some don't have email, some have dial-up, some don't even have a computer.
I've never been fortunate enough to have a tool like this in the past, so I'm faced with a new, but good problem. I'm not sure how to confirm in a way that I can know for sure out in the future that people will be there. With paper schedules, possibly people were less likely to back out because it required a phone call, but with email, it seems like people are more likely to back out at the last minute. I know this will fall in line with expecations, when I start asking things of people, but not it's kind of a catch-22. I have a tool to help me schedule, but it's kind of making it more difficult in other ways.
Worship Arts Ministry - Service Evaluation
This weekend was different. We have some newer musicians that I'm putting with some of the other more experienced musicians. So, the sound was good, but maybe not as good as other weekends. One of the things that I've found is that it's a bad idea to have a band full of moderately skilled musians, it's usually a lot more work and the potential for something to go wrong, or a cue to be missed are much greater. So, what I try to do is put Moderates with advanced when possible. The Advanced ones hold the group together and provide support and stability to the group, and the moderates often want to strive to be better because they're playing with more skilled musicians.
I don't know what it was about this weekend, but it didn't have the same feel as other weekends. It wasn't a bad thing, but it also wansn't a great thing. It felt very disjointed on stage. I'm sure a part of it was that we don't all know each other that well, and that will change over time. We didn't have as much time to rehearse as we needed and there were technichal problems that didn't help.
I think the service was fine, but it too had a weird vibe to it. I know that God is wanting to do things in and through our church and I have a feeling that there is stronger than normal battle going on right now, and that is playing into this feeling.
I was trying to talk more in the service this weekend, I really struggle with this. I would like to have more discussion on this topic with other worship leaders. Some worship leaders talk too much, others talk too little. I was definately erring on the side of too little, so now I'll have to be careful not to jump too far in the other direction. I need to talk, as do all worship leaders to help be a "tour guide" for the journey that we're wanting to take people on, but I don't want to be "that" tour guide that everyone gets annoyed with and wish would just shut up.
Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts about this weekend.
I don't know what it was about this weekend, but it didn't have the same feel as other weekends. It wasn't a bad thing, but it also wansn't a great thing. It felt very disjointed on stage. I'm sure a part of it was that we don't all know each other that well, and that will change over time. We didn't have as much time to rehearse as we needed and there were technichal problems that didn't help.
I think the service was fine, but it too had a weird vibe to it. I know that God is wanting to do things in and through our church and I have a feeling that there is stronger than normal battle going on right now, and that is playing into this feeling.
I was trying to talk more in the service this weekend, I really struggle with this. I would like to have more discussion on this topic with other worship leaders. Some worship leaders talk too much, others talk too little. I was definately erring on the side of too little, so now I'll have to be careful not to jump too far in the other direction. I need to talk, as do all worship leaders to help be a "tour guide" for the journey that we're wanting to take people on, but I don't want to be "that" tour guide that everyone gets annoyed with and wish would just shut up.
Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts about this weekend.
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