LifeWay Worship Project.blog

A few weeks ago, a reader named Bonnie posted a comment wanting to know what songs have been added to the worship project since she purchased "the hymnal and the CD tracks" almost a year ago. Since we're celebrating our one-year anniversary, I thought it would be a good time to compile the the list of song titles that we've released within the last year.

To address Bonnie's question directly and to make sure we're comparing apples to apples, let me remind you that the website has always had more titles than the hymnal. The hymnal has 674 selections. The website started with 975 (674 that are in the hymnal plus an additional 301). The CD track kit contains all of the initial 975 recordings. The document here is a list of what has been added since the initial 975 song titles and does not include the 301 songs / arrangements not included in the hymnal.

LifeWayWorship.com is the flagship component of LifeWay's Worship Project, our strategic initiative to equip the Church with resources for the rapidly-changing arena of worship ministry. After almost two years of arranging, recording, editing, and developing this little technology we called SongMap, the site finally went live on October 27, 2008.

1,200 songs and 22,000 active accounts later, we are celebrating our one year anniversary. It is our desire that we not just crank out the latest tunes and play with innovative technology, but to equip you with real solutions for your ministry.

To help us celebrate, I want to offer you 5 free downloads from LifeWayWorship.com. Simply enter the promo code: 2009ANNIVERSARY at checkout. (As always, be sure and get all of your downloads in a single session). This offer is good until December 1.

2010 looks to be another exciting year. Although, we're not adding another 1,200 songs, we will be adding new material on a regular basis. We''re not only growing our list of songs, but expanding our stylistic repertoire. Watch for our expanding list of genres to include kids, country, and messianic material. And I'm not allowed to reveal much yet, but be sure to watch for a special announcement on November 17th.

In order not to miss this announcement and to keep up with the happenings of LifeWayWorship.com, consider following us on Twitter and check this blog often.

I would love to hear from those of you who have been using the site regularly. Simply leave your comment below. Thank you. Thank you for what you do to serve the Body, of which we are all a part. And thank you for choosing LifeWayWorship.com.

We're excited to add stereo track mixes to our line of 21 titles from the Worship KidStyle series. If you're not familiar with Worship KidStyle, check out the embedded promo video below.

Also recently added are two more from country artist Dan Schafer: Trading My Sorrows and Indescribable.

Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research had an interesting post on his blog last week about worship wars that are all too common in today's church. You can read it here.

(originally posted on A Worshiper's Heart). John Mark McMillan posted a recent entry to his blog concerning his song, "How He Loves." With the right audience, this is a really powerful song regarding the passionate love of God. But, some people get hung up on the second verse, specifically the phrase "sloppy wet kiss" in the line "So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss." They find it to be too graphic and/or sensual. Others say the image gives them the "willies" or is just plain distracting to their worship.

The song will likely become even more popular now that the David Crowder Band recorded it for the new CD Church Music. Crowder changed the lyric to "unforeseen kiss," which is admittedly less jarring. I fault neither Crowder for changing the lyric nor McMillan for allowing him to do so. After all, the song is not really about sloppy, wet kisses and the metaphor is not essential to the message of the lyric. Crowder's lyric will, in the end, be the one the song will be known by.

But personally, I like the original lyric and I'm glad Kim Walker recorded it. It speaks of both the passion of God and the mess of humanity. It's both divine and gritty, much like the Incarnation itself. And if it makes people stop and think about what they're singing in church, so much the better.

iTunes has both Walker's recording and Crowder's. What about you and your church? Are you singing this song? What lyric do you use? Should this song be on our site?

Today, we're pleased to roll out new content to LifeWayWorship.com in what we internally refer to as "Release 1.9."

This release includes 15 brand new offerings, including five great selections for Christmas: "Christmas Candlelight Medley," a beautiful arrangement of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," and contemporary treatments of "Joy Has Dawned," "The First Noel" and "Joy to the World!"

Also in this release is the mappable function to classic hymns already online. These titles include some of the most classic, beloved hymns of all time, including "Amazing Grace," "Fairest Lord Jesus," and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." Nearly all of the original 975 are now live and mappable.

Non-seasonal offerings from this release include "I Will Glory in My Redeemer" by Steve and Vikki Cook, "Let Your Glory Fall" by David Ruis, "Lion of Judah" by Robin Mark, "Mission's Flame" by Matt Redman, and "Salvation" by Charlie Hall.

Finally, we're excited to say that all of our publishing partners have granted downloadable licenses for songs already in the new Baptist Hymnal. So songs like "All Is Well," "Awesome God," "We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise" and "We Will Glorify" are now live for the first time and completely mappable!

We are continuing to strive to make LifeWayWorship.com the best place to go for your worship resources. Let us know how we're doing.

Several new enhancements have just been added to LifeWayWorship.com. These features include new Quick Tips area of the Help Section and the ability to search for songs by key. For WorshipMap Pro subscribers, you can now print the attachments from your Song Database and the Reminder function will only contact those team members who have not yet responded to your request. Let us know what you think.

THANK YOU for the overwhelming response to Worship: Reverence v. Relevance featuring Ed Stetzer and Mike Harland! Over 1300 of you pre-registered for the event, and we're aware that some of you had problems viewing the live stream.

Because we know some of you may have had trouble, we decided to archive the event and let you know that the entire broadcast is available for on-demand streaming here. Feel free to share it with your staff, friends and congregations!

Click these links for more information about Ed Stetzer, LifeWay Research, and LifeWay Worship. You can also follow us on Twitter: @edstetzer , @mikeharlandlw , and @lifewayworship. Finally, click here for more information about online and in-person LifeWay events.

Attention church leaders and church members. Do you ever find yourself struggling with how worship is "done" in your church? Organ or guitars? Praise team or choir? Traditional or contemporary? Bulletins or Projectors? If so, be sure and tune into our FREE online event happening TODAY at 2:00 pm (central time), Worship: Reverence vs. Relevance. Register before it starts to receive 5 FREE downloads from LifeWayWorship.com.

At my church, worship is led by volunteers who rotate from week to week. This past weekend, I had the privilege of co-leading with another volunteer. We had a funny mishap during communion, which I wrote about on my personal blog. The experience has led me to consider how oftentimes real lessons are learned from awkward, funny, or embarrassing moments in ministry. So, I thought that I would pose the question here: What ministry lessons have you learned through an embarrassing moment? Leave your comment below.

Several new enhancements to our website have been rolled out recently , including the ability to preview WorshipChart pdf files. WorshipCharts include instrumental parts as well as leadsheets. To preview a WorshipChart, simply add the song to your cart and click the Preview link next to the item you are interested in.

Other improvements have been made to the WorshipMap Pro application. For those of you that like written instructions in your hand, we've created instruction manuals that you can download. We're also trying to make it easier to set up and start using the application by giving you the ability to invite folks by copying email addresses from an existing spreadsheet.

As a reminder, WorshipMap Pro comes with a 30-day free trial period. So, if you haven't subscribed, check it out and let us know what you think.

Some people think that their worship service is something to attend - kind of like a football game. They come as spectators wondering if they are going to like the music or not and some even with the attitude of folding their arms and saying, "Bless me if you can!"

I think it's easy for a lot of us to have a touch of this attitude at times. Let's face it, most churches out there are built with a stage facing a bunch of chairs like a concert or a seminar. It's not done like this to intentionally throw us off. I think we would agree that for the most part it's like this for logistic reasons. But we can't let that get in the way of what we know to be true about what corporate worship really is.
I read a blog by TheDeeZone just a few days ago who wrote . . .

It seems that sometimes in church we get in a routine where we come in sit down and wait for those on the stage to sing, teach, pray etc, while we sit in our comfy little pew and observe. This really frustrates me because I think we have a misunderstanding of worship. Matt Redman is right (in the song Heart of Worship) that at its very core worship is all about Jesus or at least it should be. Worship is not just a corporate service that we attend once a week to please God.

I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is who is this about? Me . . . or Him? Is all this really for an audience of one? Don't get me wrong - we benefit greatly from true worship, but that's a by-product. The true product of worship is God getting His rightful place in our hearts and minds. One definition of worship is to bow low. If my spirit is bowing low then I am declaring that He is God and I am not.

So next time you find yourself just sitting back and "taking it all in" check in that moment to make sure you are still a participant and not slipping into spectator mode.

LifeWay Worship and Interactive Worship Live (IWL) jointly announced today they have entered into an agreement which will allow Interactive Worship Live to create Interactive Backing Tracks (IBTs) from LifeWay Worship Project's catalog of nearly 1,000 professionally recorded hymns and modern worship songs. The multi-track IBTs created by IWL from these master recordings will complement the resources LifeWay Worship is introducing to churches through its innovative Worship Project.
IBTs are multi-tracks that allow worship leaders live interaction with a multi-track recording to enhance the live worship experience. They allow worship leaders to "get inside the recording session" and easily select the instruments, vocals, clicks, loops, and pads required for their particular worship team. The worship leader can then repeat or loop sections of the song in real time allowing complete control in a live environment. IWL has a large and growing song catalog with songs from original masters in multiple keys and videos with synchronized lyrics. IWL also provides the consulting, software and hardware necessary to implement this technology in a specific live performance environment.
For more information, read the official press release below, or visit InteractiveWorshipLive.com.
Read the Official Press Release >>>

By utilizing the most advanced and robust technology, WorshipMap Pro allows you to create and edit orders of worship and communicate them to your worship team via unlimited emails and text messages. In the following video, Mike Harland gives you an overview of WorshipMap Pro. Then watch the next video for step-by-step instructions of the registration process and get started with your free, 30-Day trial today!

• Video - Mike Harland Introduces You to WorshipMap Pro


• Video - Register for WorshipMap Pro


• Begin Your Free 30-Day Trial of WorshipMap Pro Today

Last week, 200 more hymns and worship songs now have SongMap capability. This means there are now over 400 songs available for you to create your own custom arrangement and download corresponding instrumental parts and accompaniment tracks. These new, mappable titles include:

Use the code SONGMAP2 during checkout and download any of these new mappable titles FREE! ($3 maximum. Offer expires June 22, 2009.)
And don't forget, it's never too early to plan ahead! LifeWayWorship.com has plenty of Patriotic titles available for use in your worship planning! Browse through songs below, or search for yourself in the Find & Buy section of LifeWayWorship.com.
Browse Patriotic Music at LifeWayWorship.com