Items Tagged with "Worship"

Filter Search Results
  • News Items
  • Blogs
  • Articles
  • Pages
  • Events
  • Links
  • FAQs
  • Products

Upper and Lowercase Vision

For an introduction to this series, check out my article The Preferred Future (or Why I Get up at 5am) at WorshipMinistry.com I want to make a distinction between two kinds of vision. (And this distinction is somewhere between "thinking out loud" and a working hypothesis. So if you don't agree, that Read More...

Canceling MySpace

I just canceled my MySpace account. Did you feel the earth tremble?No, I didn't either.I hadn't logged in for at least a year. Every so often I'd get an email telling me some doorknob from a "cutting-edge" hip-hop/emo/jazz/metal band wanted to be my friend. Other than that, it was off my radar. I in Read More...

8th Grade Odor and Sucking Out Loud: 17 Ways to Build a Better Youth Band, 3

Read Part 1Read Part 2 11. Make it fun. Recently, I became the subject of the youth band's joking--actually, my mother did. Somehow "your mom" jokes started flying and stuck to me. Soon a theme song emerged: "Jon's mom is greater, Jon's mom is stronger..." I'm not sure if Chris Tomlin intended that Read More...

Getting Kicked in the Teeth?

A month or two ago, I wrote a piece here at WorshipMinistry.com called How to Dump Your Worship Pastor. It was my (therapeutic) response to another Dear Jon email I had just received from a team member (a drummer, no less--it always hurts more when it's a drummer. Amen?). Apparently, you've had thos Read More...

Remove

I'm in the middle of an interesting read: Untitled: Thoughts on the Creative Process* by Blaine Hogan. Blaine is a professional actor and the Creative Director at Willow Creek. I bought the book because, a) I like anything about the creative process and b) it was only a few bucks on my Kindle.**Earl Read More...

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #26

Connecting to the Message, Part 2A few segues ago, we talked about the ins and outs, literally, of using videos. In that case, the clip was the service element we were transitioning to and from. But now we're using a video to get us to the next thing: the message.Since the decisions for this segue a Read More...

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #24

In segue #23 - Videos, part 1, we talked about how to keep the beginning and end of video clips from boogering your service. Part two is a discussion on the DOs and DON'Ts of verbally transitioning the video.DO: If it is a movie clip, give enough background for people to understand the context.DON'T Read More...

RadioShack Sound Systems & Faith-Infused Realism

Most leaders (volunteer or paid) find it easy to think about what they want to do and have and be after their ministry or organization grows. A preferred future is fun to think about. The current reality, especially for those in small churches, well, not so much. Here was reality at my first church: Read More...

28 Ways To Create Great Segues: #23

At my first full-time ministry job, I was the youth and worship guy at a two-pastor church. By default, that also meant I was the substitute sermon guy. (Have you ever noticed senior pastors aren't into quid pro quo? They never act as the substitute youth-talk guy. Studies show this is actually Read More...

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #22

I once attended a Sunday evening service at Parkside Church near Cleveland to hear Alistair Begg preach. A Scottish accent always makes a sermon better. It was a typical traditional pre-service time with soft music, dim lights and people chit-chatting with folks they hadn't seen for at least a week. Read More...

DOs & DON\'Ts of Being Dumped, Part 2

It's inevitable. People leave. Whether they move, get mad, get dead or otherwise decide that the worship team is no longer for them, people eventually exit. Handling this well isn't always easy. Here are some DOs and DON'Ts for when people leave. Let's pick back up with #4. If you haven't read the f Read More...

Forget Excellence...

...think "remarkable" instead.Excellence is subjective and overwhelming.Remarkable is doable: a small tweak and improvement to the "normal" that surprises people.The pursuit of excellence feels like a never-ending journey.     How do we know we've arrived?The pursuit of remarkabl Read More...

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #21

We've been talking about the "pre-service." I suggested in the last post that the pre-service time is one big transition time - comprised of several of small segues - that moves people into our worship gatherings.We can try to spiritualize this time, but let's just be honest: it's sometimes like her Read More...

They Need Me, They Really Need Me...

They need me every hour, most gracious LordTo lose talent like mine, the team can't affordThey need me, O they need meEvery service they need meI'll bless them with my presenceUntil eternityI think this bastardized hymn sings in the brain of every worship leader - full-time, part-time, volunteer - i Read More...

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #17 - 20

Segues #17 - 20: The Pre-Service, Part 1I look at the pre-service time as one big segue: it's a sequence of elements used to transition people into corporate worship. The issue with most churches in American culture is this: the majority of people don't actually come into the service until right at Read More...

Worship Guitar Workshop

Worship Team Coach Tweet