Don’t Do a Christmas Production!
December 9, 2018In many contemporary worship leadership circles big seasonal productions have fallen into disfavor.
3 Ways The Battle Of Christmas Is Won By Worship
December 9, 2018The spirit of our age wages war on Christmas at every turn, even as stockings are quietly hung by the chimney with care. Christmas worship can be used by God to help us win this battle within us, and by extension, in the world around us.
What Do We Do With “Hallelujah”?
December 9, 2018That haunting melody. That simple chord progression. That powerful word. The legacy of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen lives on and on. And of course, the Christmas Version will undoubtedly be covered countless times in the next couple weeks in our churches.
Set List Ideas for The Perfect Christmas Eve Service!
December 3, 2018Coming up with fresh ideas for your church’s Christmas Eve service can be tough… What can you do that hasn’t already been done!?
Prayer for the Christmas Production
December 3, 2018Jesus said, “Without me, you can’t pull off the Christmas program.” Well, that’s not an exact quote but it does align with John 15 for sure.
25 Great Gifts for Musicians
December 3, 2018Post this on your refrigerator or on the worship team’s rehearsal room walls.
Advice to the Young Worship Leader
December 3, 2018The last thing the Church needs is a skilled musician who has unqualified character to lead their local church.
Christmas/Advent Survival Kit
November 26, 2018Kenny Lamm shares a few resources to help you in your celebration of Advent. Some will help you in your worship planning; others will help you in your church and family devotionals.
3 Points of Focus for the Christmas Production Season
November 26, 2018It’s the time of year when music ministries in many churches go into another gear. Those lingering days of November bleed into December and the countdown clock to the Christmas programs at church are staring us down. It can be a wonderful time, or an awful one.
25 Christian Books I Love to Recommend
November 26, 2018If we could live a thousand years, and experience a thousand relationships in the thousand times and places and cultures, perhaps we wouldn’t need books in order to (eventually) become wise. But our lives are short, and God has been merciful to give us many places, many times, many cultures, and many experiences distilled into ...
6 Critical Questions to Ask Before Renaming Your Church
November 26, 2018As churches shifted toward more strategic outreach, and as church leaders became attentive to their branding and communications, church names started to become more reflective of the people and culture inside rather than their place on the map.
The How, Who, and What of Leading Worship
November 19, 2018Before you’re a musician…before you’re a worship leader…before you’re a pastor…your identity is in Christ! If you see yourself primarily as a musician, your focus and energy will be on practicing your instrument and preparing music, lead sheets, tracks, etc. in order to entertain or give your people a good experience.
Imperfections Make Sundays More Beautiful
November 19, 2018Why are church meetings often so clumsy? A Scripture reader turns to the wrong page and stumbles over a long list of Hebrew names he hadn’t prepared to pronounce. The PowerPoint slide gets stuck — again.
Advice From An Old Guy: Volunteers Are People
November 19, 2018Some of the most heartbreaking conversations I’ve had are with guys (and occasionally gals) who volunteered on tech teams for years. Then, the long-time TD left and a new guy came in and blew the place up.
How To Make You Pastor’s Mic Sound EPIC
November 19, 2018In my experience, bad mic placement has been the number one cause of feedback for headset mics. It’s a huge issue.
Too Much Musical Space?
November 12, 2018There seems to be a misconception that adding “more, more, more” to your worship sound will make you sound more professional (or, if we’re honest, will perhaps sound more “worship-y”).
Sabbath Rest for Pastors
November 12, 2018People who work at churches are often the most chronically overworked. The people that actually need it the most work on their Sabbath.
Rest: How to Get More Done By Doing Less
November 12, 2018Burnout is common in the church. Why? Because it is an organization built on service on top of your normal work schedule and people simply give out more than they take in. Just like an airline encourages you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others in a crisis, we have to make ...
The New Worship Leader
November 12, 2018The idea of today’s worship leader was born in the 1960s – and it has taken us over half a century to finally figure out what we really need, as the Church, going forward.
7 Practical Ways to Improve Your Church’s Announcements
November 5, 2018There is nothing more frustrating for a worship leader than trying to get the congregation into a mindset of worship only to be interrupted after two songs by a set of awkward announcements.
Tent-Making: Be Good At Something Else
November 5, 2018What’s heart-breaking is to read and hear stories of worship leaders who have no other training or marketable skills (and often a wife and small children). They have found themselves in a situation where their worship leader role has turned sideways, and they are stuck, with seemingly nowhere to turn.
5 Reasons Charismatic Churches Are Growing (And Attractional Churches Are Past Peak)
November 5, 2018Churches who love the method more than the mission will die. It happened in the 1950s, in the 1970s, in the 1990s and it’s happening today. What was effective a decade ago isn’t always effective today.
10 Things to Remember When Planning Your Christmas Eve Service
November 5, 2018Whether you simply light candles across the stage or you fill the entire room with each individual holding a candle, a candle-lighting can be an extremely powerful moment.
Should You Cancel Christmas Eve Services?
November 5, 2018Many times we’re asking our volunteers to skip out on their own family gatherings so they can serve at these services. We’re asking them to take one of the few days off they get for the holiday and spend it at church.
The Organized Worship Leader
October 29, 2018During Mark Cole’s 30 years of worship leading and leading church music departments, he has discovered that one of the best ways to take any stress out of music ministry is to be organized and well prepared.
9 Worship Band Leading Mistakes: Which Ones Are You Making?
October 29, 2018As a leader, one of your goals is to raise up new leaders and help them grow to their highest potential. Whether it’s helping a new singer lead a song, assigning leadership tasks to others in the band, or letting another worship leader pick songs. People will begin to take ownership of something that they ...
How to Properly Display CCLI Notices
October 29, 2018As part of the CCLI terms and agreement, you are responsible for including the copyright information on all songs reproduced under the Church Copyright License.
4 Signs Your Worship Team Has the Sense of a Goose
October 22, 2018Every fall thousands of geese fly from Canada to the southern part of the United States to escape the bitter cold of winter. Worship teams could better learn how to work together by observing the V-formation flight of these geese.
Lauren Daigle on Hillsong, Selena Gomez and Defining the Future of Christian Pop
October 22, 2018Billboard profiles Daigle: It’s been decades since Amy Grant made the leap from Christian singer to pop sweetheart, but now, with so much celebrity focus on evangelical Christianity, it’s only natural that the worship world would produce a mainstream-ready female star like Daigle.
How To Increase Worship Attendance By 10%
October 22, 2018Do you ever feel like you’re doing everything right on Sunday mornings – offering powerful music, a relevant and engaging sermon, along with welcoming a community, but you still can’t seem to increase your worship attendance on a weekly basis?
