Worship in a Transformational Church

I have just finished reading excerpts from the book Transformation Church and I have to admit that the 25 page chapter on worship in this book is perhaps the best writing I have ever read on the topic of worship and church music, period.  As a worship leader/church music director I’ve read a lot on the subject, but Ed Stetzer and Thom S. Rainer hit the nail on the head.

Transformational Church is a book which reports the results of a ground breaking study done on the American Church which identified seven principles of what the authors term “Transformational Churches”.  What exactly is a TC?  In short, it’s a church where members are learning to live move like Jesus, where the church is growing not just in numbers but also spiritual maturity.

I’ll be honest and tell you up-front I didn’t read the entire book.  Instead, I decided to focus on that area of the book related to the ministry over which I have the most direct impact: worship and music.  I didn’t start that way, but after reading the introduction to the book where they lay out their research, summarize their findings, and also identify each of the seven principles, I decided to focus my time on the principal of worship.  So the only principal of the seven I read a chapter on was the principal worship.  For the record, then, I read chapters 1-2 and 7.   The 25 pages of chapter seven, however, took me three days to wade through (instead of less than an hour), and I’ll be going back to the chapter to re-read it again and again and I work to implement their suggestions in my ministry.

Will I read the other chapters?  Yes, but for now I need to focus on what I am responsible for and not allow myself to get side tracked.  I will say I did skim some of the other chapters, particularly the ones on mission mentality, leadership, prayer, and building relationships.  While the study focused on those areas from a church-wide perspective I was able to read the principles in relation to just the music ministry, so I will be going back to do a more focused-study of them later .  My theory on music ministry (and really leadership in general) is that the music ministry (or whatever ministry you are leading) is a microcosm of the entire church, so principles that can apply to the entire church can be applied in the specific ministry.

Let me speak specifically about the chapter on worship: it summarized the principles of worship precisely while at the same time bravely opening up Pandora’s box in discussing musical style.  While I take issue with their final conclusion on the issue of a blended service (something I’ll write more about on my blog, I Respond to Jesus, directed specifically towards church music and worship directors in the coming days), I agree with their over-all assessment, reminding the readers that in the end everything is about God and not about our own personal preferences.  Perhaps the best way to summarize where the chapter goes is to reflect on this question raised in the chapter: “Do we see evidence of God changing lives as a result of our worship services?”  If you want to see how to answer that question in the affirmative, then check out this book!

One final note.  While the book is published by Lifeway and the study was conducted by Lifeway Research, it is not a Baptist book by any means.  In fact, the churches studied in the book (and mentioned by name) are from many different denominations – I can’t even say the majority of them are Baptist.  They did a fantastic job of looking at the broad spectrum of churches in America today.

For more information on the study you can visit the Transformation Church website by clicking here, view an introductory video on YouTube by clicking here, or even access their online community on Facebook by clicking here.

This is a chapter that needs to be read by every church music director, and the book is one that really needs to be read in its entirety by every pastor and church leader in America.   This book definitely gets a 5/5 stars

Cross posted on Read to Grow

LWLC Day 2: Overwhelmed (Morning Notes)

Because there was so much covered today, I’m actually going to break this into two separate posts.  This will cover my morning sessions and I’ll do a second one on the afternoon sessions.

If I had to pick one word for the day it would be overwhelmed.  Yep, that’s the word: overwhelmed.

More specifically, overwhelmed by God (what’s the subtitle of Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love, something like Overwhelmed by a Relentless God?  That sure describes today!)

After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage I attended the opening general session which had a devotional given by Randy Vader, the CEO of Praise Gathering Music.  He spoke about the preeminence of Jesus in our worship times and challenged us to keep that focus as we plan.  It reminded me of my favorite quote by Mark Driscoll: it’s all about Jesus, it’s always about Jesus, and it’s only about Jesus.  Specifically, he shared some specific guidelines to keep in mind while planning worship.  Those guidelines  include remembering that God is sovereign, Jesus is Lord and pre-eminent in history, today there is forgiveness and pardon of sins, and peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of God.  By planning worship in light of these truths, I can help usher the congregation into God’s presence so they can respond to him.

This is keeping the focus on leading people to Jesus.  It was (and is) an overwhelming concept to think about how it is my responsibility every week to focus people on Jesus and not spend so much time worrying about other things.  I also have to remember, though, that not only is it my responsibility but my privilege as well.  I try to remember, though I too often get distracted, that when I plan a worship service I need to constantly ask, “Will this focus people on Jesus?”. Too often I get distracted by song selections, choir anthems, special music, or the like.  What I need to focus on is leading people to Jesus.

On a related note, I spent some time speaking with a gentleman at dinner who is the director of the church music program at a prominent seminary.  He was sharing the story of a tradition they had at one of the colleges he worked at.  For their chapel services they had a Christ Candle at the front of the church.  But the candle didn’t stay lit like in liturgical churches, and it was generally lit by lay people.  The practice?  If you had led someone to Christ since the last service you were supposed to go up and light the candle before the service began.  If the candle was lit at the beginning of the service, the pastor might ask who lit it and invite you to share your story.  Now that’s a cool way to keep Jesus and the sharing of Jesus at the forefront of our minds!  Again, as he told the story to me I was overwhelmed by the idea of how rarely I would be lighting the candle at my own church if we had this tradition (or should I say underwhelmed?)

The highlight of my day was the AM worship service.  This morning’s worship was absolutely phenomenal.  Jay Rouse (of Praise Gathering Music) led the worship.  We sang some wonderful songs, one of which was Mighty to Save.  Behind Jay on the stage stood the Mississippi Baptist All State Youth Choir.  While we sang there were three boys who were just singing their hearts out to the Lord: bouncing up and down, simply rejoicing in the truth that Jesus “rose and conquered the grave, yes you are mighty to save!”  Again, I was overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and passion for Jesus as they exhibited it to us and it stirred me to a deeper interaction with our holy and awesome God.

Every song we sang was special, and it was such a rejuvenating experience to be in the congregation and singing instead of having to lead.  Don’t get me wrong, I love leading, but sometimes it’s refreshing to be a follower.  I’ll just end by saying it has been a long time since I have had tears in my eyes during worship.  I was totally overwhelmed by the grace of God and his love for this fallen guy and all he’s blessed me with.  It was overwhelming (yes, I know that word is getting overused…)

Lifeway Worship Leadership Conference – Day 1 Overview

So here’s the run down from the day…  Melissa and I left this morning to drive to Ridgecrest and stopped at a fantastic Greek restaurant for lunch in Asheville named the Apollo Flame Bistro.  This was one of the best Greek places I have been to in a very long time, and easily in my top 3 favorites for Greek restaurants we’ve been to…  If you’re ever in the Asheville area you need to visit this place – fast and friendly service, decent prices, and fabulous food!

Now that that’s out of the way….

Melissa dropped me off at the conference center about 1:45, which gave me some time to go through the conference schedule and make a rough plan for my time here.  They have many sessions to attend, all figured into about five different tracks for learning.  My focus for the sessions will mainly be in three areas:

1) Choral music – attending reading sessions for various publishers in the hopes of finding some new, great choral literature for this year; I have purposefully maintained a healthy amount of choir budget for the year so that I can purchase music based on what I find here;

2) Worship leading – I’ll be focusing specifically on styles and culture in worship (for both congregational musical style and worship leading style)

3) Worship planning – with a focus on team building, team growth and development, and the use of long-term planning tools.

Because today was only a partial day I only attended two sessions – one reading session with music by multiple publishers and one choral rehearsal.  Every day we will have worship services, and the volunteer choir will be assisting in leading.  I wanted to attend the first rehearsal to see if it is something I wanted to participate in.  I have not completely decided yet whether I will go back or not.  I enjoyed the rehearsal, and really enjoyed the director, but part of my reason for coming here is for renewal and I’m not sure participating in the choir will re-energize me as much as being a congregational member in the services (it’s nice to not be on stage every now and then, considering I am up there every week, not to mention it rehearses in addition to the regular conference sessions).

Two things I did particularly enjoy about the rehearsal, though.  One was just seeing how another director conducts rehearsals, which is always a great experience.  If for no other reason I may sit in on a rehearsal or two so that I can just pick up some pointers and techniques.  The other was being reminded of what it’s like to sit in the choir instead of stand in front of it.  I’m not sure of the musical training of everyone in the room, but I got the feeling many were trained musicians like myself.  We learned music very quickly, yet there were still spots we had to focus on and rehearse multiple times.  Once or twice I even found myself struggling as we sight-read through sections; I reflected on the fact that my choir members must feel the same way on certain weeks!  It was a good reminder to me that I can’t assume everyone gets things on the first go-around and we will sometimes need to stop and go over sections multiple times for mastery – and I can’t get frustrated when that happens!

For dinner I sat with three people from Tennessee – two music directors, and one of them was with his wife.  As we talked I learned that one of the music directors was also a part-time director and had been at his current church about 9 months less than I have been at my church.  I also had a fantastic conversation with the other gentleman’s wife, who was an elementary music teacher.  I shared my history of teaching music in the public schools (a total of 7.5 years), and we discovered we had many of the same views and philosophies on how music should be taught to kids and of its importance in childrens’ development.  We shared stories of various programs and initiatives we have done (and she is currently doing), and I even found out she has a school administration degree as well!  It was a nice time of getting to know some people with similar interests and responsibilities as me.

Since I didn’t get to go for my morning walk when I woke up today I decided to venture out after dinner and a Skype with Melissa and the girls (isn’t it amazing that not only can I talk to Melissa and the girls but I can also see them when I’m away!?!?!).    I began by walking to the prayer chapel and prayer gardens, which was a fairly easy stroll down the paved road.  Let me just say that the prayer gardens are absolutely gorgeous – I may spend some time there with a hymnal, my Bible, and my iPad doing some planning!  Perhaps the most beautiful prayer gardens I’ve ever seen (sorry, I don’t have a camera with me, so I can’t take pictures, otherwise I would).  After that I decided to walk the wooded trail up to the lake and back, and then I just walked a little around the campus to get somewhat familiar with it.  All in all, it was a little less than 2.75 miles, which was a good workout for the evening.  One thing that probably isn’t a good thing, though, is that I discovered the ice cream shop is actually just outside my the door – perhaps only about 100 feet away!  I resisted the urge to stop by tonight, but I’m sure I’ll have to make a visit later in the week (perhaps even tomorrow! :))

I ended by slipping into the back of the PM concert to hear the end of the Tennessee Ladies Chorus and Tennessee Mens Chorale.  They sang two songs that got to me.  One was Come Thou Fount, which reminded me of the depth of God’s grace (I’ll blog more on this tomorrow or the next day).  The second was a song entitled Let it Be Said Of Us by Steve Fry.  I was not familiar with song, but I have already purchased a congregational copy and orchestrations so I can teach it to my congregation!  I hope they find it’s text and tune as meaningful as I do.

I’ll close this rather lengthy post with the words to this beautiful song (which are Copyright 1994 Maranatha! Music (ASCAP) / Word Music, LLC.):

Let it be said of us that the Lord was our passion
That with gladness we bore ev’ry cross we were given
That we fought the good fight that we finished the course
Knowing within us the pow’r of the risen Lord

Let it be said of us we were marked by forgiveness
We were known by our love and delighted in meekness
We were ruled by His peace heeding unity’s call
Joined as one body that Christ would be seen by all

Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
By mercy made holy by the Spirit made strong
Let the cross be our glory and the Lord be our song
’Til the likeness of Jesus be through us made known

Commitment (Grace Notes Issue 2.1)

Originally Written for 9/13/09

Cross Posted on Grace Notes

To those who attended the cook out at our house a couple of weeks ago, it was great to see you as a group again and finally have you all over.  For those unable to make it, know that you were missed, but we will have other opportunities to come together for fellowship.

As we begin a new year together, I want to take a few moments to remind us of some things.  First, please remember that membership in choir is a commitment, and I hope you see it as such.  Obviously things happen and we miss rehearsals or services (I’ve been sick for the past week!), but please work hard to make those things exceptions rather than the rule.  When you are absent it affects all of us.  If you feel unprepared to sing on a particular Sunday because you missed rehearsal the previous week, please take the initiative to sit in the congregation that week so as not to distract others who have worked so hard.

On a similar note, it is important that everyone be on time so rehearsals can start promptly and we can learn what we need to learn in the time we have.  I am asking that this year everyone make an effort to in your seats and ready by 5:10 instead of 5:15.  Only five extra minutes every week will give us a combined hour of rehearsal over the course of three months – and you’ll notice from the Nursery schedule that every month we will have a Sunday off, so please make every effort to be here on time when we do meet.

Next, for a variety of reasons, Cheryl has had to step down as our choir librarian, so I am looking for another volunteer to assist in this area of the ministry.  If you are interested let me know – it’s not a hard job, but it is important.

Finally, when it comes to serving, if you are willing and able to assist with nursery supervision it would be greatly appreciated.  I’ve done a schedule for the fall, but I can always add someone to it (or remove your name if you no longer can assist). Please see me.

Let’s make this the best year yet!

Shared Leadership (Grace Notes Issue 1.15)

Originally Written for 1/4/09

Cross Posted on Grace Notes

Wow, it’s hard to believe we’ve finished our first six months working together – in some ways it seems like just yesterday I was here meeting you for our first rehearsal and in other ways I feel like I’ve been here forever (in a good way)!  It’s also hard to believe we’ve finished the Christmas cantata and now are looking forward to new music.

One thing I fully believe in is shared leadership between everyone involved in the choir – you will rarely hear me speak of “my” choir (and if I do it’s a mistake); I believe this is “God’s” choir and I’m just the steward of it.  If we ever start talking about “our” choir or “my” choir I believe we’ve shifted our focus off the person for whom we sing – we don’t sing for ourselves or even the congregation, we sing (or should be singing) for God and God alone.

With that understanding, I also look for leaders to help me (and all of us) out.  So far Cheryl has stepped up and volunteered to be our librarian and she’s doing a fantastic job.  But now it’s time to begin looking for other leaders.  The first of these will be our choir president.  The choir president will be responsible to assist me in some “managerial” duties, so to speak.   One will be to get stuff organized at rehearsals or before we sing if I’m tied up doing something and can’t be present right away (like meeting with sound folks), or for helping “gather” everyone into the rehearsal space so I can focus on starting rehearsal.  Another role will is being responsible for our (yet to happen) monthly birthday celebrations (once we get a President you’ll find out what that is).  This person will also assist in acting as a contact person for me and for you to go to.

If you would be interested in serving in this capacity, or would like to nominate someone to serve in this capacity, please email, call, or see me and I can give you more information.