mikeymo's place

This time of year, the same thing happens in churches everywhere.  There's always discussions and debates about the "H" word - Halloween.

I could wax on an on about the scriptural basis for the avoidance of Halloween and trick-or-treating.  I could talk about Old Testament things like not consorting with familiar spirits.  I can come up with New Testament things about not being conformed to the patterns of this world.  I could write an essay on the pagan roots of Halloween and how close the "celebration" of it today is to it's origins.

But that's not the real issue.  The real issue is two-part: the fact we don't like giving things up, and the things we teach our children.

People want things to just "be okay."  They like to try and fit the truth into their own world-view.  This is not confined to Halloween.  I've been in an online discussion this week with a friend of mine in California on the issue of abortion as it relates to the current presidential campaign.  Now, I deeply respect Roy and his opinions, but it seems the bulk of his argument is that he does not want to define the beginning of life as the moment of conception, because  "If at that point we have a human being, we have a number of issues to face." 

That can't be the beginning point of the argument.  That has to be the end, once we've discovered the truth.  Only then can we deal with the "issues" that we face.  But this is a common thought process.  Many Christians struggle with being set apart because of the "issues" they will have to face as a result.  Alcohol, violent video games, vampire movies, tattoos, music, holidays.... right down to salvation it self - everything is negotiable it seems.  For the record, I am not taking a position on those issues here, I am simply pointing out these are some of he issues that are murkey, even when they shouldn't be.  Christians run to scriptures like 1 Cor 10:23, but they seem to only see the "All things are permissible" part, and not the whole thing.

"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." (NKJV)

See the balance there?

More importantly, what are we teaching our children?  To compromise their values? To make excuses? To find a loophole for what is right?  Or to stand their ground?  To be confidant in Christ?  To trust the voice of the Holy Spirit?

Every year,  at least one child comes to me and tells me they don't feel good about going to a Halloween party or going trick-or-treating, but their parent or parents are compelling them to do it. This year was no exception.  What are we doing to our kids?

My advice is to pray deeply on this issue, and see what God is telling you.  You might be surprised.

I haven't done any music reviews in a while, and I'm pretty backed up with music to write about, so here are a couple of "micro" reviews for your pleasure. Since time is limited, I'll only give you good ones.

The Sounds of Daniel Bashta - Daniel Bashta

This album is really, really unique. Daniel is one of those worship leaders who is creating a new sound - a new template, if you will - for corporate worship. Forget the easily memorable, comfortable, catchy tunes we all know resound every Sunday from churches everywhere. Think more John Mark MacMillan meets Jason Upton. Crazy rhythms, non-standard song structure, and prophetic, deeply thoughful lyrics. As much as I love me some Crowder band, forget thier cover of "Like a Lion" and listen to this version. It'll gut you, and then make you want to stand up in defiance of anyone who says Jesus is not Lord.


The Playlist - Rita Springer

Rita Springer is one of those worship leaders who's kind of been out there on the edge of our awareness... everyone has kind of heard the name, a lot of people know who she is, there's some "What did she do again?" This album should change that.

The first track - "Come In." It makes you want to. A vibrant call to worship that paves the way to the rest of the album. There are some beautiful vocals in here. Rita has always been authentic, but this album takes it to a new level.



My Oh My - Emilie Kirkpatrick

One pleasue of being plugged into the online worship community is getting some insight into cutting-edge stuff. This is some of that. Emilie is a vibrant teenager with an old soul. Produced by Ramy Antoun, this EP is rich and deep. I've seen Emilie sing solo with just an acoustic. You can't stop listening to her. This album takes that to the nth degree. The addition of horns, drums, electric and synths to what are essentially simple, heartfelt tunes makes this an EP worth having. You cannot spend 3 bucks any better way. You will play the title track over and over again, I gar-un-tee!

This week I've been writing about a breaklout session I led at ForgeCon'11, the title of which was "How to Build Passion and Creativity in a Small Team With Limited Resources." After giving some background, I posted on the passion part yesterday. Today, we'll go over some tips for building creativity:

TRUST, TRUST and more TRUST.

• Trust your team
• Trust your pastor
• Be trustworthy

I wrote a little about this yesterday, but it really comes into play here. You cannot have a creative environment if there is no trust. Pastors need to trust their creative teams. Sometimes our own pastor has a hard time visualizing things that we want to do, but he usually lets us do them anyway, because he trusts us. Likewise, I have full trust in telling him what we are up to, or what we think, or what we are planning. At the same time, the team will trust the leaders, even if they are not seeing the whole picture. And the leaders will trust each team member to "pull off" the crazy things we are asking them, or to allow them to put their own spin on things.




Keep ideas flowing. Foster an environment where members feel free to voice ideas. And keep soliciting them.

There are no bad ideas, ever, just ones that may not be right for a given moment. Or worse, ones that are never given voice.





Your band is not (insert band name here). Don't try to be. Try and be you.
It's better to sound 100% like you than 90% like someone else.
Strip it down. Find the core of it. Build it around your team.

Every song in your repertoire, at some point, spoke to someone. Find out what that is. Maybe it's a lyric, a hook, even a riff. Strip it down to that, laeve that intact, then rebuild it the way you want it. You're not going to sound like New Breed unless you have twenty people and a brass section. Don't try. Take that song and build it around the instrumentation you have, the voices you have. This takes effort. This takes planning. Do it anyway. Play the song on an acoustic guitar or a piano and find the heart of it, and then work from there.

• Acoustic sets/one instrument sets/hand percussion  
• "Ethnic arrangements"  
• Worship team swaps 
• Rearrange the environment

Listen to a lot of music. A worship leader needs a deep appriciation for music.
Network with other worship leaders, via email, forums, and in person.
Get a twitter. Search #WorshipSet and #sundaysetlist. Follow blogs of worship leaders, especially for recaps.  
Steal blatently. If you hear something you like, try it!

Make it yours. OWN IT!

Yesterday, I gave some background on my talk at ForgeCon'11. THe title of the session was "How to Build Passion and Creativity in a Small Team With Limited Resources." Today I want to summarize the discussion points from the first part - passion.

With many small teams built up entirely of volunteers, and with a small congregation often not blessed with a huge depth of talent, frustration and apathy can be quick to set it. Mediocraty is accepted, because often there is no real idea that things can improve. But I'm here to tell you, that no matter the size of the team or the level of talent, there is always ways to generate excitement and passion from within.

Start - always- with a vision. A worship team (or any ministry) cannot function without a vision. It doesn't matter what it is, or how long it lasts. There has to be a common thread to drive effort forward and unite the team together. Examples of a vison might be:

• Lead Worship on every Sunday
• Grow beyond your walls - service to the community
• Train a new generation of worship leaders
• Evangelism
• Recording

Second - be a leader! What does that mean? Model behavior. In the words of Russ Hutto, "Be what you want to see." Passion is contagious. If your team sees that your attitude is "Meh..." then how can theirs be any different? If they hear you complaining about the lack of insert here, then what do you think they will take away from that?

Worship privately. I don't want to get all "worship is a lifestyle" right now, but seriously, a worship leader needs to know how to worship. (and for the purposes of this article, everyone on your team is a worship leader) Personally, I have an hour-long commute in the morning, and there days I show up in the parking lot having cried through the last ten miles, because of the worship flowing. That's my time. Find yours.

Worship as a team privately. I will tell you something a lot of worship leaders do not get: platform time is not your worship time. You have a job to do, ministry to perform, a sacred, scriptural duty. This is not the time to close your eyes and get all into it. You cannot lead with your eyes closed. But, you do need to have that experience together as a team. Set aside some private time, cut twenty minutes out of your rehearsal once a month. Go to somebody else's worship service as a team, so you have no responsibilities and can let go.



Find a project to work on together. NOT something worship-related. Put your hands to the plow together. Build a Habitat house, serve at a shelter, go on a mission trip, help a shut-in clean out the attic, spruce up the church property. It doesn't matter what it is, it draws you togther, and that helps build passion for being together and creating together.







Get better at something together. Pick something that needs improvement and make it better. Some tips:

• Small steps - work on something that is measurable and obtainable. Success breeds passion. Don't say "We want to make transitions better." Rather say "We want to smooth out the transition from Song A to Song B next Sunday." or "We can do a better job moving from a song in G to a song in B." or "I want to really feel that last chorus in 'Revelation Song,' so lets work on that dynamic."

• Use available resources. There are a ton of resources available inexpensively or even free for teams looking to improve. CCLItv.com as a great collection of training videos. worshiptraining.com or leadworship.com are great and have a ton of stuff. theworshipcommunity.com is a great place to ask questions or read articles by real worship leaders in the trenches. Seek some stuff out, and use it.

Now that you have all this passion, the next post will show you how to use it creatively.

Last month, I was honored to be asked to lead a breakout session at ForgeCon'11. The topic I spoke on was "How to Build Passion and Creativity in a Small Worship Team With Limited Resources." That's a mouthful, but it speaks to the heart of a struggle that many small-church worship teams deal with: how to actually create when you have a lack of time, people, money and (let's face it) talent.

I'm not picking on large churches, but let's face it, the worship team in a church of 75-100 people is going to look very different from a church of 750-1000. Many times, a small church has exactly one paid staff member - the senior pastor. And sometimes not even that. Volunteer worship teams, by definition, need to earn their livings by some other means, so the time needed for rehearsals, events and training competes with work and family time. Many times small-team musicians are amateur- or hobby-level musicians at best, and there is little opportunity for improvement. Many times the volunteer worship leader has no time to investigate ways to improve or to get ideas for something different.

I have an acquaintance who was until recently a worship pastor in a large church near where I live. As I spoke to him about his situation one day, I realized he might as well have been talking particle physics to me, so different were the worlds we operated in. This pastor earned his living as a musician - teaching, doing session work, leading worship. He had seven - seven - full teams to manage. That's quite a depth chart. Most of his team members played for a month a couple of times a year, due to the fact there were multiple services. I know another church in New York City that does not even allow someone to audition for one of their worship teams unless that person earns their living as a musician. Crazy!

Judging by the attendance at my particular session, I'm thinking this topic merits discussion. I had a decent-sized group, given the "competition" in the same time slot, and the discussion was lively. The discussion also continued after the breakout, as various people in the group sought me out over the conference for advice with their particular situation.
So I am drafting two posts - one which will address passion, and one creativity. They will summarize the discussion based on my notes, since it seems there is some value in it.
I will leave this post, however, with a thought on biblical artistry.

And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship. “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.


“And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the LORD has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, shall do according to all that the LORD has commanded.”

- Exodus 35:30 - 36:1

God clearly calls the artist. But notice some things about this calling. God gave Bezalel "wisdom, understanding, knowledge and all manner of workmanship." How does this apply to worship arts? How about wisdom, to know that worship is a necessity, that it drives the life of the worshipper, that it is something that God is worthy of? Understanding of principles of worship, its biblical grounding, its place in the life of the church. Knowledge of the specifics - musical structure, themes, lyrics, technology. Craftsmanship - playing your instrument well, practicing, rehearsing, learning, striving.


Think about it.

Where do I begin with the quality of the speakers and artists who attended ForgeCon 11? These are seriously some of the finest people I have had the privilidge of working with. Coming from a variety of traditions and backgrounds, each of them displayed grace, deep knowledge, and passion for the small church. In no particular order:



Joel Klampert is the driving force behind The Forge and ForgeCon. Joel kept a low profile this year, staying off the platform until the last worship session. But without him, none of this would have happened. He is the keeper of the vision. He is Moses.

Dunn & Wilt are two of the more interesting guys you want to meet. Dan Wilt - I don't even know what I can say about this guy. His deep voice resonates with a poetic beauty whenever he speaks, and he has an innate understanding of the role of worship and the worship leader. Plus he gives everyone "hammered-dulcimer envy." Jeremy Dunn is a brilliant musician, and in his quiet way, one of the most inspiring men you could ask to meet. Together, they are dynamite.

Rich Kirkpatrick is what I expected from a Californian... cool, laid-back and mellow, with an epic 'stache and equally epic stories. "I wore this hat in Ethiopia." Rich runs "Worship Mythbusters" and is driven to help people strip away the noise around the worship experience. Plus, he is a fantastic musician, and looked right at home in the Victorian architechture of Ocean Grove. Rich brought his daughter Emilie, who is an up-and-coming artist in her own right. It was a joy to watch her absorb everything going on around her.

John Voelz is scary cool. I look at a piano and see a piano. John looks at a piano and sees a multi-colored wall hanging setting the mood for a multisensory aesthetic that will astound you with it's coolness. Plus, John plays a mean, bluesy guitar.

Mike Kim is another kind of cool. He's a cool-cool. He's a perfectionist who doesn't take things too seriously. He writes beautiful songs, and preaches hard truth. I love how hard he laughs when he laughs at himself, and he has an absolutely spot-on sense of sarcasm. Which rocks.

Joe Day is kind of the other end of the spectrum. His songs are hauntingly stark. He speaks with a gentle spirit, and you believe every single word that comes out of his mouth. You feel like he really, really wants you to succeed.

Kris Castillo always has a smile on his face. Always. He seems to truly enjoy the company of whomever he is speaking with, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Ditto for Doug Gould. Besides that, the man knows everyone. I mean everyone. From the presidents of audio companies and record labels to every artist imaginable, and he wraps his talks with real-life experiences and real-world examples. His wife Sheri has been such an important part of ForgeCon, being really the sole person handling the vocal track of training.

You'd have to look long and hard to find a more genuine person than Matt Boswell. He completely sells the concept that the family is the heart of the worship experience - he believes it, and you believe it, too when he is finished.

Jonathan Lee is surprising. To my old middle-aged eyes he appears too youthful to have the kind of insight that he has. But he does. Plus, as pretty much a full-time travelling worship leader, he's got some stories!

Steve Tice brings a gentle steadiness to every conversation and session he is in. I didn't get to his breakout, but I know that everyone that I talked to who did, was deeply touched by what he had to say, and was completely energized by his sessions.

Keith Minnick is one of my favorite people. The guy has Clapton chops (or better) but has such a humble servant's heart that it's hard to reconcile the two. Keith has done more personally for me with regards to my guitar skills than any other person, and I use stuff he taught me ever single week.

Darrell Harris is the kind of guy that when you walk away from talking to him, you just feel somehow smarter. It's like his incredible intelligence makes its way into your ears and wraps itself around your cerebral cortex. He rasies the level of the conversation wherever he is.

Shannon Lewis. What can I say about the man with three lungs? Whether he's channeling Joe Cocker during a late-night worship jam or regaling you with tales of the absolutely everyone he knows, Shannon brings a smile to my face every time.

Travis Paulding didn't speak this year, but he gave voice to all the others.  The man is a consummate professional when it comes to sound reinforcement. (He is also a beta tester for the Apple iBrain, I think.)

Emily Schiavi is another brilliant worship leader.  I was completely impressed with her set, and also with the fact that she seemed to be absorbing so much from everyone, even though she has plenty to offer herself.  Definitely check her music out.
Is there anything that Chris Flynn doesn't do? Sound. Lights. Setup. Teaching. Putting out fires. (Literally - he's on the fire company) Plus, he carries around a keyring that's about the size of the Keymaker in the Matrix. I really think he can unlock a door in New Jersey and walk through to Tibet or something.  And of course, Scott and Nancy Hoffman, our hosts, our encouragers, and so much more.

Finally, I didn't have any time to talk with David Harwood, but I heard him speak, and liked everything he said. I look forward to reading his book. I'd really love to spend some time with him someday. Maybe ForgeCon12?

Were you there? Who really stood out to you?

I've spent a couple of days now, trying to get my head around the massive information dump I affectionately call ForgeCon 11. If you read this blog with any regularity, you may remember ForgeCon 10, the inagural event. ForgeCon is a worship conference designed for the small church. Not as big and fancy as Catalyst or Re:Create or the NWLC, because it's not meant to be. ForgeCon is aimed at small-church worship leaders and pastors, part-timers, volunteers - basically the majority of church leaders in America.

Held again in beautiful Ocean Grove, NJ, this year's conference benefitted from better weather than ForgeCon 10. Turnout was fairly similar, even with the fact that there were no "big name" worship leaders like we had last year. Many ForgeCon 10 alumni were present, along with some new people. One thing that was almost universally commented on by those who had been to both events was that while the first conference had kind of a "Let's check this out and meet some people." atmosphere, this year's event had more of a "I need you to help me." vibe. Worship leaders were hungry for information, advice, training, and encouragement. We had people attend from as far away as Hawaii and Uganda.

One of the hallmarks of ForgeCon is that the artists and speakers are required to mix with the attendees pretty much all the time. There's no green room, there's no backstage, there's no staff entrances. There's people sitting at tables, on couches, on park benches, pouring their hearts out, sharing their struggles, hoping for something to take home and be a catalyst for change.

I led a session called "How to Generate Passion and Creativity in a Small Team with Limited Resources." That's a mouthful. I was honored by the size of the group who attended, given the fact that my session was running concurently with six others. In that session, I met a small church worship leader who struggles with how to make the songs his congregation wants work with his small team's talent level; a woman who's team is insecure when it come to the leading of the Holy Spirit during worship; a young man who has to try and balance finding music that is both attractive to his flock, and theologically sound; a couple who contend with an "us against them" generational gap in thier congregation that at a tipping point. And more - incredible stories from people in the trenches, doing the job week after week for little or no pay, and little or no appreciation.

Over the next week or so, I am going to craft out some blog post hitting at different aspects of the conference. In the meantime, if you are on Twitter (and you should be) search for the hashtag #forgecon11 and read some of the as-it-happened reactions to the week.

We had an intersting service this past Sunday. Pastor Pedro, Daniel, Aquim and myself were fresh off ForgeCon11, a four-day worship/leadership conference for small churches. Each of us was deeply affected by the conference, and it showed throughout the service, if you knew where to look.

Daniel and Aquim had taken a class by Dan Wilt on arranging a band, which had deep concentration on rehearsals and how to run them. (I had sat in on much of that class as well) From the beginning of rehearsal, Daniel was taking cues from what he had learned in the class, running us through the set like a pro. We focused a lot of time on dynamics and arrangement for this rehearsal, re-working a couple of songs that we had done before. After rehearsal, Daniel, Aquim and I had breakfast together and debriefed the conference, especially as it related to our team. We had a great, productive conversation, and set some goals and laid out some plans.

Here's the set:

Opening Song:

Greatly to Be Praised (Kim)(A)

Main Set:

Glory to God Forever (Beeching/Fee)(C)
Our God (Myrin/Redman/Reeves/Tomlin ) (B)
God of This City (Bleakly/Boyd/COnfort/Jordan/Kernaghan/McCann) (B)

Offering:

Give to the Lord (Mills)(G)
Again I Say Rejoice (Houghton/Lindsey)(E)


We really worked hard on the "Our God/God of This City" piece, which was almost a medley, really. We worked on a lot of dynamics, planning out low points and high points, and really trying to strip back the songs. I do think it all worked out pretty well. We also had "Agnus Dei" on the plan, but Daniel felt led to call up people from all parts of the city and pray for their neighborhoods as we played under it. It was really powerful and moving.

It was also a Communion day. We were having a baptism service in the evening, so we had the seven recipiants come up and give testimony, then Pastor Pedro served them Communion before the rest of the congregation. The baptism service itself was another moving and powerful time.

Check out other recaps at The Worship Community