Worship Pastors, how do you measure your work in relation to the church’s worship? We live in a society obsessed with utility. One of the stumbling blocks to giving and receiving Gospel is a prevailing attitude of “What’s the use?” The dominance of utilitarianism has certainly not been exorcized from the church and [...]
Archive for the ‘Youth Worship’ category
Unuseful
February 13, 2012Winning Worship
January 31, 2012This is not an article about worship on Superbowl Sunday. To the contrary I want to invite you to a much larger view of worship not only on this coming Sunday but every Sunday, and ask you to consider the victorious tone that surely should characterize, or at the very least, underscore every service [...]
Trusting God’s Revelation in Worship
January 16, 2012In the introduction to his book, Simply Jesus, N.T. Wright is talking about “Jesus’s way of running the world….” which he states is through his followers. Then he says, “The heart of their life is Spirit-led worship, through which they are constituted and energized as ‘the body of Christ.” When I think of half-empty [...]
Leading with Heart and Voice
October 26, 2011The longer I serve in my role working with worship pastors across our state the more aware I have become of leaders who struggle with vocal problems. I can sympathize with these folks having had a bout or two during my own career with my voice. I don’t pretend to be a therapist, though I [...]
Healthy Leaders Healthy Churches
September 29, 2011Over the past three weeks I have led two churches through aWorship Renewal through Congregational Singing weekend experience. The times of studying, remembering, sharing, and of course, singing, were laced with sweet moments of fellowship, inspiration, discovery, and encouragement. Some very practical realities were clear through these and all the experiences I have had sharing these conferences in [...]
Epic Themes of Worship
September 26, 2011In preparation for a weekend retreat involving our Tennessee Ladies Chorus and Tennessee Mens Chorale I have been listening to a new (yet to be released) recording of Christmas music by Keith & Kristyn Getty. Keith slipped me a copy of the rough recording knowing that Kristyn and he would be joining us for a [...]
The Struggle Within
September 14, 2011I had coffee and lunch last week with two of our fine young worship pastors. In each case we talked a good bit about the challenges of worship music ministry. In one case we talked about the challenge of helping those in our worship ministries to develop as disciples of Christ, and not just as performers [...]
Meaning and Significance in Worship Singing
September 5, 2011On Sunday, September 16, 2001, I was serving as interim music minister in a church. During my short tenure there I had been approached by persons on either side of a dispute over styles of music to be used in worship; one group wanting hymns and another wanting contemporary fare (sound familiar?). The worship plan [...]
Engaging Imagination in Worship
August 30, 2011Does worship in your church engage people’s imagination? Let’s look at what a Wikipedia article has to say about imagination: Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses. Imagination is the work [...]
Revisiting the Shelves
August 16, 2011In preparation for several projects that range from student lectures, conferences for pastors and worship leaders to church consultations and even a couple of preaching engagements, I turned to some trusted friends to refresh my memory of important growth steps in my own journey of spiritual renewal in worship. In looking over my library to [...]
