This is a topic that is more related to parents than congregational worship leaders, but I thought it was worth addressing. Helen wrote in to ask about recent experiences she’s been having with her children at home. She’s noticed a decreased lack of fervor in her 8 and 9 year old as they meet in the morning to sing God’s praises and read Scripture together. She wrote: Did you ever go through this with your children? Is this something we should force them to do? We recognize that worship encompasses much more than singing with our voices…are we putting too much emphasis on this part of worship? The topic of training children to worship …
Tag Archives | Q&A Fridays
How Do I Improve My Voice?
This question comes from Joe. I appreciated his desire to grow in the often neglected skill of singing. How can a pastor-to-be improve his voice to be prepared to lead congregational singing if he is called to a small church where he is the sole staff member? I took the liberty of asking some of the vocally gifted folks in Sovereign Grace churches how they would answer this question, and here are some of their responses, starting with those that require the least time. 1. Sing at home, taking the words out of the song and just singing on AH or OH to have the voice open up and get comfortable. Later on, add the words. 2. Practice …
Share this post:
How Do You Receive Encouragement?
Mike left this comment/question on a recent post: Why are compliments so difficult?…Yesterday after our morning service a lady stopped to tell me “how great I am” and what she loved about the way I lead the worship service, which was that I projected “a sincere love for God in what I do.” While certainly I hopefully project a sincere and true love for God in what I do, how do you receive a compliment such as this?… How do you deflect praise and still be cordial? I imagine that anyone reading this post can identify with Mike’s question. Why are compliments so difficult? Most of us, unless we’re blatantly arrogant, feel embarrassed …
Share this post:
What About the Regulative Principle?
Richard wrote in to ask, “How do you understand the regulative principle of Worship, and do you agree with and practice it at your church?” Some of you right now are thinking, “What in the world IS the regulative principle?” The regulative principle is one of a number of ways used to describe how God’s Word governs our corporate worship. It is sometimes simplified to “Only what God has commanded in Scripture is acceptable in public worship.” It distinguishes between “elements” of public worship, which don’t change, and “circumstances,” which do. In contrast, the normative principle states that, “Whatever Scripture …
Share this post:
Easter Service – Songs for the Resurrection
JP wrote in to ask, “I enjoyed your blog on ‘What Christmas Songs Do You Use?’ With April fast approaching, could you please post a similar list for Easter?” I polled some of the other guys who serve in some of the Sovereign Grace churches, and this is a tentative list. I’ve left off some of the more obvious ones like “Christ the Lord is Ris’n Today.” I’ve included songs that focus exclusively on the resurrection, as well as those that reference it at some point. Crown Him with Many Crowns Including the verse: Crown Him the Lord of life who triumphed o’er the grave And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to …
Share this post:
Hymnals or Screens?
A while ago, Richard wrote in to ask: “Do you think there is an advantage one way or the other for a congregation to sing from a hymnal and songbook/sheet (so that they are all looking down), or singing from the words on a large screen in the front of the room (where they are all looking up and facing the same direction)?” First, I think that people can sing from hymnals and still be “facing the same direction,” and that you can sing from a hymnal and still be looking up. However, I’m not making a case for using hymnals. Or not using them. Actually, I’m surprised at how strongly people defend one position or the other in dealing with this …
Share this post:
Is There a Place for Announcements?
(I promised yesterday that I would start unpacking the definition of a worship leader today. But I forgot that this is Q&A Friday. I really will get to it next Tuesday.) Forrest is at a church currently without a pastor, and sent in this question: “We have typically used the worship service time as a means of giving out information about upcoming events. However, we are also trying to be more conscious about planning worship services that focus on God’s revelation of Himself and His works and our response to that revelation. We are having a lot of tension between worship planners and ministry leaders who want to give announcements. …
Share this post:
Teaching New Songs
Lindele wrote in to ask, “How do you go about teaching a new song to a congregation?” To set the context, we’re a church that uses a central screen for lyric projection. The thoughts I’m going to share may not apply directly to your situation, but I trust you’ll find something helpful here. We’ve taught new songs in a variety of ways over the years. We sometimes look for a place in the meeting, such as communion, to present the song as a meditation that the congregation first listens to, then joins in on. Some churches use the offering or time before the meeting as an opportunity to present a new song they sing congregationally …
Share this post:
How Much Do You Say?
This question came from Patrick, in response to the devotional post this past Monday. “Do you incorporate such “devotionals” into your worship leading? I’ve known leaders who don’t say anything, and others who share an essay every week from the front.” The question of what to say when you’re leading worship has been a subject of discussion for years. I’ve seen (and demonstrated) every kind of extreme you can think of. I wish I could say I “had this down,” but I’m still learning what serves people. In my early years of leading public worship, I thought it was important to give a mini-teaching or heartfelt prayer between every …
Share this post:
A Community of Bloggers?
At the risk of being redundant, I wanted to share a few more thoughts on blogging, in response to a question I received from Steve. He wrote, “Is there the potential for there to be recognized "elders" among Christian bloggers? I wonder what that would look like, and if it would help foster a more healthy "community" here in cyberspace?” I want to take Steve’s question to address the larger issue of what blogs can accomplish. Let me respond to the second question first. What would a healthy community in cyberspace look like? Excellent question. I’m not sure how much of a healthy community CAN exist in cyberspace. …
Share this post:
More on Love Songs to Jesus
This question comes from Cheyne, in response to the post Expressing Love to God. I’ve edited his question for the sake of brevity. “Last year, I heard a well-known and respected speaker discuss Psalm 16:11 (“at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore”)…The impression I got from his message was that to know Jesus far exceeds any other pleasure we could experience in this world…The comments you made in your post seem to indicate that expressing one’s feelings for the Lord is not a biblical form of worship. Could you clarify your position?” I’ll certainly try. It’s not expressing our feelings for the Lord that’s unbiblical; it’s how …
Share this post:
The Right Kind of Imitation
One leader who wrote me lives near a large internationally known church. Many of the musicians on the team want to imitate that church’s sound and music style. “How do I teach the music team to seek and recognize God’s heart for us? How do I encourage them to pursue God’s specific plan for us and help them see that this may not look like what we expect?” Here’s what I’d want to say to this leader’s group of musicians: God’s specific plan for every church is that we proclaim with our lives and our lips the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Pet. 2:9) At times that means we’ll imitate …
Share this post:
Standards for the Music Team, Pt. 2
Someone recently sent me this question: Can you share your standards for those who participate “up front” on Sunday mornings? After my last post on this topic, Matt Blick wondered if a list of standards would even be helpful. He wrote, “Lists are not as helpful as developing relationships which are open to challenges on character issues no matter how small. Sometimes it’s just a comment or attitude you want to query that’s often hard to pin a commandment on! To which I say, AMEN! Rules without relationship usually results in rebellion, whether you’re leading a group of musicians or your own children! However, with that understood, it …
Share this post:
What Christmas Carols Do You Sing?
No one sent me this question, but I was talking with a friend about this the other day, and I thought I’d answer my own question… As I’ve led congregational worship through the years, I’ve realized that all Christmas carols were not created equal. Some are more sentimental than substantive (Away in a Manager, I Saw Three Ships, Do You Hear What I Hear?), some allude to but don’t say much about what the coming of Christ actually meant (It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, O Little Town of Bethlehem), while others help us treasure the true significance of God becoming man. This season provides us a wonderful opportunity to remind the world why …
Share this post:
Standards for the Music Team, Pt. 1
This question was sent to me a while ago, but is relevant to many of us. “What do you think of asking music team members to adhere to stricter/higher personal standards re: dress, devotional life, testimony, etc than members of other “teams” in the church because of the public, “up front” nature of the work?” Serving in the church of Jesus Christ is always a privilege. “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Mt. 23:11) While there are many ways to serve “behind the scenes” in the church, the music team isn’t one of them. For that reason, I think holding musicians to higher personal standards is wise for at least two reasons. First, …