Recently in LifeWay Worship Project Category

Over 250 more titles have just been added to the LifeWayWorship.com catalog--click here to see the complete list. They are available for purchase in their "default" formats, which means you'll find complete WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, and PowerPoint® presentations for each one. And very soon another group of over 250 titles will be added to the library.

Our first two weeks at LifeWayWorship.com have been incredible and hundreds of you have already purchased and downloaded WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, and PowerPoint® presentations. Now that a couple of Sundays have passed, we would love to hear from you. How are you using the resources at LifeWayWorship.com? Are they making a difference in your ministry? Let us know by emailing us at worship@lifeway.com, or by commenting here at the LifeWay Worship Project Blog.

Thanks again to those of you who participated in last week's beta test of LifeWayWorship.com--if you're curious to know how things are going, or if you had to miss last week's test, you're in luck--we've made some adjustments based on the feedback we received, and have scheduled a second round of testing on October 23, from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., CDT. (Yes, that's tomorrow!!)

Ten songs will be available for testing and downloading in their default versions for WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, PowerPoint®, and basic worship planning. Of these ten, seven will be available for actual purchase and the other three available to test the SongMap™ application; mapped arrangements may be downloaded at no charge.

In order to properly test checkout, you will still need to use a credit card or your LifeWay account number, even to download the three free SongMap™ titles. If your order consists of free arrangements exclusively, your account will not be charged and your receipt will reflect no charge. The test is open to everyone!

To get started:

• Click here to open an online guide and instructions


• Have a major credit card or your LifeWay account number and PIN code ready.


• Should you need technical assistance during the test, please contact Scott or Daren at 800-436-3869.

Take your time exploring the site and trying out all the features--those of you who participated in last week's test are encouraged to test new arrangements in SongMap, or perhaps features that you didn't test last week (like the basic planner tool).

Thanks to you, we're on target to release over 200 titles by the end of this month, with 100+ to be released at regular intervals beginning mid-November. Thank you again for your time--your contribution to LifeWayWorship.com's testing will help us become better servants for generations of worship and music ministries worldwide.

Dear Friends,

I love hearing stories about the barn-raisings that took place in pioneer settlements; word would spread and an entire community, some traveling from miles away, would turn out to help their neighbor in need.

Now I'm putting the word out to those of you who have registered at the site that we here at LifeWay Worship have a need and could use some help. On October 16 from 8:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (central time), we'd like to enlist your help in testing the brand-new LifeWayWorship.com

Ten songs will be available for testing in their default versions for the WorshipCharts, WorshipTracks, PowerPoint®, and basic worship planning tool components. In an effort to also test our checkout process, these will be available for purchase.

Three of these songs will also be available to test the SongMapTM application. These SongMapped arrangements may be downloaded at no charge.

Instructions for the testing process will be sent next week to those who have registered at LifeWayWorship.com. If you have not yet registered, we still need you, so visit LifeWayWorship.com and become a registered user of the site today. Your help and feedback would be so greatly appreciated as we prepare for our live launch--our "barn-raising," if you will--on October 27, when another group of songs, along with a SongMap™demo section, are made available.

As for a status update on other products,

• WorshipCharts are already shipping.
• The Accompaniment and Background DVDs (Vol. 1), Lead Sheets, and String Reduction should be ready by the end of this month with the Brass Reduction close behind.
• Volume 1 of 52 Sundays, QuickCharts, and the WorshipTracks should be ready in mid-to-late November with Transitions available in January.

Please pray for us as we continue to configure the songs for the mapping tool. This is, by far, the most challenging part of the entire process. We're making every effort to ensure that when SongMap is available, it will be right and effective for your ministry. It's our prayer and desire that we deliver the highest quality products and services in the most effective channels.

Mike Harland, Director

Isaiah Six is the first to respond to this week's "call to posts," and it's an exhaustive review! You can read the article for the punchline, but I love his setup:

But just because something might be proposed or published by the SBC or its publishing arm, LifeWay Christian Resources, doesn't mean I fall all over myself to buy it and use it. In fact, I'm often skeptical because sometimes we just flat out get it wrong.

Any more Proverbs 27:2 folks out there?

Baptist Hymnal?

Worship Hymnal?

Large print edition?

Pulpit edition?

If you've called, emailed, ordered online or walked into a LifeWay store and gotten your copy, we want to hear your reaction! Good, bad or ugly.

Post a review on your personal blog (or your church's site... or whatever Internet site that you like) and we'll link to you from our blog. There may even be something in it for you... Post a link to your review in the comments section of this post so we know to look for it.

Did you go to the National Worship Leader Conference sponsored by Worship Leader Magazine? Garrett and Erin did. So did Mark D. Roberts. So did Fred McKinnon, Russ Hutto, Recovering Prodigal, and Shaun Groves.

If you did, and I didn't link to you, let me know.

Oh, while we were there, we did host a Rock Band video game tournament... and here are the winners:

Shout out to Matthew Mendez, Raphael Guerra, and Marcus Guerra for their nearly-half-a-million point performance!

when it comes to integrity, there is a high road and there is a low road. We need to make sure we're always taking the high road. The congregation does not need to see us as those strange artsy types; they need to see us as people of integrity who minister, serve, and shepherd in the powerful name of Jesus.

Quoted by Greg Brewton, said by Rory at the LifeWay Worship Leadership Conference.

Monday night this week, we had our second PraiSing event at the LifeWay Worship Leadership Conference. Just like the event at Ridgecrest, the Glorieta event was an incredible evening of worship and praise, spanning the breadth of music that churches are using in worship ministry. Here, the Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma provided an unparalleled experience, literally adding a sparkle to the evening.

Toward the end of the PraiSing celebration, Mike Harland was talking about the meaning behind worship... the idea that it doesn't matter if you have great equipment and technology, it's about the inward expression of your heart, and quipped, "what would worship be like in your church if the power went out?"

Today, the power went out, and the worship was great! I promise we didn't plan this!

Call it "Music Week," call it the "LifeWay Worship Leadership Week," call it "that thing at Glorieta," it starts today! And this year, we're expecting our largest crowd in over ten years.

Monday night kicks it all off with our PraiSing '08 Glorieta event featuring Mike Harland, Greg Nelson, and the Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma.

Yes, it's true, Baptist Hymnal and The Worship Hymnal are shipping ahead of schedule. Contact LifeWay to get your very own!

John wrote in a comment...

How come I can'r find listing of the 100 songs on the MPEG1 Accompaniment set? It says everywhere that song listings are available at lifeway.com/worship but .... nothing.

Easy answer... they're in the middle of being produced, which means that the song list isn't final.

Longer answer... well, we got the cart just a little ahead of the horse. The videos were started a couple of months ago, and the process lasts for the next thirty days. Rather than release a "subject to change" list, or an "in process" list, we decided to wait until all the videos were done to release the list.

I don't want this to sound like an excuse, because I'm not trying to apologize, just explain something about the process. Whenever you create something visual, it's an order of magnitude more difficult to communicate the idea that's in your head. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then 29.97 frames per second comes out to about 539,460 words to describe a five minute video, right? Multiply that by 100 songs. I'm of course kidding a little, but it is a somewhat arduous creative process.

It's primarily an "editorial" decision. I put "editorial" in quotes because it means different things to different people. What I mean is that we want our staff to be sure that every video is "worthy of worship..." that the text is clear, readable and accurate, and that the video itself isn't distracting, but rather adds to the worship experience. We have extremely gifted, talented, visionary video producers working on the project, and LifeWay's job is to make sure that their vision matches up with ours... to serve the church.

So I think I answered the "how come" part of your question... but probably missed out on the "when" that you didn't ask(!) I would ballpark a song list by mid-July at the latest.

Seventeen years ago, you said "hymnal" and everyone knew what you were talking about. In 2008, you say, "hymnal" and everyone thinks they know what you're talking about.

Oh, by the way, if you don't need a hymnal, It's not a hymnal.

Because the LifeWay Worship Project has so many pieces, not just what people think of as a hymnal, we've had to come up with some new terms to communicate the new ideas that are embodied in the products that we've created. This post is about the first new idea...

Extended Collection

One of the challenges about the LifeWay Worship Project, frankly, is explaining it. The pieces that make up the puzzle include just about every kind of resource that churches today are using in congregational worship.

As the marketing manager for the project, my job is to tell churches about it, and from about day one, I knew we had a problem. If your church is a Baptist church interested in using a pew edition hymnal, you need to know that Baptist Hymnal™ is a big part of the project. Or, if you're not a Baptist church, you need to know that The Worship Hymnal is a big part of the project.

But, if your church doesn't use a hymnal, you need to know that there are 92 compact disc, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and DVD products in the LifeWay Worship Project that could turn out to be indispensable for your ministry. And, there will be literally thousands of products that will be available online, none of which require the use of a pew edition hymnal.

So maybe we've defined another reason for the blog... to define how you can use those 93 products (counting the hymnal) in your ministry, no matter what your worship resource needs are.

Questions welcome!

Click the "Full Screen" icon on the video for a better view:

LifeWay Worship Project from Patrick Watts on Vimeo.

Introducing the LifeWay Worship Project blog...

Have you ever been excited about something, but you knew, for whatever reason, you couldn't talk about it? That's us for the past two years. We've been working in studios and churches, with arrangers and writers to create what we hope will be something that on a weekly basis helps supply your ministry with core components for worship.

So why blog about it?

Following the framework recommended by Markus Merz at performancing.com (hat tip to blog.hackingchristianity.com), let's figure it out.

Phase Zero: Seed the idea

Skipping the analysis part of classical product development I will assume that some idea got into my head worth to develop a content concept for a new website/blog. Basically when an idea for a new website comes to mind I structure the idea in four parts:

1. One sentence concept phrase
2. Some example article keywords
3. How to promote the site
4. How to monetize the site

Part of our dream for the Worship Project goes beyond music... it's to provide a platform to catalyze discussion about worship, sharing the voices of the practitioners from churches of every size and style and helping all of us understand that authentic worship is more than just picking the right song or creating a moment. It's about leading people to an encounter with the risen Christ.

Because of that, you're going to find two distinct threads on this blog - one that holds that mirror up to the online community, sharing the thoughts of others as they post about worship. The other thread is the "so what is LifeWay doing about it?" part. In those posts, we'll be showing the LifeWay Worship Project products and services that we've designed to resource those same ministries.

Given those thoughts, here are our blog's "Phase Zero" points:

1. LifeWay aggregates voices of worship leaders and laypeople to share how they are living out Psalm 149:1-6 and shares how LifeWay is responding with resources for ministry.
2. christianity, worship, music, ministry, praise band, choir, orchestra, guitar, lead sheets, video, Finale, organ, harp, small church, large church, hymns, worship songs, authentic
3. lifeway.com, lifewayworship.com, LifeWay podcasts, Google, Facebook, other blogs from worship leadership, state conventions, conferences
4. This blog isn't about making money, other than the residual effect from helping people understand the Worship Project resources that are available. The more important "payoff" is the call to Romans 12:12 - worship that is pleasing to God.

I bet at this point, a lot of readers are saying, "whoa, really? You just said that?" Yep, we did. Even though it wouldn't be an article keyword, I'd love it if every post on the blog could be tagged with the keyword "transparency." There's not a hidden agenda. Our agenda is to glorify Him.

Your comments and questions are welcome and appreciated!