Okay folks, I’m sorry I disappeared for awhile there. I overloaded myself last semester and I had to cut off all my blogging (except for uploading photos to my regular blog via flickr through my phone) and focus on schoolwork. All that to say sorry I was scarce for so long. I’m going to try and post once a week – not sure if I’ll get back to my goal of posting on Mondays and Wednesdays and random Fridays – but hopefully I’ll be back on that this summer.

I have been reading through John Piper’s “Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist” (10th Anniversay expanded edition). It’s really knocking me around – in a good way. The third chapter is on worship and I thought I’d post a few “quotables” from there. If you haven’t ready “Desiring God”, get yourself a copy and read it. Even if you don’t agree with everything he says, you really should at least engage and wrestle with it.

Okay, here are the quotes:

“…worship has to do with real life” (p. 73)

“Worship must engage emotions and thought.” (p. 76)

“Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship.” (p. 76)

“…worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of his worth.” (p. 78)

“[The] reflection of God’s glory in nature is not conscious. The mountains do not willingly worship. In all the earth only humans have this unique capacity.” (pp. 78-79)

These are just a few thoughts I’ve developed over the past few years in regards to the rather common occurance of two different types of services on Sundays – the Traditional Service and the Contemporary Service. Why do churches usually do this? I it usually a very honest and heartfelt attempt to reach as many people as possible. They know that the older generation, as well as a minority of younger people prefer a traditional service over a contemporary. They also realize that they must begin to develop more contemporary practices in their services so that they will remain relevant to the present younger generation and generations to come.

For most churches the traditional service utilizes a choir and organ, many times with piano. There is often a hymnal used (instead of a lyric display system). The contemporary service, on the other hand, is typically characterized by the use of a band, more chorus-type songs, and a lyric display system. The stylistic differences, in fact, are limited. But there is often an attitude difference between the two as well, the traditional service often emphasizing, well, tradition as well as the holiness and righteousness of God (an emphasis upon respect when entering the Sanctuary), while the contemporary service emphasizes a freedom in structure and the community of believers.

So what is wrong with having a traditional service to minister to those who prefer to worship that way, and then a contemporary service for those who prefer to worship that way? Well, are you pastoring one church or two? In many churches the only point of continuity between the two services is the message – different songs are used in each service (songs which are more complementary to the style of the service).

In developing two differently themed services the message being sent to the congregation is that worship is about what you (as a worshipper) are comfortable with. Starting with the story of Cain and Able, and running rather overtly through the Old Testament and even emerging in the New Testament is a very clear theme of worship not being about man’s comfort zone. God dictates how we worship, not us.

So what does a pastor do about the contemporary versus traditional conflict which rages in every church? Simple and yet very, very tough: pastor your flock. They need to be taught and loved into understanding the true heart of a worshipper – one that is more focused on the meaning and theology of the songs than their style, a heart that is more focused on the glorification of God than on its personal comfort zone. As a worship leader, please realize that if all you sing are hymns you are depriving your congregation of numerous, relevant and theologically sound worship choruses. On the other hand, if all you sing are choruses, then your congregation’s worship diet is in dire need of the theological depth (insight and wisdom) found in hymns.

There are contemporary takes on hymns which will take your breath away, and there are songs written in the modern age which have the same theological depth as many hymns. Understand that there is no theological argument for either contemporary choruses or traditional hymns to be used exclusively. And in pandering to the whims of the fringes of the congregation, the creation of differently styled services, instead of promoting unity, feeds the selfishness in their hearts and feeds the discord even more.

Understanding these theological and pastoral concerns, this more practical reality must also be swallowed: for most of the worshippers, the time of the service will be more important than the style. “What?!” you say. “‘Tis true,” I must admit. Depending on their sleeping schedules and afternoon plans, people will supercede their personal stylistic preference for a worship service that fits into their schedule better. So when the attendance of your early traditional service surges in the summer, the reality is more than likely that many of the additional attendees during hat season are not there for the traditional style, but rather because of a planned golf game or trip to the lake or some other event.

But what if you have already broken your congregation into two different services? Should you just suddenly stop? That would be foolish. Rather, if I were assuming a worship pastor position at a church that had both contemporary and traditional services the first very subtle step I would take would be to use the same songs in both services, with specific arrangements for their respective settings. This way the congregation is at least singing the same songs on Sunday. There would have to be a good amount of pastoral teaching on worship and specifically on the different types of songs (whenever it fit in to the sermon schedule or was appropriate in the sermons), and I would also utilize worship comments to contually teach the congregation about worship and about the songs being sung. Then after several months or even a year (or even more than a year if need be) of this I would begin to gradually utilize the same arrangements of songs in each service. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of ways to do this while teaching and shepherding the body into a biblical mindset towards worship (and styles therein) – it will just take time and wisdom. And probably many lunches (or at least meetings) with those individuals who are the most concerned (and/or vocal) about the transition.

So there is my personal reason for an aversion to the utilization of a separate contemporary and traditional service in a church: it is dangerous to the health of the body because it introduces a element of continual division in the congregation. And, also, by forcing yourself to become either “traditional” or “contemporary” you actually box yourself in stylistically (this latter reason is worth a post unto itself, mainly because it’s a creative/artistic reason….hmmm…check back on Wednesday…)

A New Song For Your Congregation

Now that you and your team have done all the hard work learning this new song, you have to introduce it to the congregation. Here is the primary caution: since you and your team have been almost breathing this song for at least a couple of weeks, you know it inside and out, and more than likely love it and are excited about introducing it, yet most of the congregation will not know the song and therefore, since it is new, will be averse to learning it. Why? Change is awkward. New is awkward. And they’ll have to think when they sing it (which is not a bad thing…).

But new songs (which contribute to the thoeological health of your congregation) are essentiall. So you’ve gotta have ‘em – how do you make the people as comfortable as possible with them? Familiarity is the key. If the song sounds familiar, they are less likely to reject it blindly. If I know several weeks ahead of time about a song I will introduce soon, I will add it to the playlist of songs which are a ‘background’ of sorts before and after the service. That just gets the song into people’s heads.

I always try to play the song for the congregation at least once before I ask them to sing along. It works great if it fits as an offertory or opener the week before. Also, you can use the song as an opener (in this instance I’m assuming that the congregation doesn’t really sing along with the opener), and then use the song again as your first song of the worship set. Sometimes this latter technique can work pretty well.

The worse case scenario is having to introduce a new song during a worship set. If you have to do that, I would suggest sandwiching it between two songs which are very familiar (and loved) by the congregation. Also, make sure that you sing the first verse twice, whether or not that will be the normal way of singing the song later on – it just gives them an extra chance to get into the groove of the song.

In the end, the real goal when introducing a new song is to make it easy to understand and sing for your congregation. The more quickly they are comfortable with the song  the more readily they will embrace it.

A New Song for Your Team

Now that you’ve learned the song for yourself, you’ve gotta teach the team. Hopefully you’ve done all the really tough legwork of figuring the ins and outs of the song out for yourself. The first essential step in teaching your praise team a new song is to create a chord chart for your team. If you have managed to get your hands on someone else’s chord chart (or downloaded it from a website) I still recommend making your own. The reason is so that you can have a pretty standard format for your chord sheets that your team is familiar with, as well as formatting it specifically for how you want the song to be done (in case you’re chaning the structure from the recording) and having specific notes you want on there for your team.

Something I strongly encourage is to have measure markings for any sections of a song where chord progressions are less clear (rhythmically). I have played with doing a full-on rhythm chart for an entire song. This is incredibly helpful for your instrumentalists, but a little tedious to make. You at least want to write out instrumental sections with measure markings so they can know when they are needing to change chords.

Here’s a simple style:

| G   D | C  Em | D    | G  Bm | Am       G/B  C | D

What I’ve called the “simple style” might take a little explaining, but it’s a very effective ‘reminder’ of what they’re supposed to be doing. More of what I think is called a Nashville style chord chart goes something like this:

| G   \   D   \ | C  \  E   \ | D  \  \  \

The big difference is the beat markers in the ‘Nashville style’. I think I’m going to do a separate post later about making chord charts…so that’s all I’ll say here. Mainly, make sure the chord chart you are giving the team is as simple and clear as possible – hopefully they could play their part for the song along with the CD without ever hearing the song before (maybe not well, but at least get their entrances and exits right…).

Another very helpful thing to do for your team, if you’re going to be playing the recorded version of a song, is to try and (legally) get a copy of the song into their hands. Websites such as imeem.com allow you to upload songs and then let people listen to what you’ve uploaded – that’s always an option.

Now, in teaching them the song, I would suggest having them listen to the song during practice, without playing – just to make notes on what they’re supposed to be doing in the song (entrances, exits, rhythmic breaks, etc.). This is also where you can point out specific things you want them to note. Next, play the recording again and have them try and play along. This is always a little weird, but it gives everyone a chance to try it out. Then, finally, dive in and attempt to play through the song without the recording. Sometimes (most of the time!) you’ll have to stop along the way to discuss problem areas, but as best you can, attempt to just ‘force’ your way through the song. It really allows the team to realize what they need to work on in their own time.

Our church is fortunate enough to actually have two teams that rotate from Sunday to Sunday, so each team is able to spend two entire practices only working on the music for their next Sunday. If you do not have that luxury, which I know most churches do not, you will want to plan when you will introduce songs very much in advance, so you can spread the team’s time spent on a particular song over several practices, introducing the song and letting them get comfortable with it.

Here’s the key I have found: clarity. It is essential for each member of the praise team to know specifically what they should be doing at any given moment in a song. Many times they decide this for themselves, usually based on what they are hearing in a recording that they are attempting to duplicate with their instrument. Your job is to make sure that there is no confusion. There are always parts or layers in a recording which cannot practically be reproduced in a live setting. And other times elements left out will be dictated by the instruments you are working with. Always have an idea where you want to go with a song and what you want everyone doing. That way you can be open to all their suggestions, but if they need direction, you can give it to them.

In learning the song beforehand you should be ready to address any questions or concerns any team members might have about different sections. And you can break down the song into its most simplest elements so that they understand it clearly.

Next we’ll discuss introducing the new song to the congregation.

A New Song for You

Okay, first things first. When you’ve got a new song burning in your music library that you’ve been wanting to introduce to the church, and the chance finally comes for you to use it – what do you do? This is a three-part series where we dig a little into the process. This first part focuses on suggestions for assisting you to learn the song properly. The second will focus on teaching it to your team, and the third will focus on introducing it to the congregation/church at large.

Before you try and teach a song to your team, you need to know what’s going on in it yourself. My personal preference is, if possible, to be able to play it either on piano or guitar (or both, if possible). That way I have a solid grasp of the chord progressions, the rhythms, the structure, and the dynamics. In fact, those four points should almost be a checklist in learning the song.

For simplicity’s sake I will assume you are trying to learn a song on the guitar…

1) Chords

The easiest way to learn a song is to have a recording to play along with. So get one (if you don’t have a recording I hope you have a great memory and/or can read music really well!). Secondly, acquire the chords to the song. This is a must. You can purchase chord charts or sheet music (online or in/through a store), or you can probably find it online for free (some publishers like Vertical Music offer their chord charts online for free!). If you can’t find or get the chords, then you’ve gotta figure ‘em out by ear. Good luck! (there is not enough space in this post to cover how to do that…)

Now just play the recording of the song, over and over, first time just listening to the chord changes and following the chord sheet. When you’re comfortable with the chord changes, start trying to do one strum  where each chord is first played or changed to. Be especially tuned to walking bass lines or progressions that walk through the scale – recognising these can be very helpful to your team in learning the song.

When you’re confident and comfortable with these chord changes you are ready to move onto the structure and rhythm of the song.

2) Structure

Now, stop the recording. Take a moment and analyze the chord sheet and how the song fits together. Somewhere on the chord sheet (top, side, bottom…) write down the structure of the song. Is it the classic verse-chorus-verse-chorus(2x?)-bridge-chorus(2x?). Many songs are a variation thereof. Many hymns are only “verses” with a latter section that feels like a chorus, though some actually are just a series of verses followed by a repeated chorus. Primarily here you need to understand how the song is put together so that you can articulate that in a simple way to your team.

After you’ve figured out how the song is put together, notice all the chord progressions in each section. Are they the same? How are they different? Usually a song will have one chord progression for verses and another progression for the chorus. Sometimes a completely new progression will be used for a bridge or tag – though sometimes that can be the same progression, just with a different dynamic. Where is the intro to the song derived from? Is the instrumental section’s progression the same as the intro, or is it from the chorus or verse?

Also note repetition and variation. Is the verse four chords repeated four times? Or are they repeated three times, the fourth being a variation on the original pattern? Or is the third time the variation?

Basically, in understanding the chord progressions, you want to try and figure out as many of the connections throughout the song as you can. That way you can break it down more easily for your team when you have to teach them.

3) Rhythms

After getting comfortable with the chords and the structure, take a look at the rhythms utilized in the song. Does the song have a straight rhythm or is it syncopated? Is it the same rhythm throughout? At this point you need to attempt as good an imitation of the rhythm of the song on your guitar as you can.

At this point, as well, make some notations on your chord sheet about what the drummer is doing where (as best you can figure). Having these will help you better direct your drummer.

4) Dynamics

Here is the real heart of a song. Make sure you know when the song is soft, when it is loud, when it builds, how long it builds, and where the climax of the build is. A majority of the music coming out of Hillsongs is incredibly easy as far as the chords and progressions go – and most of the rhythms are pretty simple as well. But they are masters of the dynamic. Every one of their songs is unique because of its own dynamics, and their “powerhouse” songs are such because the dynamics of how they build the song to its climax have been perfected. You cannot play a Hillsongs song correctly without paying a lot of attention to the dynamics.

So there ya go. These are some basics of learning a song, at least in my mind. As you learn more and more songs, you’ll develop your own system which will work best for you.

Also, this just addresses learning a song as it was recorded. If you want to develop your own version of a song, do these first. Learning a song how it was originally written is always essential to creating a new version of it which retains the same ‘heart’ as the original (at least that’s my opinion).

Next I will profer up some suggestions about teaching a new song to your team.

A friend recommended this online video of a skit to me. Watch it, and then I will run through some thoughts on it.

First off, you can check out my post on my blog for some initial thoughts.Would this be appropriate for a church service? If so, when, how would you use it?

The first response is, “Man that’s powerful! Of course I’d use it! Right before the message! Or maybe at the end of the message before my altar call!” And I say, hold up yer hourses!!!!

Before you do anything else, realize that the skit is not related to the song at all – they are using the music to create an emotional atmosphere to accentuate the drama. Really. Read the lyrics. The lyrics are actually clean and good – nothing wrong there. Almost tempting to use as an offertory…but that’s another post…

Understanding that the skit could be done to any song, might there be a more appropriate song to use? I myself am slightly nervous about using a song for an illustration by a non-Christian group. It’s similar to the reservations I have about using a scene from a questionable movie for an illustration (even if the scene is ‘clean’).

That’s one issue. The other is, would using it before a message overshadow that message? And using it at the end, before an altar call, would it move the focus from where it should be at that moment?

In the end, though I enjoy the skit, I would have some reservations about using it in church. But maybe if I can find another song the skit would fit with….hmmmm….just maybe….

Yeh, this is a fun issue for all worship leaders. Do you go with the original key a song was recorded/written in, or do you adjust it as you see fit? There’s actually a number of really awesome musicians who believe that each key has what they call a “color”, and they believe a songs ‘color’ must match the ‘color’ of the key for it to be played/performed correctly. Needless to say, I am not necessarily one of those. I do note, though, that some songs just “feel” better in specific keys.

In college I had a professor remark that the average vocal range of men and women has dropped about a third or fourth in the last 40-50 years. This, of course, was by a vocal instructor emphasizing the effects carbonated drinks, polution and various other elements can have on ones voice. But I was struck by the implications of that fact to worship (leading). Many older hymns were originally written in very high keys – some of which would be ridiculous to request of the average congregant. You don’t want to sing songs too high for your people.

Unfortunately, there is no perfect range you can land a song’s notes into (by adjusting its key) so that everyone can sing it. Some just go a tad to high, here or there, or even a touch too low in one point or another. This is one reason I think it is imperative for every worship leader to surround himself with strong vocalists, covering most of the vocal range, if at all possible. That way, as a leader, you can attempt to have each vocalist lead at least one song each service – not to be nice to them, but so that their natural variety of range will ensure that there are at least a couple of songs in each service which each congregant can handle the range. And sometimes you might have to adjust the key of a particular song to have it fit into a particular singers range – that’s great!

That said, it is my personal opinion that you should always start with the original key a song was written/recorded in, and then adjust from that point. There are many considerations, all of which impact whether or not the key should be changed and, if so, to what. Here are a few I’ve noted:

Range of lead vocalist: This is imperative – the person vocally leading the congregation in the song must be able to sing it (or if it’s two or more people – they must all be able to hit the notes they need to!). This is a must – you HAVE to change the key if a singer can’t do the notes, or you need a different singer to lead it.

Range of congregation: Listen to your people. If you are consistently getting feedback that a particular song is too high (or low) from a variety of people, you might consider that the key should be lowered for their sake as well – if the key of a song is hindering people’s worship, then that key should probably be adjusted.

Key of surrounding songs: This is a maybe. Sometimes you want to flow straigh from one song into the next, and “friendly” keys make that easier. Moving a key up or down a half a step or so into a more “neighborly” key can sometimes really contribute to the flow of the service.

Guitar Friendly: Unless you’ve got an incredibly able guitar player, you want to avoid keys like Ab and F#, they are just irritating to guitar players. Of course there is the ever handy capo which can solve most of those key problems. And keyboard players, though usually a bit more friendly with the lesser used keys, always prefer to the key the sharps and flats to a minimum in a key. This is definitely not a must, but something to keep in mind.

As a final note, never feel bound to a recorded key. Chris Tomlin’s songs have progressively gotten higher and higher in key over the past five years. David Crowder really can barely hit some of the high notes in some of his songs, but they’re singing so loud and playing so loud you can almost scream ‘em out and they sound great. It’s best if you figure out what works best for you, your team, and your congregation, primarily so that people pay as little attention as possible to the key of a song and as much as possible to the one to whom they are singing.

In Genesis 4 we find the story of Cain and Abel. Every worship leader should meditate on this passage because it is the first recorded act of worship after the fall. The Bible doesn’t detail how they knew they were to make an offering to the Lord, only each of them brought an offering for him. What the passage does emphasize is that Cain and his sacrifice were unacceptable to God. This is why the passage is so important for worship leaders to meditate upon, because it clearly details an act of unacceptable worship.

Note how the Bible emphasizes that both Cain and his offering were unacceptable. My pastor pointed this out this past Sunday, and it was something I had never noticed before. The person is as important as the offering they are making. Note Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (ESV) The author of Hebrews helps us better understand what is going on in Genesis 4 – Abel’s  faith is the key to his accptable worship.

Even at the beginning of the Bible, when men are just beginning to worship the Lord, God is establishing a standard for the worship offered to him. The condition of the heart is what is important to God in worship. But never neglect the understanding that what is done is also just as important as the heart that offers it. Do you really care about worshipping God if you do not take the time to understand what type of worship is acceptable to him?

To me, the “why” behind worship goes all the way back to the beginning, the very beginning. In fact, when God called everything “good”. After creating everything and placing man in the Garden of Eden, he instructed Adam to “tend and keep” it. In fact, there are very strong arguments to translate that phrase “worship and obey”. I was able to take Hebrew from a professor who had worked with some translators of a newer version of the Bible (I think it was ESV, but I’m not too sure on that…), and he actually talked with us about how he presented a complete argument for this translation, but he was over-ruled by others. Yet he is not alone in his opinion, for there are many scholars who agree with him in this.

That translation would highlight an aspect of the creation story which is not quite as evident at first glance. Unfortunately, to me, it seems that most read the creation account as a story of “how we got here” – a historical account. And though the Bible contains an historical record, it’s actual purpose is theological, not historical. Therefore the real reason God saw fit to include an account of creation in his revelation of himself  to us (that is, the Bible) is so that we will know “why”. Thusly, Genesis 1-3 becomes less a historical record (though it is that) and more a revelation of “why we are here.”

Noel Due, in his book Created for Worship, writes that “God’s decision to create the universe is the effective cause of worship.” (p. 35) When God moved and created, the only correct response of that creation was worship. What I really want to emphasize here is that worship, as a purpose to life, predates the fall. Before man turned to sin, his only purpose was to worship (I will not even go into the connection between work and worship which this understanding also draws out). Though we worship the Lord because of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, that is not only why. Had there never been sin, never been a need for the cross, there still would have been worship. And if Adam and Eve had never eaten that apple, we would all have an unfallen nature – but we would still be worshipping.

I challenge you to take a little bit of time and meditate on this concept of worship being a purpose to all life. How the command to worship actually predates the fall. Think about how sin hinders our worship, and how Christ, in coming, dying, and rising again brought about a way to redeem our worship and enable us to worship as God intends us to.

“I Will Wait for You There” comes from Phil Wickham’s self-titled debut album. I found some words/chords online here and here. Have a listen to the song:

I Will Wait For You There – Phil Wickham

Orientations/Focus: This song is vertical/man-focused. It is sung to God (vertical), but the focus of the song is man, specifically what man will do.

Theology: The real thrust of this song is a declaration of (and expressing the joy found therein) private time spend communing with God. I like the idea of “waiting”, because it is so different from the modern american mindset – we want what we want now, and many times Christians bring this mindset over into their quiet time. But waiting implies patience. It also implies that what will come is worth the wait. This song is quite passionate, and is structured and instrumented for an intimate feel, and it truly does convey intimacy and a passion for it. There is also an undergirding emphasis upon man’s dependency upon the Lord – he cannot make it on his own. Of course, my favorite part is the chorus, where he sings about what he will do in that intimate time with his Lord: he will express his passion for his God. When this song is used in a service, the goal would be to invoke a longing in the hearts of the hearers – you want them to identify with the singers stated passion and desire. It actually is a very simple theme of desire for intimacy with the Lord.

Music/Instrumentation: Obviously this song was meant to be played on guitar. I think it might be able to be done on the piano, but it would take a very well-done arrangement – you wouldn’t want the steady right hand chords with the left hand doing a baseline sort of thing. I would advise just using the same instrumentation as on the recording: one singer, one acoustic guitarist. The lyrics speak of intimacy, the instrumentation reflects that. Whatever you do, don’t add more instruments or singers, because then it becomes more than a song from one man/woman to their God.

Use: Due to the nature of the song, it is not really a congregational worship song. The nature of the song also would make it rather inappropriate for an opener or even for communion. But, on the other hand, it would make a great special or offertory. Specifically, if the message is going to be about one’s private prayer life or even one’s quiet time, I think this song would be especially appropriate. But if you’re looking at the resurrection, or the atonement, or forgiveness, or even the return of Christ, this song would not be appropriate. It is one song I would only use in specific circumstances, but in those circumstances it would be highly appropriate and effective in setting the tone for the message.