LifeWay Worship Project.blog

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

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!

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

LifeWay Worship Project from Patrick Watts on Vimeo.

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!

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

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.