This video has some basic tips on playing modern worship on a piano. I refer to The Chart in the video – it might be helpful for you (right click-open in new tab to open “The Chart”). I also mention the Happy Goodman family.
If you don’t see a youtube video embedded above, click here.
On March 24, we held a free monthly CMI Phone Seminar with the topic of “How Do I Get My Church to Worship?” I had a great time presenting the seminar, and you can join in after-the-fact as well.
Right click and “Open in New Tab [or window]” here for the fill-in-the-blank outline that coincides with this presentation.
Click play in the below player to listen to the phone seminar.
Don’t forget about the free phone seminar this Thursday, March 24th! All the information, including the fill-in-the-blank outline is available here. This seminar will be targeted to the whole worship team, so be sure to invite others to join you!
The other two parts of this series will be available here and here.
Everyone makes some unintentional mistakes in ministry. I happen to be particularly good at it and could probably build a whole graduate degree program around my vast experience with this rather embarrassing subject. I’m happy to say that nobody died and no buildings collapsed as a result of these errors, but, as folks often say, “I wish I had known then what I know now.”
#2
Mistake: I used to “sell” my point of view about worship endlessly. I believed that it was my responsibility to inform, enlighten, and change people’s views about sound worship practices. Certainly (I thought), I knew more about worship than they!
Reality: People assume that you know a lot about your job, but they also want to know that you are willing to learn. They want to teach you, but they may not be as articulate as you in describing what they mean, believe, and have experienced in their worship history. So, let them sell YOU. BTW, their history is as valuable to them as yours is to you.
Conclusion: I finally learned that the best strategy for dealing with this situation was to enlist your fellow sojourner instead of trying to win them over! I would research a couple of churches where that person’s perspective on worship might be a closer fit and invite them to look in on a service at that church, then communicate to me and our worship committee about their observations about what worked and didn’t work. Incidentally, their take is very often that they prefer their own church to the one they visited and usually end up affirming what they’ve already got! Enlist…don’t annoy!
This post was written by Doug Lawrence, internationally recognized speaker, author, and advisor. He helps churches assess and improve their skillfulness in creating engaging worship experiences by utilizing his more than 35 years of “deep trench” worship leadership in prominent mainline churches. You may reach him at dlawrenceconsult@mac.com. Or, if you wish, call 650.207.8240 for assessment information and scheduling. Doug now teams with the slingshotgroup.net to place extraordinary worship leaders in extraordinary churches. His blog can be found here.
This was written by a guest and used on cmiworship.com with permission. The other parts of this series WILL be (but not right now) available here and here.
Everyone makes some unintentional mistakes in ministry. I happen to be particularly good at it and could probably build a whole graduate degree program around my vast experience with this rather embarrassing subject. I’m happy to say that nobody died and no buildings collapsed as a result of these errors, but, as folks often say, “I wish I had known then what I know now.”
#1 Mistake: I used to think that I had to solve every problem or complaint about worship directed my way and I prided myself on being willing to do so. After all, good people care about other good people and want to make things right for them—right?
Reality: The answer is both yes and no. Certainly people want us to address issues that cause frustration. Folks have a right to expect us to at least be concerned and want to help, but, in fact, what they really want is for us to listen to them. Secondly they want us to express our sincere regret that something has impacted them negatively whether it was our fault or not.
Conclusion: You can’t fix every problem, but you can go a long way in healing the level of frustration someone is experiencing by simply closing your mouth and listening to their complaint. If you can fix it—fix it, but it’s your undivided attention that most people desire, not your defensiveness, or even the “power” of your office to solve the problem.
This post was written by Doug Lawrence, internationally recognized speaker, author, and advisor. He helps churches assess and improve their skillfulness in creating engaging worship experiences by utilizing his more than 35 years of “deep trench” worship leadership in prominent mainline churches. You may reach him at dlawrenceconsult@mac.com. Or, if you wish, call 650.207.8240 for assessment information and scheduling. Doug now teams with the slingshotgroup.net to place extraordinary worship leaders in extraordinary churches. His blog can be found here.
This month’s Skill Crafting tip comes from worship leader Jaime Brown of www.worthilymagnify.com. I picked this video to feature on www.cmiworship.com because I’ve actually had pastors ask me, “Adam, how can I get my worship team to play appropriately during a prayer?!” Jaime is spot-on! Check it out.
