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Posts directly related to those worshiping in the various positions of a music team.

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Exposing Perfectionism

By on December 3, 2013 in —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Worship and Life

This semester I met with a group of interns on Friday afternoons (when I was around). Along with developing some musical skills we read selected chapters from Unceasing Worship by Harold Best. If you haven’t read it and you’re a Christian involved in congregational worship or the arts, I’d strongly encourage you to get a copy. At our last meeting someone referenced this quote from chapter 11: “Authentic worship is not perfect worship. It stands in continual need of examination, repentance, increased depth and humility as well as outpouring meekness and humility.” That led to an extended conversation on the topic of perfectionism. Most Christian …

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What’s a Young Worship Leader to Do?

By on November 20, 2013 in —Mentoring Leaders, —Training a Team, —Worship and Life

Recently, I had the privilege of leading the music at the Conviction to Lead conference, put on by Cornerstone Church of Knoxville. It was a regional men’s conference for the Sovereign Grace Churches in the mid-South. It was a great time of encouragement, equipping, fellowship, and laughter. Topics included The Leader and Conviction, Learning, Vocation, Planning, Parenting, the Home, the Word, and the Church. Messages can be downloaded here. On Friday afternoon I met with about 40 guys for lunch followed by Q&A on topics related to music and worship. One question had to do with what my counsel would be to a worship leader who was just starting …

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From the Archives: Should Worship be Fun?

By on October 3, 2013 in —Defining Terms, —Emotions and Worship, —Expressiveness, —Worship and the Church

More than once I’ve heard Christians insist that worship should be fun, or act like they had a responsibility to prove that Christians knew how to “party” in church. I’ve always been uncomfortable with that connection, so I started thinking about the place of “fun” in worship, if one even exists. I’m going to address this question by answering it as I posed it, and then considering two other ways it might be phrased. Should worship be fun? If we take the exhaustive testimony of Scripture, the answer would have to be a resounding NO. “Fun” wouldn’t characterize any of the scenes in the Bible where people encounter God together, at least …

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Adding a Pre-Conference Drum Class at WorshipGod East

By on July 8, 2013 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Out at WorshipGod West I was talking to David Zimmer, drummer for Enfield, about our next conference, WorshipGod East, taking place Aug. 1-3 in Louisville, KY. I mentioned that we were offering three pre-conference intensives on July 31, 2:00-5:30 PM, for guitarists, sound personnel, and pianists. In the midst of the conversation he offered to teach one for drummers. He and Ryan Foglesong are already teaching two workshops on The Bass/Drum Connection as part of the conference, but David thought there was plenty more to say to drummers alone. So I said let’s do it. In this three hour pre-conference session, The Modern Drummer, David will …

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Interview with Darius Fong

By on June 10, 2013 in —Sound and Tech, —WorshipGod Conferences

WorshipGod West 2013: Called to be Faithful is only a few weeks away, and on-line registration ends June 14. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring the conference to the West for the first time. One of the seminar speakers will be Darius Fong, a Grammy-award winning audio engineer whose passion is the Church. He wrote Debtcibel and also founded Audio Must Preach, an independent consultation company that helps churches focus on ministry and stewardship by removing audio related obstacles. In his seminar he’ll be addressing questions to ask before you spend money on sound equipment. Darius graciously took the time to answer a few questions …

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Interview with Patrick Anderson, Guitarist Extraordinaire

By on May 9, 2013 in —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Patrick Anderson will be teaching guitar workshops at both WorshipGod West (June 27-29) and WorshipGod East (July 31-Aug. 3). I’ve known Patrick for a number of years now and have always been encouraged by his humble heart, love for the church, and superb musical skills, all stemming from his love for the Savior. He played on The Gathering and was a member of Enfield until he moved away from California. He shares a little about his life and the workshops he’ll be teaching below. 1. Briefly share your testimony of conversion with us. I came from a loving, though broken, home. Church involvement was minimal in an ELCA Lutheran church and …

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Interview with Doug Gould

By on May 8, 2013 in —Sound and Tech

Doug Gould will be presenting seminars dealing with sound and tech topics at both West and East WorshipGod conferences this year. Doug has been a veteran of the Pro Audio and Music Technology Industry for almost 30 years, serving in management roles at Shure, Tascam and E-Mu Systems. He has also been a worship leader, musician and tech at various churches for almost as long. At WorshipGod conferences this year Doug will be covering sound basics, lowering stage volume, mixing, and more. His clear, personal, and knowledgeable workshops have served many WorshipGod attendees in the past. I expect this year will be the same. Doug graciously …

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Interview with Derrick Jeror

By on May 4, 2013 in —Sound and Tech, —WorshipGod Conferences

At WorshipGod East (July 31-Aug. 3), Derrick Jeror will be joining Doug Gould to teach a workshop on “Sound Systems for the Portable and Small Church.” We used Derrick’s company, Housetop Media, for Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the efficient, effective, and excellent way Derrick served us. He worked within our budget constraints and was quick to respond to changes we requested. Derrick took some time to answer a few questions for me so you can get to know him and his topic better. 1. Briefly share your testimony of conversion with us. I came to Christ at 5 years old. An elderly woman in my church …

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From the Archives: When Feet Want to be Hands

By on December 11, 2012 in —Leading a Team, —Spiritual Gifts

What do you do as a leader when someone wants to play a specific role on your music team but is better fit for something else? What do you do as a member if that’s you? A number of years ago I preached a message from 1 Cor. 12:12-31. Paul has been answering the Corinthians’ questions about who is “really” spiritual. They were under the mistaken assumption that certain gifts, like tongues, were a sign of true spirituality. Their attitude was dividing the church – the exact opposite of the unity the Spirit wants to bring. Paul presses his point home by using the analogy of the human body. In preparing for the message, I did a little …

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What I Learned from Playing a Fender Rhodes Piano Bass

By on October 16, 2012 in —Musicians & Vocalists

We’re now three weeks into the startup of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville. I’ve been having a great time getting back into the pattern of leading every Sunday, planning out the order of the service, having weekly rehearsals at my house, being part of the set-up and take-down teams again, and getting to the Sunday meeting a lot earlier than I’ve been getting there the last few years. And I love it. Except maybe for the “getting to the meeting early every Sunday” part. One of the things I’ve missed as I’ve handed off regular Sunday leading to others is being involved in the day-to-day issues, challenges, joys, mishaps, failures, and …

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Looking for a Keyboard/Piano?

By on June 22, 2012 in —Music Equipment, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Websites

People occasionally email me asking if I have any recommendations for a keyboard, especially one with a great piano sound. Rather than respond and reveal that my knowledge of electronic keyboards dried up somewhere in the mid-90s, I immediately forward the request to my good friend, Roger Hooper. Roger used to head up the keyboard department at Washington Music Center, and now does freelance arranging, scoring, playing, and tech blogging. He’s a brilliant keyboardist and synth player, and writes some great music as well. If you have a chance, check out his latest film soundtrack, The Road We Know (also available on iTunes and Amazon) Roger …

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The Piano in Contemporary Worship, Part 3

By on January 7, 2012 in —Music Theory, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Last month I posted two sessions from the pre-conference workshop I taught at WorshipGod11 on the Piano in Contemporary Worship (Part 1 and Part 2). We finally finished editing the third session. This one took a little more time to edit because people were regularly walking past the window of the door in the video, which is a bit distracting. My good friend Dave Mackenzie performed his video wizardry and edited the movement out. In this session I deal with many of the specific questions I’ve been asked over the years. Those include: chord coloring inversions playing hymns developing your chord vocabulary introductions transitions …

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The Gathering is Coming to Southern California Jan. 28

By on January 4, 2012 in —Choosing Songs, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Other Events, —Training a Team, —Worship and Christ, —WorshipGod Conferences

This past August we recorded The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11. It’s a collection of 15 songs that progressively tell the story of the gospel and our response to it. From my perspective, it’s one of the best albums we’ve done to date, both in terms of song content and creative musicianship. I’m happy to announce that we’ll be doing it all over again (at least singing the songs) in Orange County, CA on Saturday, January 28. A few of my good friends from California (Ryan and Jonathan Baird, and Eric Turbedsky, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church Orange County) emailed me about putting together an event that combined teaching in the afternoon …

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Resources for Your Worship Team from WorshipGod11: Instruments, General, Children

By on January 4, 2012 in —Children, —Free Messages, —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —WorshipGod Conferences

Yesterday, I posted some of the workshops from WorshipGod11 for leaders, songwriters, and tech teams. Here are a few more that focus on instrumentalists, leading kids to worship Christ, dealing with burnout, and the leader’s prayer life. Donald Whitney shared on simplifying your spiritual life and using Scripture as a basis for your prayers. There’s also a seminar for women taught by my wife that addresses facing every season of life with faith. Enjoy. Bass, Drums, Guitar Strengthening the Drum/Bass Connection, PT1 – Ryan Foglesong and David Zimmer (outline) The foundation of the worship team is the rhythm section composed of the drummer and …

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Resources for Your Worship Team from WorshipGod11: Leading, Songwriting, Tech

By on January 3, 2012 in —Choosing Songs, —Creativity, —Free Messages, —Leading a Congregation, —Music Theory, —Songwriting, —Sound and Tech, —Spiritual Gifts, —Training a Team, —Worship and Culture, —Worship and the Spirit, —WorshipGod Conferences

Last August at WorshipGod11 we offered 40 seminars for pastors, musicians, leaders, vocalists, instrumentalists, and tech teams. Today and tomorrow I’m posting the descriptions of a few that might serve you and your team in the coming year. Right clicking on the title will download the MP3, and of course, right clicking on the outline will get you the…outline. Leading Putting Songs Together – Bob Kauflin (outline) Why do you choose the songs you do? What factors go into deciding whether one song is better to use than another? What’s the difference between lyrical flow and musical flow? How can we use songs to effectively care for people’s …

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