You have probably heard me say before…, “Don’t just sing songs . . . create moments!”
So, what is a “moment”?
Specifically, it’s a “moment of life transformation”. It’s more than just a good worship set or a good sermon. Moments are intentional ideas, creative expressions, or times during the service where people can connect with God and experience life transformation.
The great thing about moments is that they are in EVERY worship order. They’re just waiting to be discovered.
Unfortunately, too many times we don’t look for them or ways to maximize them every week, which is why your worship orders may be feeling stale right now.
If you want to utilize moments in your worship order and break free of the ho-hum feeling that you’re doing the same thing every week, then you need to know these two truths about creating moments…
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Why your church doesn’t sing… and what you can do to fix it (Part 4)
/in Pastor / Worship Pastor Relationship, Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminThis became immediately clear when I stopped by a local high school recently and I saw up-close what pop-culture looks like. If that’s hip, then I’m not!
Hip is a hot topic in worship circles these days and much of the new music coming out for churches reflects it. Worship Leaders are wrestling with the question of whether certain styles of music for congregational worship are just keeping with the times, or creating a culture of congregational onlookers and worship team performers?
Recently I kicked off this new series about what has become one of the major issues facing worship leaders and churches today: the decline of congregational singing.
Let’s face it… more and more congregations are singing “less and less”.
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Why your church doesn’t sing… and what you can do to fix it (Part 3)
/in Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminI didn’t think so 🙂 But the truth is, if you’re making one of these THREE BIG MISTAKES you in fact are keeping your congregation from singing.
Recently I kicked off this new series about what has become one of the major issues facing worship leaders and churches today: the decline of congregational singing.
And whether or not you believe your church is experiencing this right now, the recent trends point to the fact that more and more congregations are singing “less and less”.
Today we’re going to tackle the second reason for this decline in congregational singing, as well as what you can do about it in your church.
But first an important reminder — while it is within our power as pastors and worship leaders to remove all of these obstacles to singing in our churches, it will take some work (and willingness) to make small, but important adjustments to our worship leading.
If that’s you and you’re willing, then let’s talk about the second reason…
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Why your church doesn’t sing… and what you can do to fix it! (Part 2)
/in Uncategorized/by adminAnd whether or not you believe your church is experiencing this right now, the recent trends point to the fact that more and more congregations are singing “less and less”.
Over the next few weeks I want to tackle THREE BIG REASONS for this decline in congregational singing. The good news is it is within our power as pastors and worship leaders to correct all three… if we’ll get honest about the cause and be willing to make some small (but important) adjustments to our worship leading.
So, let’s look at the first reason your congregation isn’t singing, and what you can do about it…
Gain access to that Leadership Session and instantly receive $813.20 in FREE Bonus resources when you join Worship Leader Gold TODAY! Plus, receive additional coaching sessions, dozens of Ministry and Leadership Book summaries, and much, much more in your personalized Worship Leader Gold Hub. I’ve put the complete details in the PS below, so keep reading to learn more!
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Why Your Church Doesn’t Sing… and What You Can Do To Fix It (Part 1)
/in Leadership, Ministry/by adminThere’s just one problem. They won’t sing!
Every worship leader has been there, and according to recent trends, most of us find ourselves there almost every week in our churches. People just don’t sing like they used to.
There are plenty of reasons for this:
• The loss of music programs in schools
• The loss of singing in public (outside of the 7th inning stretch that is)
• The loss of singing at home (before TV and Facebook this is what families did)
In general, people just don’t sing much in public anymore. Unfortunately there’s probably not much you can do about those three. But there are some things that we CAN and MUST do to help our congregations engage in congregational singing…
Gain access to that Leadership Session and instantly receive $813.20 in FREE Bonus resources when you join Worship Leader Gold TODAY! Plus, receive additional coaching sessions, dozens of Ministry and Leadership Book summaries, and much, much more in your personalized Worship Leader Gold Hub. Click here to learn more and sign up today.
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Did the Worship Leader Really Say That?
/in Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminRecently I was having a conversation with a young worship leader and sharing with him my philosophy of preparing in advance not only the music of Sunday, but also the specific things that you want to “say” in the worship set.
To my surprise, he was having none of it!
In his mind taking time to think through what you want to say during the worship set on Sunday instead of just trusting the spirit (i.e. winging it) was somehow less “spiritual”.
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Does your worship order for Sunday have one of these? It should…
/in Pastor / Worship Pastor Relationship, Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminYou have probably heard me say before…, “Don’t just sing songs . . . create moments!”
So, what is a “moment”?
Specifically, it’s a “moment of life transformation”. It’s more than just a good worship set or a good sermon. Moments are intentional ideas, creative expressions, or times during the service where people can connect with God and experience life transformation.
The great thing about moments is that they are in EVERY worship order. They’re just waiting to be discovered.
Unfortunately, too many times we don’t look for them or ways to maximize them every week, which is why your worship orders may be feeling stale right now.
If you want to utilize moments in your worship order and break free of the ho-hum feeling that you’re doing the same thing every week, then you need to know these two truths about creating moments…
Read more
Make This Sunday Another Easter (here’s how…)
/in Easter, Leadership, Pastor / Worship Pastor Relationship, Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminWhat an exciting week! God showed up in a BIG way at The Journey on Easter weekend and I hope the same is true for you.
And though Easter Sunday may have passed, I’ve been thinking this week . . . that doesn’t mean that this Sunday can’t be “Easter” all over again.
Let me explain. Read more
Don’t Finalize Your Easter Set List Until You Read This!
/in Easter, Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminBy now you are starting to finalize your Easter worship set. And whether your Easter service is completely planned or you are just beginning, now is the time to go through your worship order and make sure you have selected the best worship set for your team this Easter.
Below is a 5-point checklist that we use every year at The Journey, and that will help ensure that the music of your Easter service is powerfully focused.
Here we go: Read more
How is your Worship Team “Really” Doing?
/in Leadership, Ministry, Personal / Spiritual Growth, Tuesday Morning Insights/by adminNo – not the balcony at your church building or even the hotel from your last vacation.
Getting on the balcony simply means taking time on a regular basis to rise above the hectic pace of your everyday work to see how your worship ministry is really doing.
It’s impossible to know how things are really going in your worship ministry when you’re in the daily grind. It’s like being on the floor during a packed-out concert. You can look around and see some things, but you don’t have a good perspective on the whole arena.
So, when you “get on the balcony” in your worship ministry, you are leaving the busyness of the floor seats for a little while to get a bird’s eye perspective on your ministry. And here’s what you find… Read more
Where’s the Slack in your Worship Team?
/in Leadership, Personal / Spiritual Growth, Tuesday Morning Insights, Worship Planning/by adminDo you remember the old Wendy’s television commercial from the 1980’s where the lady asks, “Where’s the beef?”
It was on of my favorites as a kid and a hugely successful advertising campaign because the question was so pointed (and true!).
As you approach your worship ministry in this New Year, you should ask some pointed questions as well. Not, “Where’s the beef?, but rather, “Where’s the slack?”
Where is there slack in your worship ministry?
What areas have you let slip over the last few months? Where is there slack in your volunteer recruitment, in your worship planning, or in your personal growth?
Here’s why this question is so important…
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