compared to most 54 year-old men, i’m a pretty flexible guy. i’m challenged by innovation and new ideas. i love change. i’m way more post-modern in my orientation than a lot of 20 and 30-somethings i know. i think if the church (our church) continues to do the same things in the same ways, we’re going to continue to lose young people in the same way. like i said, i’m all for change.
so when i read about this new idea, well…i’m still kind of steamed when i think about it.
tim stevens is a church-leader-blogger that i like to read. he had an interesting post about outsourcing worship leaders the other this morning at his leadingsmart.com website. i’m curious what you might think about it…
tim met with a church leader from mississippi that temporarily hired worship leaders to come in to help them out after their worship leader left for another job. it worked out so well, that the church decided to permanently hire temporary worship leaders. they have settled on four or five leaders that they bring in on a weekly basis. according to tim stevens, here are some of the advantages this church leader told him about this approach:
many worship leaders don’t enjoy building teams, managing budgets or organizing departments. they just love to lead worship. this strategy let’s them stay in their sweet spot.
this decision saves money for the church. they are able to pay them really well for a weekend and still save enough money in the church budget to use toward another staff position.
they love the variety that this brings to their church. keeping things unpredictable is a plus to keeping people’s attention.
they have learned so much from these worship leaders that they wouldn’t have learned from one person.
in spite of my sometimes reckless love for change and my willingness to go out to the edge for the sake of reaching people for christ, i gotta tell you that i hate this idea. i appreciate the outside-the-box thinking, but this church has got some messed up thinking.
the premise is all wrong. the justifications are all wrong. the expectations are all wrong. sorry for being so wishy-washy about my opinion on this one. the definition of worship leader is wrong. the motive for doing this is wrong. what about relationship? what about family? i’ll stop now.
agree or disagree?
for the record, you people at north point better not get any wacky ideas about outsourcing the preaching around here…
music is important to me. it wasn’t very long ago that playing my guitar and leading singing and helping people (especially kids) learn to go deeper in their awareness of the presence of god through music was something that characterized my life. i miss those days.
but music is still important to me.
back in the early 80’s, i was introduced to music of rich mullins. his music and lyrics challenged and sustained me during some really difficult times. his theology stretched my thinking and impacted my lifestyle. the depth of his understanding of god and the kingdom was profound.
he died an untimely death. our loss was beyond words at the time. it’s still pretty much beyond my words.
anyway, i thought i’d share a few of his songs with you. his music was simple. it never topped the charts. it wouldn’t today. but his lyrics…
If I Stand
There’s more that rises in the morning than the sun
And more that shines in the night than just the moon
It’s more than just this fire here that keeps me warm
In a shelter that is larger than this room
And there’s a loyalty that’s deeper than mere sentiments
And a music higher than the songs that I can sing
The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance
I owe only to the Giver of all good things
So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
There’s more that dances on the prairies than the wind
More that pulses in the ocean than the tide
There’s a love that is fiercer than the love between friends
More gentle than a mother’s when her baby’s at her side
i think i’ll give you some more insight into rich mullins tomorrow…
i was doing some reading this morning and came across this quote. it’s by a guy named don chapman…a pretty well known composer and worship guy out of nashville. i’m wondering what you think…
Some worship leaders get into the rut of constantly throwing new songs at the congregation and then wonder why nobody’s worshipping. Remember, we musical worship leaders are way ahead of the average person in the congregation. We’re tired of the latest worship songs before 99% of the congregation even knows the songs exist (most Christians never step foot in a Christian bookstore or listen to Christian radio, let alone care about the latest hot worship leader). “Open the Eyes of My Heart” is STILL in CCLI top ten, and “Lord I Lift Your Name On High” is still in the top 20!
A few years ago I was out in Dallas visiting worship media guru Greg Atkinson. He took me on a tour of all the big churches in the area. Great productions, great music, but little worship going on and lots of performances. However, at one megachurch in particular I remember very distinctly being drawn in and touched by the worship. Suddenly it hit me: I happened to know all the songs in the set and I realized something important: people worship best with songs they know. It’s simply harder to worship when the mind is intent on learning a new tune, but the mind is freed up when the song is familiar and the heart can worship more easily.
i love the fact that we learn new songs on a pretty regular basis at north point. it inspires me…challenges me…opens my eyes…and gives me a greater vocabulary to praise god with. but this quote caused an interesting list of questions.
is sunday morning the only time you sing?
how important is singing in your worship experience?
it has been pretty fun for me to think back over the past thirteen years here at north point and consider all the different songs we have used in our worship experience. i don’t think for a moment that singing is the only way we worship the creator, nor do i believe that it is nearly the most important…but it is a significant part of it…especially the way we do it here!
on the past two fridays, i’ve list both my favorite high energy songs and my favorite mid-tempo songs. both serve a purpose for me, though my love for loud, explosive songs of praise will not be denied!
today, i’m going to list my favorite slow, contemplative music. there are critics who say that our use of music in worship is manipulative and contrived. don’t get defensive. it is…sometimes. there is something about music that moves emotions and stirs my heart. my feelings are touched, my mind is stimulated, my body reacts, my will is challenged. it’s potentially powerful.
when that music is offered to god, it can be all of that and more. here are some of my favorite slower songs that didn’t make my top five:
Oh How He Loves Me
We Enter In
Come Home Running
Psalm 9
Come Ye Sinners
Still
The Old Rugged Cross
Blessing
Lord You Have My Heart
By The Grace of the Lamb
these are all awesome songs…some we haven’t sung in years…but i will never forget them. they are permanently part of who i am. so…here’s my top five:
5. Word of God Speak - by Mercy Me (short, simple, powerful)
4. He Knows My Name - by Tommy Walker (i found this song years ago on a calvary chapel worship cd called “dry bones dancing”…i’ve never heard anybody sing it except north point!)
3. You Are My King - by Chris Tomlin (one of tomlin’s earliest songs…before anybody knew who he was…i don’t normally like the whole “repetitive” thing that goes on in a lot of worship circles…singing the same chorus over and over and over again…but this is one song that always leaves me wanting to sing it one more time)
2. It is Well With My Soul - by Horatio Spafford and Philip Bliss (maybe the most famous and well known hymn ever…you should do a search and read the story behind the song, if you don’t know it…i like the up-tempo way we do it at north point, but i miss the majesty and power and richness of it’s original ballad form. there is nothing like it!)
1. This Road – by Jars of Clay (this song was penned for “voice of the martyrs” and the international day of prayer for the persecuted church six or seven years ago. i cannot sing it without experiencing polar opposite emotions…radical identification with fellow believers who worship in the most severe conditions of human suffereing…and the absolute wonder that god allows me to experience the life i have).
there you have it. what about you? is there a slower song that moves you that’s not on my list?
last friday i listed my top five high energy songs we do at north point. truth is, if all we ever sang were songs that were loud and powerful and rocked, i would be a happy guy. it’s probably good i don’t plan the worship services anymore!
in spite of my personal preference for explosion, i still do have a whole list of mid-tempo songs that move me. here are some of my favorites that didn’t make my top five (in no particular order):
He Was There
Wholly Yours
O For a Thousand Tongues
Better is One Day
Step By Step
I Commit To You My Life
Blessed Assurance
Open The Eyes of My Heart
Take My Life
I Could Sing of Your Love Forever
those are all great songs…some of them you’ve probably never heard of, but we used to do them here and they were part of the foundation of our worship personality that has been forged through our years together. so here’s my top five mid-tempo songs we do at north point:
5. Love is Here – by Tenth Avenue North (awesome new song we are doing these days)
4. Give Us Clean Hands - by Charlie Hall (best single musical moment in any song we do…)
3. Enough - by Chris Tomlin (my second favorite tomlin song)
2. Remedy - by Crowder (this song gave me a whole new perspective on the atonement)
1. Breathe Deep – by the Lost Dogs
you may be surprised by my number one, but this is one song that god used to completely re-orient my life as a follower of christ. it’s a long story. maybe i’ll share it someday. it was a song we used in youth ministry from the moment i arrived in 1995. maybe i’ll ask buzzy if i can lead it again someday for posterity…
if you’ve never heard it, here’s a video you can watch…they’re pretty crazy lyrics. the lost dogs are a group of legendary rockers from the earliest days of christian rock and punk. here’s their official website…you might want to check it out: the lost dogs. hope you like it all!
love the songs we sing at north point. i love the variety. i love the power. i love the volume. i pretty much can’t wait to show up on sunday mornings just to sing. we do high energy songs. we do some amazing mid-tempo songs that start slow and quiet and build. we do slower, more contemplative songs. all of them designed to lead us to a deeper and more profound experience in the presence of an awesome god.
here are some of my very favorite high energy songs we do that didn’t make my top five:
Our Love is Loud
My Glorious
All Creation
Today is the Day
Let God Arise
Forever
The Quest
so here’s my top five high energy songs we do:
5. Blessed Be Your Name - Matt Redman (there is no song we sing with more passion)
4. Not To Us - Chris Tomlin (“the universe spinning and singing…it’s all for you”…as good as it gets!)
3. Everyday - Joel Houston (even though we don’t sing it very often)
2. All Because of Jesus - Steve Fee (we could sing this every sunday, as far as i’m concerned)
1. Singer’s Song - Martin Smith of Delirious (best music memory of my thirteen years in texas)
those are mine. what songs would you add? (you don’t have to add five!)
there are a whole lotta pastor-blogger dudes who give reviews of the previous sunday. i used to enjoy reading them and that’s what really got me into doing my MMQ. there’s something cathartic and even helpful to spend some time evaluating how things went and gathering the necessary insight and motivation for diving into the next week. it’s a good thing for me.
honestly, though, i’ve grown more than a little weary of reading some (most) of these other guys. every monday review recounts the epic nature of the previous day. explosive attendance. countless conversions. super fantasticaliciously incredible music. the power of god manifested in up-until-now never-before- seen or experienced ways. pretty much a slobberfest that will be predictably exceeded the next sunday. then the next. then the next. you get the picture.
am i cynical? probably. am i skeptical? probably not (at least on this issue). am i bitter? no. am i envious? i suppose on some things. but none of this is really the point.
i guess, for me, i am resting today knowing that yesterday at north point…we showed up…god showed up…people who are not quite “we” showed up…and that is the way it should be.
by way of review, yesterday was a day i will not soon forget:
getting to draw our entire church family into prayer for bill bahls and his family was an honor.
preaching about prayer is one of the most humbling things i ever get to do.
there were fewer people sleeping, talking, and getting up to go to the restroom during my sermon than usual. i count that as a good thing.
john, if you’re reading my blog, you’re lucky i didn’t dive out in the crowd and wring your neck the second time your phone rang!
i really love the concept of the north point bathroom prayer, but there were a lot of people that were asking themselves (and the people sitting next to them), “i hope i don’t ever need prayer when i go to the bathroom…” when i introduced the topic.
i love to sing with our church family.
i know there are probably people who think music is too loud, but i’m not one of them.
i grew up on loud music and it stirs my soul and causes me to praise god unlike any other time in my week. by the way, if you think it’s loud during the service, you should join the band at 8:30 for practice. when no one’s in the room to absorb the sound, the walls pulsate. sweet.
i hope the new people who were with us were treated well, felt included, and not made to feel self-conscious or uncomfortable. i hope they come back.
as usual, people sat, stood, prayed, communed, and sang as they anxiously awaited the end of the service so they could get back to doing the best part of why we gather on sundays: getting back to the business of living life together and spending another week of loving god and loving people.
so here’s my sunday scorecard: it was a good day. a really good day.
i was just doing some online reading tonight during this bizarre cardinals-panthers game and i came across a post by one of the most popular, innovative and respected big guns in the mega-church club (i’m not part of the club…i just sneak looks into their online clubhouses when they’re not looking).
it wasn’t a quote or a lesson or even the content that seemed odd to me. it was simply the title, the future of worship. what do mean, the future of worship?
we could talk about the future of…bi-partisan politics…or global warming…or the metal baseball bat…or plasma televisions…or cross-cultural relations in texas…or eschatological predictions in the 21st century…or any number of other issues that change or morph or develop or grow from one stage to another. but worship? the future of worship? really…
worship doesn’t change. it is. that’s it. it’s the essence of relationship between the creator and created. it’s life. it’s breath. it’s me offering my life to the holy one. it’s where i walk and what i say and what i think and how i give. there’s no future to it. it doesn’t have a timeline. unless you consider eternity measurable.
for the record, the guy makes worship and music synonymous. bad call. but that’s the church culture he lives in.
you know, if you missed being with us at north point sunday, you missed a really cool day. here are a few highlights:
i got up sunday morning and just didn’t feel like we were going to have a full house. i know i’ve been whining a little about how much i struggle with our loss of momentum during the holidays, but this year has been different.
it was a day that broke the trend…again. great crowds in both hours.
the energy in our singing was awesome. there are some sundays where the singing seems a little hollow. this was definitely not one of those days.
met some new folks. it never ceases to amaze me that we get new people every sunday. every sunday.
i really hope we are doing a good job making new people feel like they want to come back.
we have worked hard to become a church family that is full of potential friends…and not just people who try to be friendly. there’s a huge difference.
can’t believe i actually gave my personal new year’s goals. now you know what i’m working on.
i would love to hear from some of you. what are some of yours?
i feel like we’ve gotten very predictable in what we do on sunday mornings. two songs. sermon. communion. four songs. i’m all for the comfort and security that routine can bring…especially in a world of such dramatic change, but i don’t think it’s necessary on sunday mornings.
i love variety. i love unpredictable. i love surprise. i love the excitement and anticipation that comes from not ever knowing for sure what is going to happen next. i embrace change like it’s my best friend. i know that’s not everybody’s style, but it’s mine.
we serve a spontaneous and unconfined god who never ceases to amaze us with his movement in our lives. we work so hard to keep god in boxes, but it just doesn’t work.
they tried to keep jesus in the grave. you know how that worked out.
be looking for some changes. expect the unexpected. be ready to ask god to shake your world. maybe he’ll even do it on a sunday morning!
i think we had a great sunday, yesterday! lots of momemts…
i think there were two new episodes that moved into my all-time top ten north point moments. two on one sunday. pure greatness!
the first was buzzy pulling off the orangefield rendition of “give me oil in my lamp”. you should have been there to see his semi-reluctance turn to full-blown glee as he processed my request! it’s scary to realize how effortlessly he pulled it off
for those of you who walked away with concern over my spiritual depth (or simply my taste in worship music), can you say “tongue-in-cheek”??
the second moment not only moved into the top ten, but it unquestionably took over the #2 spot on the list. when i got up to give the welcome at the beginning of the second service and looked over saw ralph in his tuxedo, i about lost it! few, if any of you, got to see the look on his face when he caught eyes with me. he got this huuuuuge smile on his face, puffed out his chest, and waved at me! couldn’t believe he walked right up to the front row…
i’ve got a feeling this won’t be the last ralph moment you read about.
was the new version of “joy to the world” awesome, or what? can’t wait until our christmas eve services to sing it again…twice!
i’m not a real christmas carol kind of guy, but i love it that we get to sing o holy night as part of our worship during this season every year.
it was great to see some old faces yesterday…people who used to be part of our family, but moved away. it was like they had never left. there’s something really really good about church family.
it’s awesome seeing new people come each week. especially ones we met at holiday at the hall!
it’s really cool how many people are connecting with us through our website. logan did an amazing job…and it keeps improving. you ought to check it out, if you haven’t lately.
better yet, make sure you are pointing new people to the website.
we have an unbelievably committed group of people that make our sundays rock every week. people who faithfully and lovingly serve in a variety of ways. some who are seen. many who are unseen. they make a huge difference.
our offering was solid, again. our people are amazing. can’t wait to approve the 2009 budget next and then see us blow it away next year! i think we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what god is doing in our church family…
SO WHO ARE YOU PRAYING FOR? WHO ARE YOU GOING TO INVITE TO ONE OF OUR CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES? it could be the one invitation that changes their life…forever.
I am a husband, a dad, a spankin' new grandpa (big papi), a pastor, a teacher, a fellow-wanderer, a baseball junkie, a lover of 24, waffles, the first day of fall , loud music, kids, play, the grace of God, and St. Augustine grass!
I am a husband, a dad, a spankin' new grandpa (big papi), a pastor, a teacher, a fellow-wanderer, a baseball junkie, a lover of 24, waffles, the first day of fall , loud music, kids, play, the grace of God, and St. Augustine grass!
