LifeWayWorship.com blog

Last fall I had the opportunity to head out to Lebanon, TN to LifeWay's distribution center. They have weekly chapel services there for the employees. Leading worship is one the things I enjoy the most about my position and the chapel services in Lebanon offer a really unique experience. I'm learning how important it is to understand your "congregation" and here are a few things I've come to understand about this group. I hope it helps you think about the different groups you may find yourself leading.

First, these folks are at work. For the most part, they're happy to be there, because it's a break from their routine, but they are still there because they have to be. This alone creates a vastly different dynamic than a typical church service.

Second, there are some technical challenges. The service is in the break room with hard tile floors, concrete walls, and humming Coke machines. There is a limited sound system (and a volunteer that runs it), but no projection screen.

Third, there are more folks than I usually encounter in a church service for whom English is not their first language. The second most spoken language is Spanish, of course, but also Korean.

So, what does this mean for me, the worship leader? The first thing is that I can't assume anything. I can't assume that they know the songs I want to sing. I can't assume that they'll sing the song, even if they do know it (part of the work dynamic and language barrier). And without a projector, I can't assume that they'll learn a song that I may try to teach. I also can't assume that they are all believers (a safe bet for almost any gathering).

The second thing is that I need to allow them to interact according to their environment. It occurred to me that these folks stand all day long in the warehouse. To ask them to "stand with me and sing" is not the best way for me to serve them. The opportunity to sit is their deserved respite. I don't fight this, but instead attempt to provide music that is restful and contemplative.

I invite them to sing, but don't really expect them to do so. Of course, I don't say that I don't expect them to sing, it's just internally I've determined that I don't need them to sing for this to be a successful worship leading experience. This is important, because if a worship leader is expecting something from the group that he / she is not getting, it tends to manifest itself in aggressive body language (or spoken chiding) and a defeating of confidence, which can lead to other types of "train wrecks" throughout the set.

Having said that, I do try to include songs that are easy to sing, should they choose to do so. Popular songs are good for this (although, admittedly, it's somewhat of a crap-shoot). Songs that they can echo tend to be my choice (e.g. "Spring Up, O Well," "You're Worthy of My Praise").

Once I set these expectations, we could all relax and have a great time worshiping the Lord. Indeed we did. Here's the set with links to those that you can find on LifeWayWorship.com.

1. 5-minutes of prelude music coupled with scripture reading / spontaneous psalming


2. Enter In (C. McGinty)


3. Yes, You Have (L. Moorland, J. Moorland, B. Bronleewe)


4. Spring Up, O Well (J. Riggs)


5. You're Worthy of My Praise (D. Ruis)


6. Come Thou Fountain (traditional hymn, arr. J. Riggs)


7. How He Loves (J.M. McMillan -- "unforeseen kiss" lyric)


8. Be The Centre (M. Frye). (This was our "can you do one more?" closing song).

Here is another great worship song from our latest batch of SuperCharts. Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Jesse Reeves, and Matt Maher's "I Will Rise." This ballad speaks of the peace we can have amidst life's difficulties and the victory we have over death itself.

SuperCharts, as you may know by now, include note for note transcriptions from the artist recording, additional harmonies for your praise team vocalists, full color markings to give your players direction, and a text box that allows you to type specific notes directly into the pdf document. ... Oh yeah, and a SuperChart offers you the song in all 12 keys.


In case you missed it, here are some other recently released SuperCharts:

• Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee/Vicky Beeching)
  
• How He Loves (John Mark McMillan) (as recorded by David Crowder)
  
• God You Reign (Lincoln Brewster/Mia Fieldes)
  
• Here in Your Presence (Jon Egan)
  
• Take My Life (and Let It Be Consecrated) (hymn arr. plus new Chorus by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio)
  
• Your Love, Oh Lord (Mac Powell and Third Day)
  
• Came to My Rescue (Marty Sampson/Joel Davies/Dylan Thomas) (Hillsong)
  
• Lead Me to the Cross (Brooke Fraser) (Hillsong)
  
• At the Cross (Darlene Zschech/Reuben Morgan) (Hillsong)
  
• To the Cross (Paul Baloche/Jason Ingram)
  
• There Is a Higher Throne (Keith and Kristyn Getty)
  
• One Way (Joel Houston/Jonathan Douglass) (Hillsong)
  

Use the code WPU011910 during checkout to download any three of the titles above for FREE. (Maximum Value $1.99. Must be used during one session. Offer expires February 15, 2010.)

Check out the list of all of our SuperCharts by checking the SuperCharts checkbox from the Find & Buy page.

"For the mouth speaks out of the overflow of the heart" (Matt. 12:34). You know, there's nothing like times of stress to uncover what is in your heart. This video clip is of Christian musician Josh Wilson during a security delay at Newark Liberty Airport earlier this year. Faced with a stressful event beyond his control, he makes the best of it and cheers up many others in the process.

Yes, he's singing The Beatles, but if you ask me, the gesture may be more Christ-like than much of what goes on in a typical Sunday morning church service. I find it inspirational.

Question: If your only witness for Jesus were outside the walls of a church building, what kind of a witness would it be?

Well, we did it. In our latest batch of SuperCharts we recorded John Mark McMillan's "How He Loves," which is being popularized by the David Crowder*Band's Church Music CD. There's been a lot of buzz around this song for sometime now. We went with the Crowder lyric for the printed page, but you're free to sing it however is best for your situation. SuperCharts, as you may know by now, include note for note transcriptions from the artist recording, additional harmonies for your praise team vocalists, full color markings to give your players direction, and a text box that allows you to type specific notes directly into the pdf document. ... Oh yeah, and a SuperChart offers you the song in all 12 keys.


In case you missed it, here are some other recently released SuperCharts:

• Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee/Vicky Beeching)
  
• I Will Rise (Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio/Jesse Reeves/Matt Maher)
  
• God You Reign (Lincoln Brewster/Mia Fieldes)
  
• Here in Your Presence (Jon Egan)
  
• Take My Life (and Let It Be Consecrated) (hymn arr. plus new Chorus by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio)
  
• Your Love, Oh Lord (Mac Powell and Third Day)
  
• Came to My Rescue (Marty Sampson/Joel Davies/Dylan Thomas) (Hillsong)
  
• Lead Me to the Cross (Brooke Fraser) (Hillsong)
  
• At the Cross (Darlene Zschech/Reuben Morgan) (Hillsong)
  
• To the Cross (Paul Baloche/Jason Ingram)
  
• There Is a Higher Throne (Keith and Kristyn Getty)
  
• One Way (Joel Houston/Jonathan Douglass) (Hillsong)
  

Use the code WPU011910 during checkout to download any three of the titles above for FREE. (Maximum Value $1.99. Must be used during one session. Offer expires February 15, 2010.)

Check out the list of all of our SuperCharts by checking the SuperCharts checkbox from the Find & Buy page.

A fresh batch of SuperCharts was just rolled out on our site, including the song "Glory to God Forever" from Fee's Hope Rising CD. This video clip is of the songwriter Steve Fee talking about the inspiration of the song.

SuperCharts include note for note transcriptions from the artist recording, additional harmonies for your praise team vocalists, full color markings to give your players direction, and a text box that allows you to type specific notes directly into the pdf document. ... Oh yeah, and a SuperChart offers you the song in all 12 keys. Here are the brand new ones:

• Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee/Vicky Beeching)
• I Will Rise (Chris Tomlin/Louie Giglio/Jesse Reeves/Matt Maher)
• How He Loves (John Mark McMillan) (as recorded by David Crowder)
• God You Reign (Lincoln Brewster/Mia Fieldes)
• Here in Your Presence (Jon Egan)
• Take My Life (and Let It Be Consecrated) (hymn arr. plus new Chorus by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio)
• Your Love, Oh Lord (Mac Powell and Third Day)
• Came to My Rescue (Marty Sampson/Joel Davies/Dylan Thomas) (Hillsong)
• Lead Me to the Cross (Brooke Fraser) (Hillsong)
• At the Cross (Darlene Zschech/Reuben Morgan) (Hillsong)
• To the Cross (Paul Baloche/Jason Ingram)
• There Is a Higher Throne (Keith and Kristyn Getty)
• One Way (Joel Houston/Jonathan Douglass) (Hillsong)

Use the code WPU011910 during checkout to download any three of the titles above for FREE. (Maximum Value $1.99. Must be used during one session. Offer expires February 15, 2010.)

Check out the list of all of our SuperCharts by checking the SuperCharts checkbox from the Find & Buy page.

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert). No doubt that you, like me, have been saddened and disturbed by the Haitian earthquake and its victims. I've been thinking for a while about what (if anything) I should post about it here. There are, after all, better and more informed bloggers regarding the nation and the rescue efforts.

But this is the discussion I'll start here. How do we, as worship leaders, respond to such human tragedy? What songs do we sing now? How do we help our own congregations grieve, intercede, and inspire them to righteous action? May I suggest this blog post from Arizona worship leader Kyle Campos and the following songs available from our site (just click the titles):

• Lord, Have Mercy. Admittedly, the American church worship repertoire is deficient in biblical laments, but here's one. The chorus alone is strong enough.
• God of This City. This is a prophetic declaration and an act of intercession. "You're the Lord of this nation."
• Whole World in His Hands. Reminder of the sovereignty of God even "when all around is fading and nothing seems to last."

Want more? Here's a list of songs and hymns tagged with the terms "providence" and "hope." Remember, you can create your own lists by typing topical words such as "guidance" or "comfort" right in the text box from the Find & Buy page.

Question: What songs are you singing that speak to this tragedy?

Worship leading can be tricky business as YouTube's KentyMac demonstrates in this video. This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while.

Question: Have you caught yourself doing any of these?

Today, we've rolled out some great new music from Leonardo Bella and T.W. Hale, and two hymn arrangements from yours truly. These producers add greatly to the stylistic breadth of our site. T.W. Hale brings country influenced pop to our mix with songs "I Believe That He's In Me," "You'll Be There," plus two others. Leonardo's retro-folk groove provides a welcome Messianic perspective with "Oh Zion," "Let All Creation Sing," and the Beatlesque sing-along "My God the King." I myself am offering a contemporary acoustic treatment of the hymns "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" and "All Creatures of Our God and King." We hope these songs find their way into your heart and your worship music repertoire soon.

Leonardo Bella

T.W. Hale

Jonathan Riggs

Choose one item from any of these folks for FREE until January 21 by using the coupon code NEW-PRODUCERS-01122010 at checkout.

Question: What genres would you like to see added to LifeWayWorship.com?

Yesterday, The Tennessean published a story on the front page of their Sunday issue about the growth of Hispanic churches. It profiles Hispanic church plants as well as the outreaches of English speaking congregations. Our own Ed Stetzer is quoted in the article, saying "churches that grow are the ones adding Spanish speakers."

Several weeks ago on my personal blog, I wrote of my experience leading worship at a workplace where I found myself in front of several Hispanic employees and wishing that I knew some Spanish worship songs. Now I know that immigration is a hot topic and I'll leave the discussion regarding reform to other blogs, but what I would like to discuss is how immigration is changing our worship services.

Question: Is your church doing anything to reach out to immigrants? What are some your challenges in this regard? Do you have bilingual services? Do you sing songs in languages other than English?

I had the good fortune today of spending the day at Sunset Blvd Studios for a tracking session for Release 2.1. The studio is one of my favorite places to be and we have some of the best studio players in Nashville. We captured some great tracks for this release which we'll roll out in March. Stay tuned.

Steve Dady, engineer and studio owner

Steve Brewster, drums

Dave Cleveland, guitars

Mark Hill, bass

Jason Webb, keys

Producer Ken Barker keeps a watchful eye on the session

A new checkbox has been created to allow you to limit your song search to those which have a SuperChart available. A SuperChart is a new type of music chart for your praise team. It includes a note for note transcription from the original artist recording, additional harmonies for your praise team vocalists, full color markings to give your players direction, and a text box that allows you to type specific notes directly into the pdf document. ... Oh yeah, and a SuperChart offers you the song in all 12 keys. From the Find & Buy tab, simply click the "Show only: SuperChart" checkbox.

Feel free to use the text box in combination with the SuperChart checkbox to for multiple search criteria. Go ahead and try it today, I'll even give you a coupon for a free SuperChart: enter FindSuperChart at checkout (valid through 1/12/10).

Question: Have you used a SuperChart yet? What feedback do you have for us?

A few months ago, my pastor preached from the Gospel text of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana in Galilee (I encourage you to read it again from John 2). He spoke about Jewish weddings and how they are often loud and raucous affairs. I have only been to one, but can attest that it was quite the party. He then led us through an interesting exercise where we imagined Jesus at the wedding.

He then spoke from his own imagination. He had no problem seeing the guests enjoying themselves with the festivities of food, wine, music, and dance. But his picture of Jesus was a bit different. In his mind, Jesus was at the party, but sitting at a table watching the others. Not judging mind you, but not really participating either.

And the question he asked himself is the question he asked us and is the question I'm asking you. Why do we hold Jesus back? This image is not a scriptural picture of Jesus. It is one that religion has taught us. Let it go. Embrace who he is. He's in the thick of it, dancing, laughing, eating, and drinking the wine.

Let this Jesus love you, accept you, and enjoy you. And, as you lead your worship services, make sure you are presenting Jesus as being full of joy, enjoying His creation, and His people, and not a religious wallflower.

Question: What other "religious" ideas do you think we sometimes give that can keep people from experiencing who Jesus really is?

Really? A Choir? CCLI says that only 20% of their churches have a choir, so why would I want to do that?

Whether you're an Acts 29 church plant or a decades-old suburban church, here are ten reasons, in no particular order.

1. You may have misconceptions about what a choir is. When you imagine a choir, do you imagine one that wears robes or one that wears robes? Maybe you had a bad choral experience growing up that shaded your whole perception of choir. If you release your inhibitions about having a choir at your church, you'll quickly come to the realization that a choir is just a group of people singing, and you probably already have that at your church. Turning a group of people into a choir means they just face a different direction on Sunday morning.

2. Starting a choir is as easy as asking. If you took inventory right now of the people in your congregation, I bet you already know the first five people you'd talk to about starting a choir. If half of them recruited one more person, you've got your choir. Really, you don't need to start with fifty... five to ten is fine.

3. Choirs are cool again. Just look at the buzz around NBC's The Sing-off to see that singing doesn't have to be "old school."

4. It gives people a reason to stick. Being part of a choir can convert a "fair weather" attender into a consistent one when they know they have a purpose for being at church each Sunday. And, involving one family member often means the entire family will come.

5. Choirs model worship, no matter the style. The choir serves as a mirror for the congregation, showing "people like me" participating in corporate worship. No matter your church's worship style or the direction that God is changing your church in worship, the choir can serve as the lead for the entire congregation.

6. Churches who thought they could do without one now have one (or more.) Churches like Saddleback and Willow Creek have both re-started choirs for their worship times. Churches like Summit Church use them in worship and beyond. The choir serves a purpose both in worship and in the spiritual formation of their members.

7. Choirs serve. With young adults looking for opportunities for service, social action and missions, a choir provides a public, up front, always available organization for week-to-week service, and on occasion, focused social action and missions.

8. Choir members do more than stand behind you. They stand behind you. If you're a worship leader, it's almost guaranteed that there's been a situation where you've felt alone... whether it was something as simple as a Sunday morning that just didn't go right, or something as complex as a church controversy. Your choir members are prayer warriors who can hold you accountable and give you support when you need it.

9. You can get started for free. Start with the music you already have for worship. Add in things that are familiar and easy to learn for everyone. Use the LifeWay Worship Project charts you've already purchased, or download the "Singer's Edition" versions for ten cents a person - they're great, easy choir fodder. When you're coming up on a special occasion in the life of your church, check out the anthems and musicals and collections that are available.

10. It's Biblical. Choirs were a central part of the early church's worship experience. They were up front, leading the way when God's people were doing His will.

So, are you going to start a choir in 2010? Restart a choir? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments!

I'm spending the holiday away from the office and with my family. I hope your Christmas is filled with joy and peace. If you happen to be reading this on Christmas day, I want to offer you 5 FREE downloads from LifeWayWorship.com. It is good for Christmas day only. Just use the promo code XMASDAY09 at checkout.

In the meantime, checkout this video I saw on Ann Voskamp's blog the other day. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Merry Christmas and I look forward to many wonderful conversations in the new year.

Well, it's that time of year again and I know that many of you are swimming in last-minute choir rehearsals and church presentations. So, in the spirit of a little respite, I thought I'd share with you some lesser-known songs you won't likely be singing in your church this Sunday, but nonetheless are some of my personal favorites.

What follows is a list, in no particular order, of songs you would likely hear coming from my iPod if you were to come to my house for dinner during this time of year. I'm also including a playlist at the bottom so you can hear them via LaLa's music playing service. (If you're not familiar with LaLa, they'll let you listen one time for free. But they let you listen to the entire song, which is cool). I've chosen these because of the song itself, the performance, or both.

• A Child Is Born by Oscar Petterson. This is a beautiful lullaby from a little known 1940's radio Christmas drama. And who plays it better than Oscar?


• In the Bleak Midwinter / O Sanctissima. Liz Story delivers a nice touch on this tender hymn.


• I Come With Love by Harry Connick Jr. OK, so we all know and love Harry, but this one is somewhat hidden among the other great tracks on his Harry for the Holidays CD. I checked this CD out from the library and was listening to it in shuffle mode. His presentation of the gospel stopped me in my tracks.


• Cry of a Tiny Babe. This song is a great relief to the romanticized imagery so prevalent in church music. This is a gritty re-telling of the birth of Jesus and its implications for mankind. The best rendition that I know of is by its songwriter Bruce Cockburn for the Columbia Records Radio Hour. He is joined by Roseanne Cash, Rob Wasserman, and Lou Reed. I should warn you about Lou Reed. If you're not used to Lou's singing, it can be quite a shock to the system. To make matters worse (or better, depending on your perspective) he forgets how the song goes and tries to make it up as he goes along. The producers decided that it added charm and chose not to fix it. Hang in there though and you'll get one of the best perspectives of the incarnation in popular song: "It isn't to the palace that the Christ child comes, but to shepherds and street people, hookers, and bums."


• White Christmas by Ella Fitzgerald. Yes, we all know this song and love Bing's rendition of it. However, this song really showcases Ella's one-of-a-kind vocal quality. For my money, she is one of the best vocalists popular music has ever known. It's also a great arrangement of horns / winds.