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Tips for Smoother Worship

Jul 20, 2010

It’s 2010 and nearly every church (except for the die-hard traditionalists) has jumped on the contemporary worship bandwagon. Some do it better than others – here are 3 tips that separate the sheep from the goats: 1. Plan ahead. I can’t believe it when I hear of praise teams that…

Robeless Choirs

Nov 5, 2009

Choir robes were no doubt invented to give a unified look to the group. Hundreds of years ago highly decorated robes with elaborate stitching added pomp and ceremony to liturgy. If you’re ministering in an ornate, stately First Baptist-type church, choir robes no doubt approriately fit the bill. However, if…

My New Recording Studio

Sep 20, 2009

A few weeks ago I wrote about how your ministry might benefit from recording. Read the article and watch a video. This week I’ll give you a tour of my home studio and give you some ideas of equipment to be using. When I first started HymnCharts.com several years ago…

Chris Sligh Sings “Vessel” on the Hour of Power

Sep 18, 2009

Christian artist Chris Sligh sings his song “Vessel” on the Crystal Cathedral’s Hour of Power TV show. by Don Chapman Back when Chris Sligh was working on his debut album he talked uber-producer Brown Bannister into using me to orchestrate some of the songs (which is a miracle in itself…

Recording for Worship

Sep 10, 2009

How can recording help your worship ministry? It’s not a top priority, but if your worship ministry is under control and well managed, recording can speed up the learning curve for your musicians and enhance the worship experience of your church. Is your ministry managed and under control? By this,…

Hip Hop Senior Adult Choir

Jun 2, 2009

My favorite part is around 3:07 – their rendition of the Pussycat Doll’s “Don’t Cha” (Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me.) If you haven’t wet your pants yet, wait until 4:06 when they sing Nelly’s “It’s Getting Hot in Here.”

Time for Change

Part 1 | Part 2 No, this isn’t an endorsement for Obama! It is time for change or will be time for change at some point in all our worship leading lives. Last week we talked about a worship leader I know who said his music didn’t “sound right” –…

What’s Wrong With Your Music

Part 1 | Part 2 I was talking to a worship leader about his music. He couldn’t put his finger on it but there was something wrong. It just didn’t sound right. Not contemporary enough or something. Looking at his set list, I figured he was probably trying to do…

GigaChurch

Jul 28, 2008

I heard a cool term the other day: GigaChurch. It’s a word for a church of 10,000 people or more. The term was coined in a now deleted Washington Post article. As the article mentions, I too heard a few years ago that MegaChurches were on the decline, and would…

Instant Church

Jul 14, 2008

Can you imagine arriving in a town, renovating an old grocery store into a church, opening the front doors and hoping people show up? Then, what if 1700 did show up? (and several got saved on top of it!) That’s exactly what happened to NewSpring Greenville last Sunday in Greenville,…

Church & Movies

Jun 30, 2008

A while back I wrote the article at WorshipIdeas.com called “Music=Growth?” I used to think that good music grows a church. While it doesn’t hurt, I don’t believe that anymore. Here’s another example. When was the last time you went to a movie or watched a TV show because of…

Praise Band Paradox

I know of a megachurch with 5,000 people that has state-of-the-art everything… projection, speakers, music equipment and the same $ound board as the local arena. Their drummer is your typical middle aged guy who works a regular job, and probably hasn’t played drums since his high school garage band days.…

Death of a Church

Apr 19, 2008

This week the 2 year old Andy Stanley Catalyst video church plant here in Greenville sadly announced that April is their last month of existence. Financial problems were cited as the primary concern. I visited the church several months ago. Nice people, cutting edge contemporary music and a good video…

Catholics, Creeds and Compromise

Oct 30, 2007

Back when I read newspapers (does anybody still read newspapers??) an issue of USAToday had an interesting editorial by a Presbyterian minister who bemoaned the decline of mainline churches. What’s worse, churches are dropping “Baptist,” “Methodist” or whatever from their names in order to attract a wider audience! *Clutches pearls*…

Committing Murder

Aug 27, 2007

I’ve heard it said that the average tenure of a worship leader is two years. I own several subscription websites, and sometimes I’ll personally call the church when their subscription is up for renewal. I’m shocked at how often I hear “the worship leader no longer works here” – it…

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