Are you stressin’ out looking for a “kick” for your Easter service? If you have a projection system, videos can help. There are websites that sell videos for churches – usually for $20 or less. My two favorite sources are www.ignitermedia.com and www.sermonspice.com. The latter is a “dealer” of sorts for several companies that make videos.
Here are a few of my favorites:
This is a powerful opening for any Easter service. It made me cry a little bit — I think we’re going to use this one at my church this weekend. “Come Awake.”
Here’s one of the most popular Easter videos ever, from my perspective. “Sunday’s Comin’”
If you’re a family oriented church, and looking for a funny Easter moment – this may be the way to go.
Need to minister en espanol? Aqui!
If you need any help putting together a projection system, please contact your Worship Arts pastoral overseers – either JP Robles or myself by emailing ‘questions@cmiworship.com’
To the right of this post is a link that says “Have a Question?” Our goal is to help you. If you have a question – please let us know!
The question was asked: We wish to get set-up so the worship choruses we put up on the overhead or computer are covered, that is we are not in danger of breaking copyright. What do you suggest we do? Are there websites for us to connect to, etc.?
ANSWER:
If you already have a CCLI License, please bear with me in this post. I will be reviewing all of CCLI’s main features — some of which you may be totally new to you.
Singing a song during church is covered under “Religious Exemptions.” What’s NOT covered is making copies of songs, projecting lyrics, copying lyrics (for anyone), or recording your band. The law of our land (that is, if you live in the United States) says that we must get the permission of the copyright owner before copying ANY of it or projecting the first lyric. So to be legal (and obedient to God), you really only have one reasonable option:
Purchase one single blanket license that covers everything: Church Copyright License International, or more commonly called CCLI.
Everything I’m about to say is spelled out in detail on the CCLI Website. But allow me to summarize the four main services CCLI has to offer. I use all four of these and highly recommend them.
CHURCH COPYRIGHT LICENSE (CCLI)
First question you’re probably asking is, “How much does it cost?” That depends on the size of your church.
1-24 …….. $52/year
25-99 …….$109/year
100-199….$185/year
Complete list found here.
With the CCLI License, you can print songs, copy and/or project lyrics, arrange the song however you want, and record your live music (you can even charge money for it). The complete list of what you can and cannot do is here.
You also have access to seeing CCLI’s “Top Songs” list. It can be helpful to see the top songs as you choose songs for your own church. It can be a real time saver to see what songs are helping other churches. You also have access to CCLITV, their free service with training videos. I repeat – FREE TRAINING VIDEOS. Good stuff too — like vocal coaching, guitar coaching, etc.
CHURCH VIDEO LICENSE (CVLI)
This is a blanket license similar to the song license, but it allows you to publicly show clips from popular movies, such as “Spiderman 3″, “The Matrix” or “Braveheart.” Full details are here. Pricing details are here.
SONG SELECT
In my perspective, this is one of the greatest assets to worship ministry that is so often untapped! This is going to blow your mind – Song Select Lyric service provides the following for most of their songs:
1) Lead Sheets, Chord Charts, and Vocal (Hymn-style) printable charts. And get this – its entirely transposable. You name the key and BAM – its transposed! That simple! Its the greatest tool ever!
2) Lyrics. Sick of typing lyrics into PowerPoint? Stop. Seriously. Knock it off. Song Select has lyrics inserted and you can cut and paste. Or if you you’re using a program like EasyWorship or ProPresenter, you can import the lyrics from Song Select directly from the presentation program.
3) Sound Samples. Many songs have sound samples to help you confirm your choices.
Order it here.
SCREENVUE
This service helps you link up clips from famous movies with religious topics. Instead of searching through movies to find a clip to illustrate your point, let Screenvue match it up for you. For example, let’s say your pastor wants to preach on “Healing.” Searching Screenvue brings up clip results from Forrest Gump, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, X-Men Wolverine, and more. Each clip idea contains clip length, cue marker start and stop times (for the DVD), and a description of the clip.
For other copyright needs, such as a video sync license, selling a CD project, and a performance license, I recommend working with Christian Copyright Solutions, www.CopyrightSolver.com. CCS works with a CCLI license, not against it. If you ever work with them – tell them Adam Diehl sent you… maybe I’ll get something for free 
Well it’s been a couple of months and I haven’t even posted a single jot or tittle. So here we go. A real quick, but important, disclosure: most of what I write is going to be tailored to those involved in the technical aspect of music and media for a local church. If that’s something you’re not interested in, no worries at all – you can save yourself some time and check out some really cool things like this, or this or even this. Okay, from this point on I am going to assume that the remaining readers will be the spiritual tech-nerd type.
Out of respect for your schedule, I’ll try to compose this post in a straight, to the point fashion. Also, I’ll try not to beat around the bush. My aim is to state the good info, the bad info and perhaps give my own opinion. Today I’d like to briefly touch on In-Ear Monitoring. In modern times it’s very common to watch a performer on TV, a singer on stage, a guitar player in a worship band, and notice them wearing a “hearing-aid” looking device with a cable running out of it. This is In-Ear-Monitoring (IEM). It’s actually nothing new. The main reason for them becoming more and more prevalent is due to better technology and affordability.
First the good – some of the benefits of IEMs are: 1.) Personal monitor mixes. This helps when you have that vocalist or musician that always needs more of themselves in the monitor. It’s also perfect for that guitar player who always needs more volume because he’s half-deaf from gigging in bars before he got saved. 2.) Kiss feedback goodbye. Feedback is caused by a signal amplification loop. The monitor amplifies the microphone, the microphone amplifies the monitor so on and so forth till all of a sudden you get that ringing sound and the pastor blames it on the devil. IEMs are a great option when feedback and stage volume are ruining your services. (Later on I’ll dedicate a whole entire post to the subject of feedback).
The bad – some disadvantages of IEMs are: 1.) We’re not in Kansas anymore. Many people have a hard time adjusting to the surreal experience of in-ear monitoring. When you’re used to listening “through the air” from a floor monitor, the transition over to an in-ear system can be a little tricky. 2.) Lost in your own world. Sometimes people who have a great in-ear mix going on inside their head can become detached from what others on stage are hearing, let alone the congregation. The individualistic orientation of IEMs can risk loosing some on-stage dynamics and sensitivity. These are legitimate concerns. Praise and Worship leaders beware.
My opinion. Having used both floor wedges and IEMs, I can honestly say that when they are done right, they are both equally useful and splendid. What I believe you (the worship leader, technician, director) need to consider is your specific environment and then adjust accordingly. This may seem common sense – but if your sanctuary or gathering room is reflective, boomy, or close-quartered then by all means you should consider grabbing some IEMs. However, if your space is large, open, and “dead” sounding then enjoy your acoustic bliss and open up those floor wedges till you feel it in your gut.
Thanks for reading, hope it helps.
Jon Paul
1. Forget your goal. If you forget your goal, its nearly guaranteed you won’t succeed. Defining your goal is important. At my church, we have defined the goal of Worship Arts as this: “Helping people experience God and develop a life of worship.” It doesn’t matter which way you slice it, I’m sure your goal is similar. If we don’t help people — then we’ve failed. In other words, you may have encountered God – but if you didn’t help other people do it you’ve entirely missed the goal. If you’re unsure of your goal – talk with your worship leader or your senior pastor.
2. Yell at them. Oh I know how much you want to scream, “What’s the matter with you? WORSHIP!! Am I the only one clapping in here?” But when you scold a group, you will do the opposite than the goal. This is especially tempting when dealing with children and teenagers. A yell or scold will cause the group to shut down even more. And that’s the last thing you want. If you want to fail, yell or scold your group.
If you have a group that is not engaging…
*consider the possibility that they are not saved. It’s impossible to worship if they are not saved. I mean truly saved. Worshipful expression will be the natural result of a life touched by God.
*consider the possibility that they don’t know the song or its too difficult for them (who cares if you can do the latest and greatest songs if you’re failing the goal?!).
*consider that they just aren’t engaging like you. What’s going on in their heart? Is their life changing outside church? I asked one worship professional if he thought my worship service was effective in our goal and he responded, “You know, I really believe that only God knows the answer to that.” (Of course we have other indications to watch for as well).
*consider the possibility that they literally have no idea what you’re doing. I’ll never forget the time I talked with a high school student in our youth group to correct her behavior during worship time. I wanted to help her realize how special that time was. I asked her, “When we sing these songs, who are we singing about – who are we singing to?” Her response: “I don’t know. Ummm… ourselves?” And this was a young lady that had been regularly attending Sunday morning church services for a few months! If I want to be effective as a worship leader, I needed to take a step back and realize that her disrespect was — in part — my fault. I failed to guide her into the presence of God, and I have to own up to my part in the problem. The following week we made it a priority to have the youth pastor talk for a moment about worship before we started any songs. We’ve been doing it that way ever since.
To succeed, we must gently push our group towards God. We need to be “tour guides,” willing to take our group where we’ve already been. We’re taking people to a spiritual place – we can only do that sensitively.
As the worship team, our job is to lead, inspire, and guide people to and through a worshipful experience with God. That’s a huge role. How can we create a culture of worship in our churches? This post is part of the “Culture of Worship Blog Series”, aiming to answer that very question.
Definition of “worship culture”: An environment where all ages in the local church are able to genuinely express their worship to God.
The idea of a worship culture was foreign to me until I visited New Life Church (Colorado Springs), with worship pastors Ross Parsley, Jared Anderson, Jon Egan, and Glenn Packiam (Desperation Band). I went to their worship conference for a week, and on Friday night I left the conference and snuck into the back of their college age ministry during their worship time. It was a huge room and I fully expected to just observe in the back. I quickly realized that there were NO OBSERVERS in this room. Observing was just not something people did in this church. Their kids and youth group worship services were the same way. Observing was not an option in this church’s worship services – any of them. I left this conference extremely jealous. I wasn’t jealous of their technology and equipment or their outstanding musical talent – I was jealous of the presence of God that showed up every time they gathered.
I realized that what I had observed at this church was a culture of worship and I dedicated my heart to developing it within my own church. How could I create a culture where all hearts reach for God? Here’s what I have learned in my journey so far.
Worship cannot exist without an expression. A genuine worship expression occurs when a believer transfers their passion and feelings for Christ inside their heart and turns it into some action appropriate for them (lifting hands, clapping, living a holy life). Without an expression (be it internal or external), there is no true worship. Our goal has to be to facilitate the congregation’s expression of their emotion towards God. This requires having a worship leading heart.
Have you ever asked the question, “How do I get these people in my church to worship?!” That’s a question with a lot of baggage. Perhaps what you really mean is “How do I get my church to express their worship like I do?” Consider that some people in your church are wired differently than you! That’s okay. The measure of worship expression we’re shooting for is not a physical measurement but a heart measurement.
Also consider that maybe people in your church are not saved. “If we are wondering why worship is cold in some of our churches, it is a possibility that our people are not born again. … We should not expect an unbeliever to worship God. … they have no intrinsic capability for true worship.” (‘The Complete Worship Leader’ by Kevin Navarro).
As the worship team, our job is to lead, inspire, and guide people to and through a worshipful experience with God. That’s a huge role. How can we create a culture of worship in our churches? This post is part of the “Culture of Worship Blog Series”, aiming to answer that very question.
Mentoring and discipleship is a biblical principle for EVERY AGE. Every person in your team ought to have the attitude of “inspiring young people;” this is not just for the old guys here. I like to follow the “20 year rule.” The 20 year rule indicates that you will be most effective reaching those 10 years younger than you and 10 years older than you. So if you’re 52 years old, you will be most effective reaching those 42-62 years old. The 26 year old will be most effective in reaching those 16-36. Using this as a guide – start mentoring someone this weekend (and get mentored).
Young people are interested in a relationship. Before you can ever share leadership, you must share relationship. Young people just want to see a genuine and real person caring about them. Be honest! Hold them accountable. I mentored one member of my worship team starting when he was in 6th grade. After every worship service I would ask him tough questions: “How was your heart?”, “What could you have played better?”, and “Did you ever feel an unholy pride grab your heart?” I shared my own experiences with pride so he could identify the issue easily.
I think the most common mistake leaders and mentors make is trying to bring correction outside the context of relationship. Correction without relationship will breed contempt. If you need to bring correction to someone else on your team but you don’t have a relationship with them – please ask whichever leader DOES have a relationship with them to have the conversation. If this is impossible, at the very least do the correction in an “I-Care-About-You” situation (i.e. buy them coffee).
Sometimes in this process you have to invest in the younger person before you’ll ever begin to see any benefit. It may be quicker and easier for you to do that thing by yourself – but that doesn’t expand the Kingdom. Invite them into what you’re doing. John Maxwell has a four-step system to mentoring someone:
You Do, They Watch
You Do, They Help
You Help, They Do (This is the most difficult, you must relinquish the doing!)
You Watch, They Do
The number one thing here is time and consistency. This is a slow and steady process.
I believe the healthiest worship teams (and churches) are not the ones that pass the torch to the next generation once they get too old to handle the pressure – but rather I believe the healthiest worship teams (and churches) are those that are consistently and continually passing on the torch to other generations. The 25 year old is mentoring, and so is the 65 year old. It takes work – but its worth it.
As the worship team, our job is to lead, inspire, and guide people to and through a worshipful experience with God. That’s a huge role. How can we create a culture of worship in our churches? This post is part of the “Culture of Worship Blog Series”, aiming to answer that very question.
Many churches are introducing modern styles by actually creating two separate services with different styles; a traditional service and a contemporary service. This is not wrong, but I question its motive and effectiveness. With this model the older generation cannot benefit the younger! Ross Parsley of New Life Church (Colorado Springs) has a great equation for a healthy church:
(Wisdom and Maturity of Age) + (Energy and Passion of Young) = VIBRANT CHURCH
If we separate the younger and older generations, the next generation will make the same mistakes as the previous generation. What sense would that make?
It’s like the family dinner table. The whole family gathers together – mom, dad, grandma, and little junior. There is time when the adults and kids are separated doing their own thing – but when the come together for the meal, everyone is sitting together. The children dominate the culture of the family dinner table – there’s no way around it. Adults spend their time telling the kids, “Don’t stick peas up your nose” and “Stay in your chair.” And the teenagers need to respect that Grandma is sitting at the table as well. It’s the same way for the “Family Worship Table.” Everyone comes together.
So how do we create a “Family Worship Table” in our churches?
Let me first say that many churches claim to have “multigenerational worship” when in reality they have TWO separate styles or services. That’s bi-generational, not multigenerational. In my perspective, for worship to be multigenerational it requires integration (everyone sitting together at the same table).
The key here is blended worship. When I say “blended worship” let me be clear – I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT INTEGRATING HYMNS AND MODERN CHORUSES. If you want to truly have multigenerational worship – you must do blended worship with people, not songs. What songs you choose are irrelevant in this discussion. Let me share what I mean.
What do people see when they look at your stage? Take a mental picture of your worship team. Who is on it? Everyone under 25? Everyone over 40? In my opinion, the healthiest church will have a worship team with mixed ages. When people look at your stage they should see a diverse team, representing and leading the congregation. Let’s get the 65 year old tenor standing next to a 14 year old guitar player leading together. That’s multigenerational. (Multi-racial is accomplished the same way – representing your target area’s demographic).
This is not an easy thing to accomplish. I don’t mean to make it sound like a piece of cake. It’s hard work getting a 19 year old and a 50 year old to connect together. But it can be done. I’ll try to explain how in the next post.
This Sunday is Valentine’s Day! I just had this video emailed to me and I thought it may be a great consideration for other CMI churches to use in their services this weekend!
If nothing else, you’ll laugh like crazy. So check out these Killer Marriage Tips with Johnny and Chachi, with special guest Gary Smalley!
The most important relationship in a church family is the relationship between the senior pastor and the worship leader. These two guys are most responsible for the effectiveness of the main weekend service experiences, and therefore have a huge part in church growth and development. That’s why its vital that the worship leader-pastor relationship is nourished and protected. Pastors, someday I may write a blog about what to do when you think your worship leader is a bonehead – but today I’m writing to your worship leaders.
Let me set some groundwork here – God is entirely united and will not cause disunity or confusion. The Holy Spirit does not get confused. God will not speak one thing to your senior pastor and something different to you. It’s not going to happen. Therefore, if both you and your senior pastor have a disagreement on what the Holy Spirit is saying, one of you is missing God’s voice (or perhaps God’s timing!). Let me break down a few key issues on this matter.
Change Must Occur With Leadership. Often us worship leaders get excited about new songs, styles, methods, and creative ideas. We have to remember that we’re recruited for our emotionalism and fantastic producing techniques — but sometimes that needs to be curbed. I’m grateful for my senior and executive pastors who have often said, “Hey man, great ideas. You’re going overboard, though. Chill out, I’ve seen your budget, and you’re not going to rent a helicopter.” We also have to remember that any changes that occur in the church must be occurring with agreement from the leadership; your senior pastor. You may — even on this blog — get guidance for an arts idea … but if your senior pastor isn’t on track with it – DON’T DO IT.
Your Pastor Is Under More Stress Than You Can Imagine. Let me give a hypothetical example. Pastor Smith of Main Street Christian Church has a passionate young worship leader, Derek, that wants to add an electric guitar with distortion to give the music a new “edge.” This fits with Main Street Christian’s vision, and is the natural result of the vision Pastor Smith has laid out for the worship leader, Derek. The worship team and most of the congregation seem to be in unity on this issue. But Pastor Smith is saying, “No, not yet.” A confused Derek shares his view on the issue with Pastor Smith, but Pastor Smith is sticking to his guns saying, “No.” Derek is left wondering if his pastor is a bonehead. However Derek did not consider that Pastor Smith could very well be postponing the change in order to avoid other conflicts — and he cannot share those situations without making other people in the church look stupid or immature — so instead Pastor Smith is left looking like a bonehead, when in reality he’s taking the heat for a number of other issues. A senior pastor is aware of situations throughout the entire church and he’s responsible for its health — so trust him. Anything else would be disobedient: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrews 13:17).
Sometimes, You’re GOING To Disagree. You may be convinced that God is speaking to you to continue the worship service another 15 minutes, yet your senior pastor is pointing to his watch shaking his head “no.” You may be convinced that God is leading you to sing a specific new song, but your senior pastor says no. You may be convinced the worship program should move in a new direction but your senior pastor says no. What do you do then?
*Understand the Senior Pastor is the head worship leader in every church. He may never sing or step foot in the rehearsal, but he has the God-given responsibility to ensure his flock connects with God. I am a full-time Worship Arts Pastor at my church, and I still submit lyrics for every new song to my senior pastor before introducing them to the team (this also serves as a second set of eyes to ensure the lyric is Truth). He has told me “no,” and I didn’t like it.
*Realize you might be hearing the right thing from God, but you have the wrong timing. Sometimes the Holy Spirit speaks in whispers and gives us direction so we can PREPARE to head there.
*Live for eternity. You will be judged according to what you are called to do. So will your pastor. When he provides direction for you that you disagree with, you’ve got to understand that HE is the one that will be responsible for his decision. It’s not your call. YOU will be answerable to God for how you deal with it. If you seriously disagree with your pastor, you have the responsibility and right to respectfully provide him with the information he may be lacking (including your feelings) — one time. You need to communicate to him so he can make the best decision – one time. After that, drop it. Get on the wagon if you can. If you can’t, get out of the way. Don’t you dare bring others in on your issue (its not sharing a prayer request – its gossip and it stirs up dissension in the Body. When people did that in the Bible, the ground opened up and swallowed people — God is serious about it!).
Be proactive in your relationship with your senior pastor. He’s no bonehead. I encourage you to buy him a tall and skinny caramel latte at your local coffee shop and talk with him about the worship environment at your church. Be proactive – fix the problem before there is one! Here is a list of questions to get you started with your senior pastor at your coffee appointment:
- If I feel like the Holy Spirit is moving and we should take longer than the agreed time, what should I do? (find out your limits and structure – does your pastor want to come up and encourage a deeper move of God or is he cool with you going on for three hours?)
- I feel like our current worship style is [outdated, relevant, insert appropriate adjective]. How do you feel about it?
- I feel like our current worship environment (lights, volume, response from the congregation) is ["powerful" or other adjective] ). How do you feel about it?
- How do you think I’m doing as a musician? Leader? Disciple?
Does the style of music we use in a church worship service matter? Yes – I DO think it matters. Absolutely, no doubt about it. Don’t misquote my motives though – read my explanation. 
Firstly, I think we need to consider what matters to God since its for Him anyhow. Does our style matter to God? Nope. I don’t think he gives a hoot. I don’t think so. God will hear our hearts (and specifically our attitude of excellence, for those of us with the specific Call to play skillfully (Ps. 33:3)).
So if it doesn’t matter to God, why should it matter to a worship leader? That’s a great question. Let’s consider what does matter. Emotions towards God matter. Devoted lives to Him matter. Our expression of worship to God matters (worship cannot exist without an expression of some sort, otherwise its just music). An assembly worshiping together matters to God (Unity), which is a great reason we use music in the first place. So if those things matter to God, how can our music meet that goal? Wouldn’t the style choices help us meet these goals?
Consider this lyric: “No hay nadie como nuestro Dios.” For most of you, it will be impossible for this lyric to help you encounter God. But when I translate it into English, “There is no one like our God,” that changes everything. With this lyric you understand the meaning and actually stand a chance at joining me in magnifying God. It works this way because I’m speaking your language.
Can you imagine a church in inner city Los Angeles hee-hawing in a worship set with a banjo, mandolin, jug, and spoons? Can you imagine a church in the back hills of Kentucky connecting to God with an Urban-Jazz Black Gospel style like Yolanda Adams? Can you imagine any church in the Western World doing a worship service using the Asian “Gamelon” style of music; which has absolutely no regard for the 12 tone system (throw your “scales” out the window). Is it possible for people to connect with God with a musical style they’re not used to? OF COURSE IT IS! And the spiritually mature should be able to handle it. But as a worship leader I’m trying to HELP PEOPLE experience God, not make it more difficult for them because “they should be able to handle it.” In an assembly I have to consider that people are at different spiritual levels; I’d be irresponsible if I constantly use artistic styles that don’t connect with my group. Can you imagine a missionary being so dense as to go to a foreign country and require their church to sing all worship songs in English?
So at this point, I think its pretty obvious that style does matter. It is something to consider. Now comes the messy part.
Musical styles are subjective. People come and go to church every weekend. Only SOME of them have a specific opinion of the carpet, chairs, paint, lighting, or even the sermon. But EVERYONE has a different opinion of the musical style. Which one is the right one? Which opinion is the one the worship leader needs to listen to?
See why its messy? There’s no good answer for this. The worship leader must consider the direction and goals of their local church (as directed by their senior pastor), the needs and demographic of their congregation, and the voice of the Holy Spirit. I’ve learned that the voice of the Holy Spirit is ALWAYS right and is ALWAYS going to work (isn’t it sad that I had to learn that? lol). Don’t use that as a license to be subordinate to your senior pastor, though. Your leadership will always confirm the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Does our music style matter? Yea, I think it does. It doesn’t matter to God, but our styles can help us accomplish the things that DO matter to God.
