Author Archive
Copyright questions about worship materials – Better safe than sorry
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on April 5th, 2009
I’ve been asked some questions on church copyright lately. This is always a tough discussion because the laws change so much. What is allowed and what is not allowed? What licenses are needed? How much do they cost? Do non-profits need to deal with copyright. Can a church just ask forgiveness after-the-fact if it is in violation?
Copyright compliance is a must. It is not worth the risk of creating legal and financial turmoil for your ministry. The best way to approach these kind of question is to ask people who handle church copyright and license issues.
Here are a couple places to start:
CCLI: http://www.ccli.com
Christian Copyright Solutions: http://www.copyrightsolver.com
Finding chord charts – Where to find worship song chords and charts
Posted by admin in Uncategorized on April 1st, 2009
There are so many places to find chord charts. Here are the 5 places that I go on a regular basis to find song that I am looking for.
www.iwillworship.com
www.praisecharts.com
www.worshiparchive.com
www.christianguitar.org
www.pwworship.com
Many of these are in the keys the songs were recorded in in, which means you might need to transpose up or down depending on your vocal team. There are a few places that allow you to copy and paste chord charts and transpose them immediately online. The ones that I have used are listed below:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hippy/xp/
http://www.simusic.com/transpose.html
http://www.tabtuner.com/
Worship Scars – how unresolved hurts can ruin future ministry
If you’ve been involved in ministry for any length of time then you’ve probably been hurt by someone. For some people it might have been something that was easy to get over and move on to the next thing. For others, the hurts were deeper and left scars which limit your ability to trust.
For me, the hurts in ministry were overwhelming. The results created division in the church, in my family and in myself. I was so confused how ministry leaders could turn on each other. In leaving the ministry I had worked so hard to build, I rushed into another worship pastor position for vindication. I needed to prove to myself that I was right. I needed to defend my reputation and show people I had what it took to get the job done. My response was normal, but it was wrong.
Over the last few years, I have come to realize how normal it is to be hurt in ministry. I have come to know dozens of worship guys to have all gone through very hurtful situations in their ministries. It is interesting how worship leaders are impacted so differently by hurts. Some are still in ministry. They seem more thankful for the privilege and call God has given them. Some are no longer in vocational ministry, but they still long to be used by God, looking for opportunities to serve whenever they can. Some are still mending their wounds and asking the questions we’ve all asked after being hurt. Some have taken a huge step into the pleasures of this world while still holding on (by a thread) to the church. These guys are the ones who are the hardest to help. They know all the right words, scriptures, songs, etc, yet they are blinded by their own scars.
It is this last group that has really effected me lately. I have a few friends who were hurt in ministry and reacted by running as far as they could from the church. The results were bad… Infidelity, pride, deception, addiction, etc. They seem to be living out a lifestyle that is directly opposed to the ministry they were serving in. These are people that I’ve looked up to, respected, and supported. How does this happen? I am really not sure. But I know that past ministry hurts, bitterness and unforgiveness have played a role in each of these unfortunate situations.
It has become a good reminder to me that as we go through situations that cause us pain, regardless of the cause, we need to take the time to properly heal, otherwise our hurts can turn to anger and then resentment and then bitterness. Sometime our hurts are the results of our sin while other times they are the results of someone else’s actions.
If you are in a situation where you have been hurt or are hurting. Take the time to get right. Take the time to forgive. Take the time to ask forgiveness. Take the time to heal. And take the time to see what God is teaching about your pain.
Worship Team Conflict – Embrace conflict as part of ministry growth.
Posted by admin in Conflict, Observations on February 18th, 2009
Conflict is never fun. Most of us avoid it at all costs, especially if we are in ministry. But in a creative ministry it is inevitable. I had an experience with conflict that really opened my eyes to the brighter side of interpersonal entanglements. It allowed me to view conflict as a tool to healthy growth instead of something negative.
Our worship team was really growing. Lots of people getting involved, seeing God working in hearts. It was really exciting. I came to the realization that we had too many people participating within one team. It was getting very inefficient and limiting for growth. So I made a decision to expand the teams so that there was room for growth as well as room for leaders to be placed in key roles to support all the new volunteers. Everything seemed to make sense.
The day came to share the changes with the worship team. Before rehearsal started, I explained that I would be making some changes to allow some new people to participate, and that there would be some new leaders that would take on roles to help out. Everyone was very excited and there was good discussion. Suddenly, one of the team members stands up, looks around and asks ” Does anyone else have a problem with what Jason is doing?”. This team member was a very tall and rather intimidating individual. This brought the positive discussion to an abrupt halt. Everyone started looking around non verbally asking the question “What just happened?”. One at time, the other team members voiced their support for the changes and eventually the individual who had the issue sat down, visibly frustrated that others had not supported him.
There was such an awkwardness in the room. I had no idea what do. I was pretty new in ministry and I didn’t know this individual very well. The entire team was looking at me to do something to resolve the situation and I was looking for the door.
I made the decision to ask the individual who had caused the disruption to step into the other room. It would put the meeting on hold, but I felt that the incident required immediate action. So we went into the other room and sat down. I took a few minutes to hear his concerns, I acknowledged his frustration and apologized if I had been insensitive to his perspective. Then I firmly stated that my decision had been made and that it was his choice to cheerfully support it or he could walk out the door.
What happened next is what really amazed me. I expected a strong reaction from this person, but surprisingly received one of genuine support. In the end, I realized that this individual really only wanted me to hear him. He didn’t care about getting his way. He just wanted to know that I valued him and his participation.
This forever changed my perspective about conflict. Even though dealing with conflict is never fun, it can grow everyone involved in ways that are really beneficial.
Next time you have to deal with some conflict, try going into it with a little different perspective. The outcome may be just what you need to grow.
Their church is cooler! Minimize the need to compare your church with others.
Posted by admin in Definition of Worship, Observations on February 16th, 2009
I was going through some old files the other day and came across a bunch of notes from some worship conferences I attended a few years ago. As I leafed through all my chicken scratch and half legible note taking, I started to laugh. Nothing I had written down had to do with my growth as a worship pastor. It was all about what worked and what failed in various churches that were participating in the conference. I had written statements like “we need to add this” or “don’t do this!” or “would be really cool if we did this”.
The reason I laughed is because I realized how influenced I am by what the trendy churches are doing. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with trying new things so that we can stay fresh and engage the culture. But sometimes we see the success of another ministry and assume that what worked there will work for me.
I have had some royal disasters by adopting the what worked well for another church without evaluating the culture of the church I was serving in. For example, doing a rockin’ version of “How Great Thou Art” in a ultra conservative church; really missed the mark on that one.
My point is this:
We have all seen something great that someone else is doing and thought “I can do that”. So….we run out, figure out how they did it and put it into the mix the next chance we get. It might work out or it might not. I have made the mistake of acting without asking. Acting on what I thought was cool, before asking why something worked. Everything that churches do is relative, which means it might work somewhere else or it might kind of work or it might fall apart completely. Next time you see some other worship pastor who has some incredible concept you want to start utilizing, take a minute to ask the question “am I doing this so we have a cooler church or am I doing this because it will help us experience God?”
Worthless Worship – Doing the right things in worship won’t always result in authentic worship
Posted by admin in Definition of Worship on February 15th, 2009
Isaiah 29:13 says: ” The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”
This passage sure makes me think. It reminds me that it is so easy to fall into the typical routine on Sunday morning. Show up… greet a few people… grab a bulletin… find a seat… read the bulletin… stare at the screen.
The musics starts. We stand up. Clap our hands a little. Maybe lift a hand when when the music softens. Close our eyes once in a while to get in the vibe. Listen to the message. Take a few notes. Cringe when the offering plate comes. Look at our watch to see how much time before the game starts. Think about a meeting on Monday morning.
How much of that was really worship? I am so guilty of falling into the routine and going through the motions of leading / participating in something that is manufactured to provide an experience. It all looks great, but what is really going on inside.
The verse in Isaiah challenges me to move past the regular routine and bring something authentic in worship.
The Stage
Growing up, I was always taught that worship was an activity that happened on the stage. People with musical and vocal abilities would stand and lead us into a place where we can see and experience God. Sure people can spend time with God during the week in devotions, but real worship only happened if it was led from the stage. This was evident by how people would respond with a sincere and authentic desire to experience God in time we were together.
As I got older and went into ministry, I took what I had learned and applied it in the same fashion. The stage was the platform that our church would use to define what worship was. It had been this way for a long time so why mess with it.
But, over the years my perspective began to change. The stage was becoming such a huge focal point in our church that people would fixate on it. Everything revolved around the stage. This created an expectation that the level of presentation from the stage would always deliver something big and creative. The response of people following a service felt more like the discussion one has after leaving a movie. “The opening was good, middle fell a little weak, and the end was a real disappointment…” It felt a lot like we had transitioned from facilitating an atmosphere of authentic worship to an environment of critics and performers.
That is when it hit me.
People in our church had started looking at the Sunday worship service just like a movie at the theater. What made it worse is that I was leading a ministry that facilitated this type of dysfunctional worship experience.
I am still in the process of figuring this all out, but it has been great to approach worship with the realization that the stage is just one of the places where we experience God.
Rethinking Worship
Posted by admin in Definition of Worship on February 15th, 2009
I tend to think differently about most things. If something has been done one way for 100 years, I think to myself “how boring doing this over and over and over the same way”. My first instinct is to want to make changes. In a traditional environment, this kind of thinking can get me into trouble. But in this setting, I think I’m safe… All that being said…
I’ve been thinking about the typical role of a “creative” or “worship” ministry in a church. What does that role really encompass? Why does a team do what they do? Why does a leader do what he or she does? What inevitably is the goal? Is it really worship anymore?
I find myself questioning it. There are lots of flashy lights, some very creatively crafted transitions, great guitar solos, a very colorful bulletin, emotions running high, but did anyone actually sing? or pray? or truly worship God? did God even show up?
It seems like we are missing something. It seems like we are putting more of an emphasis on the production of worship instead of the person and object of our worship… Jesus!
What do others think about this?
Worship Teambuilding
I often hear about individual church ministries like small groups desiring to start their own worship gatherings. I think this is a great idea. We typically associate a worship team or gathering with the team that stands on stage Sunday morning. The reality is that the “main worship service” is only a part of a church family’s worship experience. Children have their own services. Youth groups meet during the week. Small groups meet at all different times. These groups might miss out on worship time Sunday morning and leaders often are at a loss as to how to put a worship band together for these types of gatherings. What if the main worship team became a teambuilding worship team? What if the priority of the main worship team became more than just what happened Sunday morning? What if the role of the main worship team became a role of training others to lead ministries? The possibility of starting small group, youth group, and children’s ministry worship gatherings becomes more possible. Here are some steps that would allow an existing worship ministry to transition into a teambuilding worship team:
1. Make a commitment as a worship team that helping build and grow ministry is a priority. This is important to do at the beginning. If people are not behind this philosophy you will have difficulties demonstrating effective teamwork to the new people. If any existing team members are unwilling to commit you may need to consider asking them to find another ministry to serve in.
2. Make training and mentoring a regular part of your ministry. Make sure that you are continually mentoring your team members. Spend time with your team. Ask them to help you lead.
3. Open the door to mentor “unqualified” team members. This is a scary thing for leaders, but this is a priority if growing ministry is the goal. Look for the right attitude and motivation over talent level.
4. Give leadership opportunities to your existing team members to lead and mentor those who desire to start worship gatherings. Ask your current sound man to take a couple of people under his wing. Ask your program director to teach 2 people to do what he does. This grows both the trainer and the trainee. It also prepares the trainee to take the lead in a new worship gathering.
5. Test the waters by trying putting together some of the trainees and allowing them to put together a service for a youth group meeting. Have a few of the main worship team members help out. See how it goes.
6. Evaluate. How did it go? What did not work? Retool and retry!
7. Evaluate your team. Over the course of trying these types of things, you will be able to feel out when individuals are ready to starting working in other ministries.
8. Discuss things with your team. Once you feel people are ready to launch a new worship gathering, discuss it with your entire team. Allow them to hear about the vision for the new worship gathering. Allow them to give you feedback. Allow them to volunteer to help start the new worship gathering.
9. Be willing to let go of some of your existing team. During the process of mentoring and growing together, people in your existing team may discover that they would like to help in a different area of worship or in a new worship gathering. This is part of the process of growing people and letting go.
10. Be supportive of one another as new worship gatherings are started. Everyone is still on the same team, but it can feel very different moving forward with people now serving in different areas.
The attributes of God
Posted by admin in Definition of Worship on February 10th, 2009
The attributes of God are true
This world is full of things that are stylish…we are daily bombarded with the latest and greatest things…things that quickly become popular and then become forgotten, but we have a God who doesn’t change his mind. He doesn’t lose interest in us. His word says He loves us… it says we are saved by His grace…and that He is forever faithful.
Psalms 57:7-11
My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises! Wake up, my soul! Wake up…! I will waken the dawn with my song. I will thank you, Lord, in front of all the people. I will sing your praises among the nations. For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens. May your glory shine over all the earth.
Psalms 89:1-4
…I will sing of the tender mercies of the LORD forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Psalms 100:1-5
Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
What a great reminder of God’s great faithfulness to us, the amazing grace that He so freely gives, and the open invitation we have to come and worship Him.