Volume 23 | No. 3

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Hillsong College is a Life-Leadership Training institution that comes out of the life of Hillsong Church & the vision of Pastors Brian & Bobbie Houston. We are a skills-based training institution & therefore we give you the opportunity to quickly apply the knowledge you are learning in classes in a practical way, be that musically, relationally or in a leadership capacity. So for example, a first year student will have a music theory & application class & then not long after, go to our musicians, vocalists or songwriters workshop & apply the knowledge you have learned, thus turning that into a skill that can bring competency.

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CONTACT: Aaron@hillsongcollege.com, Sydney, Australia, +61288535200

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WORSHIP LEADER | MAY/JUNE | VOL 23 NO 3

CONTENTS P. 58

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NOT YOUR STYLE? STAY OPEN! | MARK D. ROBERTS

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DOES YOUR WORSHIP TEAM REFLECT DIVERSITY? | RORY NOLAND

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SACRIFICE PREFERENCES | DARLENE ZSCHECH

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GOSPEL DIVERSITY | REGGIE KIDD

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4 PRINCIPLES FOR BUILDING DIVERSE SERVICES OF WORSHIP | CONSTANCE CHERRY

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A WORSHIP LEADER’S PERSPECTIVE | AUBREY MCGOWAN

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ON WRITING FOR CHILDREN ... AND LEARNING FROM THE IRISH | KEITH GETTY

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A FUTURECAST: DIVERSITY & THE WORSHIP LEADER | TONY PAYNE

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STRUM WITHOUT SWING | ANDY CHAMBERLAIN

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RAISING UP THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORSHIP LEADERS THROUGH CHOIRS | RAY JONES

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SONG DISCOVERY NEW ARTIST SHOWCASE

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REDISCOVERING WORSHIP | KEN WYTSMA

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PASSPORT TO CHANGE: THE MISSIONAL CHURCH | PAUL BALOCHE

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THE STATE OF REUNION | ELIAS DUMMER

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ROBERT E. WEBBER INSTITUTE FOR WORSHIP STUDIES | JAMES R. HART

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THE BOOKSHELF

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THE FALL OF A KINGDOM | TIM TIMMONS

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PROGRAMMING RESOURCES

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BLIND FAITH | DEREK RABELO

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RELEASING CREATIVITY: THE 4 Es | TIM HUGHES

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4 ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES AND SKILL SETS FOR THE SMALL CHURCH

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5 EASY STEPS TO ACHIEVE ENGAGING WORSHIP WITH VISUALS | HEIN VAN WYK

| KRISTEN GILLES

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CROWDER | FEATURED REVIEW

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MUSIC FOR LEADING

102

PERSONAL PLAYLIST

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THE HIDDEN FINISH LINE | JEREMY ARMSTRONG

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FORUM DIVERSITY IN SONGWRITING | CHUCK FROMM

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MAINSTAGE YOUR KEYS | MICHAEL A. LEE

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TOP 10 IEM LIST

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THE BLESSING OF HAND-ME-DOWN: YOUTH ROOM AVL | KENT MORRIS

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WHAT’S NEW | ANDY TOY

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GEAR REVIEWS | ANDY TOY

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WORSHIP LEADER’S NEW RELEASE RUNDOWN | SPECIAL ADVERTISING

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CHILDRENS WORSHIP: WHERE THE FUTURE BEGINS | KENDRA FLEMING

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BLESSED ARE: WORSHIP RESOURCES FOR THE YOUNG

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THE HIDDEN FINISH LINE

W

hen I was in my late 20s, I ran a youth group for kids with disabilities—physical, developmental—kids with Down syndrome, CP, Autism, pretty much the whole gamut. Every summer we would pile into a big bus and head to northern California to go to camp. It was something I was passionate about because kids with disabilities are often left out of the things that seem common to typical kids. But going to camp required work. A lot of work. For every kid I brought with a developmental disability, I had to find a volunteer leader to be their partner for the week. And every kid that used a wheelchair needed two leaders. The camp was designed to be a high-intensity experience for able-bodied high schoolers, so for us to take part was exhausting on many levels.

But as I said, I was passionate about my kids being a part of all of it. We carried kids through the ropes courses and made sure no one drowned in the water games where there were thousands of high school arms and legs flying around. Basically, camp was filled with long nights and even longer days.

So why did we do it? The answer is kind of obvious, but it’s also hidden. At least it was hidden to me the first time I went through the whole ordeal with kids with disabilities.

Without fail each time we went to camp, there was a common communal growth arc that happened amongst our able-bodied counterparts. It started when we got off the bus and walked in late to the first dinner, because we were always late for things. The first touch with the able-bodied kids was what we usually got pretty much everywhere we went. Blank stares. People looking at us. Some whispering and some fears coming to the surface. I used to say that one of the reasons people are so uncomfortable around our group was because humans expend so much effort trying to hide our weaknesses. But people with disabilities wear their weakness on their bodies. And this was possibly truer at a high school camp than anywhere else in the world.

But there was always a shift. It was usually around the third day—often during the field games. You see, we never won the field games; we never even came close. So when all the typical teams finished, with their physical prowess, there was nothing left for them to do but watch us messily get through our relay. We would be about half done, but having a blast.

As the other kids looked on, a shift in understanding would start to take root. A couple of

BY JEREMY ARMSTRONG

the kids would begin to cheer us on. Then more.

Then even more, until just about the entire camp was gathered around us cheering for my kids.

Some even offered to help, and with tears in my eyes I would step back and watch able bodied high school students take a boy who uses a wheelchair out of my arms and into their own.

They began to do my job. They took part in the inclusion of my kids who were so often on the outside. It was a miracle.

The miracle continued throughout the week.

And by the end everyone knew our names and approached us to confess how they felt at the beginning, but that we made their experience the best they’d ever had. Quite simply it was transformative for everyone.

Now, that is only one kind of diversity. In this issue we cover diversity in myriad forms.

But the diversity I experienced as a young leader showed me what happens when you become intentional to step into shoes that are different from your own. The rules of the game cease to be based on winning the race and are instead founded on making sure everyone gets to the finish line. And really, that changes everything. W – Jeremy Armstrong,

managing editor

worshipleader CEO/PUBLISHER Chuck Fromm, PhD

EDITORIAL BOARD Warren Anderson, Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown, J. Robert Clinton, Maggi Dawn, Craig Detweiler, Jeff Deyo, Carlton Dillard, Stan Endicott, Susan Fontaine Godwin, Shaun Groves, Tony Guerrero, Debby Kerner Rettino, Reggie Kidd, Roberta King, Greg Laurie, Hughes Oliphant Old, Andy Park, Matt Redman, Robb Redman, Jason Ritchie, Mark Roberts, Lin Sexton, Martin Smith, Brian Steckler, Laura Story, Rick Warren.

SUBMISSIONS See our submission guidelines at worshipleader.com. For all other feedback or inquiries, contact jeremy@wlmag.com.

WORSHIP LEADER & SONG DISCOVERY MANAGING EDITOR Jeremy Armstrong DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE & PUBLISHING SERVICES Andrea Hunter ART DIRECTOR Katie Noel EVENTS DIRECTOR OF TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Suzie Stablein ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Daniele Kimes SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Alissa Smith

SONG DISCOVERY 116 LISTENING BOARD Charlie Hammell, Gord Evans, Carlina Stromback, Josh Lopez, Russ Hearn, Quincy Carmichael, Stephanie Leachman, Phil Sillas, Jeremy Armstrong, Andy Toy, Calvin Llente, Jeff Little, Brandi Harvey, Josh Roland, Erna Daniel, Tim Walsh, Ben Schoffman, Judy Meinzer, Norman Silver, David Gauthier, Bob Marshall, Randy Hitts

OPERATIONS AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Nicole Fromm ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Judi Coffin

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NOTE ON BIBLE QUOTES Unless otherwise noted, Worship Leader defaults to the NIV 1984 version.

song DISCovery Worship Leader® (ISSN 1066-1247) is published bi-monthly by Worship Leader Partnership (29222 Rancho Viejo Road, Ste 215, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-1046).

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Reckless, latestthe LOVE LEAD THEthe WAY, latest from offering from The Brooklyn Jeremy Camp Tabernacle offers fresh deliversChoir, a challenge to new songs that tell of God’s live in total surrender to love for us and world. Itinis a God’s will.the Available soundtrack hopenow. and love.

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WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE IN THIS MAGAZINE? Get them delivered straight to your inbox when you subscribe to our free, weekly online eNewsletter at worshipleader.com

FORUM This month, there was a good amount of chatter on worshipleader.com. Here’s a little of what’s being said.

Here is what people are saying about “Jesus Never Used a Countryman Microphone.” Read the full article: go.wlmag.com/never-used.

Christine said: Worship music that is too loud inhibits some from worshiping with their voice.

I won’t sing if I can’t hear myself let alone those around me. I cannot bring my best to the throne if I can’t even hear what it is I am bringing (I imagine I sound like someone singing with headphones on).

Gary Halbedel said: Historically, we have had house sound levels so low that I believe the quality of the music suffers, and the stage monitor levels interfere with the house. I think the right levels are somewhere in between the softest that some want and the loudest that others want. In other words, a compromise and that needs to be explained to complainers. Additionally, if you have a sound guy that doesn’t like contemporary music he will tend to mix accordingly.

John said: As was mentioned in the article, I have found that it is not usually the volume that creates the complaint issues, but the mix.

I have been a sound tech for 32 years and found that if the sound is harsh it doesn’t matter what the volume is; it just creates an unpleasant experience. Frequencies are important and a sound tech needs to know how to adjust them to make the worship experience great for all ages and likes.

Here is what people are saying about “How American Idol Hurts Worship.”

Read the full article: go.wlmag.com/ai-hurt.

Matt said: I do understand how Idol and The Voice feed our culture to critique and judge singers and how they perform. That focus, carried with them into church, can become a consistent filter to critique each song, how did the worship leader dress, perform, connect with the congregation, and belt out the high notes? Along with culture’s critical judgment, we can seek entertainment, rather than offering a sacrifice of praise. I’ve noticed attending many mega-

worshipleader THE APP IS NOW AVAILABLE! NOW YOU CAN BROWSE THE ARCHIVE AND PURCHASE SINGLE ISSUES TO READ ON YOUR iPAD. Single issues and subscription available • 99¢ sampler May 2012 iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc

churches, the lack of overall engagement.

Having 6,000 people in your sanctuary, but most of them don’t sing, because they are attending a concert of sorts, to observe rather than engage. So important that we pastorally guide and direct our congregations to sing.

Joyclyn Wilson said: This article is so true. As a singer from the choir to leading on the “praise team” there is a lot of pressure to sing the songs the way they are sung on the radio. I can remember learning songs and having the fear of not meeting up to the original singers’ “runs” and “voice embellishments.”

In some churches I was in, this pressure came from the pulpit.

On another note, as a leader of worship there is another type of “diva American Idol spirit” in some singers now—they want their solo and will even say, “I sing that better than that person, so I deserve that solo.” I have had to purge my group to prevent this “diva” behavior from dividing my group. The focus should be on collectively coming in one accord to touch the Father’s heart. I agree that this is the true “Heart of Worship.” Many churches can put on a good Sunday morning show and miss out on a real worship experience. W

LEADERSHIP

BY MARK D. ROBERTS

NOT YOUR STYLE?

STAY OPEN!

opportunity to be moved, not just by a great story, but also by God’s grace, that which the story so marvelously depicts.

My friend missed a chance to be touched by the Lord.

Yet, I’m not pointing a finger of blame because I am just like my friend. When I don’t relate to a style of music, or when I don’t like certain lyrics or chord progressions, I rush to sit in the seat of scoffers.

I become the critic and shut my heart. I get so caught up in myself that I fail to be open to my sisters and brothers in Christ, not to mention my Lord. I miss out on gifts God has for me because “that’s not my kind of music” or “that’s not good enough.”

SURPRISED BY GRACE

I

begin with a confession. I love Les Misérables. I love Victor Hugo’s novel.

I love the musical stage production. I love to listen to the soundtrack. And I loved the movie that came out just over a year ago. Some parts took a little adjustment, but still, I found the movie deeply moving and inspiring.

So, I was excited when a dear friend of mine was going to see the movie. This friend had never even seen the stage version and hardly knew the music. Now, my friend loves music in general and is an accomplished musician, having won a Grammy and been nominated more than once.

I was sure that my friend, who is also a mature Christian with a passion for God’s grace, would love the Les Misérables film.

WHAT WAS I THINKING? Boy was I wrong! My friend’s reaction to the movie? “I hated it.” Ugh. I felt deflated and defensive. I was also confused. My friend loves music. I love my friend’s music. We enjoy similar kinds of music. But Les Mis? Fuggedaboutit!

My friend’s reaction to the movie was a powerful reminder to me of how widely musical tastes can differ. People of goodwill, common faith, and deep friendship do not necessarily appreciate the same kinds of music, whether we’re talking about Top 40, opera, hip-hop, Bach, or (sigh) Les Misérables. Oh, and don’t forget, 10

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they also differ about songs, hymns, and spiritual songs.

I’m old enough to have lived through the major worship wars of the late 20th century. Churches divided and friendships were destroyed because some folk liked psalms, some liked hymns, and others liked spiritual songs. Oh, to be sure, there were serious theological problems with

As I get older, I am trying to fight against my natural tendency to shut down and criticize. Every now and then, I find that I can remain open to the Lord when worshiping with music that I don’t like. When my heart stays tender, I am stretched. I am instructed. I am humbled. And, sometimes, I am touched by the Lord in new and unexpected ways.

So, it’s just fine that you have your own preferences when it comes to worship music. That’s perfectly normal. But here’s

“WHEN I DON’T RELATE TO A STYLE OF MUSIC, OR WHEN I DON’T LIKE CERTAIN LYRICS OR CHORD PROGRESSIONS, I RUSH TO SIT IN THE SEAT OF SCOFFERS. I BECOME THE CRITIC AND SHUT MY HEART.” some of the music in all genres. But, for the most part, the worship wars were a matter of taste and tradition. I like mine.

You like yours. I’m right. You’re wrong. “I follow Cephas.” “I follow Paul.” “I follow Apollos.” (See 1 Cor 1:12.)

CLOSING THE DOOR ON GOD Differences in musical taste can devastate churches when members are obsessed with their own preferences. But I want to highlight another problem here, one that can plague those of us who lead worship.

Because my dear friend couldn’t stomach the genre of music in the Les Misérables film, this friend missed an extraordinary

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my word of encouragement. Remain open to other styles. Discover the richness in other traditions. Offer to the Lord your worship through music that you’d never choose for yourself. As you do, you may discover that God has unexpected gifts for you as he is glorified through your unusual worship. W MARK D. ROBERTS is Executive Director of Digital Media of Foundations for Laity Renewal. Blog: patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts. Daily Reflection: thehighcalling.org.

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LEADERSHIP

BY RORY NOLAND

DOES YOUR WORSHIP TEAM REFLECT DIVERSITY?

Q:

My pastor wants to see more variety among our platform personnel. Specifically, he’s asking for more 20-year olds and minorities on stage. We’re an aging suburban church located in what used to be an allwhite neighborhood that is becoming increasingly diverse. I’m all for us becoming more inclusive, I just don’t know where to begin, especially since I’m a middle-aged white guy. Any ideas?

A:

I’m not surprised your pastor is requesting more 20-somethings on the platform. Statistics indicate that those in their 20s are opting out of church at an alarming rate these days. I’m also thrilled that you’re being asked to include more minorities. Scripture reveals that worship in heaven is intergenerational and multi-ethnic, so every opportunity for the generations and diverse people groups to come together in worship offers a foretaste of heavenly worship. Fortunately, the churches in which I’ve served actively modeled the kind of diversity your pastor is seeking, so I’ll steer you toward some ideas that I’ve seen work in similar settings.

PRAY First of all, I assume you’ve put the need for more 20-year olds and minorities at the top of your prayer list. God knows what you need and is able to provide. I’ve seen the Lord move artists to the other side of the world just so they could get involved in ministry, so don’t neglect prayer. It’s one of your most powerful recruiting tools.

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NEW RECRUITS As you pray, I strongly suggest you go into heavy recruiting mode for the musicians and artists you need. Given your congregation’s reputation for being a “white suburban church” as you put it, minorities and those in their 20s may have already concluded your ministry has no place for them, especially if they don’t see people like them on the platform. They may even doubt whether they’re entirely welcome at your church. For that reason, you may have to recruit more aggressively and strategically than ever before. Announce open auditions in the church bulletin and from the front. I would avoid saying something like, “If you’re between the ages of 20-29, our church worship ministry wants you!”

That would be exclusive and smacks of tokenism. Instead, have general auditions, open to all, but be tuned to those who come forward who will help to create a balanced team representative of the whole church and surrounding community you serve—including ages and ethnicities. To allay any second thoughts that they might not be welcome based on what they’ve seen heretofore, you may want to call each applicant personally and let them know you’re looking forward to meeting them and hearing them sing and/or play.

Also, because talented people often have talented friends, you should ask your team for suggestions as to musicians across the generational and multi-racial/ ethnic spectrum. Ask them if they know of anyone looking for a place to serve. Personally contact any names they give you.

If you need additional staff, hire the most qualified candidates, but strive for team leadership that represents where you are

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and where you want to go as a congregation in terms of age, culture, and ethnicity.

It is essential that you make room for representatives from every demographic you serve or hope to serve on your team in key staff and volunteer leadership roles.

They may lead a verse, a chorus, an entire song, or a full worship set. And don’t limit yourself to only musical opportunities. If you need someone to read Scripture, give announcements, or share a testimony, try to include a wide variety of people. This communicates that you’re serious about inclusivity.

NORMAL LOOKING PEOPLE I would add this detail to your pastor’s list. Unconsciously we can be swept up into a tendency that reflects the culture we live in emphasizing image and appearance over ability and calling, placing good looking, youthful (though your church missed this one), cool, hip people on the platform. How refreshing it is to come to church and see people of all shapes, sizes, ages, and color—real people—up front. It affirms the truth to all that your church (and better yet, Jesus) is for everyone.

ACROSS THE BOARD All the above is also true for a church that is in an African American community with a growing Hispanic, Asian, white, or other distinct population. We need to reflect God’s heart for people, period. W RORY NOLAND (heartoftheartist.org) directs Heart of the Artist Ministries and is the author of Worship on Earth as It Is in Heaven.

NWLC 2014

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LEADERSHIP

BY DARLENE ZSCHECH

SACRIFICE PREFERENCES AND FIND STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY

BY DARLENE ZSCHECH

W

ORSHIP GOD ENJOYS

God is not looking for conformity, everyone being the same in our expression of worship. What he is looking for is truth, honesty, sincerity, and integrity. Truth sets us free (Jn 4:23).

“Unity” is actually what we are aiming for—allowing for differences in method, but demanding a standard of the heart— a similar commitment that yearns for the reality of God in our midst.

We all know that worship, when it comes to the fullness of the word, means and consists of all we are, at all times, in all we do, being lived as an offering of worship … living to please the heart of God. I like this quote attributed to Augustine, “Our lives should be a hallelujah from head to toe.” And no matter who actually said it, living our lives in response to the great love of God is our 24/7 “Thank you.”

Probably one of the most frustrating things in the leadership of worship is the assumption that one stream or style of music is superior in expressing our offering of thanks. So, I want to speak about that briefly, and I want you all to relax! I am no expert per se, but I am a leader who is passionate and absolutely committed to the kingdom of God—the strength of us as a whole. The fact is, while we expend our energies on matters like “style,” we miss some of the real issues. The lost and broken world needs us to reconcile our differences and get on with taking Jesus to the world.

STRENGTH THAT UNITES They say in marriage, if the two of you are too much alike, then one of you is unnecessary. That’s how it is with diversity in the Church. Our strengths lie in our differences. Bishop Desmond Tutu said, “Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.”

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“OUR INDIVIDUAL DESIGNS ARE SO UNIQUE; HOW COULD WE EVER DREAM TO FULLY EXPRESS IN ONE WAY THE WONDER OF OUR GOD?” The Church, she is wonderful—born out of so many different holy revelations, and not just necessarily preferences. Our individual designs are so unique; how could we ever dream to fully express in one way the wonder of our God? The beauty of the body fully alive and being expressed in millions of ways across the earth is our strength. And yet, we are deeply strengthened by our similarities as well—the dancers, the singers, the prayers, the preachers, the mums, the dads, the educated, the uneducated, the collective body. We come in common as the people of God, who are designed intricately to be in relationship with him.

The strength of diversity is seen in lifted hands, face down in awe, shouts of praise, exuberant dancing, quietness and stillness, on bended knee, with unceasing prayer, songs of thanksgiving, songs of lament, feasting, and celebrating. With every word I have written, some of your hearts leapt, and some of your hearts shuddered, as preferences for one expression or another came into play.

SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE

about this approach is the absolute dedication to biblical truths about worship.

In the book, Exploring the Worship Spectrum, Paul Engle offers a great final statement: Wisdom suggests that we permit in worship anything that connects people to God in a vital way, and that we forbid only what tarnishes God’s reputation or violates Christ’s love or glorifies human egos. This cannot be easily codified but requires sensitivity and discernment of the Holy Spirit.

I personally know that it is one thing being criticized about a style, but it is another thing totally when someone criticizes your salvation experience as nothing but emotionalism. Can you see what I’m getting at? We need to be tuned to the Holy Spirit and to people.

Love is where it’s at. Worship, like prayer, is critical, but let’s not let our worship preferences get in the way of what God is doing on the earth. It’s not about us; it’s about him.

Then he makes it about us, and we are transformed in his presence to take the love of Christ to a love-starved planet. W

Love you dearly, All of the spiritual preferences we lean to- Darls wards have upsides and downsides. Contemporary worship can lead to mere perDARLENE ZSCHECH formance, and on the other hand with a very formal—sometimes called “liturgical” wor- (darlenezschech.com) wrote the ship—there is a possibility that a personal classic “Shout to the Lord” and encounter could get lost in the tried-and- has a new album and book both titled Revealing Jesus. true forms and methods. What I do love

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PAUL BALOCHE

CD+DVD AVA I L A B L E W O R L D W I D E

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LEADERSHIP

BY REGGIE KIDD

GOSPEL DIVERSITY “WITH FOUR PART HARMONY AND FEELING”

M

aybe you’re like me? On any given Sunday, I may show up for worship worn out or close to giving up or guilty and ashamed—or ready to celebrate. I know there’s an even more diverse range of moods among the people I’m called to lead. How can the worship of Jesus’ people rise from such disparate hearts? How can worship leaders orchestrate such discordant voices?

“With four part harmony and feeling.”

That’s how Arlo Guthrie introduces the last chorus of his classic story-song “Alice’s Restaurant.” To me, it’s an apt summary of God’s gift to us of the four voices through which he tells us Jesus’ story: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In his “four part, one song” gift, God provides hope that Jesus can make sweet music of our disparate voices.

tament God of love against the Old Testament God of wrath. Epic fail. Tatian (mid2nd century, Assyria) tried to amalgamate the four Gospel accounts into a single narrative—the result was a mish-mash. Less epic, but fail nonetheless.

Nor have other sources been that helpful. Contemporary (or at least roughly contemporary) historians like the Roman Tacitus (early 2nd century) and the Jewish Josephus (a turncoat during the 1st century war with Rome) do little more than note that Jesus lived. The Gospel of Thomas (2nd century, Egypt) gives us sayings (many quite odd), but little of the story.

The Gospel of Judas (2nd century, Egypt) gives us story, but one that just didn’t— and doesn’t—ring true.

SEARCHING FOR THE REAL JESUS

For the last 200 years or so, scholarship has tried to get behind “the Christ of the Gospels” in quest of “the historical Jesus.”

The problem is that scholarship is done by scholars, and scholars are people. Consistently, those scholars’ quests lead them to a Jesus that looks just like them. Churches have their own reductionistic bent. Protes-

It’s not a given that we would have access to Jesus through precisely these four Gospels. Some people in the early days of the Church experimented with something else. Marcion (mid-2nd century, Rome) championed an edited Luke over the other three—and wound up pitting a New Tes-

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

“EACH WINGED CREATURE BECAME ASSOCIATED IN THE EARLY CHURCH’S MIND WITH A PARTICULAR GOSPEL. EACH BECAME A METAPHOR FOR ITS GOSPEL’S ANGLE OF VISION, ITS ASPECT OF CHRIST’S MESSAGE TO BE TAKEN TO THE NATIONS, AND ITS FACET OF WORSHIP.” 16

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tants filter Jesus through the Apostle Paul.

Catholics favor the Synoptics (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) because of the Synoptics’ ethical teachings. The Orthodox favor John because of his perceived otherworldliness.

But the reality is that the four Gospels pressed themselves in concert upon the early church, and the early church wisely let each sing its own part of the song.

The four winged creatures of the book of Revelation gave the early Church its most powerful metaphor for the singular message and fourfold voice of the Gospels: “the first living creature like a lion, the second … like an ox, the third … with the face of a man, and the fourth … like an eagle in flight” (Rev 4:7). Each has eyes for sight, and wings for flight. Each ceaselessly worships: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty” (4:8).

Each winged creature became associated in the early church’s mind with a particular Gospel. Each became a metaphor for its Gospel’s angle of vision, its aspect of Christ’s message to be taken to the nations, and its facet of worship.

4 FACES OF CHRIST Matthew is the winged man because Matthew begins with Christ’s genealogy. Beyond that, Matthew presents Jesus as “gentle and lowly in heart,” and as one especially attuned to the burdens of “all who labor and are heavy laden” and who need rest for their souls (11:28,29). Matthew’s Jesus is Emmanuel (“God with us,” 1:23) who teaches in the Sermon on the Mount what our true humanity looks like.

Mark is the winged lion because Mark begins with John the Baptist roaring like a lion in the desert. Beyond that, in his focus on Christ’s coming “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many,” Mark shows Christ’s true, Aslanlike power.

Luke is the winged ox because Luke begins with Zechariah fulfilling priestly duties in the Temple. As Irenaeus (2nd century, Gaul) notes, “For now was made ready the fatted calf about to be immolated for the finding again of the younger son.” Luke, Paul’s traveling companion, is the only Gentile author in the New Testament. His two volume Luke/Acts is rooted in “secular” history and the ethical sensibilities of the Gentile world. He understands especially well that humanity experiences redemption through Jesus fulfilling Old Testament sacrificial requirements and promises.

John is the winged eagle because the eagle is a good symbol for Christ’s coming from above as the divine Logos. With his seven “I am” statements (6:35; 8:12; 10:7; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1) and Jesus’ crowning claim, “Before Abraham was, I am” (8:58), John offers the most exalted view of Christ in the New Testament.

Doubting Thomas speaks for all of us when he confesses: “My Lord and my God.”

IMPELLED TO WORSHIP As Jesus reveals himself through his fourfold Gospel, he speaks to the diverse needs of his people. Some hear him say, “You will find rest for your souls.” Some hear the Father rejoicing because the fatted calf has been sacrificed, and they are welcomed home. Some hear that Christ is their Lionprotector. And we all find ourselves bowing before the one who is the great “I am.” W REGGIE KIDD wrote the book With One Voice and teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary and the Robert. E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies.

NWLC 2014

The 7 “I AM’S” FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN I AM the bread of life I AM the light of the world I AM the gate for the sheep I AM the good shepherd I AM the resurrection and the life I AM the way and the truth and the life I AM the true vine, and my Father is the gardener

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NEW WORSHIP MUSIC ON

MAY/JUNE 2014 VOLUME 116

1. JOY

7. BREAKING IN

BY REND COLLECTIVE

BY RIVER CITY HYMNAL

As heard on The Art of Celebration. Words and music by Rend Collective. For more information visit: rendcollective.com

As heard on Wonders-EP. Words and music by Tommy Moore/ John Genier/Brent Idleman/Jacob Thorton. For more information visit: reverbnation.com/rivercityhymnal

2. YOU LIFT US UP

8. YAHWEH

As heard on Live. Words and music by Paul Baloche/Matt Maher. For more information visit: leadworship.com

As heard on Come Alive. Words and music by Demetric Phillips.

For more information visit: destinationwired.com

BY PAUL BALOCHE

3. LOVE COMES DOWN

BY MICHAEL FARREN

As heard on ALL THE SAINTS: Live from the CentricWorship Retreat-No 1. Words and music by Michael Farren/Lauren Daigle/Seth Mosely. For more information visit: centricworship.com

4. HOLY, HOLY

BY CINDY CRUSE RATCLIFF As heard on Heaven Raining Down. Words and music by Ben Fielding/Cindy Cruse Ratcliff. For more information visit: dreamrecords.org

5. UNTO GOD

BY PLANETSHAKERS As heard on Endless Praise. Words and music by Joth Hunt.

For more information visit: planetshakers.com

BY DEMETRIC PHILLIPS WITH DESTINATION WORSHIP

9. REJOICE

BY KALEO

As heard on Like a Fire. Words and music by Tim Brown. For more information visit: canyonviewchurch.com

10. GOD’S GREAT LOVE

BY JOSH BAYNE

As heard on Grace Like Crazy. Words and music by Josh Bayne.

For more information visit: athenschurch.com

11. REJOICE

BY DUSTIN KENSRUE As heard on The Water & the Blood. Words and music by Dustin Kensrue/Stuart Townend. For more information visit: becrecordings.com

6. WAKE US UP

BY RAQUEL CARLSON As heard on Come Alive-EP. Words and music by Raquel Carlson/Chris Clayton. For more information visit: facebook.com/raquelcarlsonmusic

Worship Leader’s Song DISCovery® would like to thank our ministry partners for their contributions to Volume 116: Integrity Music, Thankyou Music, EMI Christian Music Publishing, Leadworship Songs, CentricSongs, Farren Love & War, 2 Hour Songs, CentricWorship, RPM Global Publishing, SHOUT Music Publishing, Dream Records, Planetshakers Ministries, Raquel Kaylene Music, Claytonia Music, River City Hymnal, Destination Worship, Kaleo Music, Josh Bayne, It’s All About Jesus Music, Dead Bird Theology, We Are Younger we Are Faster Music, Modern Hymnal Publishing, Mars Hill Music

Songwriters: Have a song you want to share with the Church?

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LEADERSHIP

4 PRINCIPLES FOR BUILDING DIVERSE SERVICES OF WORSHIP

BY CONSTANCE M. CHERRY

T

he instant that Janie entered the large basement fellowship hall, she knew that this night of worship would be special. The accordion-style dividing walls that usually defined various Sunday school classrooms had been pulled back, and round tables filled the room. The lights were turned off and single candles were glowing in the middle of each table. Sacred music was playing softly in the background. There was an unusual hush as people of all ages drifted down the stairs and into the functional space that now felt like a sanctuary.

Even young children seemed to sense that something special was about to happen.

Leaders welcomed each one as they invited folks to sit at one of the tables. Janie decided to join a middle-aged couple and

plain, unfrosted cakes were also on each table, along with pitchers of water and a few plates and glasses. She was struck with the simplicity of the items.

CREATING THE CONTEXT

The worship leader, David, began by explaining that this was Maundy Thursday— an evening in which we remember that Jesus shared a meal with and strengthened his companions prior to his death the next day. On this night the Gospels tell us that the community sang a hymn, offered prayers, and contemplated together what it would mean to follow Jesus in the next few hours.

It was also the time when Jesus gave them a new commandment: they must love one another. In fact, David explained, Maun-

“WHEN YOU PLAN SPECIAL SERVICES OF ANY TYPE, ASK THIS QUESTION: WHAT SPECIFIC MISSIONAL PURPOSE WILL THIS SERVICE SUGGEST?” took her seat beside them. She had seen them in church often but didn’t know their names. They welcomed her and exchanged smiles. Soon two young men also sat at their table, along with a mix of others until the seats were filled. The room took on an air of expectation as soon-to-be worshipers surrounded tables. Janie noticed that very 20

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dy is from the Latin, mandatum novum, for “new commandment.” Janie became quickly engaged as he painted a picture for the gathered worshipers, hinting at what would take place. They too would share simple food, strengthen companions, sing hymns, offer prayers, and contemplate together what it means to follow Jesus as his

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disciples today. They too, like Jesus’ original 12, would be challenged with a new commandment: to love one another. Tonight was a “Love Feast”—a historic service of the ancient church and one maintained throughout the centuries. Various groups order the service differently. Some share the Lord’s Supper and wash feet; other traditions share simple food and exhort one another through song and testimony. Tonight, they would do the latter.

WORSHIPING WITH JESUS

David read a few verses from the Psalms and then offered a prayer, welcoming the presence of the risen Lord. Without any other introductory words, he simply led in a song of worship. Janie thought how refreshing it was to enter into these acts without a lot of commentary or hype. The singing voices were beautiful to her ears. David then told the people that they were free to initiate acts of worship as they wished throughout the evening. If they wanted to begin a song— just start singing. Others will join in. If they felt led to testify, simply do it. Janie wondered if there might be awkward moments when nothing would happen. But David had that covered; he told them that long moments of silence were also welcome on this holy night, for on the eve of Jesus’ death, it is just fine to let the silence speak for itself.

Janie experienced one of the most meaningful times of corporate worship she had ever known. The evening was filled with a

LEADERSHIP

remarkable mixture of songs, testimonies, prayers, laughter, tears, favorite verses of Scripture, and yes, serving one another the cake and water as informal conversation took place in between the other acts of worship. Sometimes David started a song or led the people in various acts of worship; at other times someone else spontaneously offered a word of encouragement or a confession or told about the moment they had come to Christ.

Janie noticed that the children were captivated by the entire evening. An older saint offered a prayer for the little ones as folks near them at the table reached to hold their hands. The children heard the stories of God’s faithfulness told by young and old alike. They liked the stories. By the end of the evening of worship, Janie felt greatly encouraged in her own commitment to Christian discipleship as a follower of Christ. She also felt a new love for her community for having shared this time together.

They all left the service in silence as they, like Jesus’ disciples, went out into the night having been strengthened in community for whatever would lie ahead.

First: A Right Focus

PLANNING DIVERSE SERVICES

Fourth: An Outward Drive

Primarily, Lord’s Day worship services are the foundation for corporate worship in the local church. But are they the only occasions for the community to gather for worship? No, there are many diverse occasions for the local church to worship God. Celebrating the Christian year inspires some great opportunities. Many of these services take place other than on Sunday mornings as was described above. Sometimes life passages are occasions for corporate worship.

Weddings and funerals come to mind. The sacraments/ordinances of the Church also add to the diversity of possibilities for worship. Take full advantage of many different occasions for worship. As you do, consider that they should look differently than your primary, weekly service. Here are four things for worship architects to remember as they plan diverse services of a special nature.

Remember that the focus of the special service is always upon God in Jesus Christ. Be creative. But while any given special service will suggest some exciting and unique possibilities, don’t let your creativity inadvertently displace the focus upon God. Ask this question: Is the main thing still the main thing?

Second: A Participatory Experience Remember that worshipers are full participants. Never let these special services be occasions for creating a program. Leaders must always plan and lead worship in such a way that worshipers are not passive but vital partners in the event. Involve the people as much as possible. Let them experience the special service rather than observe it. Experience occurs primarily through participation. Ask this question: How involved are the worshipers in every aspect of the service?

Third: A Formation of the Spirit Remember that corporate worship is naturally spiritually forming. Whatever is done in worship will affect the faith of worshipers (positively or negatively). When planning special services, ask this question: What spiritual formation do we hope might occur as a result of experiencing this special service? Plan for elements in the service that could be opportunities for deeper experiences of God.

Remember that ultimately, worship leads to mission. We must never delight in a service simply for what it can do for us. Rather, when we worship we are changed so that we can joyfully love God by living out the missional purposes of the gospel.

When you plan special services of any type, ask this question: What specific missional purpose will this service suggest?

Janie’s response to the service described above was largely because David remembered these very things, among others. Explore the potential of creating special services of worship. The possibilities are limitless! W

REV. DR. CONSTANCE M. CHERRY is a regular contributor to Worship Leader and much-loved speaker and workshop leader at NWLC. An associate professor of worship and Christian ministries at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana, she is also a permanent part-time professor for the Robert E.Webber Institute of Worship Studies. Cherry is known for her definitive exploration of worship in The Worship Architect, and her latest book Special Service Worship Architect. She has served local churches as a minister of music/worship and as a United Methodist pastor.

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LEADERSHIP

A WORSHIP LEADER’S PERSPECTIVE

National Worship Leader Conference, Texas, attendee Aubrey McGowan shares his experience and what makes a successful worship conference.

F

ebruary 24-27, the National Worship Leader Conference landed in the great state of Texas for the first time in five years. We were hosted by the terrific staff of Bent Tree Church in Carrollton, Texas, pastored by one of our keynote speakers, Pete Briscoe. The location and facility were a perfect setting for what proved to be an amazing week of lifting up Jesus together with Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs.

This year, we kicked

things off with a songwriting pre-conference emceed by our very own Chuck Fromm. Songwriting all-stars Jennie Riddle and Michael Farren poured into us and a live panel of songwriters led by Meredith Andrews reviewed original songs submitted by various attendees. Just being in the room that day filled us with excitement for the new songs brimming with authentic truth that God is birthing in the heart of the Church.

It would be difficult to describe in detail all that took place from that moment on, but God was clearly at work in so many ways around every corner. As always, through the

WORSHIP LEADERS:

focused breakout classes, inspiring keynote sessions, and powerful nights of worship, humble and gifted artists and leaders poured into everyone there. The unity and diversity on display the whole week was truly beautiful. It is remarkable how you can go to a session on using electronic drums in worship with The Digital Age, attend another about vocal health with Diane Sheets, and then hear a keynote speaker like Leonard Sweet talking about bringing back the “dinner table” all in one day.

One of the defining moments of the conference came on Wednesday morning. Coming off of a wonderful night of worship led by Gateway Worship, All Sons

BRING YOUR

FEATURED SPEAKERS & WORSHIP LEADERS AT SELECT LOCATIONS • Rend Collective • Matt Maher • The Brilliance • Paul Baloche • Meredith Andrews • Tim Timmons • David Nasser • Bill and Gloria Gaither • Glenn Packiam • Dr. Marva Dawn • Jack Hayford • Dr. Lester Ruth • And more 22

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LEADERSHIP

& Daughters, and One Sonic Society, God wasted no time showing us he was just getting started. To kick it off, we were caught up singing again, but this time led by Cantos de Alabanza in English and Spanish. God’s presence was so evident, and the room was filled with so much refreshing rest and peace. Then the sweet and stern Marva Dawn took us to school reminding us that our priority in worship should always be Jesus, and that we should strive to include people from all races and nationalities in our corporate worship.

Finally, with tears in his eyes, Pastor Pete Briscoe implored us to remember that what we say matters more than how we say it (content over style). However, we have also been commissioned as artists to marry the content of the gospel with brilliant creativity.

Oftentimes a conference with so many thought-provoking presenters can leave you feeling like you have been drinking from a fire hose all week. But then, the

WHAT YOU GET:

most amazing thing happens. The Holy Spirit begins to reveal the common threads that are running through every moment.

Through a conversation with your team at lunch or an unplanned discussion with someone you just met, he begins to bring to the surface what he is speaking to you— what he wants you to take away from the week. All the way through, it seemed like God was tying to gather moments like this to uniquely encourage each one of us.

The whole week was a huge success in so many ways, but most important the name of Jesus was lifted up loudly and passionately at every turn! I can’t wait until we gather again in Dallas next year and I hope that you will come and give me the privilege of joining my voice with yours. W AUBREY MCGOWAN is the worship pastor at Hope Fellowship (Frisco East Staff), and a Texas 2014 attendee

• 3 morning general sessions (6 speakers) • 9 workshop times (70+ workshops) • 3 meals (lunch is provided) • 3 nights of worship (12+ worship leaders) • 30+ worship related exhibitors • A solid theme (Eph. 5:19-20)

VIEW THE FULL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AT

NWLCONF.COM

PHOTOS BY AARON BENSKO

TEAMS FOR 3 DAYS OF TRAINING OUR NEXT CONFERENCE DATES ARE SNEAKING UP FAST!

D.C. AREA, VA

SAN JOSE, CA

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FOR DETAILS AND TO REGISTER GO TO

MAY 13-15

JUNE 17-19

JULY 15-17

NWLCONF.COM OR CALL (949) 240-9339

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LEADERSHIP

BY KEITH GETTY

ON WRITING FOR CHILDREN …

AND LEARNING FROM THE IRISH

I

have only recently had the privilege in life to be a father, though I have not worked as extensively as many in children’s music. I have written and reflected a little on the subject this month as we focus on children’s music and as Kristyn and I begin to plan towards a new children’s music project.

IMAGINATION UNFURLED The thoughts of two Irish people have been particularly challenging as we approach the subject of addressing artistic creativity in the context of the children who belong to our churches.

have today. (Her book, Hymns for Little Children had 69 editions published before the close of the nineteenth century and is still being reprinted today.)

them any the less on that account. I am almost inclined to set it up as a canon that a children’s story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children’s story.

THOU SHALT NOT DUMB DOWN

When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly.

When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

It strikes me as particularly unusual, given the fact that much of children’s literature today is story-driven, highly involved, complex, mystical, and requiring of intellectual commitment, that much of current children’s theological teaching, songs, and even worship to Almighty God can be so simplistic and shallow rather than telling the ascendant and beautiful story of Christ.

“I AM ALMOST INCLINED TO SET IT UP AS A CANON THAT A CHILDREN’S STORY WHICH IS ENJOYED ONLY BY CHILDREN IS A BAD CHILDREN’S STORY.” – C.S. LEWIS While at home in Ireland, I live on the beautiful North Antrim Coast—many of you have seen my father-in-law’s photographs on our Facebook page; that’s County Antrim and, for the most part, County Derry where we live. It’s interesting that the fine hymn writer Cecil Frances Alexander hails from there, having been a Pastor’s wife in Londonderry in the last century.

She saw a need to write hymns that helped teach the Bible and, until recently, I was unaware that her efforts to teach the Apostle’s Creed through hymnody were actually efforts to teach the Creed specifically to children—hence hymns such as “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” “Once in Royal David’s City,” and “There Is a Green Hill Far Away”—and this to children without many of the educational privileges we 24

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When it comes to writing for children, I have also always loved what Belfast-born CS Lewis had to say in On Stories or collected in Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories: No book is really worth reading at the age of ten that is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty—except, of course, books of information.The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all.

MYSTERY, VISION, & INNOCENT LOVE So why have the creativity of Lewis and Alexander both had such enduring appeal to children and value to the church? Ultimately there is something mysterious about art, but there are several factors we can certainly learn from. Each author displayed: A high view of art: timeless excellence in all their work and paying no attention to temporary fads or gimmicks.

A high love for people: the ability to always communicate warmly and accessibly through their art without patronizing us.

An infectious and childlike love for God’s creation and all things good, true, and beautiful.

A clear, enthralling vision for helping people see with fresh eyes the gospel story. W KEITH GETTY

Where the children’s story is simply the right form for what the author has to say, then of course readers who want to hear that will read the story or re-read it, at any age. I never met The Wind in the Willows [Kenneth Grahame] or E. [Edith] Nesbit’s Bastable books till I was in my late twenties, and I do not think I have enjoyed

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and his wife Kristyn have been writing hymns for more than a decade, bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary, and creating what is described as singable theology.Their songs, many co-written with Stuart Townend, have pioneered a new generation of modern hymns.

also available : the white album [remix project] i n c l u d e s O c e a n s ( L a r k R e m i x ) , R e l e n t l e s s ( Yo u n g & F r e e R e m i x ) a n d W i t h E v e r y t h i n g ( T i m Ya g o l n i k o v R e m i x )

t w i t t e r .c o m / h i l l s o n g u n i t e d f a c e b o o k .c o m / h i l l s o n g u n i t e d

h i l l s o n g u n i t e d .c o m i n s t a g r a m .c o m / h i l l s o n g u n i t e d M AY /JU N E 2 0 1 4

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LEADERSHIP

A FUTURECAST DIVERSITY and THE

WORSHIP LEADER by tony payne

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LEADERSHIP

There was less diversity.

Now there's more. Lots more.

Now, what does the future hold?

W

orship and liturgy were quite uniform during the first half of the 20th century. Denominational hymnbooks and prayerbooks dictated the content and structure of worship services, even though local planning methods varied. Mainline Protestants employed liturgical forms that were loosely prescriptive. Fundamentalists and evangelicals generally used only their Bible and their hymnbooks. And across the continuum of protestant worship, choirs, organs, and pianos were dominant. Music leadership was imparted to the choir director, organist, or song leader.

Around the decade of the 1960s things began to change, and congregational practices diversified. The growing tribes of evangelicals gradually shed their liturgical traditions but still tended to embrace their hymns, psalms, and gospel songs. The 50 years since have been volatile with profound change across the cultural, aesthetic, and liturgical landscape of the Church. Liturgical form was stripped away, and worship services only became containers into which congregational songs, musical offerings, and preachment were placed.

Today over 50 years later, we are on the threshold of another significant shift. That’s where this future-cast begins. What does the future hold for worship leaders in light of the growing diversity of our culture? Will they accept change? Or will change happen to them whether they accept it or not?

Often, diversity is exclusively associated with racial and ethnic diversity. While this is central, generational and cultural diversity are also important. With these in mind—ethnic, generational, and cultural, the stage is set.

Contemporary Worship in Transition

From Moscow to Auckland, Contemporary Worship has happened (in its myriad forms). It came to the Church at a time when certain leaders were desperately looking for ways to speak a familiar language of the culture and to empower new worship leaders whose orientation was informed by that culture—while others in the Church, threatened and leery, hunkered down and clung fiercely to the familiar past. This Contemporary Worship revolution came just after the initial rise of the straight-ahead uncomplicated rock ’n’ roll music of artists such as Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Just think of the musical styles and traditions that have come and gone over the past 55 years and how familiar genres have morphed into new ones. In light of these changes, has Contemporary Worship music already outlived many other musical styles and practices that reached their zenith and then faded?

Why is Contemporary Worship music in transition? Because, without some grafting of fresh influences into its branches, it risks losing the affections of 21st century worshipers. Churches throughout the West enjoy the earnest devotion of worship leaders who are often self taught and self-informed. This is not to belittle; on the contrary, what they do Sunday after Sunday is truly remarkable. But lacking a minimum of music training or courses in biblical studies and literature, they will limit the impact and influence of their ministry, no matter the tradition they hail from.

In other words, Contemporary Worship music may face the same decline as the pre-1960’s practices of the 20th century.

Rootedness

Champions of pre-1960 worship music may see some slowing of the 50-year decline. Statistics do not bode well for significant correction, nor does the relentless graying of heads in the choir loft and in the congregation. It is unlikely that the pendulum will swing too far back. What does look promising is the re-imagining of past aspects of history and practice in a 21st century world.

Attempts at choral ensembles in Contemporary Worship churches often seem disappointing, but choir directors are looking for ways to engage choral singing in worship, and for this they are to be credited. This is just one example of many possibilities before us.

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LEADERSHIP

Intimate in the Transcendent

And while new pipe organs continue to embrace. James Carroll’s Trail of Blood was be built and installed at a surprising rate, intended to prove that Baptists had no reports of staffing shortages persist, even lineage or debt to pre-reformation Chrisfor churches that are passionately com- tianity! Thankfully, young Christians are No matter how large the venue or how mitted to organ playing in worship. While evidencing a growing interest in the ancient great the number of worshipers, the exorganist Cameron Carpenter does not ap- church. And in music, whether it’s the cel- perience of worship will have to become pear to embrace the values of local church ebrated first century Greek Christian hymns, more personal, even as it becomes more worship, his entrepreneurial skills rei- or the medieval mystical compositions of corporate and transcendent, in order to find legitimacy in the magining the organ certainly hearts of the worshipsuggest what might be necesers. There is a continuum sary to revive organ playing of sound and experience in protestant and evangelifrom intimacy to awe. cal churches. His honesty in The two live in tension, this YouTube interview (go. and both need to be exwlmag.com/organ-image) perienced. Organs, huge is refreshing and holds great multi-voice choirs, and promise for a revival of organ rock bands layering anplaying. Regrettably, it will themic choruses lean tomore likely be outside church ward one end of the conthat this revival happens. tinuum, with whispered Thinking about all the chants, breathing, drones, facets of pre-1960’s worship, and silence at the other. liturgies, practices, and instruEach reveal God dwelling mentation, theologian Leonard in us, speaking to us, and Sweet may have given a clue at working through us. the recent National Worship It is tempting to think Leader Conference in Dallas. is a by-product of the that communities of faith He spoke of “coming back to will have to become smallthe table,” as a metaphor for er to create a personal exfaith, worship, and outreach. perience—or conversely What if the communal aspect larger to know the granof music and the arts were deur of God—but intimarekindled through Cameron cy doesn’t always have to Carpenter’s entrepreneurialism be small to be legitimate, coupled with fresh investments nor does grandeur have in community arts programs to be large. Ellen DeGeby the local church? Always neres’ distribution of pizlook for local strengths and za slices to the audience resources and build from during the recent Oscars there. In the historic Central demonstrated her ability Baptist Church of Moscow, to create a personal moRussia, a newly rebuilt 1890’s ment within the context era German organ, one of the of the epic. In Christian only remaining organs of its kind, is just the means of inviting local Hildegarde von Bingen, the cathedral mu- worship, intimacy can emanate from a residents for monthly organ recitals where sic of Orlando Gibbons, the gospel songs facial expression or a tender hand on they are welcomed, given Bibles, and offered of Thomas A. Dorsey, or the tribal wor- the shoulder. It may or may not come a glimpse of personal faith in Jesus Christ. ship songs of the New Guinea highlands, through the arts, and certainly music But the rediscovery of the past is not we have a duty to immerse ourselves in a has no dominance. The more musicians only reclaiming well-worn and beloved deeper understanding of Christian history. and worship leaders try to manufacture practices, but learning lessons of the more Worship music in the 21st century will in- intimacy, let alone transcendence, the greater their failure will be. distant past as well—a past that many creasingly depend on our rootedness. of us were taught to dismiss rather than

Diversity

8 UNITY is a by-product of

human nature;

GOSPEL OF

JESUS CHRIST

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LEADERSHIP

Sing Each Other's God Songs

Go to many evangelical services and conferences, and you will find a sea of white faces. But this is not the case for the culture at large. The worship leader of the present-future must intentionally and generously invite the songs and traditions of the ethnic communities around her/him.

The love of Christ compels it. Diversity is a by-product of human nature; unity is a by-product of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Diversity is a description of the creation.

Unity is the mystery of a Triune God. The reason we dwell in the realm of diversity is that we fail to aspire to unity. But how good and pleasant it is to discover unity!

Why transform diversity into unity?

Because unity is the means by which the gospel story is authenticated to the world.

Time and time again, we’ll fail, but the gospel calls us to unity nevertheless. And when we succeed, we do so by imitating the relationship Christ has with the Father, so beautifully described in the great prayer of John 17 and echoed throughout the Epistles.

Reflecting this unity in worship demands that we sing each other’s songs. It will be hard and will introduce customs into worship that will at times disarm or disorient. When struggle ensues, don’t be afraid. Re-read Revelation, where, in the eternities, people of every tribe and tongue are gathered around the throne singing their songs to the Lamb (e.g. Revelation 7:9). When we embrace the songs and customs of our diverse communities, we gain foreknowledge of the epic worship gathering around the throne of the Lamb.

Ubiquitous Virtuality There are many examples of the ubiquitous virtuality (i.e. the everywhere virtuality) of worship. It began long before the digital age, when stage lighting was first incorporated so that the preacher could be better illuminated. Then came radio, television, and the worldwide Web. As prospects improved for the dissemination of the gospel message, the presumed “virtue” was always assumed to outweigh any adverse effects virtuality might create.

Today, the church exists virtually inside and outside its own walls. Virtuality makes it possible for a satellite congregation to have its own pastor, even though he may only exist on the projection screen. Offerings take place online, abstracted from the liturgy.

Missionaries report via Skype and

Christ Our hope

Do you believe that Jesus, the first and last, is God over history and the sole object of our worship? Then the future is bright because the future-scape is rich with opportunities to lead. This future-cast offers a sampling of opportunities and threats before us, each of which merits more reflection and prayer,

"When we embrace the songs and customs of our diverse communities, we gain foreknowledge of the epic worship gathering around the throne of the Lamb."”

church newsletters are available via QR codes. Robert Schuller’s old concept of drive-in church is being replace by virtual churches in our own bedrooms through the use of an iPad. Inside many modern-day theaterchurches, the pragmatically-conceived, aesthetically-barren meeting rooms are being transformed with 3D projection. It’s a rocket ship hurling through space, a Gothic cathedral, or a mountain meadow full of wild flowers—clearly virtual for now, until the technology becomes as sophisticated as the holodeck of Star Trek:The Next Generation.

In an increasingly diverse future, the ubiquity of virtuality in every facet of church life may prompt questions.

When does virtuality give way to surrogacy? That is, when has the virtual representation become a surrogate for the real thing. Has reality become blurred? There is no doubt that we will have to be sorting out virtuality and its tendency toward surrogacy in the future. Until then, our worship leaders will only be witnesses to the incursion of virtual reality into spaces normally reserved for the real presence of the Triune God.

informed by your local faith community.

The successful worship leader will listen with humility, lead as a servant, and avoid autocratic decisions. And like any good futuristic saga, rare, creative, and courageous individuals equipped with entrepreneurial gifts will respond, will teach, will inspire the Church of Jesus Christ in its worship and its witness. W

DR. TONY PAYNE has been a church musician for over 40 years and integrally involved in teaching, composing, and leading for over 30 years at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. He served as co-editor of several hymnbooks including Aleluya: The Music of Lausanne II, and has written songs, hymns and spiritual songs, with recent compositions including All Is in Christ for choir, and How Exalted is Your Name. Find The Music of Tony Payne on SoundCloud or tonypaynemusic.com, and read his blog at cureator. tumblr.com. He is a general session leader and workshop teacher at the National Worship Leader Conference.

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MUSIC

BY ANDY CHAMBERLAIN

STRUM WITHOUT SWING

I’VE

been teaching guitar for over 20 years, and I’ve always found one or two students with a natural propensity to turn every groove into a swing. I originally put it down to a poor timing, but some of them keep the pulse quite nicely, they just make every straight beat skip a little. And its not like the swing thing is uncommon either; house groups and kids’ churches seem to be full of acoustic strummers set on turning every song into a “Paul Anka Worships” version.

Most students can hear the swing but don’t know how to stop it, and at times it has taken lots of lessons to iron out, especially if there’s rhythm and timing issues at play too. However, only recently while analyzing a student’s technique up close, I finally worked out what’s going on. So if you too have a rainbow-guitar-strapped swinger on your worship team, then maybe this will give you a few pointers to help straighten them out.

SUSSING OUT THE PROB Most people would think that a strumming swing is a result of an uneven strumming arm with un-equidistant up and down strums. Sometimes it is, but most of the time it’s because the guitar player unconsciously rotates their strumming hand right and left as well as the normal up and down as they strike across the strings. If they are right-handed that hand rotates slightly clockwise as they strike down the strings and then rotates anti-clockwise on the up strum.

So the beat-one downstroke is generally in time, but because of the wrist rotation the hand moves more quickly across the strings. That’s not in itself too much of an issue, but the following upstroke causes real problems. As the hand rotates back 30

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counter clockwise, it strikes the strings ahead of the offbeat as it moves upwards.

This will give you that sense of the swung rhythm, but then it can get worse.

If a guitarist has a good sense of the pulse, they’ll constantly correct themselves, and you’ll hear that uneasy swung rhythm. But more often than not, they’ll hear the upbeat they’ve played, realize that they’re somehow not in time, and assume that they must be going too slowly. Next they’ll try to correct themselves by getting faster, but actually they don’t realize they’re ahead of the beat until they find the next strong “1” beat.

HIDDEN BENEFITS OF AIR GUITAR It’s a cycle that causes all sorts of rhythmic problems and isn’t noticed because those wrist rotations are tiny movements.

So if you have a guitarist that needs some

ADJUST FINGERS, RELAX, TRY AGAIN As an extra technique, I encourage students to splay out their middle, ring, and little fingers when strumming (but not for lead picking) increasing the lateral left/ right wrist movement. This helps the wrist work like a pendulum, which tightens up the sound as it strums across the strings.

Again, get the student to strum along to a song on a root chord, and check if the strumming sounds equidistant. Get them to relax their arm and wrist so there’s minimal arm movement. And of course constantly check to make sure the rhythm stays straight and doesn’t revert to the swing. If it does, check to see if they’ve started to rotate their wrist, and try again.

Wrist rotation is really nothing more

“WRIST ROTATION IS REALLY NOTHING MORE THAN A BAD HABIT … IT WILL NEED SOME CONSISTENT ATTENTION UNTIL THE GOOD TECHNIQUE BECOMES SECOND NATURE.” help, first, make sure the strumming arm is moving up and down evenly at a steady 16th note pace. Try getting them to strum air guitar along to a track and make sure they’re in time right across the bar.

Next, make sure the arm is relaxed and the wrist is loose but only to make left and right lateral movements, not rotations. Most of the strumming should come from the wrist and not the arm anyway. If the arm does all the work there’s a lot of wasted energy, which causes the player to slow down over the course of a song as they get tired.

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than a bad habit and can certainly be ironed out. But for the players that do it, it’s probably something they picked up early on, so it will need some consistent attention until the good technique becomes second nature. W ANDY CHAMBERLAIN is co founder of Musicademy.com and Worshipbackingband.com that produce instructional DVDs for musicians involved in worship and multitrack backing tracks and software for churches with missing musicians.

5.0 It’s here. It’s simple.

It’s the new worshipplanning.com - check it out!

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MUSIC

BY RAY JONES

RAISING UP THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORSHIP LEADERS THROUGH

A

lmost every week, I hear from pastors asking if I can recommend someone to lead worship for their congregation. Most of these are smaller churches or new church plants with limited resources. Most of the time I do not have anyone to recommend, and it saddens my heart knowing there are people who need a leader but have no options. I feel strongly that we must take seriously this opportunity to invest in the future of worship ministry for the sake of building the kingdom.

POWER OF CHOOSING Over 18 years ago, I had a meeting with my worship team that changed the DNA of the worship ministry at Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. We decided that we had two purposes as a ministry.

First, we wanted to provide an environment in our worship experiences where people could encounter a Holy God. Second, we wanted to invest in our young people and train up the next generation of worshipers. Since that day, we have made the training of worshipers a priority. Our plan was to create a system of training that has produced many worship leaders and worship musicians that are serving at our church and in many other churches across the country.

WHERE TO BEGIN? Children are the best place to start, and we did that with our Kids Choir. I know that many churches have abandoned this concept, but we changed the thought process from training performers to sing to training children to worship. We have over 600 children in our choirs now because we have formed a tradition of excellence and parents want their kids involved in our 32

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CHOIRS

program. We use these children on a reg- These young players and singers are not ular basis to lead our church in worship only playing and leading vocals for our in multi-generational services with adults church, but they are now being invited to or students and our older children (3rd-5th sub for other area churches when there is grade) even lead by themselves. We use chil- a need. Several of our students who gradudren that serve as leaders to sing with live ated out of our programs are now playing bands for our Kids Church services and to or leading in congregations where they help lead worship for VBS and “MY DAD TOLD ME YEARS AGO THAT ‘YOU EITHER LIVE A LEGACY OR camps during the summer. We YOU LEAVE A LEGACY.’ IF YOU LIVE A LEGACY THE RIDE IS FUN BUT WHEN have produced several CDs, and YOU ARE GONE SO IS THE RESIDUAL IMPACT OF YOUR MINISTRY.” as of 2014, our curriculum will be the official children’s choir curriculum worship in their university settings. Some for LifeWay. of these students have felt a sense of calling into worship leading as a vocation and LEARNING BY LEADING have begun their college education with Middle school and high school students Worship as their major emphasis. Through in our church have opportunities to serve the years we have seen these students gradin choirs, worship bands, and in an in- uate or enter the workforce all of the counstrumental training program called Am- try and God has used them in their new plify. Like our Kids Choirs, these student location to plug into local fellowships as choirs lead worship in multiple venues at the worship leader or as a regular player/ our church. These high school and middle singer in their new church. school kids lead in all the venues for wor- My Dad told me years ago that “you eiship of all ages in both a multi-gen format ther live a legacy or you leave a legacy.” If or by themselves with student bands play- you live a legacy the ride is fun but when ing for student choirs. Our students do all you are gone so is the residual impact of the leading including transitions between your ministry. When you leave a legacy songs and prayers. The Amplify team trains they may forget who you were but they players by using adults that are profes- will experience the long lasting effects of sional or highly experienced to prepare your ministry. W students to play in a worship band setting.

RAY JONES We then give each trainee the opportunity is Pastor of Worship Ministries to play with a live band in several venues at Community Bible Church in like Kids Church, youth services, outreach San Antonio.

He has traveled events and eventually our main worship extensively as a Music Evangelist services. This experience gives them both and Worship Seminar Teacher. confidence in the band setting and the excitement of seeing God use their talent at a young age.

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MUSIC

NEW ARTISTS FEATURED ON SONG DISCOVERY

NEW ARTIST SHOWCASE

LAUREN DAIGLE

JOSH BAYNE

Song on Song DISCovery: “Love Comes Down” (By Michael Farren, Lauren Daigle, Seth Mosley) Home: Currently reside in Nashville, but home for me is Louisiana Church: The Belonging

Song on Song DISCovery: “God’s Great Love” (By Josh Bayne) Home: Athens, Georgia Church: Athens Church

WHAT’S YOUR MUSICAL BACKGROUND?

WHAT’S YOUR MUSICAL BACKGROUND?

I grew up singing in church, but it wasn’t until I was 16-years-old that I fully jumped in to pursue my passion for music. I began singing in the church choir and taking vocal lessons. When I was 17 years old, I tried out for American Idol and went to the final round of Hollywood Week. After coming home, I started leading worship for another church as well as singing in the LSU Women’s Chorus. I also joined a local cover band in Baton Rouge. They introduced me to The Assemblie; they were recording an EP and looking for a female vocalist. I sang a verse and some harmonies. After climbing the iTunes charts and landing at No. 1, The Assemblie was invited by Centricity Music to an artist retreat. I joined as a solo artist and signed with Centricity six months later.

Like many, I led worship in my church’s youth band in high school.

When I came to college at the University of Georgia in 2004, I began leading worship starting my freshman year for a campus ministry here in Athens as well as at our church, Athens Church.

(Athens Church is a strategic partner of North Point Ministries in Atlanta.) I was very blessed to be able to come on staff at our church right as I was graduating and have been here ever since.

WHAT SPARKED THIS SONG?

I was doing a study of Psalms recently and was struck with just how often the theme of God’s unfailing love appears, especially the line “his love endures forever.” Over 35 times! As our song says, his love really is the “center of every song!”

WHAT SPARKED THIS SONG?

We were writing at a worship retreat for the CentricWorship album. Michael Farren came into the room with a beautiful thought: the idea that we are nothing and God is everything. He began to sing out lyrics to describe the love of our Father as we sculpted the song. Seth Mosely began laying tracks down as we sifted through lyrics. The entire song took less than an hour to write. God showed us the vastness of his mercy during the writing of that song. When we deserve punishment for foolishness, he steps in to offer grace. When all we have is our praise offering, he accepts with delight and shares his love. In knowing our nothingness, we can experience the greatness of who Christ is.

God’s great love higher and higher Center of every song God’s great love wider and wider Jesus paid it all And Scripture reminds us his love is best demonstrated by Christ dying for us, before we ever got our act together. So “God’s Great Love” was written as a simple response to that; trying to make the main thing the main thing—the wide, long, high, deep love of God, expressed in the person of Jesus, and announcing that to the world.

WHAT ARE YOUR FIVE FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME?

WHAT ARE YOUR FIVE FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME?

I am stumped! Five favorite songs are hard, so I’ll go with five favorite artists: Chic Gamine, Kim Walker Smith, Billy Joel, Adele, and Jenn Johnson.

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“Standing Outside the Fire” (sung by Garth Brooks/co-write with Jenny Yates); “Let Go” (By Frou Frou [Imogen Heap and Guy Sigsworth]); “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” (’N Sync); “You Never Let Go” (By Matt Redman and Beth Redman); “O Holy Night” (Adam/Cappeau/Dwight). W

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E!

F R N EW IS E SU E

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Sweetwater-exclusive interview: The Digital Age

Former David Crowder Band members talk with us about their new sound, their approach to recording and performing, and the gear they use to share their musical message.

Essential Guides for You and Your Volunteers

In-depth, down-to-earth articles help volunteers, pastors, and worship leaders understand the ins and outs of the latest in worship sound technology.

THE

DIGITAL AGE

In January of 2012, the David Crowder Band ended their 12-year run as one of the Christian music industry’s most successful groups. Former DCB guitarists Mark Waldrop and Jack Parker, drummer B-Wack, and bassist Mike D went on to start a new musical venture called The Digital Age. Their debut album, Evening : Morning, was released to rave reviews in 2013. Recently, Sweetwater’s Jeff Barnett caught up with Mark Waldrop.

Can you give us a little history and recap what has happened since the last David Crowder Band show?

For those who don’t know what the David Crowder Band was, we started as a little worship team from University Baptist Church (UBC) in Waco, TX, a church that David Crowder founded with Chris Seay in the mid-’90s. We toured for about 12 years. Then in 2010, David transitioned from Waco to Atlanta, and the rest of us really wanted to stay in Waco and stay involved with UBC. So The Digital Age is essentially that. We’re still involved with UBC, and we’re still writing the same genre of music: upbeat, programming-heavy “fun worship,” as we call it. The Digital Age has been a band for a little over two years, which is crazy to say because it still seems so new.

We released a live EP called Rehearsals in 2012. We were just rehearsing for church, tracked it, and released it as an EP. And in 2013, we put out a record called Evening : Morning and followed that with a fall tour.

Evening : Morning doesn’t sound like just another DCB album, though. Can you describe the sound of The Digital Age? When you’re in a band and have an established sound and way of doing things, then you start a new band, you get to pick and choose what you liked about what you’ve been doing. But you also have a really natural moment to question what you want to do differently. With The Digital Age, we’re still writing songs for the same congregation. UBC is about 70% college students, so we tend to sound like what college kids are listening to.

We keep a close pulse on that.

The Digital Age’s latest album, Evening : Morning,, is available now.

To find out more, go to thedigitalagemusic.com!

David led from an acoustic guitar, and he would be a hard person to replace. One of the very first things we all agreed on was that we shouldn’t attempt to replace him. I usually play an electric, so now I’m leading on electric, and that fundamentally changes the sound of things.

You mentioned your studio in Waco. What made you decide to open a studio?

When David moved to Atlanta, we effectively lost our recording and rehearsal space. We found this place in downtown Waco that was an old dirty boxing gym, and we built a studio in it. We spent three months renovating it. The boxing ring was where our control room is now. It was designed by B-Wack, and it’s been really great for us.

We’re very programming-heavy, and we use a lot of synths onstage. We’re multitasking a lot more, too. As for what we sound like, that changes from one song to the next. All of us listen to different genres of music, so, “What do we want this to sound like?” is a conversation we have with every song. We don’t like to be the same on every song and on every album, so the sound of The Digital Age from album 1 to album 2 could be completely different.

We practice and rehearse there, and we also have bands come in and we record them. It’s an extension of our ministry. It’s been great for us to be able to help new worship bands.

Walk me through your creative process in the studio.

We all have our own mini Pro Tools studios at home, and we track these ideas as they come. Sometimes they’re full songs, sometimes just pieces. When we each have a handful of ideas, we all get together in our studio. All of these ideas start coming together, and we start to figure out how we are playing things as a band. We’ll either sit around the computer and start programming it out or head into the tracking room and start recording live parts. We all write, but we realize not all of us have the same strengths. I think one of our collective strengths is that we keep a really loose attachment to our ideas, and we see that they are all just pieces to a larger puzzle.

You still lead worship at UBC? We’re still very involved at UBC. When we were in the construction phase on our studio, we took a break from leading and just went to church without leading worship for the first time in a decade. Those three months were amazing; it was something we took for granted, and we didn’t realize how important it was. Now, we’re one of several worship bands at UBC. Our goal is to play there around once a month, depending on our tour schedule.

What gear do you use in your studio?

We are running Pro Tools HDX in our main control room. We use a lot of API preamps and the PreSonus ADL600. We use an LA2A compressor and a lot of gear that B-Wack made himself. Our main vocal mic is the Blue Bottle — so much character and so easy to change sound. For guitars, we use a mix of Shure SM57, Sennheiser e906, and Royer R121 mics.

For bass, we use the Shure SM7B microphone. On drums, we mostly use the same Sennheiser Evolution series dynamic mics that we use live. We use a Yamaha SubKick on kick drum, and a Sennheiser MD421 on snare.

We’re really into soft synths. We use Native Instruments Komplete. We also use Native Instruments Maschine heavily for programming. We lean a lot on Spectrasonics’ Omnisphere for pads. We use Reason a lot for piano sounds and sequencing.

We also have a lot of vintage synths.

How do you translate an album like Evening : Morning to something that works live?

A lot of it is decisions made in production. We use a lot of loops live, but one of our rules is that we never put anything in the loops that can be played live — no vocals or guitar parts. That makes it more challenging in a live setting. So when we record, we have to be very intentional with things like guitar parts and not put anything on the record that we can’t re-create live.

What software do you use onstage?

Ableton Live. On Mike D’s keyboard rig, he runs Live and Reason. He has a slew of Korg Nanokeys in addition to an M-Audio MIDI controller, and some of the keys are assigned to things such as mutes and changing different values instead of triggering notes. We also run some vocals through Live for effects.

What kinds of technical challenges do you see worship leaders facing today?

For us, the coolest thing you can do is create your own loops. I think when a lot of people see something that is loop heavy, they think that it doesn’t fit into the way they do music. Or they think they can’t do the songs because they don’t have the technical know-how to pull it off. It’s possible to do it. You can get a copy of Ableton Live and a MIDI controller for next to nothing and make incredible sounds with it. It’s been really cool for us to travel around and see these churches start to learn and incorporate the technical stuff into the church services. We love it when churches take one of our songs, create their own loops for it, and make it their own.

blisskatherine.com

You guys have had a very long relationship with Sweetwater. Why is that?

Relationship says it all. We love that if we have questions about gear, we can call and ask. We love that if there is something that piques your interest, we’ll get a phone call to tell us about it. The prices are always competitive, and as far as customer service goes, it’s always great. If anything is ever wrong, it’s always taken care of quickly. We travel a lot. If something isn’t working, getting a replacement quickly and easily is really important. It’s great to be able to get things fixed or questions answered without hassle. We really love the personalized nature of what Sweetwater does. You’re always great about asking what we need the gear to do. Even with a band like us, it’s so good to have somebody showing us how the gear we use can help us be better at doing what we do.

Photos by: Bliss Katherine

You can find out more about The Digital Age at thedigitalagemusic.com.

!

Freelance live sound engineer

Daniel Ellis

FOH engineer for The Digital Age How long have you been working with The Digital Age? The first tour I did with them was as the David Crowder Band, during the Remedy Club tour in 2007.

I was with DCB for five years. Then, when they started The Digital Age, I mixed their very first show and I did their first tour, as well.

What gear do you use with them onstage?

We use mostly Sennheiser mics, on just about everything. Mostly the Evolution series. One thing I don’t think I’ve seen anybody else do is that we use a Sennheiser MD441 on B-Wack’s snare. It works great and gives us a fatter sound than other mics I’ve tried.

On vocals, Mark and Jack both use a TC-Helicon VoiceLive Touch to add reverb and delay to their voices before they ever get to me. That’s cool; it makes my job easier.

At front of house, I run a Behringer X32. We use the S16 digital snake system, as well. That console is amazing. It’s so small and light — I can set it up by myself if I need to. When we started the tour, I was thinking, “There has got to be a reason this thing is so inexpensive, and I’m going to find out why.”

I still don’t know why. It’s a great console. I love it.

The guys use Sennheiser 300 series in-ear monitors, and they mix them themselves using Behringer’s X32-Q app for iPhone. That’s been amazing. It’s so much easier to not have to worry about doing FOH and monitors at the same time, and we don’t have to have a monitor engineer.

NEW

FREE ISSUE!

Are there any unique challenges working with The Digital Age? Since they run all those effects on the stage, what I get is a wet vocal. When we started out, sometimes it was way too wet, and we didn’t really have enough clarity in the FOH mix in the vocals. So we had to work on getting those reverb levels down and make sure that they trusted me to add more reverb at the console if it was needed.

You and The Digital Age have been very loyal Sweetwater customers for years. Why is that?

Because of the relationship. Because of you! Seriously, it’s because of you. We don’t just call a 1-800 number and get some random guy; we get the same guy. And the candy. You send candy with everything we buy. I never share it.

From left to right: BWack, Mike D, Mark Waldrop, and Jack Parker

Online

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101 Guides

Sweetwater.com/worship

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

WORSHIP LEADER’S

NEWRELEASE RUNDOWN There have been some stellar releases the first half of 2014, and we’re lookoing forward to more of the same for the second half. Take a minute to check out some worthy candidates both for congregations and for personal listening/viewing.

36 OF TODAY’S TOP ARTISTS

WOW Worship (Lime) Deluxe Edition Provident Label Group/Capitol Christian Music Group/ Word Records Release Date: 3/11/14 Featuring your favorite artists and powerful worship songs, WOW Worship (Lime) Deluxe Edition captures the very best music impacting our churches and the world. The 2-CD set features 36 artists and 36 songs including 9 brand new recordings.

Similar to: Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher Top congregational songs: “Bless The Lord (10,000 Reasons),” “Lord, I Need You”

wowilovechristianmusic.com

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ALL SONS & DAUGHTERS All Sons & Daughters Integrity Music Release Date: 5/6/14

All Sons & Daughters follow their Dove Award-nominated live album with their first all new, full-length studio record. This self titled album is their most mature and innovative work to date—both sonically and lyrically—all while staying rooted in their recognizable organic sounds of worship. Catch them on the 25+ date Neon Steeple tour with David Crowder this fall.

Similar to: David Crowder, Jesus Culture Top Congregational Songs: “We Give You Thanks,” “Great Are You Lord” allsonsanddaughters.com

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

CHILDREN’S WORSHIP SERIES

BY LIFEWAY WORSHIP, AMANDA SINGER, & RAY JONES Make Some Noise!

LifeWay Worship Release Date: 5/15/14

Children’s Worship Series (CWS) is designed to inspire a powerful generation of worshipers and worship leaders through mission, music, message and movement. Created with volunteers in mind, CWS is perfect for churches looking to start children’s choirs or churches looking to enhance their established children’s program. CWS teaches children to worship authentically … with a passion for worship that is infectious to all generations.

Top Congregational Songs: “Make Some Noise!” “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” LifeWay.com/CWS

CENTRICWORSHIP

All The Saints: Live From the CentricWorship Retreat, No. 1 CentricWorship Release Date: 3/11/14 Eight powerful tracks by 12 popular songwriters/ worship leaders. Eclectic, Americana blended atop flawless doctrine. By Michael Farren, Jared Anderson, more.

Similar to: Bethel Music, Paul Baloche, All Sons & Daughters Top Congregational Songs: “Nothing but the Blood,” “Love Comes Down” centricworship.com

CHILHOWEE HILLS WORSHIP

Thirsty in:ciite/FairHope Worship Release Date: 1/1/14 Thirsty is a collection from a heart of worship focused on Jesus and the desire to change the world.

Similar to: Lakewood Church, Vertical Church Band, Bethel Music Top Congregational Songs: “Thirsty,” “Rest” fairhopeworship.com/thirsty

CINDY CRUSE RATCLIFF Heaven Raining Down Dream Records Release Date: 4/15/14

Heaven Raining Down is the new, fresh, explosive full-length CD recorded at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. It features 10 songs not only written by Cindy but Ben Fielding from Hillsong, Joth Hunt from Planetshakers, David Hanley from Press Play, and Jonathan Thulin.

Similar to: Kari Jobe, Mandisa, Jamie Grace Top Congregational Songs: “God Alone,” “Holy, Holy” dreamrecords.org

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

CROWDER

Neon Steeple Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords Release Date: 5/27/14 Crowder is back with his first solo album, Neon Steeple.

Releasing May 27, the music can be described as “folktronica,” or a mixture of acoustic sounds and electronic beats. The Neon Steeple Deluxe Edition contains three additional tracks not found on the standard edition.

CBC MUSIC

Jesus, Be The Center Prism Music Release Date: 04/1/14

Top Congregational Songs: “I Am,”“Here’s My Heart”

This exciting new release is from the worship ministry of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. Pastor of Worship Ministries, Ray Jones, and CBC’s entire worship staff have compiled original and contemporary songs into a multi-generational explosion of joyful praise.

crowdermusic.com

Similar to: Brooklyn Tabernacle

Similar to: All Sons & Daughters, Rend Collective

Top Congregational Songs: “Every Praise,” “The Power of the Cross” prismmusic.com

DUSTIN KENSRUE

FELLOWSHIP CREATIVE

Dustin Kensrue, the frontman of the rock band Thrice who have sold 1.4 million albums, is releasing his first worship album, The Water & The Blood. Kensrue, who wrote with Stuart Townend for the song “Rejoice,” also delivers other gospel rich original songs with rearrangements of hymn classics.

Finding ways to express and celebrate the gift of creativity is the driving force behind Fellowship Creative, the music division of Fellowship Church Dallas, known for Pastor Ed Young, Jr. This collection of worship songs was created with the body of Christ in mind and is the first release with record label, Fair Trade Services.

The Water & The Blood BEC Recordings/Mars Hill Music Release Date: 9/30/13

Running to Follow Fair Trade Services Release Date: 5/13/14

Similar To: Crowder, Stuart Townend, John Mark McMillian Top Congregational Songs: “Rejoice,” “Grace Alone” smarturl.it/ mhresource

Similar to: Elevation Worship, Gateway Church Top Congregational Songs: “Glory in the Highest,” “Always Been About You” fellowshipcreative.com

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

HILLSONG UNITED

HIS KIDZ UNITED

The White Album [Remix Project] Hillsong Music Australia/Sparrow/ Capitol CMG Label Group Release Date: 3/3/2014

His Kidz Vol. 1 His Kidz United Release Date: 4/29/14

The White Album [Remix Project] is a collection of your favorite Hillsong UNITED songs that have been remixed by various mix engineers and musicians. The project, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Dance/ Electronic albums chart, includes remixes of “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” “With Everything,” “Hosanna,” “From The Inside Out” amongst others.

His Kidz United recognizes a gaping hole in the marketplace for quality, uplifting, and inspiring Christian music specifically for teens and pre-teens. Inspired by the wildly successful KIDZ BOP™ model, with a mission to release a series of Top 40 Christian music for kids in a popular and exceptional fashion.

Similar to: Kidz Bop, Hillsong United Top Congregational Songs: “Shake,” “Hallelujah” hiskidzunited.com

Similar to: Jesus Culture, Crowder Top Congregational Songs: “Oceans” (Lark Remix), “With Everything” (Tim Yagolnikov Remix) hillsongunited.com

iWORSHIP

IWORSHIP: VISUAL WORSHIP TRAX VOL.3

Visual Worship @ Home Vol 6 Integrity Music Release Date: 3/25/14

Integrity Music Release Date: 4/8/14

Experience the sights and sounds of worship at home with iWorship’s Visual Worship @Home collection.

Each enhanced DVD contains inspiring lyric videos featuring the original master recordings of today’s most popular worship songs. Each volume features 10 songs on an enhanced DVD. Bonus MP3 files are included to enjoy on the go. This product is also a great resource for home groups!

Similiar to: iWorship, WoW Worship with lyric videos.

Top Congregational Songs: “God You Reign,” “In Jesus Name”

Visual Worship Trax series from iWorship combines today’s top worship songs with inspiring, lyric based videos for use in churches in all settings. All lyric videos feature original artist masters and come in original stereo, split-trax, and click trax versions. Visual Worship Trax is the perfect performance trax solution for use with worship teams or special music.

Similar to: iWorship, WoW Worship with Pro lyric videos Top Congregational Songs: “10,000 Reasons,” “When the Stars Burn Down” integritymusicdirect.com/iworship/dvds

integritymusicdirect.com/iworship/home

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

KARI JOBE

Majestic Kari Jobe/Sparrow/ Capitol CMG Label Group Release Date: 3/25/2014

MICHAEL W. SMITH

Recorded live and featuring brand new material, Majestic is Kari Jobe’s first live album and DVD. “It reminds me of what heaven might be like,” Jobe reflects. “If you will lift your voices and worship him, there will be a shift and a change in the atmosphere of your life, and it will be heaven-centered and majestic.”

Similar to: Chris Tomlin, Jesus Culture Top Congregational Songs: “How Majestic,” “Hands to the Heavens” karijobe.com

Sovereign The MWS Group/ Sparrow/Capitol CMG Label Group Release Date: 5/13/2014

On Sovereign, Michael W. Smith’s first worship album since 2008, he deliberately steps into a new creative chapter to craft a vibrant collection of worship songs with a fresh sense of musical innovation. The album features brand new songs, “Sovereign Over Us,” “All Arise,” “Christ Be All Around Me” and “The Same Power.”

Similar to: Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman Top Congregational Songs: “All Arise,” “You Won’t Let Go” michaelwsmith.com

OFF THE GROUND COLLECTIVE Night Song Off the Ground Creative Release Date: 3/1/14

ONETHING LIVE

Onething Live: Sing Your Praises Forerunner Music Release Date: 4/29/14

Night Song is the culmination of nine artists’ journeys to commit themselves to hope during hard times.

Slow and steady, these 13 tracks, some vocal and some instrumental, bring peaceful resolve, proving you can have a song in the middle of the darkest night. Download Night Song on iTunes.

Contains highlights from International House of Prayer’s Onething Conference. Includes songs by Misty Edwards, Jon Thurlow, Laura Hackett, and more. Visit the website below to hear a free preview and get more information.

Similar to: Passion, Let the Future Begin and Bethel Music, Tides Live

Similar to: All Sons & Daughters, Bethel Loft Sessions Top Congregational Songs: “Nothing,” “Night Song”

Top Congregational Songs: “Sing Your Praises,” “The Love Inside”

offtheground.org

ihopkc.org/singyourpraises

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

PAUL BALOCHE Live Integrity Music Release Date: 4/1/14

PASSION

Passion: Take It All Sparrow Records/sixstepsrecords Release Date: April 29, 2014 Take It All, the new album from Passion features “My Heart Is Yours” and includes new music from Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfill. The Deluxe Edition includes two additional songs and 4 bonus videos including an all new talk from Passion founder Louie Giglio.

Similar to: Chris Tomlin, Hillsong United, Jesus Culture Top Congregational Songs: “My Heart Is Yours,” “Let It Be Jesus”

Paul Baloche, one of today’s most influential worship leaders, songwriters, and artists, has recorded a brand new live worship album, simply titled Live, featuring new anthems, classic hymns, and familiar choruses. “Over a thousand ministry leaders came together to form a congregation of one to worship God. Our hope was to capture a true and honest expression of worship to our God.” - Paul Baloche Similar to: Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe Top Congregational Songs: “You Lift Us Up,” “He Is Risen” leadworship.com

268generation.com

PLANETSHAKERS

REND COLLECTIVE

Endless Praise is the exciting follow up to Planetshakers recent success with their critically acclaimed release Limitless. Planetshakers is the fastest growing church in Australia and expanding their already significant ministry with Awakening Conferences in Malaysia, America, and Australia. Get ready to dance as you join in worship with Endless Praise!

Dove Award-nominated Irish worshipers Rend Collective made a recent theological breakthrough as a band that is changing everything about their approach to music and life: seriousness is not a fruit of the spirit, but joy is. The appropriate response to this understanding led to a sonically innovative message on its highly anticipated album, The Art of Celebration. Featuring the radio anthem “My Lighthouse.”

Endless Praise Integrity Music Release Date: 3/11/14

Similar to: Hillsong: Young & Free, Darlene Zschech Top Congregational Songs: “Unto God,” “Leave Me Astounded” planetshakers.com

The Art of Celebration Integrity Music Release Date: 3/17/14

Similar to: Passion, David Crowder Top Congregational Songs: “My Lighthouse,” “Boldly I Approach (The Art of Celebration)” rendcollective.com

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VARIOUS

SOVEREIGN GRACE MUSIC

30: Three Decades of Songs for the Church Sovereign Grace Music Release Date: 4/8/14 30 is a 30th anniversary album featuring fresh takes on 14 classic Sovereign Grace Music songs like “Behold Our God” and “I Stand in Awe” by artists including Paul Baloche, Kristyn Getty, Aaron Keyes, Matt Papa and more.

Similar to: Paul Baloche, Indelible Grace

She Sings Nashville Treehouse Music Release Date: 4/29/14 All female cast, featuring favorite artists like Kim Hill, Margaret Becker, Ashley Cleveland, Melissa Greene of Avalon and newcomers Ellie Holcomb, Paulette Wooten, Sarah Stephens, and Sarah DeShields. Formed out of a love of hymns, various female artists created new and readdressed old favorites. She Sings represents the unique personalities of each in the Americana style.

Similar to: Kim Hill, Margaret Becker, Ashley Cleveland

Top Congregational Songs: “Before the Throne of God Above,” “All I Have Is Christ”

Top Congregational Songs: “Christ, Christ, Christ,” Margaret Becker; “Solid Rock,” Paulette Wooten; “The Love of God,” Melissa Greene

sovereigngracemusic.org

nashvilletreehousemusic.com

NING OLLOW

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING

VARIOUS

YANCY Y AMIGOS

The Action Bible Remixed Integrity Music Release Date: 5/6/14

Pequeña Fiesta de Alabanza Yancy Ministries, Inc. Release Date: 6/24/14

Get ready to hear modern worship favorites done in a way you’ve never heard before. Inspired by the bestselling Bible for kids: The Action Bible. These remixes combine fresh sounds with an electronic edge using original stems to songs we all know and love. This project features KJ-52, Canton Jones, L.E.D. & DJ MAJ, and more. One listen and you’ll be hooked!

Similar to: Toby Mac, KJ-52 & Canton Jones Top Congregational Songs: “Great I AM,” “Today Is the Day” theactionbibleremixed.com

Yancy is releasing her popular Little Praise Party songs for kids worship in Spanish.

Joined by Nic Gonzales (Salvador) and Jaci Velasquez. These songs will provide singalong fun that celebrates that Jesus is our best friend.

Kids will be moving, jumping, and praising. Available on CD and DVD include tracks and mp4s.

Similar to: Hillsong Kids, Go Fish Top Congregational Songs: “Hosanna (Hosanna Rock),” “Me Gusta (I Like To)” yancynotnancy.com

Free your guitar.

Unleash your talent.

TriplePlay®, the wireless guitar controller that lets you turn your electric guitar into any instrument that you want – and compose, perform and record like never before.

TriplePlay videos

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MISSIONAL

REDISCOVERING

WORSHIP: THE ROLE OF JUSTICE IN THE PURSUIT OF GOD

BY KEN WYTSMA

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MISSIONAL

O

ne of the key insights of the Protestant reformers was that worship didn’t happen only in church—it happened during the week as well, when believers worked as bakers and builders to the glory of God. And one of the enduring legacies of the Catholic and Orthodox churches is the care and craft focused on worship in church, from ritual to liturgy to the very architecture of the church itself.

Unfortunately, today many American Christians are caught between these rich traditions, not benefiting from nor being transformed by either. We can often equate worship narrowly with Sunday morning music.

At times we’ve lost the scriptural depth that speaks to how we approach and worship God through our everyday actions.

WORSHIP MYTHS Isaiah 58 is a case study in how God defines worship—and it might just change the way we understand both worship and justice. It stands as one of the few passages in Scripture that directly challenges and confounds some of the very actions we deem most righteous and good: prayer, fasting, and seeking God. The whole of Isaiah spans the Assyrian and Babylonian exile and this particular chapter was written to the community of Jerusalem after they had returned home. The people were in the middle of an economic depression, trying to resettle themselves and rebuild their community. Families were broken, relationships were fractured, and trade wasn’t booming. The Israelites were refugees returning to their homes, unsure about their future and their ability to even survive.

We begin with God speaking to Isaiah: Shout it aloud, do not hold back.

Raise your voice like a trumpet.

Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.

(Isa 58:1-2)

A BRACING CONVERSATION Despite their seeming eagerness to come near, God wanted them to know there were serious sin issues. Yet in the verses that immediately follow, Israel spoke back to God, defending themselves against the charge of sin. In fact, Israel had a complaint about God’s seeming lack of attention regarding their fasting.

‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?

Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ (v 3) The Israelites were humbly praying and fasting, seeking God and trying to reestablish their relationship with him. But God wasn’t responding, and he was about to tell them why: Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.

Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. (v 4) The Israelites neglected each other as they prayed and fasted and asked God to deliver them from the difficult issues that came from having lived in exile. Israel was approaching worship as a way to get what they wanted: God’s attention and blessing. That relationship was short-circuited, however, when Israel failed to reflect God’s character either to its own society or to the surrounding culture.

RELATIONAL GPS When we focus our worship on what we want, we’ll become nothing more than consumers.

Israel was going through the motions of worship—fasting, praying, and so on—without any foundation or motivation beyond their desires. They were seeking God daily in order to be blessed by God, yet God was asking them to worship in order to be a blessing to others.

Israel’s behavior was so distasteful to God that he railed against their broken sense of worship: Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? (v 5)

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MISSIONAL

“YOUR WORSHIP IS YOUR LEADERSHIP. IT IS YOUR INFLUENCE. IT IS YOUR MISSION. YOUR WORSHIP IS HOW PEOPLE WILL PERCEIVE YOU, AND IT IS ULTIMATELY WHERE PEOPLE WILL FOLLOW YOU. DOES YOUR LIFE INSPIRE WORSHIP?” Couldn’t we easily substitute our familiar, post-New Testament worship practices, like fasting, singing, worship nights, and Christian concerts, into that verse? Do we fast to manipulate God or to humble ourselves?

JUSTICE PIERCES THE HEART OF GOD It’s crucial that we understand the kind of worship God desires. He told Israel in the next several verses of Isaiah 58 what sort of worship pleases him: Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (vv 6-7) God seems to be saying that the purest form of worship, the worship he finds most pleasing, is justice. If so, does that change the way we think about the word worship?

What if Sunday morning was the prelude to what the church does during the week? What if musical worship was the warm-up to the melody of our justice throughout the week? Isaiah 58 seems to be suggesting that God is more concerned about how we spend our scattered time than our gathered time.

The real impact of the Church will be felt, for better or worse, where it connects to the messiness of the remaining 166 hours in the week.

God’s concern about how we spend our scattered time means we can’t enter fully into relationship with him unless we are living justly. The next few verses of Isaiah 46

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58 speak directly about God’s desire to restore the relationship broken by injustice: Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. (vv 8-9) The end of this section is particularly powerful: “He will say: Here am I.” God’s desire is so strong for us to love our neighbors and promote shalom that injustice is an insurmountable barrier to healthy relationship with him.

As Isaiah 58 nears its conclusion, God continues to promise his people blessings that were contingent on the people’s actions.

If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. (vv 9-10) God wanted the nation of Israel to “spend themselves,” to give their lives away for the hungry and the oppressed.

WORSHIP PASTOR WANTED If pursuing justice is a necessary component of worship, does that change the way we should think about worship pastors?

Anyone hiring a worship pastor expects that he or she can play a musical instrument, sing, and blend various styles of music together in a way that will please the congregation. Those are valid concerns, but are those ultimately worship concerns?

With the way Isaiah 58 defines worship, there is a sense in which everyone is

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a worship leader. If every Christian in the world were living with exactly the same amount of faith as you are, would God applaud? When your neighbor is looking for something better out of life, are you providing a true alternative?

Your worship is your leadership. It is your influence. It is your mission. Your worship is how people will perceive you, and it is ultimately where people will follow you. Does your life inspire worship?

In many ways, Isaiah 58 boils down to this: to give our lives away is true worship.

Like Israel, we are a people of exile, in desperate need of restoration. Our world is in ruins around us, but God promises that in true worship “ancient ruins” will be rebuilt and that we will “raise up” the foundations of many generations (v. 12).

We find our greatest joy and fulfillment by worshiping God in right relationship, as we pursue his purposes in our broken world.

Perhaps today it is time to take the simple step of asking God what he would have us do, even as we sing in worship.

Jesus says in Luke 19:40 that if we are silent about God’s glory, the very stones will cry out in praise. God doesn’t ask merely to hear our songs in worship—he asks us to hear his song that is meant to be sung among every tribe and nation, among poor and rich, among healthy and sick. W

Ken Wytsma is a leader, innovator, author, social entrepreneur, and president of Kilns College, where he teaches courses on philosophy and justice. He is the founder of The Justice Conference—an annual international conference that introduces men and women to a wide range of organizations and conversations relating to biblical justice and God’s call to give our lives away. kenwytsma.com Used by permission. Excerpted from Pursuing Justice: The Call to Live and Die for Bigger Things, Ken Wytsma, © February 12, 2013, Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee.

(Style changed to match WL guidelines)

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MISSIONAL

PASSPORT TO CHANGE: THE MISSIONAL CHURCH

BY PAUL BALOCHE

H

ow do we keep our local church worship from becoming “stale and in a rut”?

One thing that has helped me over the last 20-some years is that our congregation is very missions minded. We have a giant world map placed in a prominent area of our auditorium that reminds us of the great commission to “go into all the world and make disciples.” Our pastor has urged us repeatedly to get a passport and to be actively involved in missions. And we’ve heeded the call.

I can remember in my early days at our church getting in a van with eight people and a load of supplies and driving 17 hours into the heart of Mexico. On the way, we would learn to sing “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” and other worship songs in Spanish. There was a native speaker on that trip and he used to make fun of my pronunciation and then encouraged me with: “Open your mouth … you’ve got to use your lips.”

We brought generators and went into the barrios and came alongside three churches in León, Mexico, serving them in every way, practical and spiritual. The experience affected us as much as it did those we ministered to. God can transcend languages through music, but actually speaking the native peoples’ language is like knowing them by their first name.

You can communicate with them on a personal and therefore deeper level. Forcing yourself to sing songs in someone else’s

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language speaks of humility and demonstrates a desire to know that culture and not convey, “Hey, we’re Americans, and this is the way you do it.”

BEYOND YOUR COMFORT ZONE My challenge to you would be to prayerfully consider a city, a country, a nation— as the Bible says “every nation, tribe, and tongue”—and strategize a plan to serve them in some way. If we don’t reach out beyond the border of our local church community, we can get myopic. Why not aspire to broaden our perspective by visiting and embracing cultures other than our own? The only way that is going to happen is by choosing to experience it; you can’t just read about it. I would challenge every reader who is part of a worship team to get a passport and prayerfully consider a country—maybe some place close, like Mexico or Central America—or come alongside a missionary from your church who is already working abroad. Come alongside not as someone who has all the answers, but with an attitude of serving.

After meeting and getting to know French-speaking worship leaders who live in a post-Christian, spiritually dry land, I felt prompted to record some French worship albums with them. There is a remnant in France and Quebec—pockets of believers in the French-speaking world that I felt drawn to focus on and encourage. Part of that was to invite “next-generation worship leaders” and include them in the re-

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cordings. We’ve recorded two albums and followed them up by doing several tours throughout France, Switzerland, and Quebec, including one this year. These areas are typically under-served and yet so hungry for ministry. Be prepared to work hard and assist in ways that don’t include music.

You may start by asking your hosts, “How can we best serve you?”

LIVING, BREATHING TREASURE Finally, as I write this article, I am just returning home from literally traveling around the world from Canada to Dubai, India, Singapore, Malaysia, China, and back to the US. While in Chennai, India, we visited the burial place of the disciple Thomas. He brought the gospel to that part of the world while the other disciples dispersed throughout modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Rome, Ethiopia, Egypt, etc.

Read through the Book of Acts with your team this year and let it inspire you to serve, bless, and build up “The Church” in a region other than your own. Reflecting on our recent experience, my team and I took home with us a deep, unexpected transformation having come alongside Indian and Asian believers—worshiping the Lord and working together.

So, apply for passports. Begin praying about where to go. Involve your local congregation in the adventure by sharing your vision and soliciting their prayer support.

And when you return from your global worship experience, I guarantee it will affect the way you and your team lead your local community. An intangible difference will spill over into your fellowship and affect those you lead. Your heart will be changed in an unexplainable way—a way that can’t be “bought or sold.” This is not a technique or trend. This is what we are called to do. Like the tides that flow out to sea and then return, take the steps of faith to venture out beyond your safe harbor and see how the Lord brings you home with “treasure from heaven.” W PAUL BALOCHE (leadworship.com, @paulbaloche) has written songs such as “Open the Eyes of My Heart,” and most recently released Live.

DELUXE EDITION THE FIRST LIVE WORSHIP ALBUM & DVD

from

OVER TWO HOURS OF LIVE WORSHIP FEATURING “HANDS TO THE HEAVENS” “FOREVER” & “I AM NOT ALONE”

KARIJOBE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/KARIJOBE

T WIT TER.COM/KARIJOBE YOU TUBE.COM/KARIJOBEVEVO

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MISSIONAL

THE STATE OF

REUNION

BY ELIAS DUMMER

MISSIONAL

“CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IS A STATE OF REUNION IN A WORLD OF DIVERSITY—A MOMENT IN TIME TO REMEMBER WHAT IT MEANS TO BE TRULY HUMAN—TO WORSHIP.”

HE

breathed, inhaling once again the strange concoction of gunpowder, sweat, and the crisp, snowy air.

The great divide known as “no-man’s land” started only a few inches from his head and served as a constant reminder that he dare not move carelessly, for to do so might mean he’d never again move at all.

After 21 weeks of fighting in the trenches of France, Frank Richards had become all-too-familiar with the sound of gunfire, shouting, and the occasional outburst of laughter, as sometimes a dash of humor was all that it took to liven the spirits of his brothers. It was like a refreshing wave of nostalgia; a reminder that life was not always like this, and that one day this hellish passing of the hours and days may seem but a distant memory.

ENEMIES OR FAMILY? And so on this Christmas Eve in 1914, perhaps with a tinge of irony, he painted “Merry Christmas” on a plank and thrust it into the dirt as a sign for friend and foe alike. To his surprise, his supposed foes did the same. And slowly the gunfire subsided, replaced by a frighteningly unfamiliar sound—silence. Before long another unusual sound arose from the silence: the sound of singing.

StilleNacht! Heil’geNacht!

Allesschläft; einsamwacht ...

Radiant beams from thy holy face At the dawn of redeeming grace What Richards and many others remembered on that Christmas Eve in 1914, even if only for one night, was that they had an awful lot in common in this broken world. They were in this mess together.

Now known as the “Christmas Truce,” on this day they climbed out of their respective trenches and stood as peers for a time, sojourners in the “no-man’s land.” For the arrival of the Prince of Peace heralds good news—there’s a new normal—a new way to be human. So, perhaps without even knowing it, they took to heart a familiar message delivered to shepherds nearly 2,000 years earlier: “Do not be afraid ... glory to God and on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Lk 2:10-14).

HARBINGER OF HOPE In our gathering together, now and throughout the history of the Church, we too announce in our liturgies—the work of the people—that the world will one day be a different sort of place. We announce that this Prince of Peace was born, lived, died, and defeated death in resurrection as one of us. We stand together, looking back on our shared story and forward with hopeful nostalgia to the day that his kingdom, established in his resurrection and working through us now, will be fully and finally realized.

Despite our divisive society with its demographics, interest groups, and individuals, in worshiping together, we remember that Jesus is Lord over all. We are united not by our gender, geography, or gene pool, but our God. And as we stand together an encounter with this truly living God truly changes us. In a world of competition we become co-laborers; in a life of compartments, we become complete.

So, like foes crossing trenches singing “Silent Night” as friends, Christian worship is a state of reunion in a world of diversity—a moment in time to remember what it means to be truly human—to worship. As Irenaeus famously wrote, “The

glory of God is man fully alive”—perhaps it is also true to say “man is fully alive in the glory of God.” We live to do this, to live lives that tell the story of Christ.

And in reunion with the One True God we glimpse a now-but-not-yet Shalom— rightness—peace—a reunion within ourselves, with each other, that reaches across space and time.

WORSHIP RECONNAISSANCE Meanwhile our broken world is a battleground in the war for the human story. In it we live fractured and compartmentalized lives. Digging trenches, we are separated from each other, but also within ourselves: body from soul, mind from matter, and spirituality from “real” life. With our ability to reason placed on a pedestal we impose a pressure to be no less than gods ourselves—completely independent of God or each other. In a desire to leave behind the limitations that come as part of the human package, the mind or perhaps a “pure” spirituality is prioritized as the true humanity. This idolatrous mindset has crept into our churches and theology too.

In fact, many of the creeds, which draw us out of the respective trenches of our traditions, were composed to correct some of these dangerous ideas. We needed to stand together then, as we do now, in the right belief that the One True God knew what he was doing when he gave us heart, mind, soul, and flesh alike. We are not simply thinkers (sorry, Descartes) or spirits, but lovers—worshipers.

So, Christian worship is, in a sense, a proclamation of peace in Christ that begins within ourselves and moves outward in concentric circles. A “Christmas Truce”: an act of submission wherein we cross the trenches of our worldview and remember

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“FOR IN THIS BEAUTIFUL COLLISION OF PAST AND PRESENT, WHERE WE PLAY THE ROLE OF CHARACTERS IN GOD’S EPIC STORY, HE HOLDS IN CLEAR VIEW THE CLIMAX OF HUMAN HISTORY: OUR HOPE-FILLED FUTURE. THAT DAY WHEN WE, WITH OUR RESURRECTED BODIES, BECOME A BRIDE IN WHITE GATHERED UP FROM A MULTITUDE OF NATIONS THAT ONCE WARRED.“ that we are whole, and wholly his. Christian worship isn’t a means of transcendent spiritual escape but a place of incarnational reality—in Jesus, fully God and fully man; God makes himself at home in us, the Church. Whatever our traditions, our consistently human and tactile expressions of worship tell this story: Sing. Pray. Kneel.

Think. Stand. Feel. Eat. Drink.

Because God didn’t give us an escape hatch from humanity but a new, redemptive way to be human, so that what is fractured and broken by sin could finally be whole. Finally free to be deeply and beautifully human, creatures and not Creator.

As these concentric circles move outward, our bodies become the body of Christ—the Church. These temples of God, our bodies, brought before the living and precious stone become together a house of living stones, the temple of the living God: As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-5 (ESV)

KINGDOM COME And this act of worshiping together, this state of reunion with each other before God, has a fascinating effect on us. Studies

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have shown that synchronistic group activity, especially singing, releases oxytocin (a neuro-chemical involved in increasing trust between humans) into our bodies.

The things we do in sync: singing, prayer, communion, creeds, chant, and more— these practices—enhance the belief in a cause beyond oneself. Paul’s encouraging story becomes a physiological reality—a church family trusting God together becomes a body with Christ at the head.

I wonder, too, if in worship before this eternal God we put into practice a State of Reunion across space and time. In our ancient prayers, creeds, and Scripture we stand on the shoulders of humble giants— speaking a common language of faith in Christ. In our varying traditions we express what Jaroslav Pelikan called the “living faith of the dead.” In the present we cultivate expressions of worship that are culturally modern, local, and give modern voices to ancient prayers—the songs and melodies of the “quick and the dead” alike rise in beautiful harmony. Christian worship is then, in its way, both a little bit foreign and a little bit familiar—human expression formed at the meeting of past, present, and, future.

For in this beautiful collision of past and present, where we play the role of characters in God’s epic story, he holds in clear view the climax of human history: our

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hope-filled future. That day when we, with our resurrected bodies, become a bride in white gathered up from a multitude of nations that once warred.

While one “Christmas Truce” caused soldiers to cross trenches in remembrance—an act of armistice in open defiance of their enemy empires—as we gather in Christian worship, a truce of the Christ-Mass in its own right, we declare to the empires of our day that the Prince of Peace is Lord both now and then—the day that what we practice becomes a permanent reality in the final State of Reunion: where heaven and earth collide.

New Heavens.

New Earth.

A promised, and permanent, peace.

Silent Night, Holy Night Mindful of mankind’s plight The Lord in Heav’n on high decreed From earthly woes we would be freed Jesus, God’s promise for peace Jesus, God’s promise for peace. W

Elias Dummer, vocalist/songwriter and pianist of chart-topping,multi-award winning Canadianbirthed City Harmonic, is a blogger, author, and theologian who is passionate about faith, ideas, music, culture and the Church.

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INSIDER:

PROFILING COMPANIES, MINISTRIES, AND INNOVATORS IN WORSHIP

ROBERT E. WEBBER INSTITUTE FOR WORSHIP STUDIES WITH DR. JAMES R. HART, IWS PRESIDENT & WORSHIP LEADER

The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies was a forerunner in recognizing the need to train a new and revitalized company of worship leaders. The IWS community and coursework forms ancient-future, Christ-like servant-leaders, deeply aware of the Church’s rich history, who understand biblical, performative, and sensory symbolism, and are steeped in Scripture and theology. Faculty members are committed to nurturing students who seed, feed, love and lead communities that are culturally attuned, relationally connected, and wholly Trinitarian. Here, the current president, Dr. James Hart, gives us insight and perspective on IWS, Robert Webber, and worship.

WORSHIP LEADER: FOR THOSE NEW TO IWS, CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT ITS BEGINNINGS AND THE FOUNDER ROBERT WEBBER’S VISION FOR THE INSTITUTE?

DR. JAMES R. HART

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JIM HART: Sure. The Institute for Worship Studies was conceived in the early 1990s by Dr. Robert Webber, then a professor at Wheaton College. The goal from the beginning was to offer academic courses to train pastors, worship leaders, and music ministers to understand and practice renewed worship.

Webber started a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program in the mid-nineties at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois.

Numerous applications were made to Northern by music ministers and worship leaders who had completed their master’s degrees in music (or other master’s degrees not directly related to theological studies) but wanted their doctorates in worship studies. Because a Master

of Divinity was required for entrance into the DMin, these students did not qualify.

It was Robert Webber’s conviction that there should be a doctoral program of worship study for music ministers. This degree would teach worship from a biblical, historical, theological, and cultural perspective without requiring a theological master’s degree or its equivalent. Hence, the origin of the Institute for Worship Studies.

The Institute for Worship Studies opened with its first class of 20 students in June of 1999. Since that time it has steadily grown to more than 180 students and over 350 graduates. Graduates serve as worship pastors or preaching pastors in the local church (nationally and globally) and as professors in colleges and seminaries.

WL: DO YOU BELIEVE THE GROWING INTEREST IN WORSHIP IS MATCHED WITH AN EQUAL ATTENTION TO A THEOLOGY OF WORSHIP OR DEVELOPING A FOUNDATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF WORSHIP THROUGHOUT HISTORY?

JH: I have had the opportunity to observe numerous programs of worship studies that are being created in higher education institutions. Most of the programs seem to have coursework related to the biblical theology of worship, and many (but seemingly somewhat fewer) also have coursework addressing the historical development of worship.

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WL: DO YOU THINK THAT THERE IS A BIBLICAL BALANCE IN WORSHIP NOW IN TERMS OF GOD /CHURCH COMMUNITY/INDIVIDUALS/THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY AND LARGER WORLD?

JH: Not yet. Worship is still segregated and parochial, at least in North America and possibly elsewhere. To be truly biblical in worship means that we must understand and study the diversity of the Church as described in Revelation 4 and 5, and we must embrace a commitment to hospitality to “strangers,” those who do not look like us or think like us or see the world like us, but who are bearing God’s image and loved by the Savior.

WL: THE ROBERT E. WEBBER INSTITUTE FOR WORSHIP STUDIES IS A UNIQUE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT SETS IT APART TODAY?

JH: One of the consistently identified strengths of IWS is its ethos, the nurturing of which was a high priority for Bob Webber. The sense of a vital, authentic, Christ-centered worshiping and educational community not divorced from the real Church is formed and reinforced during the on-campus sessions and continued through an ongoing commitment to

the relationships that are established and a common sense of mission. Additionally, the intentional ancient-future posture of the IWS curriculum is unique.

WL: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUR STUDENT POPULATION AND THE KIND OF STUDENT WHO IS BEST SERVED IN THE ENVIRONMENT?

JH: IWS students have come from over 60 denominations (and non-denominations!), 22 countries, multiple ethnicities, almost every state in the nation, and a multiplicity of ministry contexts, including local churches, educational institutions, mission agencies, parachurch organizations, and even ministries like homeless shelters, hospitals, and prison ministries. Every student is required to have a context in which to apply the IWS education, whether that may be a stipendiary or volunteer position.

WL: WOULD YOU BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE DEGREE PROGRAMS YOU OFFER?

JH: IWS offers the Master of Worship Studies and the Doctor of Worship Studies degrees. All courses are prepared with the convictions that worship must be rooted in the biblical narrative, drawing on the

rich treasures of Christian history and committed to glorifying God in multiple cultural contexts. IWS combines distance education with on-campus classes focused on building an intentional learning community, with a student directed, highly relational instructional philosophy.

WL: YOU HAVE QUITE AN AMAZING FACULTY. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT FACULTY AND STUDENT INTERACTION?

JH: Our amazing faculty members teach at various colleges and seminaries such as Reformed Theological Seminary, Duke Divinity School, Wheaton College, Indiana Wesleyan University, College of the Ozarks, Northwestern College (IA), Northern Baptist Seminary, Carson Newman College, Candler School of Theology, Furman University, Perkins School of Theology, and Asbury Theological Seminary.

This outstanding faculty truly treats the students as co-learners, and the interaction between the two groups is healthy, engaging, and mutually beneficial. Bob Webber was intentional about creating an egalitarian culture where distinguished and elite faculty members actively learn from each other and the students.

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“…WHEN THE CHURCH IS RENEWED WITH ENLIVENED WORSHIP BUILT ON SOLID BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS, CHRISTIANS ARE FORMED WITH THE COMPASSIONATE HEART OF JESUS AND ENCOURAGED TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, BEING POURED OUT FOR THE LIFE OF THE WORLD.” WL: CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHT INTO “ANCIENT/FUTURE” WORSHIP?

JH: The “ancient/future” perspective can be summed up in the view that Bob Webber often quoted, “The way to the future runs through the past.” Being a historical theologian, Dr. Webber was concerned that the Church often had a truncated idea of Christian history and did not do enough serious reflection on contemporary cultural issues. Ancient/future worship is a call to recover our historical worship memory, practices, and sensibilities as Christians, but not to be stuck solely in the past. We are also called to be Jesus and tell God’s story in this age and ages to come. It is also a call to realize fully that our worship reveals and forms our faith as we participate in, enact, and celebrate the story of God. WL: ROBERT WEBBER TRANSITIONED TO HEAVEN IN 2007; HOW HAS THE INSTITUTE CHANGED AND GROWN SINCE HIS PASSING?

JH: I feel that Dr. Webber’s legacy is very much alive, but not because it is Bob Webber’s legacy. It’s alive because of the Jesus he loved and the story he proclaimed in worship and called others to proclaim.

That perspective on worship is timeless.

In that sense, nothing has changed in our ethos and perspective as a school. However, IWS has experienced tremendous growth in enrollment and worldwide impact. We were accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher Education in 2010. The Center for Global Worship Renewal was established in early 2014.

Over half a million people are impacted around the globe every week by IWS alumni, students, faculty, and staff.

WL: HOW DOES WEBBER’S FOCUS ON “ANCIENT/FUTURE” WORSHIP IMPACT YOUR PROGRAM TODAY AT IWS?

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tive continues to form and inform our five major areas of reflection: biblical, theological, historical, cultural, and missional. The program curricula are oriented toward imparting that perspective, and our practical worship events apply that perspective to multiple contexts.

WL: WEBBER SPOKE TO TOPICS SUCH AS WORSHIP AND CULTURE, THE TRINITY, PRAYER, AND SYMBOLIC WORSHIP, AMONG MANY OTHER WORSHIP CONCERNS. HOW ARE THESE UNIQUELY REPRESENTED AND EXPLORED IN YOUR PROGRAM?

JH: Those topics are consistently represented and explored in the classroom and in the practical applications of morning prayer, morning chapels, evening practica, nighttime prayer, opening convocations, and even commencement. Dr. Webber wanted everything we do as an educational community to be set in the context of worship—even graduation!

WL: WHAT WAS YOUR PATH TO YOUR CURRENT POSITION AS PRESIDENT OF IWS?

JH: When Dr. Webber became ill in 2006 with pancreatic cancer, he asked me to be the second president of the school. I argued against his idea since my career had been spent in church music. Long story short, he won the argument, and I relented. After receiving approval of the board and faculty, Bob officially appointed me as his successor, first as acting presidentelect, then becoming president upon his death in 2007.

WL: WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR IWS GOING FORWARD, AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT YOUR JOB/MINISTRY?

JH: I believe that the study of worship is transcending the traditional assignment as an aspect of “pastoral theology” and becoming its own theological discipline, and well it should. I envision the IWS

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community to be responsive to the leading of our Lord in his preferred future for us, not unnecessarily tied to self-survival or self-promotion, but always promoting the advancement of the kingdom of God. I love having the opportunity of serving such a superlative community of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees.

WL: AT THE NATIONAL WORSHIP LEADER CONFERENCE IN CALIFORNIA, YOU SHARED A POEM IN YOUR CLASS? WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE CHURCH IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENTING ARTISTRY AND POETRY IN OUR SERVICES OF WORSHIP AND IN OUR SONGWRITING? HOW IMPORTANT IS THAT?

JH: I think artistic worship is of critical importance, since we are artistic, sensing creatures. As James K.A. Smith says so well, “My contention is that given the sorts of animals we are, we pray before we believe, we worship before we know—or rather, we worship in order to know.” I see that the Church is increasingly recovering the use of artistic expression. May it continue!

WL: WHY IS “WORSHIP” AS ROBERT WEBBER SAID “THE KEY TO RENEWAL FOR THE CHURCH?” AND HOW DO YOU SEE THE ROLE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR WORSHIP STUDIES IN PARTICIPATING OR FACILITATING THAT RENEWAL.

JH: Lex orandi, lex credenda, est. The rule of prayer is the rule of faith, or as you worship, so you believe. Ultimately, when the Church is renewed with enlivened worship built on solid biblical, theological, and historical foundations, Christians are formed with the compassionate heart of Jesus and encouraged to follow in his footsteps, being poured out for the life of the world.

What could be more important than that?

Nothing! I am thankful that IWS has a part to play in that renewal as we form Christ-like leaders of worship renewal. W

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THE FALL OF A

KINGDOM TABLE TALK:

TIM TIMMONS WITH JEREMY ARMSTRONG

During the National Worship Leader Conference in California this past year, we had a chance to catch up with recording artist and worship leader Tim Timmons and talk about some of the things on his heart.

What resulted was an open and earnest conversation about the goodness of God even in the midst of realities such as cancer. Tim Timmons will also be leading worship this year at the Virgina, California, and Kansas locations.

WORSHIP LEADER: TELL US A LITTLE OF YOUR LIFE’S STORY. WHAT’S YOUR HEART’S MESSAGE FOR THE PEOPLE YOU LEAD?

TIM TIMMONS: I’ve led worship all my life, but I never really wanted to be a worship leader or a Christian Musician.

And then about 12 years ago Jesus started changing my heart. I always wanted to be outside of the Church and point to Jesus from there. Then two weeks before I was going to leave a position on a church staff to go out into the secular market, I found 58

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out that I had cancer. They gave me five years to live. And that was 12 years ago. And … that was pretty sobering. That was one of those moments where you say, “Umm this wasn’t supposed to happen to me. This happens to someone else.” The church that I was with, Mariners church in Southern California, invited me to just stay on staff, keep my insurance and everything. And it was during that time that Jesus changed my view on what I was doing. He moved it from me going out and getting a fan at a time, which was addition, to me asking, “What if I could be a part of inviting all these people every weekend to know Jesus and then they would go out to represent Jesus to 10 people that I would never meet?” Then you have multiplication. I thought: That makes sense.What if that’s actually more powerful for my story? My heart was actually changed … which seemed impossible at that point in my life.

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I’ve been walking through cancer for 12 years, and many different forms of sorrow and pain, hospitalizations and treatments and surgeries and everything.

Then four years ago, I was journaling, like a good Christian boy should, and I sensed that I was in the preface of the second book in the trilogy of my life. Then I thought: That is so stupid. Like who comes up with that stuff? I kept sensing it all week though, I even told my wife about it. That next week I started getting emails from people all over the country, and they basically said, “You don’t know me, but God told me to tell you that you are starting a new season. Follow Jesus, and he’ll walk with you.” Everyone saying the same thing.

And that was really the beginning of Jesus apprehending my heart. At that point I wrote a prayer, which became the last song on my recent record. The chorus is basically, “So I surrender all, would you

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let my kingdom fall, so yours alone will be the only one standing.”

He began breaking down my kingdom.

And I am so grateful for his process. Yes, it’s been a pruning process—like two years of just pain and anguish. We found new tumors; we had relational stuff with friends. It was a crazy season. And in that time I began to say, “Jesus, let’s start a revival. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

But his response was, “It’s not about starting a revival in the world. It’s about starting a revival in me.” It has to start there.

I think I’ve known Jesus my whole life and known about him and tried to be like him, and those things are great. But at this time he was saying, “Just know me.” I was trying to make fruit out of my labor instead of experiencing the fruit of the Spirit.

Now I feel more like a preschooler as a follower of Jesus. But it’s been more fun than I’ve ever had in my life.

When I go out and travel, I’m more of a missionary to Christians than anything.

I think the majority of us know all about Jesus. I just don’t know if we know him.

You know? There’s a difference there. I’m just at the beginning of learning it, and I’m watching Jesus make fruit out of it in my life, instead of me producing a lot of things.

WL: HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE SOMEONE TO KNOW HIM BETTER?

TT: Look at your prayers. Look at the things you are asking for, the things you are demanding, you don’t have to stop asking for things, but discover: “Who is the King in your scenario?” Is this my kingdom?

Or am I willing to let my kingdom fall so that his alone is the one standing?

When I worry, it’s more about me being the king of the kingdom. I’m taking the crown back and taking responsibility for the outcome. Partly it’s about whose agenda are we following? When I wake up in the morning, am I telling Jesus what we are going to do today? Asking him to show up for various parts of it.

My whole life I have basically said, “Jesus, here’s what I want to do. Are you ready?

We’re going to do this together. It’s for your kingdom; it’s for your glory. So here we go.” …. But what if Jesus is on the

move with or without me? What if he is?

My only advice is: “Know him.”

Someone recently said to me, “I’m trying less to be like Jesus, and I’m trying more to be with Jesus.” There’s a real difference there. If we are being with Jesus, as opposed to being like him, we can actually represent him in this world.

I just got to a point of being tired of doing good Christian things. Trying to be great, holding it all together, it’s so tiring. And once I started to just be with Jesus, I’ve never had more fun in my life.

I’ve never had more peace or more joy.

A few years ago my dad asked me, “Tim, is Jesus enough for you?” My first answer was like, “Ummm, duh. How many times have I played that song, ‘You’re more than enough for me?’” But I actually spent some time thinking about it, and I had to call myself out a little, because he’s not enough for me. I mean I’m an amazing American Christian, but Jesus is surely not enough for me. To take care of the things I worry about, the things I’m striving for; he’s just not enough.

So ask yourself that question, “Is Jesus really enough for me? And what more do I want?” Just be honest with it. I spent a good year telling Jesus that he wasn’t enough for me. I wished he was enough for me, I knew he was supposed to be enough, but he wasn’t.

So how do we reconcile this? I didn’t try to reconcile it. I just admitted it for a year. And now I’m watching him, every year, be a little bit more enough.

people a lot of things. We tell them things all the time. We say, “God is good!” And there is a guy out there in the back thinking, Nope.

We say, “His promises are strong.” And lots of people cheer. We sing the upbeat songs at the beginning of the service, the ones the pastors like to call the “gathering songs,” but when it comes down to

“I THINK MY JOB IS TO HELP PEOPLE OWN THEIR RESPONSE TO JESUS.”

WL: OUR CONGREGATIONS ARE FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING EVERY WEEK WITH SORROWS AND PAINS; HOW CAN YOU LEAD IN A WAY THAT IS RESPONSIVE TO THEIR REALITY?

TT: You can only say so many times, “Everyone, think about what this song means.” But that’s what we want. We want people to think about the words they are singing. To realize that this is a great prayer, or maybe this is a dangerous prayer. As worship leaders, we are telling

it, I don’t know if we know why we are singing these songs. I think there is a difference between deductive and inductive.

Deductive is saying, “Hey guys, God is good, let’s sing this song, ‘How great is our God …’”

I guarantee that if instead of that approach I said, “Why are you grateful today?” I then give people a second to ponder that. Then in the midst of whatever people are going through, whether it’s great or awful, they will then own their response to Jesus. Your response might be that you are just going to tell Jesus to “talk to the hand.” I don’t know; that’s not up to me as the worship leader. But I think my job is to help people own their response to Jesus. Wherever they are. I don’t know if we are great at inviting people to own their response to Jesus. Good or bad.

We tend to tell them their response, “Hey sing this song because he is good!”

When I think of Jesus, I think of how often he asked questions. Over and over again. As worship leaders we just don’t do that. And pastors. We just tell people good truth. I just want to do stuff how Jesus did stuff. I ask Jesus all the time to give me questions to ask, whether I’m leading worship or if I’m on a plane next to a stranger. I’m not going to tell the stranger what to do, but I can ask him questions. That’s inductive—inviting people into their own story. Since everyone has their own story, how do we invite them in to their own story to actually worship through their own life lens?

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WL: WORSHIP IS A CELEBRATION; SO HOW DO YOU CELEBRATE WITH SUFFERING IN YOUR LIFE? HOW DO YOU THANK GOD FOR HIS GOOD WORKS WHEN YOU ARE DEALING WITH THINGS THAT DON’T FEEL SO GOOD?

TT: I remember Job. In part of my own story—because cancer is not my story—I have a perspective through cancer that is my story. I think about Job all the time, and how often he questioned things. And he had every right to question things.

And yet when he experienced God in the questioning of God he received a cross-examination back: “Where were you when I set the boundaries of the ocean?” And it’s a reminder that God is God, and I’m not.

The thing we all have to come to is, “Is he good, or is he not?” That’s something you have to wrestle with. I can’t tell you he’s good. And don’t believe me that he’s good. You have to find that out for yourself.

What I’m learning right now in the midst of pain and suffering is found in John 15 where Jesus says he is the vine and his Father is the gardener.

The Father is the one doing the pruning. But he prunes so that we will actually grow and have life. And that he will bear much fruit through us, fruit that is lasting. But the whole pruning process? It’s kinda gnarly.

I don’t know what it means completely for him to prune; I don’t think he gave me cancer.

But I know that he’s at work in it and through it. And I think he’s a good gardener. That’s what I have seen so far. I think he is doing things to make his garden beautiful.

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it, I’m watching him change me. Part of it goes back to the fact that I’m starting to know him instead of knowing about this “God.” I also never knew that the main thing that Jesus talked about was his kingdom. We talk about the “good news” all the time. Ask anyone, the good news is that “Jesus died on the cross and he rose again for our sins.”

And that is great. But what’s the gospel, the good news, according to Jesus? Jesus says that the good news is the good news of the kingdom. Where “the King” is king, always.

That’s what he talks about, and it’s almost like I never saw it.

Jesus talks about the kingdom nonstop. But through pain, I’ve started to see things through a different lens. It’s like putting on different glasses in my same life. I’m looking for “Where is he at work in the midst of my crap and in the midst of my cancer. Where is he at work?”

It’s not a good idea to tell this to someone when they are going through something tough, “God’s at work. It’s gonna be fine.” I say, “No it’s not.” It might go down in flames. But is he God, or is he not? Is he good, or is he not? And then, what is your posture? The kingdom of God is a treasure that is found in a field, a treasure so valuable that someone would sell everything he owns to acquire that field. Now is a good time for us to figure out what the kingdom of God is all about. Because I am seeing the kingdom at work all the time in and through pain. And I am finding God to be good. And the fruit of the Spirit is starting to come out of me. Not because I’m a better Christian, but because Jesus is actually alive … in me. W

IDENTIFYING THE

MARGINALIZED Cardinal Roger Mahony said, “Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members — the last, the least, the littlest.” The same could possibly be said of churches. When marginalization happens in our churches, it is often more a sin of omission. It’s not that we are trying to exclude certain groups. But when we fail to consciously include, the result is marginalization.

And in church, those who are marginalized begin to feel of lesser value. They even wonder if they matter to God. Here is a quick list that helps us understand when this sin of omission is happening in our churches, and we are inadvertently telling people that they have less value than the rest of the congregation.

Elderly

• When asked to stand for the full worship set (the phrase “Stand if you are able” is helpful here) • When not included in the worship team or other ministry teams • When the music is too loud • When classic hymns are discarded • When they are forgotten in their homes • When they are not invited to share their stories

People With Disabilities

• When there is no program to include them • When ramp access is limited • When they are not invited to serve on ministry teams • When spiritual maturity is equated with cognitive understanding • When physical prowess and beauty are overly celebrated

Youth

• When they are relegated to the youth rooms without a place in the sanctuary • When they are told they are too young to serve • When they are not invited to have a real say on church directives (including musical directions)

Poor

• When leadership is only comprised of middle and upper class • When serving in a church requires lots of volunteer time without compensation • When joining church activities requires financial investment • When big donations are celebrated from the platform, and no notice goes to simple service

Single Adults

• When family camp has no place for them to join • When women’s groups meet during work hours • When it is Father’s/Mother’s Day • When families and marriage and weddings get celebrated and achievements made by single people are ignored

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MISSIONAL

BLIND FAITH INTERVIEW WITH DEREK RABELO

DEMASIPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Derek Rabelo is an inspiration to professional surfers around the world. The reason for this? He has surfed some of the most powerful and frightening waves in the world, and he also happens to be blind. In a sport that is so dependent on sight, this is an astonishing achievement. A new documentary, Beyond Sight, chronicles Rabelo’s life and his deeply rooted faith, and we had a chance to ask him a couple of questions about his relationship with God and how surfing interacts with his worshiping life.

WORSHIP LEADER: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR DREAM TO SURF PIPELINE, WHERE THAT CAME FROM AND HOW YOUR FAITH INFLUENCED YOUR PATH TO ULTIMATELY SUCCEEDING.

DEREK RABELO: It started by surfing hollow waves in my hometown, and then I met my coach Magno, who is a professional bodyboarder, and he started to tell me about Hawaii, and that I was capable of surfing pipe. My faith in God made this dream come true, because with him all things are possible.

WL: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT?

DR: For me living by faith is seeing the invisible, or in other words, live with God’s

WL: WHAT HAS SURFING TAUGHT YOU ABOUT GOD?

eyes. Not looking at the circumstances of your life, but looking to God, and God shows you how to achieve your goals by believing him.

DR: Surfing in itself has never taught me anything about God, but through surfing, God is giving me more faith and showing me that without putting my faith in him, and staying in his presence I would not be surfing.

WL: THERE SEEMS TO BE A PRETTY SPIRITUAL

WL: OTHER SURFERS SUCH AS BETHANY

COMMUNITY OF SURFERS; IN WHAT WAYS CAN SURFING BE A CATALYST TO WORSHIPING GOD?

HAMILTON, KELLY SLATER, ROB MACHADO, TOM CURREN, AMONG OTHERS CONSIDER YOU AN INSPIRATION. HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

DR: I’ve seen God working a lot in the surfing community, because I believe in this sport, there used to be—and still is—a lot of people addicted to drugs, so God wants to show his ways in this community.

I know that there are many surfers giving their lives to Jesus, and this is awesome, because we have more people involved in God’s plans and sharing their faith.

DR: I feel good about it. But at the same time I hope people see God in my life, because without him nothing would’ve happened. And it’s all for his glory. W For more information on Derek and the movie Beyond Sight, visit walkingonwater.com.

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SKILL

4Es

RELEASING CREATIVITY: THE

BY TIM HUGHES

“When a person speaks or writes or sings or paints about breathtaking truth in a boring way, it is probably a sin.” John Piper

AS

the Church, it’s a tragedy that we can take the most exciting, explosive, overwhelming, mind-blowing story of a God who has come to love and save, and turn it into something that is stale and mundane. As people full of the Holy Spirit, alive in the fullness of life that Jesus has come to bring, we should be the most creative, innovative, imaginative, and joyful people on the face of the earth.

There should be a diversity and richness in our worship that breaks through the four walls of the church to reach a world in desperate need. Not least because it is in God’s nature to create. In Genesis 1:1, the Bible begins with these words: “In the beginning, God created ….” He is the great divine Artist.

So how can we grow in releasing creativity and avoid boring and predictable gatherings? Here are four brief practical steps:

1. EXPLORE Great artists, designers, wordsmiths, and songwriters are prepared to explore; to inquire, to wonder and question; to devote themselves to the process of creativity. But this exploration by its very nature is time consuming. It is often said that creativity is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that it takes 10,000 hours of practice and study in order to become exceptional in your field.

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We all know how tempting it is to rush the process of creativity or to hurriedly pull together a set list. We can be eager to finish off our masterpiece and so cut corners or settle for mediocre results, rather than pushing the boundaries and our personal limits to produce something really special.

2. EXPRESS Great art is full of passionate, heartfelt expression. The Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said, “Only the heart knows how to find what is precious.”

Creativity must be honest, real, and raw.

We search for the authentic articulation of our thoughts, feelings, hopes; we unveil our deepest emotions and our yearning for transformation. When we lead in this way we allow people to join us in a heartfelt expression of worship.

3. EXPERIMENT Next, we must have the courage to experiment. It was Albert Einstein who said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” As creative people we must always embrace new ideas and ways of working. Only then will we stumble across profound and fresh new ideas. We need to force ourselves out of our comfort zones and encourage an attitude of dangerous, risk-taking creativity.

If we don’t think outside the box and try new ideas then we will never truly develop in our work and pretty quickly things will become stale.

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4. EVALUATE Creativity is not only about generating ideas; it involves making judgments and decisions about them. Almost all creative work will invariably need to undergo a rigorous process of editing, developing, and tweaking before it can be considered a finished work. The French novelist Émile Zola once said, “The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work.” With all great creativity there needs to be an evaluation process—what worked and what could be improved.

How great would it be if every local church became a cathedral of creativity, producing incredible new art for the glory of God? How wonderful would it be if we were producing art that reflected the work of the Holy Spirit among us in creative ways that stopped people in their tracks? How good would it be to return to the days when people flocked into the church just because they wanted to glimpse something of God’s glory reflected in our creativity? That’s the dream and that’s a vision worth living for! W TIM HUGHES WORSHIP CENTRAL Writer of songs such as “Here I Am to Worship,” “Happy Day,” and “The Cross Stands.” He co-founded and leads Worship Central, an international worship training and resource center (worshipcentral.com).

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SKILL

BY KRISTEN GILLES

4 ESSENTIAL PERSPECTIVES AND SKILL SETS FOR THE SMALL CHURCH

I

grew up in a small church and, from a young age, served on the worship team under the leadership of my parents. I gleaned invaluable wisdom and encouragement from their love for God and his Word and their commitment to leading their small church with excellence in spite of having limited resources. Although I now serve on the worship team at a larger and very musically gifted church, I know the challenges of leading

with limited resources in a small church.

God illustrates in his Word that he is present and greatly glorified in the diversity of both big and small church gatherings. Like our modern megachurches or arena-filled worship gatherings, the Old Testament Temple worship employed many worship leaders and many elements and instruments. Likewise, our modern small churches more closely resemble the degree of simplicity that existed in the

house churches of the New Testament and early Christian period. Even the psalmist David glorified God as he skillfully played and sang among the sheepfolds.

There is no dishonor in “small” worship services. This truth should encourage anyone leading worship in a small church and battling the lie that your worship service isn’t adequate because your team is smaller and less skilled than the many musicians serving in megachurches.

SKILL CHECK

PERSPECTIVE CHECK

Leading worship in a small church requires cultivating essential skills on your team. Here are four ways to grow your team in size and skill:

Here are four essential perspectives to encourage you as you serve in a small church:

HOLD OPEN AUDITIONS. SIMPLIFY SONG

JESUS IS THE POINT. No matter the size of your worship gathering, the goal should always be to make much of Christ and his work in saving the lost through his unblemished life, sacrificed for our sins.

This is why we praise the Lord!

Get to know the members of your church and invite anyone with musical abilities to audition. Keep in mind that some may audition with skills that need honing before they can lead with excellence; encourage these members to seek musical instruction before auditioning again.



CONSIDER STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. Consider the strengths of your band members and utilize them well in arranging songs. Consider the weaknesses of your band members and encourage improvement in those areas through practice.

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ARRANGEMENTS. There will be certain arrangements of songs that will not be possible for your small band to achieve. This is okay. With limited sounds and skills in your band, simplifying arrangements can serve your congregations well if you make the most of this opportunity.



SEEK THE LOST. Ask God to grow your church and add people with musical skills.

Participate in this work by engaging with music artists in your community, seeking primarily to share Christ’s love with them. As they come to faith in Christ, encourage them to join your church and serve with their musical skills.





JESUS IS OUR WORSHIP LEADER. Jesus is our Great High Priest, our Perfect Worship Leader. We worship the Father through Christ the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. You are not the way for your church to worship God.



GOD EXPECTS EXCELLENCE. You may have limited resources, but you’re still expected to steward them well.

Uphold excellence in leading and organizing your team and in developing their skills.



YOU NEED WISDOM. Whether serving with large or limited resources, we must ask for God’s wisdom and help! W

KRISTEN GILLES Kristen Gilles, a worship pastors daughter, has been involved in worship most of her life. She is an accomplished vocalist, pianist guitarist and songwriter who regularly leads worship in churches and at conferences and is part of the multi-campus Sojourn Church along with her husband Bobby, her partner in life, the arts, and worship.

MAY/J U NE 2014

Studio monitor sound quality…

StudioLive AI speakers are available in three full range sizes and a matching 18-inch subwoofer. ©2014, PreSonus Audio Electronics, All Rights Reserved. Sceptre, CoActual and StudioLive are trademarks of PreSonus Audio Electronics.

…throughout your sanctuary.

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es, that’s a bold claim.

Enabled by our speakers’ boldly different CoActual™ physical design — which we also use in our acclaimed Sceptre™ studio monitors.

StudioLive AI CoActual PA work their magic with more DSP than most digital mixers have, the most watts of power in their class, and the freedom of iPad adjustment and monitoring.

You simply must hear StudioLive AI PA speakers to appreciate how effectively they bring the revelation of studio monitor accuracy to small and medium churches.

Learn more on our website, call your sound contractor or visit a PreSonus dealer today.

StudioLive™ AI CoActual™ from

www.presonus.com M AY /JU N E 2 0 1 4

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SKILL

5 1.

BY HEIN VAN WYK

EASY STEPS

TO ACHIEVE ENGAGING WORSHIP WITH VISUALS

Keep the visuals to a minimum: Though background visuals during worship are beautiful, they can certainty be distracting when too many are used. Pick three or four visuals and use them throughout the worship set list. You may have a lot of artists and creatives in your service who could be overwhelmed by visual intrigue and forget to actually worship.

The visuals and songs should share a theme:

2.

3.

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Showing 3D particles and galactic wormholes may work better with a youth-concert than a backdrop behind “Amazing Grace.” Pick visuals that match your song theme. A cross, sunrise or grass-field may fit better. Know when to use video, and when to use a still background.The rule of thumb is asking, “Does the media enhance the worship experience?” Does it expand meaning or confuse it? If you have a very intricate lyric and a complex arrangement, something simple might focus the attention Godward more effectively, than matching it with a quick-cut video.

A single focus rules: Your worship should focus on God. If not, there is something terribly wrong. Placing your worship team in front of the visual screens makes for a focus-point nightmare. Do you look at the musicians, the mics, the screen, the words or the stage itself? Move the worship team to the side, or raise the visuals much higher. In fact, the focus should entirely be on the Lord.

Adding Scripture to music is powerful: Don’t go from beginning to end with worship songs. Take a break and display a Scripture verse every now and then. Pick verses that edify and strengthen the theme of the previous or upcoming song. God’s Word is powerful and interweaving it during worship is incredibly uplifting.

In the end, it’s not about visuals: Don’t feel compelled to have a visual everywhere. Your congregation is mostly adult. They don’t need visual stimulation to stay connected. Let the visuals be an aftertouch, not a leading force. A by-product, not the central focus point. W

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HEIN VAN WYK is the CEO/President of Sharefaith.com where he innovates, leads and spearheads technology solutions for churches.

THE FIRST WORSHIP ALBUM IN 6 YEARS AVA I L A B L E E V E R Y W H E R E 5 . 1 3 . 2 0 1 4 michaelwsmith.com facebook.com/michaelwsmithofficial

t w i t t e r. c o m / m i c h a e l w s m i t h youtube.com/michaelwsmithvevo

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PRODUCTION

BY MICHAEL A . LEE

MAINSTAGE YOUR KEYS

4 YUMMY WAYS TO BUILD A MUSICAL BURRITO

Q:

We’re using MainStage for keyboard sounds in our worship service, and I’m looking for some happy balance between building a new sound for each song, and using the same old synth pad for everything. Any suggestions?

“IT STARTS WITH THE FOUR BASIC FOOD GROUPS FOR BACKING KEYBOARD SOUNDS.” 68

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A:

A while ago I realized most of what I get asked to do as a worship keyboardist boils down to having a great pad, and then knowing how to modify the textures of that pad to fit different parts of the arrangement. Instead of building a new sound for every new song, I decided to build The One Patch to Rule Them All!

4 ESSENTIAL & SAUCY SOUNDS It starts with the four basic food groups for backing keyboard sounds. First, a warm pad that has a decent attack but doesn’t draw too much attention to itself. Then, a bright aggressive synth sound, something like a buzz saw or a Jupiter 8. Next, a killer, full drawbars Hammond B3 sound with Leslie (this one is the secret sauce—read on for why!). Finally, a bell synth. Then, just like you would with the regular four food groups, dump them all into one big delicious burrito.

COMMANDING PERFORMANCE In MainStage, I put each of these four sounds on its own track, all being triggered by the same keyboard. Here’s where an app like MainStage really shows its power; you can assign the knobs and faders on your keyboard to control the volume level of each sound individually. It’s as simple as hitting command+L, clicking the volume fader you want to control in MainStage, then physically moving the controller you want to use on your keyboard. Hit command+L again to get out of learn mode, and just like that, you’ve trained your rig. Now you can bring each of those four food groups in and out of your keyboard mix to suit the arrangement.

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Here’s an example of how I might use this setup on a song like “Here for You”

by Chris Tomlin. On verse one, I’ll pull everything out of the mix except the warm pad. As the song builds into the chorus, I’ll start to bring second food group, the brighter synth to add a little more edge to the sounds. I don’t want it to take over the mix, so I’ll only bring up the fader by 20 percent or so.

SONIC SPICE When we get to the bridge and the band is ready to blow the roof off, I add the secret sauce: swelling up the spinning Hammond B3 sound right in the middle of the stack of pads. You have to remind yourself not to play actual organ parts here, all you’re doing is adding that big beefy Leslie sound to your background parts. Season to taste, and it’s just the greatest epic keyboard sound ever.

The bell synth is where you can build in some complexity. I have mine set to a tap delay and a MIDI FX arpeggiator, both of which can be turned on or off with buttons on my controller. With both of them off, the bell sound just adds an attack to my pad. With both of them on, I can build a fancy time-synced moving line over the held chords to add even more energy to the sound.

Well, now I’m hungry. I’m off to go have a delicious burrito, with all four food groups: carnitas, salsa, guacamole, and Hammond B3. W MICHAEL A. LEE is a professional keyboardist, composer, and a professor at Azusa Pacific University.

He leads worship at Crossline Church. michaelleemusic.com

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IEM LIST 1964 V8

For the Drummer: 8 drivers in one headphone means powerful bass … and a lot of fun. Perfect for bass players and drummers, the V8 is one of the most powerful custom IEMs we’ve seen in a while, at a great price.

Price: $799

SENSAPHONICS 3D AARO

ALCLAIR QUAD RSM

KEYBOARD PLAYER

ULTIMATE EARS VOCAL REFERENCE IEM

SINGER

For the Worship Leader: The 3D AARO might be the priciest on our list, but it also uses some of the most advanced technology. It features a blend option of hearing the monitor mix and tiny ambient microphones built into the system.

This makes for a truly “onstage” experience and is a great option for musicians who feel disconnected from the congregation when they wear in-ears.

Price: $2,000

For the Keyboard Player: Flat and natural sounding, the Alclair Quad RSM is perfect for musicians or engineers who want the most flat, accurate sound for making precise tweaks to their mix. Alclair also gets our pick for best customer service in the IEM world.

Price: $649

For the Singer: Tuned especially for singers, the Vocal Reference IEM from Ultimate Ears features a focused midrange perfect for the vocal frequencies. The Vocal Reference design filters out the extreme lows and highs to give a clearer sound for vocals.

Price: $999

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DRUMMER

OUR FAVORITE IN-EAR MONITORS FOR YOUR ENTIRE TEAM

WORSHIP LEADER

TOP 10

PRODUCTION

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For the Bass Player: If your main instrument is bass guitar, the Roxanne might be the perfect pair of ears for you. In addition to four high quality drivers, you get an adjustable bass output to get the bass just right in your ears. This feature makes it a great option for drummers as well.

Price: $1,599

ALIEN EARS G12

For the Acoustic Guitar Player: Voiced to emphasize the upper mids and highs, the EQ curve lends itself nicely to acoustic instruments, especially guitar.

The price also includes a free impression kit to take your own impressions.

Price: $675

GENERIC SHURE SE-846

For the Loud Stage: It’s hard to find sound isolating generic headphones, but the Shure SE-846 seems to be a great option. If you struggle to hear yourself on a loud stage, the SE-846 might be a good way to go.

Price: $999

WESTONE W60

For the Drummer Rotation: Packed with 6 drivers on each side, the W60 offers a ton of bass power and clear highs all in a universal package. This is a great option if you have more than one drummer on rotation and don’t want to spend a ton of cash on custom molds for everyone.

Price: $999

ACOUSTIC GUITAR

JH AUDIO ROXANNE

BASS PLAYER

PRODUCTION

SENNHEISER CX300

For the Background Vocalist: The CX300s are surprisingly powerful despite their small size and price. The low cost and powerful sound lends itself nicely to large vocal teams where you need multiple pairs of headphones every weekend.

Price: $34.95

AUDIO TECHNICA SONICFUEL IN EAR MONITORS

For the Tech Team: For everyday listening, the Audio Technica SonicFuels are a perfect choice, with their comfortable fit and big sound. Engineers, camera ops, and even the lighting team can take advantage of the universal fit and natural sound quality.

Price: $94.95

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PRODUCTION

BY KENT MORRIS

THE BLESSING OF HAND-ME-DOWN:

YOUTH ROOM AVL SITUATION

Youth departments need media systems, not just a collection of parts Just as most youth room furniture is based on an eclectic mix of the best home furnishings from 1998, so, too, the youth’s audio, video, and lighting systems are typically built around the remnants of the sanctuary’s previous installations. It is simply a fact of church life: youth receive secondary items. However, secondary need not mean poor quality if the right pieces are chosen initially, the operators are trained properly, and regular maintenance is performed. At some point many hope that church budgeters will more urgently consider the fact that though teens quickly transition to adulthood, they are the Church’s future. But until then churches do their best with the prevailing approach.

SOLUTION

Build core competency before seeking flash and impact Revolution Church started as a portable ministry and, after many years of load-in and load-out, moved into a new, purposebuilt facility in late 2012. The sacrificial giving necessary to open the new building

left little for technology beyond the sanctuary but the time and money spent “on the road” allowed a plan to come together for the youth room. Chad Elliott, the church’s executive pastor explains the plan by pointing out the unknowns of new construction.

While renovation of an existing building is difficult, the combination of weather, permitting, local ordinances, sub-contractors and incessant delays makes new construction a greater challenge. To meet it, Chad invested heavily where appropriate, yet, kept funds in reserve and sought ways to minimize additional outlay where possible. For instance, when Revolution was portable, their primary speaker system consisted of a rather expensive Dynacord Cobra line array assembled in a ground stack configuration.

The church reasoned the Cobras would one day transfer to the youth, so it was logical

“...SECONDARY NEED NOT MEAN POOR QUALITY IF THE RIGHT PIECES ARE CHOSEN INITIALLY...”

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to buy quality gear up-front. Fortunately, the Cobra rig also flies, meaning it arrives from the factory with all the internal bracing and external hardware needed to safely suspend it overhead. This “fly-rated” rig, then, became the basis of the youth room audio system after the move into the new building. An eight-box design, the Cobra contains four subs and four tops. The line array principle is brought into effect successfully, making the Cobra a perfect solution for deep, wide rooms with poor wall angles such as the new youth area at Revolution.

Thanks to the Cobra’s inclusion of LTrack suspension, the main speakers are now flown in a wide Left/Right configuration. This alignment keeps line-of-sight open for the two upstage-mounted Da-Lite 88609HD 144" wide video screens and recently relamped 5000 lumen Mitsubishi WL6700 3LCD video projectors originally used for remote presentations when the church was in a warehouse facility. Several sticks of Applied Electronics aluminum truss, originally used to support the portable lighting rig, now serve as vertical stage props and set-piece mounts. For the lighting in the youth room, several ellipsoidal spots were refurbished and hung to provide

most of the stage illumination while inexpensive PAR cans were bought new and used as back lighting. Later, after the construction dust settled, Chad and Brian Damerow, the church tech director, moved some of the sanctuary’s Irradiant Mech 5 and Mech 6 575 watt movers into the room. An Elation Show Designer 2 hardware console controls the lighting and gives novice operators a simple user interface.

The common thread in Revolution’s youth room project is the use of higher-end equipment with its inherent long lifespan and the church leadership’s willingness to invest in infrastructure for the youth room, including proper cabling and sufficient AC power. Finally, Revolution took the time to train the youth volunteers beyond simple on/off operation to the point they can now troubleshoot and reconfigure the systems without the assistance of the adults.

SPECS

Equipment repurposed: Electro-Voice Dynacord Cobra line array speaker system Yamaha LS9-32 – 32-channel digital mixing console (2) Mitsubishi WL6700 3LCD video projector (2) Da-Lite 88609HD video screen (1) Elation Show Designer 2 DMX controller W

KENT MORRIS has mixed with Paul Baloche, Tommy Walker, Israel Houghton, and many more.

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PRODUCTION

BY ANDY TOY

WHAT’S NEW: IN GEAR FOR MUSICIANS, SOUND TECH, AND MEDIA TECH

Music Notation Software Notion Music Progression 2.0

Function: Music notation software for guitarists Price: $49.99 Church Use: Make charts quickly and easily with little knowledge of music notation What’s New: Progression 2.0 is music notation software designed especially for guitar players. You can enter notes or tab by using a keyboard, fretboard, or even a drum pad to notate rhythm. Progression 2.0 even has a built-in amp simulator to play along and record parts. If you’re a guitarist looking for an easy way to create lead sheets, chord charts, or tab, Notion Music progression 2.0 might be the perfect software for you.

Avid Sibelius 7.5

Function: Music notation software Price: $599.95 Church Use: Make lead sheets and full scores for orchestra and choir What’s New: Sibelius has been at the top of the list for music notation software for years, and 7.5 offers more creative tools and features than ever before. In addition to being able to notate entire scores, lead sheets, and lyric sheets, Sibelius 7.5 also features the new Espressivo 2.0 feature to let the software interpret every nuance of your score. Sharing is also made easier in Sibelius 7.5 with integrated email, SoundCloud, Facebook, and YouTube publishing.

Finale 2014

Function: Music notation software Price: $599 Church Use: Make scores with multiple parts and layers easily and quickly What’s New: Finale has been the deepest and most in-depth music notation for some time, and Finale 2014 goes even deeper into making your score look perfect. New to Finale 2014 are improved control over smart shapes and dynamic markings, rehearsal letter presets, and new tools for score editing. The detail in Finale 2014 makes it a perfect choice for orchestral or choral scores.

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DAW Steinberg Cubase 7.5

Function: Digital audio workstation Price: $499.99 Church Use: Music production system / DAW built especially for electronic music What’s New: Believe it or not, neither Pro Tools nor Logic Pro is the most popular DAW of the European continent, rather Cubase takes the prize. It’s easy to see why with the recent update to Cubase 7.5. If you’re new to 7.5, Cubase offers a few groundbreaking new features such as “Trackversions” (the ability to create multiple versions of a single track to A/B compare and then splice together). A few new synths, effects, and support for remote iPad control round out the new version of the already impressive Cubase.

Apple Logic Pro X

Function: Digital audio workstation Price: $200 Church Use: Record unlimited tracks or use it as a live synth/drum machine What’s New: When you take a look at the new features of Logic X, it’s little wonder that Logic is one of the fastest growing DAWs on the market. After proving itself as a professional workstation in the past five years, Logic X brings some groundbreaking features such as Track Stacks, an easy way to consolidate multiple tracks into one instrument track, Drummer Track, a virtual drummer who can play your MIDI files, and Smart Controls, an easy way to control effects and EQ on virtual instruments. With Logic Pro X, Apple has made recording audio incredibly easy and even beginners will have no problem getting started right away.

Avid Pro Tools 11

Function: Digital audio workstation Price: $699 Church Use: Record high quality audio in the industry standard format What’s New: By far the most popular DAW in the country, Pro Tools is the industry standard for digital audio recording. Pro Tools 11 adds some big new features from the previous version including offline bouncing, 64-bit audio quality and its own AAX-type plug-in structure.

At $699, Pro Tools is not cheap, but the ease of use and fact that everybody else is using it justify the price.

KORG Gadget

iPad/iPhone Software KORG Gadget

Function: iPad mobile synthesizer studio & DAW Price: $28.99 Church Use: Create loops and beats for live performance and writing What’s New: Gadget is a mobile DAW and music creation device for iPad. Combining 15 drum machines and synthesizers into one device, you can easily make loops and beats on the iPad. The power of Gadget lies in making loops and phrases that can be exported as audio files and dropped into another DAW on a computer.

Line6 Mobile In (Mobile Pod app)

Function: iOS guitar interface and amp simulator Price: $49.99 Church Use: Ideal writing or travel guitar rig What’s New: The Mobile In is an audio interface designed specifically to convert signal from a guitar or bass to a digital signal to be processed in the iPhone or iPad. Using the Mobile Pod app, users have access to 32 amps and 16 cabs, and 16 effects, all at 24 bit/48kHz quality audio. While maybe not the ideal guitar rig, it’s a great backup or writing rig.

Cakewalk Z3TA+ iOS

Function: iPad synth Price: $19.00 Church Use: Use your iPad to create lush pads and massive leads live What’s New: Z3TA+ iOS is an iPad synth based on the hugely popular Z3TA+ for Mac and PC. Featuring 6 oscillators, 6 LFOs, filters, a huge effects section and a modulation matrix, the Z3TA+iOS sounds giant and is designed for easy use. With a library of over 500 presets, there’s more than enough to be inspired with Z3TA+ iOS.

All Pro Sound has been designing and installing AVL systems for over 30 years. We focus on the entire system so you can focus on what matters. Give us a call, and let’s create an incredible worship experience together.

800.925.9822 | allprosound.com

Cakewalk Z3TA + iOS

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PRODUCTION

BY ANDY TOY

GEAR REVIEWS KEYBOARDS Casio Privia PX-5S Church Use: Stage piano

LIVE SOUND Yamaha MGP32X Mixing Console Church Use: Analog/digital hybrid mixer Features: The MGP32X is the newest analog/digital hybrid mixer from Yamaha. Using a blend of analog and digital technology, the MGP32X is an analog-style console with faders, buttons and knobs but utilizes digital effects and EQ, and even offers iPhone/iPad connectivity.

With 24 microphone preamps and 32 line inputs, and 6 aux sends, the MGP32X offers more than enough channels to cover most setups, and features a great sounding channel EQ and one knob compressor.

Application: The MGP32X offers some features that you don’t see very often on an analog mixer, such as the priority ducker, which automatically changes the volume of the music just by speaking into a specified microphone, and also control over the stereo image spread.

The iPhone connectivity offers control over three digital reverbs, 16 digital effects, and a 14-band graphic EQ. One of the best features of the MGP32X is the ability to record the board mix directly to a USB flash drive just by pressing a button.

More: Affordable, good sounding 32 channel console Less: No presets or recall available Price: $1,399.99

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Features: The last time I had a stage piano was probably 10 years ago … and it had a floppy drive, no MIDI capabilities, and made helicopter sounds on patch 100. Needless to say I’ve since become more of a synth player myself, but after spending some time with the PX-5S, I’m thoroughly impressed with the new Casio stage piano.

The Privia PX-5S sports 88 hammer-action keys with 256 notes of polyphony and utilizes the Hex-layers feature of layering up to 6 samples on one patch. Four knobs and six sliders can control a variety of internal effects when using the PX-5S as a standalone keyboard, and can be assigned to control almost anything inside the keyboard. MIDI I/O and USB/ MIDI connectors are included on the back panel of the stage piano, and can be used as a controller and a standalone device at the same time.

The entire stage piano weighs in at just 24 pounds, (that’s under half the weight of a Yamaha Motif) and runs off an included power supply or 8 AA batteries.

Sound: The full 88-key, hammer-action keyboard is much more than a stage piano. Powered by Casio’s proprietary AiR sound engine, the factory sounds are deep, realistic, and very useable in any worship service.

I tend to favor the more mellow piano samples, which the PX-5S nails exceptionally well, in addition to a few electric piano, harpsichord, and clavinet patches. The effects section is quite robust, including reverb, delay, EQ, compression, phaser, chorus, tremelo, auto pan, rotary, ring mod, pitch shifter, and many more. One of the nicest features of the PX5S’s sound engine is the seamless transition when changing from patch to patch, meaning that when you change from say piano to strings, the piano does not stop sustaining until you let the keys go.

More: Great sounds and feel, the perfect stage piano for the worship leader Less: The sounds are limited, making it less ideal for a synth player Price: $999

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RECORDING GUITARS & EFFECTS Gretsch G5034TFT Rancher Acoustic Church Use: Acoustic/electric guitar Features: It’s been a while since we’ve seen something truly unique on an acoustic guitar, but I don’t think any other word can describe the Gretsch G5034TFT Rancher. The G5034 comes in a standard dreadnought body with an arched maple top and back with mahogany sides and neck to give it a full, natural sound. That’s about the only thing that’s standard about this guitar, as one glance will quickly tell you. Mounted onto the guitar is a bigsby with a “rocking bar” arm plated in gold. If that wasn’t enough, the guitar also features a Fideli’Tron humbucker pickup, also gold, similar to the Filter’Tron pickups used in classic Gretsch guitars. The G5034 sports a gold volume knob and tuners as well.

Sound: With all its bling, you might guess that this guitar is all show, but it actually surprised me with its pleasant tone and mellow sound.

Long known for their hollowbody electric guitars, Gretsch designed the G5034 to be played plugged in, and that’s where it really shines. The Fideli’Tron pickup provides a clean, round tone that is designed to reject feedback on loud stages. The Bigsby arm sounds amazing and works surprisingly well, although it does double the weight of the guitar.

More: Great looking guitar with unique features Less: The hardware makes the guitar extra heavy Price: TBA

FREE DIGITAL SONGBOOK

UA (Universal Audio) Apollo Twin

Chord charts for all songs on the album at WeAreWorship.com

Church Use: Two-channel audio interface Features: Long known for their groundbreaking work with digital audio processing, UA has consistently made both great hardware and software and the Apollo Twin is the combination of the two together. The Twin is a two in/6 out audio interface capable of recording at 24 bit, 192kHz sample rate and uses thunderbolt connection for near zero latency.

Application: The real power of the Twin lies in using the software and hardware together.

Using the UAD modeling plugins, the Twin allows you to record and process in realtime, using digital channel strips, EQ, compressors and even reverb and delays. The thunderbolt connection offers almost no latency but limits the Twin to Apple computers.

More: Outstanding sound, great interface with software/hardware Less: Mac only Price: $699 W

Chord charts for all songs on the album • Download the free digital songbook with your free registration at WeAreWorship.com. bit.ly/pdfsongbook BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

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CHILDREN’S WORSHIP: WHERE THE FUTURE BEGINS WITH KENDRA FLEMING

Recently, Kendra Fleming director of children’s ministry at North Point Ministries drew from her considerable experience in an interview with Worship Leader.

Overseeing a ministry that encompasses over 4,000 children, 70 staff members, and more than 4,500 volunteers at five Atlanta-area churches, there is wisdom to spare.

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WORSHIP LEADER: PLEASE TELL US

WL: HOW DO YOU DEFINE WORSHIP, AND HOW DO

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU BECAME INVOLVED IN CHILDREN’S MINISTRY AND THE COURSE THAT BROUGHT YOU TO YOUR CURRENT POSITION AT NORTH POINT?

CHILDREN LEARN ABOUT WORSHIP?

KENDRA FLEMING: I grew up a preacher’s kid and have always loved the local church. I had been serving in children’s ministry at a church in Virginia when a close friend of mine moved to Atlanta and started attending North Point Community Church. This was during the early years of North Point, when they were growing like crazy and struggling to put the leadership in place to keep up with the growth.

My friend saw that there was a need and gave my name to the family ministry director. I was invited to check things out and knew immediately that God was doing something big at this church. God opened every door for us to join the North Point team. I’ve been here for 13 years, and I can honestly say it’s the best place I’ve ever served.

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KF: I define worship as “thanking, celebrating, and recognizing God for who he is and what he has done.”

Children, of course, usually first learn about worship at home. So much of this depends on the ages of the kids, and where the parents are personally in their faith. I always encourage parents to start by praying every night with their kids. That’s an easy step and a great way to wrap up a day together. It’s a good time to start conversations with their children about God and their days.

When kids are younger, I encourage parents to get great storybook Bibles and read the stories together. Kids love the time with their parents, and it’s a great way to talk about God and what he is like as you talk about the stories. As kids grow, I think it’s great to encourage them to take a verse or two and try to memorize them and to talk with them about what they think it means.

It’s also a great idea to encourage them to read stories for themselves.

The best thing that a parent can do to make worship fun and meaningful is to participate. Go

where their kids are worshiping and sing: do the motions, dance, and worship. When parents join in with kids, we see this magic happen on the faces of our kids

not the messaging. We needed a project that would get the curriculum writers and the musicians on the same team, creating music that was both creative and on-message.

WL: WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE MOST IM-

WL: TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SUNG WORSHIP

PORTANT CONCEPTS TO EMBRACE IF YOU ARE DESIGNING PROGRAMS THAT TEACH CHILDREN, ABOUT GOD BUT ALSO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY CAN EXPERIENCE HIM?

AND PRAYER AND WHAT ATTRIBUTE SONGS NEED TO CONNECT WITH CHILDREN?

KF: As I watch children of all ages and stages of life, it’s so obvious that children were made to worship. They are much more likely to spontaneously celebrate, give thanks, and show their feelings about God. Children also naturally engage with music. They are often less inhibited and much more likely to express their joy in what God has done.

I feel like it’s our job to create the right and best environment for them to participate in worship. This environment should be different for different ages. The feeling/design of the room is important, the type of leaders you put on the stage is important, and the style of music you choose is important.

Every month we launch a new Big Idea— things like generosity, honesty, faith, and prayer. With that big idea, we invite parents and kids to attend KidStuf together where we hope to give families the tools to have a family night to talk about this Big Idea. We try to make these family nights fun and easy for parents. Our goal is to get parents and kids talking about God’s Big Ideas.

WL: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE CHILDREN’S RESOURCES YOU ARE CREATING AT NORTH POINT, IN PARTICULAR YOUR RECENT CD SHINE?

KF: In terms of curriculum, My Big Backyard is a fully downloadable 9-week preschool curriculum to teach kids that God is a good friend and show them how they can be a good friend too!

Regarding Shine, which has a broader target agewise, music is an important part of the environment we create for kids. We know the scope and sequence of what we’re teaching kids each year and we needed songs to connect the kids to those big ideas.

With children’s ministry songs, a curriculum writer can write great lyrics, but they don’t have a “lab” to see if their song lands with kids. And musicians can write creative songs, but they are prioritizing the music,

KF: After watching thousands of kids worship in our environments every Sunday, we felt that we really knew what worked— simple, repeatable lyrics in rhythms that are easy for kids to sing along to. On Shine, we worked hard to keep the lyrics clear and tried our best to craft them in a way kids could relate to. We also worked on music that would get the kids up and moving. Our kids are exposed to all kinds of music, and we wanted the feel of this music to appeal to them as much as anything they would hear on the radio.

All kids love music. I can think of so many Bible verses and key truths that I still know today because I learned them through music as I was growing up.

kids are experiencing. Because that growth isn’t always huge. We may not see a kid fully grasp the concept of salvation in one year’s time. But each small step that each kid takes is worth celebrating. And the unglamorous work you’re doing behind the scenes during the week is so vital to setting up those moments of growth, big or small.

WL: WHAT ARE YOUR PERSONAL PLANS AND NORTH POINT’S GOALS IN TERMS OF FURTHER DEVELOPING YOUR PROGRAM AND RESOURCES?

KF: I know it’s harder to do ministry this way, but I think people are starting to see the value of small-group-driven children’s ministry. We all rationally know the value of a one-on-one connection; we know life

“WE MAY NOT SEE A KID FULLY GRASP THE CONCEPT OF SALVATION IN ONE YEAR’S TIME. BUT EACH SMALL STEP THAT EACH KID TAKES IS WORTH CELEBRATING.”

WL: DO YOU HAVE ANY TECH TOOLS YOU USE TO PREP YOUR VOLUNTEER TEAM FOR SUNDAYS?

KF: We use a tool our Web team built that allows our staff to post curriculum and videos for the week. We can introduce new hand motions or a new song, or we can use a blog post to coach our leaders on how to talk through a tricky topic with their kids.

This tool consolidates our communication while more effectively coaching our leaders for Sunday.

WL: HOW WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE THOSE WHO LEAD CHILDREN BUT ARE EXPERIENCING BURNOUT?

KF: You are doing such important work. In children’s ministry, we get to see kids growing up in really tangible ways. But sometimes you miss the spiritual growth these

change happens in the context of relationships. But moving your ministry in this direction is hard and expensive. It requires a major vision cast for staff and it quadruples the volunteer need. Instead of one teacher in a classroom of 25 kids, we need one volunteer for every four to six kids. So yes, it’s volunteer-and resource-intensive, but I think it’s the direction children’s ministry is moving … most curriculums now even include small and large-group components.

I think we’re starting to really grasp that the investment is more than worth it.

WL: HOW DO YOU EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR MINISTRY?

KF: Success for us is having each kid connected to one leader/mentor in a small group. Having adults in our kids’ lives who know them, their stories, and their questions is so important to us. And we know it’s an effective way to help our kids take the next step—big or small—in their faith. W

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Blessed Are Worship Resources for the Young Most churches have quite a few pint-sized humans running around. And just like their full-grown counterparts, children were made to worship God. With that in mind, we rounded up some of the best new kids’ and youth resources available today.

MUSIC CDs

For the Little Ones Big Stories for Little Ones

Rain for Roots

Artist: Lyrics by Sally Lloyd Jones music by indelible Grace contributors Sandra McCracken and Katy Bower, along with Ellie Holcomb and Filo Paris Target: New Scripture songs for children Group is dedicated to creating simple-but-profound songs with gospel truths for children and their parents to enjoy.

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The Action Bible Remixed

You Are Good: Kids Worship From Vineyard

Integrity Music

Vineyard USA

Artist: Various Target: Elementary age Inspired by the Action Bible (a Bible in graphic novel format), the music on this release is fresh and electric. Artists include KJ-52, Canton Jones, L.E.D. & DJ MAJ, and more.

Artist: Various Target: Elementary age Vineyard Worship Kids brings some of the most current Vineyard worship songs together in a format that’s more accessible to children.

Plus there are free chord charts and sing-along instrumentals for all songs.

Great Big God for Preschoolers Vineyard UK

Artist: Various Target: Preschoolers Great new songs for the little ones recorded with a children’s choir; lyrically and musically it will be interesting to kids around 5 and under.

Jesus Music Box (Deluxe Edition) Yancy Ministries

Artist: Yancy Target: Elementary and younger Catchy and high-energy, Yancy’s music is perfect for singing truth into the hearts of the young. Guitar rock with nice touches of elegance thrown in at times, Jesus Music

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Box could easily replace all your Avril Lavigne records.

His Kidz, Vol 1

Jimmy Swan Productions Artist: His Kidz United Target: Elementary-Jr high Taking 18 well-known Christian songs and translating them into the musical language of youth without sacrificing quality, His Kidz, Vol 1 is likely the release that will appeal the most to the adults as well as the kids in the car.

Kids Music GFK Records

Artist: Go Fish Target: Elementary and under Synth strewn and near-electronica at points as well as mild rapcore at other times, the Go Fish guys are adept at creating music that is catchy and richly dressed with a swath of musical beauty.

MUSICALS

CDs

For the Little Ones For the Youth Here for the Gold Brentwood Benson

A group of local kids write and produce a Web-streaming show to spread the message of what is really important in life. It includes original songs, an on-screen interactive character, and more.

I Am A Friend of God

All Sons & Daughters All Sons & Daughters Integrity Music

Mainstream Comparison: Civil Wars, Angus and Julia Stone, The Lumineers

Gungor

Beautiful, folky tones filled with the weaving of two voices (David Leonard and Leslie Jordan), a guitar, and a piano.

Mainstream Comparison: Seryn, Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes

Lillenas

Shine

North Point Kids Artist: Various Target: Elementary As it features and comes straight from the North Point team (Eddie Kirkland, Casey Darnell, Seth Condrey, and others), Shine is filled with quality. Catchy-with-content and designed for use in worship, Shine is perfect for leading Godpointed songs in your Sunday school rooms or camp situations.

Shout Praise Kids: We Belong to Jesus Integrity Music

Artist: Jared Anderson & Friends Target: Elementary and under We Belong to Jesus (featuring Jared Anderson and Friends) is filled with songs birthed out of the vibrant children’s ministry of New Life Church. New songs and familiar ones (“We Belong,”“Strong God,”“Counting On God,”“Light of Salvation”) are all here, ready for your children’s worship across the country.

Targeting the bullying topic, this musical helps kids learn what it means to be a godly person in a school community where there is variety and sometimes-hostile territory.

Veggie Tales: God Made You Special Word Music

A little bit of humor can go a long way when asking a congregation to participate in a children’s church musical. This is where God Made You Special excels. Taking the classic Veggie Tales style, kids will sing silly songs right along with ones that point to the fact that each of us are dearly loved by the Creator of all things.

Let’s Rock

Little Big Stuff Music A group of kids are finding out what it means to be a Christian “rock star” in this musical about kids competing in a mini American Idol type of competition.

Hillsong United

The White Album [Remix Project] Capitol/Hillsong Mainstream Comparison: The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Moby A collection of all the best Hillsong songs gathered in one place and set to electronica beats and mixes by various artists.

Rend Collective

The Art of Celebration Integrity Mainstream Comparison: Of Monsters and Men, Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers Irish folk rock with undeniable melodies and powerful, scriptural lyrics, The Art of Celebration releases joy through and through.

I Am Mountain Hither & Yon Records

A record that artfully finds the sacred in the mundane as well as in the mysteries of the world. As a musically eclectic, slightly esoteric, feat, I Am Mountain will reach an audience that is often closed off to Christian music.

Citizens

Citizens Mars Hill/BEC Mainstream Comparison: Modest Mouse, White Stripes, Neutral Milk Hotel Indie and interesting, with imperfect vocals, Citizens is gritty and authentic and joyful in abandoned worship.

John Mark McMillan Borderland Lionhawk Records

Mainstream Comparison: The National, Interpol, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds From the songwriter that gave us “How He Loves” (made popular by David Crowder*Band and Jesus Culture) comes another raw and gutsy work of art.

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Evan Wickham

The Royal Royal

Make Us One

The Return of the King The Paradigm Collective

Mainstream Comparison: Aqualung, Jeff Buckley Make Us One borrows from some of Hillsong’s recent retro synthy atmospherics, and there are sprinkles and sweeps of guitar, strings, piano, and a cornucopia of sounds to fly and float and jump into.

Mainstream Comparison: Vampire Weekend, Phoenix The Return of the King is not just an encouragement for church leaders; it represents much needed musical movement where such movement is a rare commodity.

Audrey Assad O Happy Fault

Aquire the Fire Epic Truth eOne

Mainstream Comparison: Christina Perri, Jason Mraz, Kelly Clarkson

Children’s Worship Series LifeWay Worship

Perfect for churches looking to start children’s choirs or churches looking to enhance their established children’s programs, the Children’s Worship Series works well with churches of any size.

Shine VBS

Game Changers

Go Fish

Word Music

Mostly through simply a voice and a piano, this release steps toward intimate worship that rings with authenticity and grace.

Specific for VBS, this set is what you would expect from the Go Fish guys: outrageous fun, great music, and solid teaching.

From Word and best-selling children’s music artist Jeff Slaughter, this program includes a 3-Disc, all-in-one Kidz Ministry Kit, featuring a high-energy collection of songs, Bible stories, lesson plans, and life applications.

Whirl

Sparkhouse Whirl is a three-year kids curriculum based on the Revised Common Lectionary. A great way to connect kids to the wider Church with a full year based on the church calendar.

MICHAEL KETTERER & UNITED PURSUIT

The Digital Age

God in Action VBS

David C. Cook God in Action is the exciting new VBS inspired by the Action Bible.

It gets kids into the action of worshiping God highlighting the importance of bringing faith into our everyday lives.

The Wild Inside

Evening:Morning Fair Trade

Mainstream Comparison: Jimmy Eat World, Panic! at the Disco Evening:Morning is an eclectic musical approach one part Americana-rock with the driving kick, one part ambient-electronica with its washes of digital ash, and one part guitar-driven punk-pop rock.

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For the Little Ones

Mainstream Comparison: Rachael Yamagata, Ingrid Michaelson, A Fine Frenzy

Half rocking, half bigger ballads, Epic Truth is big, bold, loopy pop/ rock fused with dancey rhythms, augmented by gentler ballads and quiet reflection.

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Curricula/Training

Mainstream Comparison: Dawes, M. Ward Big yet straightforward, The Wild Inside is thoughtful, lyrically unique, musically fresh and filled with earnest worship.

Lifekids.TV

Pocket Guide to Special Needs: Quick Tips to Reach Every Child

Group Publishing

Lifechurch.TV

Looking for an online option for teaching kids at home? Lifechurch.TV has an interactive site where kids can have fun learning about God. And all their resources are free.

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Kids with disabilities are often left out of the church simply because programs are not equipped to include them. This resource is designed to help you identify and confidently reach out to kids with disabilities.

Visual

Dean-o REPLAY An online Bible engagement system filled with an action-packed sequence of video activities, quizzes, and point awards that explore a powerful progression of core Bible verses brought to life through the power of music.

(Dean-o is available for live interaction at your church.)

Sharefaith Kids (coming in 2014)

This one isn’t out yet, but Sharefaith does things with such high quality, we feel pretty confident in giving it the recommendation.

Sharefaith Kids is a cloud-based 52-week Sunday school curriculum, created to simplify teacher preparation and get kids excited about God’s Word.

For the Youth Connect: Expanding the Boundaries of Worship Group Publishing

Designed to challenge teenagers to think differently and more deeply about worship, this videobased conversation-driven series helps teens realize that being a true worshiper means living a life devoted to Jesus.

Can I Ask That?: 8 Hard Questions About God & Faith Fuller Youth Institute

The trusted voice of the Fuller Youth Institute and proven best practices from churches around the country converge to provide you with tools both to start conversations about hard questions, as well as to lead students toward discovering their own faith convictions.

LIVE Curriculum

Youth Ministry 360 Using a teaching framework that will give your teenagers a deep understanding of foundational faith concepts, each Elements study delivers a solid mix of resources for the Bible based and gospel-centered studies.

For the Little Ones For the Youth WorshipHouseKids.com

Videos for Student Ministry

Just like its for-adult counterpart, Worshiphousekids offers pretty much anything you could want in the visual realms for kids, including interactive kids worship songs and backgrounds, children’s Bible videos, countdowns, and more.

Treat this site as your one-stop shop to find videos for your ministry. They are all YouTube or Vimeo videos. So it is all free, categorized, and tagged so you can easily get that video you need and get going with your youth service. videosforstudentministry.com

Salem Church Products

Simplyyouthministry

LIVE comprises multiple online curricula systems that include organizational and volunteer communication tools and great lessons that span time frames as short as six weeks all the way to four years. There are lessons for 5th and 6th grade all the way through college.

XP3 Elements

Tools

Orange This Webbased topical curriculum for middle school and high school students centers around the three eXPeriences students are hungry for: wonder, discovery, and passion.

Bluefish TV Find great video teaching series by such outstanding communicators as David Nasser, Doug Fields, Louie Giglio, Mark Matlock, Sean McDowell, Francis Chan and others to speak Biblical truth into the lives of your teenagers.

Jesus Music Box DVD 5-Pack

Yancy Ministries With 12 high-energy songs that praise God, the Jesus Music Box is all about making Jesus loud through life and worship. Includes live lyric videos, soundtracks, and MP3 files plus bonus features. You Save $25.00 when you order the 5-pack and can spread the joy.

The Skit Guys The Skit Guys teach God’s word using the universal icebreaker: comedy. There’s also drama and scripts for you to use too. Of course all of it is based on telling the story of the Bible.

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YouthTrain.com

Payment Style: A la carte Offers: Leadership training, curriculum, parent resources, and more

SimplyYouthMinistry.com Payment style: A la carte Offers: Wide array or resources including books, curricula, games, and other various media

Pure Praise for Youth: A Heart Focused Study on Worship In this 6-week Bible study on worship from Next Level Worship, Mark Hall and Dwayne Moore address the question of students about worship. It works as a standalone study or with devotional book by the same name. Also perfect for a weekend retreat or one-day intensive.

YOUTH RESOURCE WEBSITES Barefoot Online Barefoot Ministries

Payment style: Subscription Offers: Games, lessons, management tools, communication tools, training

BOOKS For the Little Ones

Payment style: A la carte Offers: Curricula, devotionals, visual media, leadership training, and more

Payment style: Free and a la carte Offers: Free resources and articles as well as curriculum and books for youth and youth workers to buy

YouthMin.org Payment style: Free and a la carte Offers: Free articles and ideas on all things related to youth ministry including game ideas as well as event bundles, sermon stills, calendars, small group bundles to buy.

Firebird

Brent McCorkle and Amy Parker B&H Publishing Group

Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing Sally Lloyd-Jones Zonderkidz

A gorgeous little book that shares profound spiritual truths from the Bible in a conversational tone.

Sally Lloyd-Jones uses insights from creation, history, science, the writings of great thinkers and preachers and writers, and more.

The Kid’s Hymnal

Hendrickson Publishers Eighty-page hymnal and set of 3 CDs filled with classic hymns along with contemporary songs and choruses for kids to sing along with.

The North Star Catechism

Sojourn Community Church/ Sojourn Kids Picture books plus a cool Catechism for Pre-school through adult that reinforces the basic elements of the Christian faith: God’s gospel, God’s Church, and God’s mission, and it’s free.

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Colton, Todd & Sonja Burpo Tommy Nelson An illustrated, for-kids version of the runaway bestseller. A book to give kids an early sense of comfort in life’s biggest challenge.

Youth Ministry 360

Youth Specialties

Heaven Is for Real for Kids

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Firebird is a children’s book that parallels the life of Samantha Crawford in the inspiring film Unconditional (written and directed

by Brent McCorkle), how she lost sight of God’s love and found it in the unexpected.

True Blue You

Nancy Myers and Diane Seay Dusty Shine Productions This exquisitely illustrated and imaginatively told story helps children cope with bullying. It also facilitates character formation and the ability to see others through lenses that are seasoned with grace and love.

Sing and Celebrate 3 “Sacred Songs for Young Voices”

Shawnee Press/Hal Leonard Packed with lesson plans, teaching resources, and rehearsal planning ideas, Sing and Celebrate 3 is a book and CD filled with a variety of general and seasonal songs for use throughout the church year.

For the Youth Morning by Morning for Graduates Spurgeon Hendrickson Publishers

This daily devotional was targeted specifically to students and graduates so they could learn from the simple and eloquent writings of one of the most beloved preachers in history.

Youth Ministry in a Multifaith Society IVP Len Kageler

Can our youth learn to love and respect their “religious neighbors” while still maintaining a mature Christian faith? Veteran youth minister and researcher Len Kageler offers this insightful book to help youth leaders navigate the multifaith waters.

Passion: The Bright Light of Glory Thomas Nelson Louie Giglio

Giglio writes as well as gathers writers such as Francis Chan, Beth Moore, John Piper, and more in this book to help readers discover or rediscover what it means to live a life of passion.

Thrive: Digging Deep, Reaching Out Mark Hall Zondervan

Targeted at youth, Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall delivers a completely accessible book that encourages all people to take their faith to the next level.

Bible in a Year Thomas Nelson

The Bible in a Year uses the New Century Version text to guide kids through an easy path of the entire Bible in 365 days. The simple-tounderstand language is divided into daily portions that include selections from both the Old and New Testaments, as well as Psalms and Proverbs.

The Big Picture Hayley DiMarco, Michael DiMarco B&H Books

Sally Lloyd-Jones

Wonderful way to introduce children to Scripture, as well teach them what it means to find Christ at the heart of all Scriptures.

Zondervan

The Jesus Bible contains the complete New International Version (NIV) with daily study helps that point to Jesus and show how he fulfilled the prophecies for the Messiah found in the Old Testament and how his New Testament teachings have applications for today.

Zondervan

The teenage world is addressed in this best selling Bible. Guidance for their everyday relationships and eternal truths found in God’s Word are both on hand in this wonderful tool for teens.

BIBLES

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name [ebookEdition]

The Jesus Bible, NIV

NIV Teen Study Bible 2011

In a picture riddled, conversational book, the DiMarcos remind teens that its easy to get distracted from what really matters in today’s culture and society.

For the Little Ones

For the Youth

The Action Bible and The Action Bible Devotional

NKJV Ignite: The Bible for Teens Thomas Nelson

David C. Cook Jeremy V. Jones, Sergio Cariello Internationally recognized artist Sergio Cariello illustrates this graphic-novel styled Bible with incredible art and wonderful dramatic arch.

Designed to deepen understanding and as a result inspire stronger devotion, Ignite includes “hot topic” articles, short articles to introduce new topics, highlights of God’s promises, and more.

CEB Deep Blue Kids Bible (Common English Bible)

Zondervan/Youth Specialties

Engaging kids with four-color icons, illustrations, a wealth of notes, devotionals, Bible trivia, and other interactive elements the Deep Blue Kids Bible is a refreshing and informative first Bible for your little ones.

Teen Devotional Bible

Carla Barnhill & Mark Oestreicher This Bible is like a Bible companion for teens written by teens. The included devotions come from other teenagers offering advice on the topics that young people deal with.

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MOVEMENTS/CONFERENCES For the Little Ones For the Youth KidMin Conference

Acquire the Fire

Columbus, Ohio September 26-29, 2014 Organizer: Group

Multiple dates and locations Organizer: Teen Mania

CPC (Children’s Pastors Conference) Chattanooga, Tennessee (East) January 21-24, 2015 Ontario, California (West) February 16-19, 2015 Organizer: International Network of Children’s Ministry

Orange Conference

Jr high (Believe) high school (Move) Multiple dates and locations Organizer: Christ in Youth

Desperation Conference Colorado Springs, Colorado July 9-11, 2014 Organizer: New Life Church

Momentum Youth Conference Wheaton, Illinois July 22-27, 2014 Organizer: CE National

Sacramento, California October 2-5, 2014

Grandview, Missouri July 16-18, 2014 Organizer: International House of Prayer

Atlanta, Georgia November 20-23, 2014 Organizer: Youth Specialties

Passion

Planet Wisdom

Atlanta, Georgia January 16-18, 2015

Multiple locations and dates Organizer: Youth Specialties

Soul Survivor Multiple locations and dates in the UK Organizer: Soul Survivor

Breakaway

Atlanta, Georgia January 2-4, 2015

Houston, Texas January 30-February 1, 2015 Organizer: 268 Generation

Jesus Culture Conference Minneapolis, Minnesota Jun 27-28, 2014

Weekly College Station, Texas Organizer: Breakaway Ministries

Long Beach, California Jul 17-19, 2014

Fascinate

Atlanta, Georgia Aug 1-2, 2014 Organizer: Jesus Culture Music

Grandview, Missouri June 18-20, 2014

TM

Atlanta, Georgia April 30-May 2 Organizer: Orange

Believe and Move

National Youth Workers Convention

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FEATURE REVIEW

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FEATURE REVIEW

CROWDER NEON STEEPLE SIXSTEPSRECORDS | CROWDERMUSIC.COM

F

rom the beginning, David Crowder has been an artist unrivaled in honest and engaging communication. He’s never lost the edge of emotion in glistening pop.

There’s always a raw, yet prodigiously conceived and crafted perfection. And he never settles into predictability.

They say most artists of note have just one truly great album in them, and then they spend the rest of their careers trying to recreate the magic. Of course there are exceptions; Crowder happens to be one of them. His first solo project since the David Crowder*Band took it’s final bow, Neon Steeple and its “folktronica” or “porch music meets electronic”—as Crowder describes it—is instrumentally irresistible, lyrically both simple and profound, and emotionally off the charts. It’s a potent mix of prayer, proclamation, adoration, confession, and tent-meeting preacher/ evangelism with themes of repentance, resurrection, God’s faithfulness, and limitless grace and love. Neon Steeple features a roots instrument arsenal of evocative sounds (acoustic, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, fiddle, slide steel, and more), something we’ve come to expect of late but with an inescapable difference: long before the Mumford effect, Crowder was playing this tune with these instruments. They are part of Crowder’s native musical language not a production add-on and definitely speak eloquently on this collection.

Crowder’s ability to direct and shape music to impact mood, to reveal truth, entertain, and create sonic paintings is illustrated by the ecstatically joy-filled “My Beloved” on the one hand and the ominously hopeful call to those imprisoned by sin in “Lift Your Head Weary Sinner (Chains).”

The former is an “I’ll Fly Away” for today where the payoff is now, not later, and the latter combines the unrelenting rhythm of a chain gang, banjos ascendant looping, and the darkness inherent in sin. What a great altar call! But the album is filled with songs that draw the lost … and the “found” gone missing. The beautifully intimate “Here’s My Heart” reprised from last year’s Passion album is among those as is “Jesus Is Calling,” “Come As You Are” and the single release, “I Am,” among a choir of evangelistic invitations. The latter two both make an appearance on 2014’s Passion release. The theme of holding on to God and/or being held by him is prominent on the album and is evidenced on the lead-off single as well as on “Hands of Love” and “You Are.” The latter is a bookend to “I Am” as together they proclaim God’s amazing love and faithful constancy.

Crowder includes the music of Southern Gospel and Country royalty: “Jesus Is Calling” by Hank Williams, plus the Gaither’s “Because He Lives” and duets with Emmy Lou Harris on “My Sweet Lord.” The Gaither classic is available only

on the deluxe edition as well as a Louie Giglio/Crowder collaboration of “All This Glory” and the John Mark McMillan contemporary classic “How He Loves.”

The album encompasses a world of unsurpassed listening: personal, devotional, and congregational worship. What a concept.

Sounds like: Crowder, plus a porchfull of exceptional musicians (and a cloud of witnesses) create Lumineeresque shadings, neon layering, expert electronic nuancing, polyrhythmic percussive sophistication all piled in to worship the Lord.

Accented by the occasional trip to a local tent revival and balanced by tender moments of intimate prayer.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “I Am,” “Jesus Is Calling,” “Ain’t No Grave” Strongest Biblical Content: “You Are” (Shows the God of the Bible) Heb 13:5; Mt 11:28, 20:28 The Whole Package: “I Am,” “Here’s My Heart,” “Come As You Are” ANDREA HUNTER

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MUSIC FOR LEADING

KARI JOBE

Majestic (Live) Sparrow karijobe.com Kari Jobe has led multiple times at Worship Leader’s National Worship Leader Conference, and whether leading in front of a full band or sitting next to a simple box drum and acoustic guitar, the congregation of attendees walk away with a similar word on their lips, “anointed.” She has the rare ability to use her grace and skill and attention to the Spirit to point hearts towards intimacy with the only one who is always seeking us—our great God. Which is one reason that going with a live recording was the absolute right move for her. With Majestic, Jobe fully

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embraces her role as worship leader stepping slightly away from the radio success she has seen to deliver worship anthems that eschew the three-and-ahalf minute formula to simply revel in the presence of the Holy Spirit. So for worship leaders, this is welcome news. Including co-writes with other likeminded artists—Paul Baloche, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Reuben Morgan, Brian Johnson, Jason Ingram, and others—means Majestic, from conception to fabrication, was designed with worship in mind.

Refreshingly, Jobe opens the experience with an appropriate call to worship, “Hands to the Heavens.” It has a Trinitarian understanding as well as an awareness of the beauty of the closeness of God’s presence when his people sing in worship. Then in perfect time for Easter, “Forever” is a powerfully affecting Scripture song that pours truth out with every word, and the music swells in a perfect match of emotion-toprofound-truth when it declares, “Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated / forever he is glorified / forever he is

lifted high!” Helping us sing the story in our hearts with a unified voice, this song is the victory song of the year.

Recorded live at the historic Majestic Theatre (how apropos) in her hometown of Dallas, Texas, Majestic is at once overwhelming and intimate; it creates space for the Spirit to dwell and it fills all the sonic landscape with music that supports the prayers of the people. This is easily Kari Jobe’s best release, raising her level of artistry to a higher plane.

Sounds Like: Jobe’s conversion to a live worship leading recording means she lost a bit of her recording-artist uniqueness. Majestic sounds similar to many of the big live recordings of the aforementioned cowriters (along with Jesus Culture etc.). That said; it is hardly a flaw. Majestic is as good as live worship recordings get: beautiful, congregation-friendly songs set to swaths of sound and stirring spontaneous moments of prayer and praise. Of course all supported by Jobe’s completely disarming and elegant vocals.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Hands to the Heavens” Strongest Biblical Content: “I Am Not Alone,” (Ps 23; Deut 31:8) The Whole Package: “Forever” Resources: Select songs chords/lyrics available at various sites JEREMY ARMSTRONG

MAY/J U NE 2014

PASSION

Take It All Capitol/sixstepsrecords sixstepsrecords.com Passion’s Take It All is much like it’s predecessors, a mix of congregation (and arena) ready songs for the Church. Although this is a conference targeting youth, the truth in the songs is ageless and fits all generations, with most songs suitable for some aspect of a wide range of services with appropriate arrangement adjustments. The worship from Passion 2014’s two-day gathering is captured in this live recording that took place in Atlanta and Houston in January and February of this year. It mirrors last year’s lineup (sans Kari Jobe and Brett Younker): Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Crowder, Christy Nockels, and Kristian Stanfill.

For Scripture-based worship and adoration “Almighty” (Tomlin), “Worthy” (Matt Redman) and “I Am” (Crowder) ascend. There are at least three precursors to an altar call, Stanfill singing the up-tempo “Never Gonna Let Me Go” and the personal offering “My Heart Is Yours” and Crowder’s gentle invitation on “Come As You Are.” Tomlin renders an energetic, dancey, youth-oriented take on Philippians 4:8 with nods to John 14:6 and Psalm 39:24.

Nockels matches his energy on

“You Came to My Rescue,” which focuses on God’s redemptive sacrifice, a theme that reigns in “At the Cross (Love Ran Red),” sung

by Tomlin, and on Matt Redman’s reprise of the beautiful “Mercy” from his recent album. The latter doubles as a lovely communion song. Christy Nockels also brings her passionate beauty to “Let It Be Jesus” which could be sung congregationally, but probably serves best as special music.

Sounds like: Modern Christian pop-rock, with electronic nuance and danceable rhythms on some songs. No surprises, but some solidly biblical and heartfelt offerings that will serve as a resource for the Church TOP SONGS Most Singable: “I Am” Strongest Biblical Content: “Almighty” (Rev 4, 19:12; Isa 6:13) “Don’t Ever Stop” (Phil 4:8+) The Whole Package: “I Am,” “Mercy” “Almighty” Resources: “Mercy” lyrics and chords multiple sites, usually wellresourced online

celebration of Christ’s resurrection. Live is a seamlessly blended worship set of Baloche’s songs, both classic and new, skillfully interspersed with cherished hymns such as “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Baloche explains, “Our hope was to capture a true and honest expression of worship to our God.” And that he did on this rock-worship album, with his polished worship leading and his sincere heart for giving others the words to sing back in praise to God. Paul’s expertise lies in writing congregational music that is singable, true, and attainable for congregations and worship teams alike. From the ethereal beginning of “Our God Saves” to the joy-filled praise of “Hosanna (Praise Is Rising)” and the solemn meditation of “Jesus Be My Savior,” this album reveals the beauty and authenticity of a worshiping congregation.

THE NEW

VISUAL WORSHIP

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Sounds Like: Live is classic Paul Baloche worship music in modern rock style, tempered with a deep-seated reverence for God. Listen for its guitar-driven pulse, its strong rhythmic unity, and Baloche’s stand out vocals backed by a congregation of worship teams. This live worship album emphasizes Christ’s resurrection and love.

HOME

@

EASY, READY-TO-GO LYRIC VIDEOS AND WORSHIP MUSIC FOR YOUR SMALL GROUP OR YOUR PERSONAL WORSHIP TIME Experience the sights and sounds of worship at home with the Visual Worship@Home Collection.

GREAT FOR PS SMALL GROU & HOME WORSHIP

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Our God Saves” Strongest Biblical Content: “The Same Love” (Inspired by Mark 5.21-43) The Whole Package: “You Lift Us Up” Resources: Free chord charts and video tutorials are available at paulbalochelive.com. Full orchestrations and lead sheets are available for purchase at praisecharts.com.

AMANDA FURBECK

ANDREA HUNTER

PAUL BALOCHE Live Integrity Music paulbalochelive.com

Paul Baloche’s Live is the stirring culmination of thousands of worship leaders from across Canada, coming together as a single congregation, to worship God in

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THE RETURN OF THE KING The Royal Royal The Paradigm Collective theroyalroyal.com

Sick of the musical rut you’re bound to each week for your service of worship? The Return of the King is the remedy. With a bright and earnest approach to the genre of music for worship, The Royal Royal offer musical diversity and a rare spark of touching creativity that is completely welcomed.

Taking advantage of a broad array of synth, guitar, and a lighter than

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air production approach, The Royal Royal set themselves apart, delivering Christian quirk-pop/worshipindie-rock at its finest.

With short profound twists of commonplace, the lyrics of the songs on The Return of the King shine new light on age-old themes in often-unexpected ways—working almost like haiku or even Taize-styled meditative worship. This is perhaps best demonstrated on “On and On (Find Me)” where the repeated bridge, when believed and sung as a united prayer by a congregation, could have powerful effect: “You lead, you lead me Jesus / You lead, you lead me Jesus.”

The lyric simplicity of songs such as “Every Little Bit of Praise” can be seen both as a strength and weakness. There is a sheer joy in the childlike proclamations, even poetic vitality in lines such as “Every little bit of praise belongs to you,” but at other

times the simplicity misses a bit in emotional and theological depth.

Back in 1990, MxPx dressed Keith Green’s classic “You Put This Love in My Heart.” The Finochio brothers have once again made a new song from this wonderful prayer with a stripped bare, but emotionally-charged rendition.

Filled with celebration and a fresh approach to worship, The Return of the King is not just an encouragement for Church leaders, it represents much needed musical movement where such movement is rare.

The Whole Package: “Real Strength,” (Isa 40:30-3; Ps 4) Resources: Select lyric videos on YouTube

Sounds Like: Bethel’s Tides, Hillsong United’s Zion, Vampire Weekend for Christians, and everso-slight notes of ’90s glam rock.

MICHAEL W. SMITH

TOP SONGS Most singable: “On and On (Find Me)” Strongest Scripture: “The Lights,”(Eph 2:5; Ps 55)

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JEREMY ARMSTRONG

Sovereign MWS Group/Sparrow michaelwsmith.com

Michael W. Smith partnered with some new writers and producers on Sovereign; included in that list is Seth Moseley (News-

boys, Sanctus Real, Love & the Outcome), and Kyle Lee (Natalie Grant) and a couple of talented producers, Chris Stevens (TobyMac, Carrie Underwood, Mandisa) and West Coast-based writer/ producer Jeremy Edwardson.

The final name is significant as Edwardson has worked on just about every record put out by Jesus Culture Music. The goal for Smith seemed to be keeping relevant in the current landscape but continue to be true to himself.

That said, this is his best record in over a decade. Typically Smith, has stuck to his chosen lane— it’s hard to argue with millions of albums sold and three Grammys in the trophy case. Though there is a good deal of classic Smith here, Sovereign takes a cue from modern anthems that the Church is used to singing. Smith put his spin to the Worship Central song “The Same Power” (Cantelon/ Herbert); as well as pulling a song from worship leader Dustin Smith, which features Kari Jobe, “The One That Really Matters.”

Smith has tried it before, and has had massive success in some brief moments, with his music sometimes feeling like Christian pop posing as worship. But this time Smith really did create a worship record—there are even a couple of places where Smith’s voice cracks just a bit, and leaving it in was one of the best decisions they made producing this release.

Sovereign is the record we’ve waited to hear from Michael W. Smith for a long time.

Sounds Like: Big pop worship anthems with flawless production and songwriting.

Most Singable: “I Lay Me Down” Strongest Biblical Content: “The Same Power,” the gospel story of Christ’s death and resurrection put to music (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) The Whole Package: “All Arise” JEREMY ARMSTRONG

JOHN MARK MCMILLAN Borderland johnmarkmcmillan.com

John Mark McMillan points to God and paints a faith beyond conformity and rote spirituality. He has eaten Scripture whole and it comes out freshly-framed, shockingly accessible and in language resurrecting off the page.

McMillan explores new sonic shades and retro musical motifs, atmospheric washes, and looping themes amidst his established rootsy, folk-rock. His third release Borderland is paradoxically restful—even in the midst of lyrical assault and cultural confrontation. That is not to say that those things are at the heart of the album. At the center is God’s enduring love and presence over our lives and times, his friendship, the one alone who gives context and meaning to a world off its hinges and hopelessly broken.

“Holy Ghost” opens the album with the warm and evocative caress of McMillan’s inimitable vocals wrapped M AY /JU N E 2 0 1 4

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in a chorus of angels, sweepy and staccato strings—the perfect backdrop for piercing commentary and desperate prayer: “I need a Holy Ghost.” Next, “Love at the End” fuses the vibe of songs from John Mark’s second album The Medicine with a new sonic pastiche of rhythm and dreamy sound, reflecting the paradox of love found at “the end of the world” in the face of life on the brink.

For congregations, McMillan’s “Future/Past’ is without doubt a strong contender for reaching across geographic and generational borders. Other songs with congregational potential include the lovely trancey ballad “Counting On” and the chorus to “Silver Shores”—which evocatively mixes imagery from Daniel. The body of the song is not melodically easy to hitch a ride, but the chorus can stand on its own. “Heart Runs” updates the lyrical essence of

“As the Deer,” with lush musical and vocal arrangements, heartfelt lyrics, hypnotic and powerful rhythms and ascendant melodic beauty, and a bouncy “Guns/Napoleon” turns things on their head and would fly high if not for the symbolic confusion “Napoleon” in the lyric creates.

For thigh-slapping rhythmic energy, “Borderland,” the titletrack features percussive power and irresistible charm, juxtaposed to raw poetry. With the same dark brightness, “Monsters Talk” delights, although it could have been taken further in that bass-heavy spirited jazz direction. “Tongues of Fire” is the aging Christian’s song with a bittersweet look back at the glory days, using images drawn from Samson’s story holding out the possibility of recapturing the courage and hope of our youth.

Finally, McMillan finishes with “Visceral,” both a prophetic

exhortation and a hopeful promise of God’s Kingdom as seen through enlightened eyes.

Sounds Like:Once again, John Mark immerses us in both still life and dramatic cinema. In the tradition of classics like Orbison, Dylan, and Cash, McMillan arrests and captivates with timeless artistry.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Future/Past” Strongest biblical content: “Future Past” (Rev 1:11, Job 9:9; Amos 5:8; Ps 139:7; Col 2:3); “Heart Runs” (Gen 2:7; Ps 42:1,7; Rev 3:20) The whole package: “Heart Run,” “Borderland,” “Future/Past” Resources: Select resources on YouTube, worshiptogether.com, and johnmarkmcmillan.com.

ANDREA HUNTER

CINDY CRUSE RATCLIFF

Heaven Raining Down Dream Records cindycruseratcliff.com The worship pastor of America’s largest church, Lakewood, is back with a full studio worship release that calls on pop/rock and synthy Brit pop to surround the 10 new songs with a bright and energetic feel. Songs are written by Cruse Ratcliff but also include co-writes with such modern hymnists as Ben Fielding from Hillsong,

THE CURRICULUM Perfect for churches looking to start or enhance children’s choirs.

• Created with volunteers in mind.

• Features well-known worship songs and brand-new favorites.

• Two semesters per year for two age ranges: Older (4th-6th graders) and Younger (K-3rd graders)

THE MISSION With God’s help, Children’s Worship Series will inspire a powerful generation of worshipers and worship leaders!

THE PRODUCT

Fall 2014

Available in two formats: Print on Demand CD-ROM or Downloadable files at LifeWay.com/CWS

THE PROJECT LEADERS

Includes: Program Script, Curriculum, Lyric Files, Art Files, Full Mix Audio, Split Track Audio, Stem Mix Audio, Lead Sheet, Piano Music, and Choreography Video

TO PURCHASE CHILDREN’S WORSHIP SERIES, Craig Adams

Ray Jones

Amanda Singer

Project Leader

Worship Pastor

Children’s Worship Leader

visit LifeWay.com/CWS or call 800.436.3869 to speak with a Church Music Specialist.

WELCOME AND WORSHIP Each Children’s Worship Series lesson focuses on four key elements: MISSION

MUSIC

MOVEMENT

MESSAGE

facebook.com/lifewayworshipdotcom

twitter.com/lifewayworship

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Joth Hunt from Planetshakers, David Hanley from Press Play and Jonathan Thulin. The usual positives and negatives are in play with this studio produced record: it’s gorgeous and lush with electro swaths of sound, but a live worship experience would have brought a bit more of that authenticity that today’s listeners are hoping for. That said, the standout aspect of Heaven Rain Down is the posture of Christ-celebration that nearly all the songs take, each usable in a service of worship.

Sounds Like: Euro-pop (Ellie Goulding) meets the worship genre with clear and bright vocal strength.

Most Singable: “We Sing Hallelujah” Strongest Biblical Content: “Holy Holy” (Rev 4:8) The Whole Package: “God Alone” JEREMY ARMSTRONG

David Stine ’03, ’08 Founding Pastor, DC Metro Church

PLANETSHAKERS Endless Praise Integrity planetshakers.com

Here to sweep listeners into endless praise and all-out worship, Planetshakers’ 26th live recording brings the percussive, drumheavy mix-up of genres within and between songs we’ve come to expect, but bumps it up a notch with feel-good fervor balanced by a heavy dose of gentle and heartfelt love.

Planetshakers music, rife with unbridled energy, seismic emotion, percolating power pop, rock, and rhythm, electronic dance, and huge anthemic choruses, all deftly woven together with perfectly placed ballads, hasn’t lost its sheen. In the ardent abandon category, they rival Jesus Culture on songs like “Kiss Towards” and “Leave Me Astounded” and invoke a retro Newsboy vibe meets James Brown on songs such as “Oh Your Love.” Irrepressible danceability beckons on the title track, “Turn It Up” and “Dance,” among many others.

Modern rocker “We Are Free” has a Leelandesque lilt, and lyrics on “Set Me Ablaze” recalls the classic “Light the Fire Again.” “No Other Name,” “Made for Worship,” and “Unto God” are all emotion-packed and scripturally-based. Overall, the lyrical content is meaningful but light, and the only piece of the puzzle that could take the whole

project to another level.

Keyed for congregational worship, with realistic ranges, most songs should be accessible vocally and melodically, although few churches have the musical arsenal represented here. Yet, these songs can be adapted to the range or limits of your team. And a plus, the often left out Holy Spirit is included prominently on songs such as “Abide With Me,” a prayer of longing directed to the Holy Spirit, as is “Leave Me Astounded.”

Sounds Like: A little Newsboys meets Steve Fee with the occasional soulful ballad. Rife with unbridled energy, seismic emotion, percolating power pop, rock, and rhythm, electronic dance, and huge anthemic choruses.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Made for Worship,” “We Are Free,” Strong Biblical Content: “Unto

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God”—Proclamations about and attributions of God throughout Scripture—and in other worship songs—especially Psalms and Revelation The Whole Package: “Made for Worship,” “Turn It Up,” “No Other Name,” “Praise You Lord.”

Resources: Selected chord charts at WeAreWorship.com and videos on YouTube.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Rise” Strongest Biblical Content: “My Help” (Ps 121:1-2) The Whole Package: “Walking on the Water” Resources: Lyrics and chord charts BARRY WESTMAN

ANDREA HUNTER

VARIOUS

She Sings: Hymns & Spirituals, Vol. 1 Nashville Treehouse Music nashvilletreehousemusic.com

Trent and Shellie Monk are The Monks, and this new acousticfolk album is filled with a creative landscape of sounds featuring raw vocals, guitars, mandolins, harmonica, and of course the lap steel. The star is Trent’s familiar voice, recognizable from his days with duo Monk & Neagle, and his recent solo hit “Beautiful You.” After his days with Monk & Neagle, and now with his new wife Shellie, Trent has embarked on this journey of fulltime music, encapsulated in the standout track, “Here We Go.” With topnotch producers like Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay, Bebo Norman) and Ed Cash (Chris Tomin, Kari Jobe) at the helm, this duo’s highquality release is sure to resonate with fans across the country and be the launch of a long career.

Sounds Like: Civil Wars meets NEEDTOBREATHE meets All Sons & Daughters with the Monk’s own unique and catchy vibe.

5.6.2014 allsonsanddaughters.com

WE ARE THE MONKS We Are the Monks wearethemonks.com

available worldwide

What do you get when you find a collection of women who are staples of Christian music/worship such as Kim Hill, Margaret Becker, Ashley Cleveland, Melissa Greene of Avalon and a few newcomers such as Ellie Holcomb, Paulette Wooten, Sarah Stephens, and Sarah DeShields?

You get She Sings an uncomplicated collection of solid songwriting and pure musical prayers. Beyond being a collective of women, it’s a concept record in that each artist was asked to create a new hymn or re-address a classic one. In the former category we get songs such as Kim Hill’s “Christ, Christ, Christ,” almost a sung Church Creed of how to be the Church, and in the latter, “Solid Rock” by Paulette Wooten, a gentle and accessible new version of “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.” Sarah DeShields discovered a 19-verse hymn from the 18th century “The Sands of Time Are Sinking,” choosing it primarily because of the beautiful poetry she found in the words. Though she only made use of three of the verses, the end result is a heavenly and profound hymn of grace and life and death. Making use of a bit of old school church, a rootsy feel, and a group of very talented women, She Sings is the kind of creativity that will put a smile to your lips while you sing songs of praise in your heart.

Sounds Like: A beautiful mix of the aformentioned artists with a strong folk tone.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Solid Rock” Strongest Biblical Content: “Christ, Christ, Christ” The Whole Package: “The Love of God” JEREMY ARMSTRONG M AY /JU N E 2 0 1 4

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last track, “How Great Is Your Love” has more of an acoustic, stripped-down feel to it, which works really well. Steve + Shawn also have a helpful website with worship team coaching tips and videos.

STEVE+SHAWN Believe steveandshawn.com

Husband and wife team Steve+Shawn collaborated on this EP containing five original songs that focus on God’s love for us and our love for him. This talented duo switch back and forth between singing lead and harmony seamlessly, and their strong vocals and solid band performance set this album apart.

Most songs have a contemporary, piano-driven pop sound, but the

Sounds Like: Sound is very similar to Casting Crowns, with the two-part harmony, and full band sound. Steve usually takes the lead vocals with Shawn singing harmony, but on “Beautiful,” Shawn takes the lead reflecting the title perfectly.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Lord I Believe” Strongest Biblical Content: “How Great Is Your Love” (Rom 5:5) The Whole Package: “God of the Redeemed” Resources: Lyrics, Chord Charts BARRY WESTMAN

ALL SONS & DAUGHTERS

All Sons & Daughters Integrity Music allsonsanddaughters.com Right when it seems like most worship records are overwhelming us with volume and power, All Sons & Daughters comes in like a refreshing whisper of a prayer; their eponymous release lets quiet and grace fill the sonic space, and the result is the power of intimacy with the Creator of all things. With the now-familiar ASAD enchanting sound, David Leonard and

Leslie Jordan create a tapestry of music with their gentle voices lacing together to do the double job of creating beauty and center the focus of our hearts in worship of our great God. The strength of All Sons & Daughters is the fluidity of the songs; they seem to flow into themselves then exit to the next track with a single motion that swells and recedes as if the motion of the sea was supporting the entire effort. And as sure as we get full swings of emotion and passion as in “Great Are You Lord” we are also offered rest in simple and meditative worship songs such as “Almighty God,” where Jordan channels an old school Norah Jones countryjazz tone. As can be expected from the duo, ASAD is directed to God and is completely useful in many worship settings. The obvious standout is “Great Are You Lord,” introduced to us in the

Multiple Grammy and Dove Award winner Steven Curtis Chapman plays Kawai. Experience the difference our instruments will make in your music.

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Live record, but almost as strong are “Christ Be All Around Me” and “We Give You Thanks.” The former takes the ancient Lorica of St. Patrick and beautifully renews it as a prayer for today’s worshiper to be the living representation of our Savior, and the latter grasps one of the essential tenants of worship—that of singing with thanksgiving in our hearts.

As a break in the maddening rush of pulsing music and even more so as a worship oriented

music offering with stunning quality of lyric and melody, All Sons & Daughters is a wonderful achievement and a gift to the Church.

Strongest Biblical Content: “God With Us” (Ps 46:7; Mt 1:23) The Whole Package: “Great Are You Lord” JEREMY ARMSTRONG

Sounds Like: Mellow alt-country trappings with Norah Jonesesque calmness that swells at times to powerful crescendo.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Christ Be All Around Me”

REVERENT WORSHIP

His Name Is Love reverentworship.net Reverent Worship may represent the cutting edge of where worship and contemporary Christian music may be going. His Name Is

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Love is a collection of songwriters, worship leaders, musicians, and singers that found their way together to complete this project.

The artists and producers do not identify themselves on the CD or their website. Many of the songs sound both familiar and fresh and are aimed at the worship leader.

The secret sauce behind this collaboration are two songwriters, Josh Cobia and Andrew Capra, who teamed up as worship leaders for a Los Angeles based church plant. “Deeper” and “Reckless” standout and the alternative version of “Lead Me to the Water” with the additional womens vocals is engaging on many levels. The idea and concept of a collective effort to write and create songs for worship leaders with no strings attached leaves one inspired that the next generation is in good hands. At the end of the day, Reverent Worship delivers great songs and a “reason to praise.”

Sounds like: His Name Is Love delivers Nashville sensibilities with a California-edged adult/rock worship ensemble using balanced arrangements that merge various guitar tones with well executed results. “Reasons to Praise” is an up tempo rock tune definitely worth a listen and infectious.

Sounds Like: One Direction meets a bit of DC Talk with prominent kids vocals on each of the tracks.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “One Thing Remains” Strongest Scriptural Content: “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)” (Ps 27; Ps 46; Deut 31:8) The Whole Package: “10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” JEREMY ARMSTRONG

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Reason to Praise” and “Worthy One” Strongest Biblical Content: “Abba, Father” (Gal 4:6) The Whole Package: “Deeper” and “Lead Me to the Water” Resources: Free downloadable PDF of song charts accessible from website.

Your Source For Congregational Worship Resources

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Thirsty

From the Worship Team at Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church

A Movement Merging Worship and Justice for the Glory of God

DARRYL BRYANT

THE CLASSIC CITY COLLECTIVE The Fading Veil Songs+Crowns theclassiccitycollective.com

VARIOUS

His Kidz, Vol 1 His Kidz United hiskidzunited.com Based on the successful model of Kidz Bop where top mainstream hits are performed for kids and by kids, His Kidz, Vol 1 replicates this approach using today’s biggest worship songs. The result is pretty affecting. The quality of the production is high, making use of high energy tones that will appeal to both kids and their parents.

Songs included come from the likes of Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Switchfoot, TobyMac, Capitol Kings, Mandisa, and many more.

12 worship songs birthed from a heart of wanting to be with Jesus and desiring to change the world.

Based out of Classic City Community Church in Athens, Georgia, The Classic City Collective is redefining congregational worship music in a church ministering to one of the most competent music cities in the country.

They counter the conventional wisdom that congregational music must be simplified and predictable. Their debut album, Leave Your Guns With the Usher (and who can top that?), was named by Worship Leader magazine as one of the Top 5 Indie Releases in 2011.

The diversity, density, complexity, and simultaneous cohesiveness of this body of work are impressive. This is truly a collective of artists gathered to serve the local community and beyond.

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CHANGE CHARTS • CHORD CHARTS • LYRIC FILES

Sounds Like: Jesus Culture, Casting Crowns, Glen Hansard, classic in-the-pocket pop/rock, synth layers.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Come and Feast” Strong Biblical Content: “Taste, See” (Psalm 34:8) The Whole Package: “Heaven Is Here” Resources: Soon available on the Collective’s website MIKE PUESCHELL

Available at

FairHopeWorship.com/thirsty or 866-WORSHIP

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PERSONAL PLAYLIST

MERCYME

Welcome to the New Fairtrade Music mercyme.org Welcome to the New brings newness to a new level. The normally ballad-centered MercyMe has exploded with a fresh and stimulating sound on this latest release. Saturated in strong

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biblical truth Welcome to the New attacks the lies and insecurity that a “works-based salvation” brings by dragging it into the light and confronting it with the truth of God’s love and grace for us.

Combined with MercyMe’s new sound and celebration of the new life Jesus brings, Welcome to the New is a party from top to bottom. Lead singer Bart Millard describes the inspiration for Welcome to the New this way: “I grew up in a somewhat legalistic environment where the harder you try, the better God likes you.

It was about two years ago a dear friend of mine reminded me I cannot do enough great things to make Christ love me more than He already does.”

Sounds Like: Rock/ pop synth with a good dose of a hallelujah party balanced with a couple of confessional ballads.

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TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Burn Baby Burn” Strongest Biblical Content: “Flawless” (Eph 1:4) The Whole Package: “Greater” JAY AKINS

THE NEW

SHAWN MCDONALD

HILLSONG UNITED

Brave Sparrow Records | shawnmcdonaldmusic.com

The White Album [Remix Project] Hillsong/Capitol | hillsong.com

Following up 2013’s unique live-to-tape collection, The Analog Sessions, Shawn McDonald’s latest offering from Sparrow Records, Brave, takes this singer/songwriter to a whole new level, seemingly pushing him far beyond his comfort zone.

The career that began with a simple acoustic guitar and some stories has blossomed into an art with greater thought and depth. With the help of producers Chris Stevens (TobyMac, Colton Dixon), Jamie Kennedy (Marc Broussard), and David Garcia (Britt Nicole), Brave showcases an increasingly noticeable electronic element on top of Shawn’s familiar acoustic foundation.

According to dictionary.com, one definition for the word “ethereal” is: “heavenly or celestial.” That truly can be said of the newest project out of Hillsong United. It could easily be mistaken for the soundtrack of heaven. While familiar at its core, The White Album [Remix Project] is a pretty fantastical departure from the Christian A/C radio hits that made previous United albums so popular. Fans of electronica and dance music will find this a welcome arrival to Christian music circles. Heavy synth atmosphere with a drum machine beat, each previously released song is uniquely imagineered.

As you listen, It’s clear this remix project is not something that could be easily reproduced in most church worship services, but would fit naturally as a backdrop to more casual times when a heavenly soundtrack is needed to bolster an event.

The remix delivers a fresh leap in interpretation from the original recording of the work. The mega-hit “Oceans” delivered as “Oceans (Lark Remix)” features diminished vocals and sampled synth hooks and beats.

Sounds Like: Acoustic-driven pop/rock foundations with varying layers of electronica, OneRepublic, Imagine Dragons TOP SONGS Most Singable: “We Are Brave” Strong Biblical Content: “Your Love Is Saving Me” (1 Cor 15:1-2) The Whole Package: “Compass” MIKE PUESCHELL

Sounds Like: Electronica and dance, heavy synth atmospherics with a drum machine beat.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Oceans (Lark Remix)” Strongest Biblical Content: “Hosanna (Tim Yagolnikov Remix)” The Whole Package: “From the Inside Out (Black Rodeo Remix)” RANDY CROSS

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introspective. It can lead us into the shame and regret buried deep in our hearts …. In this we see how pain has the power to unearth our deepest wounds, driving them to the surface where perhaps God can begin to heal them.” These songs will mess with you in the best kind of way, challenging your heart to deal with some things that God wants to gently work out in you. Ultimately, Love Will Have the Final Word sings of the glory and grace of God as he works out his story in each of us.

JASON GRAY

Love Will Have the Final Word Centricity Music jasongraymusic.com

Sounds Like: Aaron Shust meets Robbie Seay Band.

Jason Gray’s soulful and straightforward approach to suffering stands out amongst his achingly elegant melodies. Painful yet redemptive and grace-filled themes flow throughout this stunningly beautiful release.

Jason says, “The loneliness of our own suffering can make us

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “As I Am” Strongest Biblical Content: “With Every Act of Love” (Rev 21:2) The Whole Package: “Love’s Not Done With You” JAY AKINS

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UNSPOKEN

Unspoken Centricity | unspokenmusic.com “Eclectic” and “multicultural” are the hallmarks of Unspoken’s unique modern pop sound and selftitled album. Unspoken features the hit songs, “Who You Are,” “Lift My Life Up,” and “Start a Fire” and includes six brand new songs. Lead singer, Chad Mattson, bassist Jon Lowry, electric guitarist Mike Gomez from the Dominican Republic, and drummer Ariel Munoz from Puerto Rico, form this talented group, creating unity from their diverse ethnicities. Unspoken’s music is solidly grounded in a biblical foundation, creating a captivating combination of lyrics and music. This album touches on the themes of being on fire for God, trusting in God, and grace.

Sounds Like: This catchy, modern pop sparkles with a multicultural flair, buoyant and intricate rhythms, dancing pop piano, sunny guitar stylings, and strong lyrical content that is solidly grounded in God’s Word. The result is a refreshing and upbeat album that redefines the sound of Christian modern pop.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “Call It Grace” Strongest Biblical Content: “Start a Fire” (Mt 5:14-16, 2 Tim 1:6) The Whole Package: “Tomorrow” AMANDA FURBECK

CASEY HENSLEY Pieces of Art Casey Hensley Music caseyhensley.net

Pieces of Art aptly describes the sophomore album by worship leader Casey Hensley. It offers a multicolored palette of pop-flavored songs that are as contagious as they are God honoring. It is easy to see the heart of the worship leader as each track is crafted with the idea that everyone in the world is a creation of the ultimate artist. Inspired by his wife’s 10-year battle with multiple sclerosis, Hensley creates an easy-tolisten-to record that is perfect for those times when you want to be challenged to be a better disciple and witness for Jesus. Each of its eight tracks focuses on a different color on the canvas of life as a Christian.

Pieces of Art features great songs for listening, as well as a few that would make an easy transition to a variety of worship services. An example is “Every City, Every Soul,” a poignant proclamation of the “lostness” of the world and the intense desire that should be in each of us to see that lostness end.

Sounds Like: Pop-rock, with hints of alt-country, and some ’90s Jars of Clay.

TOP SONGS Most Singable: “I Am Not My Own” Strongest Biblical Content: “Song to The Savior” The Whole Package: “Every City, Every Soul” Resources: “Lost No More” and “Every City, Every Soul” charts available at LifeWayworship.com

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JODY THOMAE God’s Creative Gift Wipf and Stock With God’s Creative Gift: Unleashing the Artist in You, Thomae offers encouragement: and helps artists of all descriptions mine suppressed creative impulses, embrace hope that may have been diminished by inner self-doubt or outer criticism and

BOOKSHELF

to release the beauty hiding or hibernating within. She weaves together Scripture, personal stories, prayers, and references the art and writing of authors, worship leaders, and dancers, delivering a detailed script for devotion and discovery with both suggested “readings” and “listenings.” Writing as an empathetic pastor—and a poet—she explores creativity, incarnational ministry, a theology of beauty, and both the priestly and prophetic role of the artist. Thomae provides disciplines for deepening your life of prayer and creates a deep and rich experience. Both for individual or group study.

ANDREA HUNTER

SEAN GLADDING Ten IVP Helping us find the grace-filled meaning of those towering “10 Commandments” in our contemporary culture through storytelling, humor, pithy commentary, plus questions, comments and pastoral wisdom, Sean Gladding helps us dust off our disengaged and faulty understanding of them.

Ten is worthwhile reading for anyone, but especially intriguing for a couples group, or either a high school or college-age group study. Gladding helps us see these “Words of Life” as far more than “rules” eclipsed and

made void on the cross. Candid.

Incisive. Interesting. Valuable.

ANDREA HUNTER

MARSSHILLLMUSIC “… worship music out of Mars Hill is one of the most imaginative and important shifts within the Christian music industry in years...” -CCM magazine

LISTENNTOONEWWSONGSSLIKE “REJOICE,” “MADEEALIVE,” “GODDISSGOOD” ANDDMORE!

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origin, and personal prejudices can only be overcome when believers are willing to break outside the boundaries of their small cultural/group identities and embrace the larger common identity. Worship leaders will be challenged to encourage worship that merges a diverse congregation into a unified body praising God. JEFF FRIEND

CHRISTENA CLEVELAND Disunity in Christ IVP Christena Cleveland provides valuable insight into the causes and perpetuation of factors within the body of Jesus Christ that hinder true unity. She examines how obstacles such as race, national

EDWARD GILBREATH Birmingham Revolution IVP Subtitled Martin Luther King Jr.’s Epic Challenge to the Church, Gilbreath’s Birmingham Revolution is both a personal reflection and revelation as well as historical examination. And is right on time in a country where many think we’ve moved past racism, simply be-

cause we have a black president.

Gilbreath’s gently confrontational book paints a picture of the life and times of Martin Luther King Jr., particularly the Birmingham chapter and his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” He shows the complicity of even justice-minded Christian and community leaders (white, but sometimes black) in suppressing and slowing the advance of racial equality. He warns against losing the import of Dr. King’s legacy and reminds us as Christians and the Church to “know where your power comes from. The Civil Rights Movement was grounded in the Church and the holistic gospel of Jesus Christ.” As believers it is important to come down, not just on the right side of history, but of the gospel and God’s imperative for justice. Gilbreath points to current issues such as immigration that require a response. He quotes

Joel Perez, dean of students at Seattle Pacific University as saying that King challenges Christians on “the need to be active in working nonviolently to change law and policy that we know is not right in the eyes of God.” As Gilbreath chides some for not having grace for King’s personal shortcomings or due appreciation of his role both as prophet and cultural and legal change agent, he also, like King himself, calls us to self-examination, courage, and prayerful action.

ANDREA HUNTER

vital worship

a grants program for worshiping communities

The Vital Worship Grants Program at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship seeks to foster vital worship in congregations, parishes, and other worshiping communities in North America. This grants program is especially focused on projects that connect public worship to intergenerational faith formation and Christian discipleship, a theme that can unfold in many facets of worship from Bible reading to preaching to Baptism and Lord’s Supper, intercessory prayer, congregational song, visual arts, and more. Application deadline is January 10, 2015.

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Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

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PROGRAMMING RESOURCES PERFECTION IS OVERRATED: BEAUTIFULLY “MESSY” WORSHIP When we speak of the desire to promote unity through diversity in the Church, we usually speak of such things as fostering racial reconciliation or exploring global musical expressions in our corporate worship, both laudable pursuits. But in this space this month, let’s look at resources that can help promote one of the great, untapped wellsprings of diversity, our children. Most churches pursuing contemporary worship sequester the rug rats—er… cherubs—way off on the other side of the building and ne’er the children and the target demographic shall meet, at least not in the midst of the corporate worship offered by the Family of God. Not exactly “Let the little children come to me.”

Yes, yes. I know there are valid pedagogical motives at work in these situations, but I have to think that our Lord might, at least from time to time, enjoy the messy, unpredictable worship that features the “least of these” leading their “most-of-these” parents—the kind of worship set that would mess mightily with a well-meaning program director’s tight 16 minutes and 32 seconds allotted for congregational singing that morning. Here are a few resources that would help facilitate such kid-led worship.

By Warren Anderson Hymns for Kids DENNIS & NAN ALLEN LifeWay Worship Get those children singing deep theological truths in this collection by the Allens, often occupiers of this space, and for good reason.

Fresh, tasty, instrumental accompaniments mean that not only will kids enjoy singing the songs that might be less familiar to them but also the congregation won’t wince while singing along. Some of Christendom’s best-loved hymns are here, including “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”Of special note are the sketches and activities provided for each song (e.g., a blindfolded exercise for children accompanies the blind writer Fanny Crosby’s rendition of “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”).

LIFEWAY.COM/WORSHIP

Game Changers JEFF SLAUGHTER WordKidz Here’s a resource that could easily be adapted for “Big Church” worship, such is the magnitude of the media packed herein.Take 10 catchy and seriously rockin’ songs featuring lessons gleaned from nine major characters in Scripture, bring in the DVD to help the old folks keep up, and unleash diverse worship as you’ve not seen in a long time, I’m guessing. The three-disc set includes all the visually appealing music videos (splittrack, in three different file types) with projected lyrics, music and lyrics sheet PDFs, life application ideas for small groups, and audio files.Megachurch worship leaders feeling pressure to keep the production values very high on Sunday, grab this resource today.You won’t be disappointed.

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Kids Praise! Kids Worship!

CHERRY GARASI Lillenas Maybe the kids won’t be doing the actual worship leading but will be given the “special music” slot in corporate worship.

For those moments, consider the three medleys captured in this collection, each of which features an older, more familiar praise song or hymn.The medley “Glory and Praise” includes Chris Tomlin’s “Holy Is the Lord.”The medley “God’s Amazing Grace”

IN REVIEW

features, as you might expect, “Amazing Grace.”And the medley “God’s Love” incorporates the Stuart Townend classic, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.”This is a perfect choice for churches moving toward a more regular use of contemporary worship music or ones pursuing blended worship.

LILLENAS.COM

“MOST CHURCHES PURSUING CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP SEQUESTER THE RUG RATS—ER… CHERUBS—WAY OFF ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING AND NE’ER THE CHILDREN AND THE TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC SHALL MEET, AT LEAST NOT IN THE MIDST OF THE CORPORATE WORSHIP OFFERED BY THE FAMILY OF GOD.”

Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) JEFF SANDSTROM Brentwood Kids Music The Brentwood Kids folks have done children’s music up right for a long time, and this most recent release, a Worship Together Kids collection, is no exception.A hallmark of Brentwood Kids’ releases is the up-tothe-minute-modern instrumental tracks, the kind of stuff that most self-respecting worship artists would be pretty pleased to have for background tracks. Couple that specific focus with some of today’s best worship songs—“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord),” “One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails),” plus the title track—and you have a collection that will minister on many levels.

BRENTWOODBENSON.COM

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ENDLESS PRAISE L I V E CD+DV D

Worship Songs Preview Packet VARIOUS HAROLD FLAMMER Shawnee Press / Worship Songs Junior And then sometimes you simply want a whole bunch of stuff to sort through, as opposed to one specifically focused resource.Okay. Here you go.The folks at Shawnee Press have, for years, done music for a wide range of churches, both large and small, and of late they have taken that same approach to children’s music via the Harold Flammer Worship Songs Junior annual collections. Here you will find anthems, musicals, activities, and performance CDs for a wide range of music that spans the entire church calendar.

This is a great one-stop-shop resource.

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All Pro Sound..................................................................................75 Audix.............................................................................................113 Aviom..............................................................................................95 BEC Recordings............................................................................106 Brentwood Benson............................................................................3 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.............................................108 Capitol Christian Music Group.........................................9, 13, 49, 67 Casio................................................................................................87 CCLI...............................................................................................115 CentricWorship..............................................................................110 Christian Copyright Solutions............................................................7 Community Bible Church...............................................................102 Dream Records................................................................................73 Fairhope Direct...............................................................................101 Fair Trade Services..........................................................................42 Fishman..........................................................................................43 Forerunner Music............................................................................92 Hillsong College................................................................................2 Hope Church.................................................................................100 Igniter Media...................................................................................33 Integrity Music......................................15, 77, 91, 97, 103, 105, 111 AGNUSDEI.pdf

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DIVERSITY IN SONGWRITING

HE

has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD Ps. 40:3

Recently I was emailing back and forth with a friend of mine Travis Doucette about a subject he introduced, the prophetic role of the worship leader. Of course prophesy is one of the doxologies of worship pointed out by Hughes Oliphant Old. Our conversation veered toward something Leonard Sweet said at our National Worship Leader Conference this past February in Dallas: Every revival/renewal has these three qualities, historically: 1. People return to the Bible 2. They re-read it in the language of the culture 3. They rediscover Jesus.

A NEW MIX The question is, “How does one re-read Scripture in the language of the culture?”

When I was heading up Maranatha! Music, we created hymns out of Scripture verse as well as creating more popular musical settings of the Psalms (Psalms Alive). An Old Testament professor at Dallas Theological seminary still uses Psalms Alive as a demonstration of how to use culture in rereading the Scripture. The Hebrews gave us a great example of this via the Psalms themselves—the psalm form came straight from Egyptian culture.

So, I would add that not only must people re-read the Bible, but re-sing it—in the language of the culture. This re-singing is key to the mission of God in worship, thus the poets who transpose the Word of God

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into the current language and culture are critical to the mission of God This thinking is at the heart of “textual” community. Communities/churches gather around the Text, the Living Word of God: Jesus alive at the right hand of the Father, in Scripture, and in us by the Holy Spirit. Songwriters and worship leaders anchor people to the Word of God through the songs they write, choose, and

BY CHUCK FROMM

fess and repent. He guides us into all truth (Jn 16:13), and we become teachers and theologians. He glorifies and testifies of Christ (Jn 15:26; 16:14). He teaches us to pray (Rom 8:26-27; Jude 1:20), and we in turn inspire, model, and teach—becoming lead prayers and priests to those we serve. He brings unity and oneness to the body (Eph 4:3; 2:14-18), and we become peacemakers. He makes us (corporately)

“SONGWRITERS AND WORSHIP LEADERS ANCHOR PEOPLE TO THE WORD OF GOD THROUGH THE SONGS THEY WRITE, CHOOSE, AND SING.” sing. They also create the glue that holds the community together as they celebrate their community’s unique history with God. As songwriters return to the Bible, they hear from God in Scripture and directly, collaborating with him in an echoing narrative. He speaks; they listen. They write in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, and then with their community speak/sing praises back to God. We know the Holy Spirit always points to Jesus. Our collaboration reveals the diversity we have in our roles as songwriters and worship leaders in pursuing the mission of God. The Spirit makes us storytellers and prophets. He reveals the deep things of God to us so we can sing them out corporately (1 Cor 2:10). He reveals Christ to us and in us, so as Christbearers we can reveal him to the world; hence we are evangelists (Jn 16:14-15). Also he convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (Jn 16:8), and we become those who con-

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God’s habitation (Eph 2:22). He reveals the mystery of God to us (Eph 3:5), and we become sung wisdom. As it says in 1 Peter “He enables some to preach the gospel,” and as songwriters we become preachers (1 Pet 1:12). As it says in one of the earliest Christian hymns Ode 12:4:

And the Most High has given Him to His generations, Which are the interpreters of His Beauty And the narrators of His Glory, And the confessors of His Purpose, And the preachers of His Mind, And the teachers of His Works W

CHUCK FROMM is CEO/Publisher of Worship Leader magazine.

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See how CCLI can help cover you.

Music Licensing and Resources

Covers the copying activities that assist with your congregational singing. Over 3,000 publishers/ copyright owners & over 300,000 worship songs are covered.

Song lyrics, audio samples and transposable chord sheets, lead sheets and vocal sheets. Choose the version that best suits your needs.

Allows your worship teams and choirs to legally copy and share commercial audio recordings for rehearsal purposes.

Allows you to stream or podcast your live-recorded worship music on your church’s website or other streaming service.

Movie/Video Licensing and Resources

Movie clips and ideas to use for your sermon/teaching illustrations.

If your church uses movies for any ministry-related activities, you’ll likely need the legal permission that the Church Video License provides.

http://www.ccli.com

17201 NE Sacramento Street Portland, Oregon 97230

503-257-2230 800-234-2446

A160

116

W O RS HIP L EAD ER

MAY/JUNE 2014