So for the past couple of months, I've been leading worship for Kid's Church at H.O.P.E.'s House and that's been a really fun experience. Here are some fun quotes:
Me: What do you guys want to sing today?
Jarin: Can we sing "When I Worship"?
(Jarin is about 4 or 5 years old. Can you tell that his mom is in the choir?)
Kid: Itsey, Bitsey Spider!
(What about a song about Jesus?)
Kid: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!
(I guess we're getting closer)
Sydney: Yes Jesus Loves Me
(Sydney is 2 years old)
Me: Okay, it's time for praise and worship!
Kid: I don't want to sing. I want to play.
Kid: Do we have to?
Me: What can you tell me about Jesus?
DJ: God
Kid: He put bones in my body.
Kid: He died for our sins.
(sophisticated answer for a 4 year old)
Me: (setting up for singing "Oh be careful little (eyes)...") Sometimes we say things that we aren't supposed to.
Kid: I said a bad word when I was sitting over there on the couch.
(after that confession, I prayed with her and she asked for forgiveness)
Me: (to the kid who is standing still while I'm making a fool of myself) Hey! You are NOT too cool for Father Abraham!
Yep, these kids are funny and REALLY good at testing my patience. But God has taught me things about leading worship through these kids. It's a whole new set of skills that I'm learning. I guess one of the biggest things it has taught me is to not be offended/hurt/confused when I'm leading worship and someone is blatantly uninterested. Adults and children alike do that all of the time in worship. So I'm developing a thicker skin for it.
Tip of the Day for Worship Leaders: (straight from the mouth of P. Chuck) What's done is done! Don't spend too much time dwelling on mistakes or perceived mistakes. It's over! People still come back to church, don't they?
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
It Takes Wisdom
...Forgive me as I play with the font...
Last night at Mid-Week Service, Pastor Charles Humphrey (affectionately called P. Chuck) taught on a really interesting topic. His topic was "How to get from the Promise to the Possession." You see, on Sunday, Pastor Dre preached on the same topic, but spoke about how complaining can actually keep us from possessing the promise (among other things). So P. Chuck expanded on the subject and his main point was that it takes wisdom to get from the promise to the possession.
Great topic! It's funny that the topic of wisdom doesn't seem to come up more in the church. It's not one of those awkward subjects like tithing and suffering. But whatever. (btw: that was a joke)
So as he was talking, I started thinking about how I could apply what he was saying to leading worship, which will be important as I dive more deeply into developing as a worship leader. I will definitely need some wisdom. This is especially true as P. Chuck made the point that sometimes Holy Spirit giftings are not enough (ref. Acts 6).
Example:
The congregation you are leading worship for doesn't seem to be "getting into it" that day. Praise & Worshiip is blah, they don't really laugh at the jokes cracked during the announcements, offering time is like pulling teeth. Now it's time for the Word to go forth. It's a really powerful, life-changing word. Your job as the worship leader is to do something (usually special music) right before the pastor gets up to get them in a place where they can receive that word. What to do you?
See? That takes some wisdom. At that point, it's not enough to know all of the Worship Leader hand motions or all the words to the song you were planning on singing. Do you call it out? Do you ignore it and go ahead with the agenda? Do you pray?
Tip of the Day: Pray for wisdom.
Last night at Mid-Week Service, Pastor Charles Humphrey (affectionately called P. Chuck) taught on a really interesting topic. His topic was "How to get from the Promise to the Possession." You see, on Sunday, Pastor Dre preached on the same topic, but spoke about how complaining can actually keep us from possessing the promise (among other things). So P. Chuck expanded on the subject and his main point was that it takes wisdom to get from the promise to the possession.
Great topic! It's funny that the topic of wisdom doesn't seem to come up more in the church. It's not one of those awkward subjects like tithing and suffering. But whatever. (btw: that was a joke)
So as he was talking, I started thinking about how I could apply what he was saying to leading worship, which will be important as I dive more deeply into developing as a worship leader. I will definitely need some wisdom. This is especially true as P. Chuck made the point that sometimes Holy Spirit giftings are not enough (ref. Acts 6).
Example:
The congregation you are leading worship for doesn't seem to be "getting into it" that day. Praise & Worshiip is blah, they don't really laugh at the jokes cracked during the announcements, offering time is like pulling teeth. Now it's time for the Word to go forth. It's a really powerful, life-changing word. Your job as the worship leader is to do something (usually special music) right before the pastor gets up to get them in a place where they can receive that word. What to do you?
See? That takes some wisdom. At that point, it's not enough to know all of the Worship Leader hand motions or all the words to the song you were planning on singing. Do you call it out? Do you ignore it and go ahead with the agenda? Do you pray?
Tip of the Day: Pray for wisdom.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Baby Steps
Hey All,
So I guess this is Update 1 for The Vision.
Yesterday, I led worship for the first time at HOPE's House Sunday services. OMG. How exciting! I hate to sound like an amateur cuz I've been been leading worship for a few years now at campus fellowships and conferences. But leading for my church was like a totally NEW experience for me. I've even led on Wednesday nights and it wasn't the same as yesterday. Maybe because it was the first time leading since God started to speaking to me about this ministry. I don't know.
But it went well. Iris threw her shoe at me. If you weren't there, that sounds kinda random and inappropriate for church, but it isn't that crazy. I definitely saw a side of myself that I've never seen before as a worship leader. I might have thrown a shoe at me too if I wasn't afraid of knocking me out or worried about how my feet smelled.
I was a little nervous because I had been sick all last week and my voice still sounded kinda nasally. But I listened to the recording and it didn't sound horrible, so that's good.
One of the biggest things for me was that worship leaders that I look up to and respect A LOT (Tonee, Darnell, P. Chuck) all had great things to say. And I know it wasn't perfect and I'm waiting for the constuctive criticsm (looking forward to it actuually), but the kudos meant a lot coming from them and I feel comfortable with how yesterday went (for the most part).
We sang "Let it Rise," "Breathe" and "Trading My Sorrows." Yes, all CCM, but all done with a gospel twist. I even wrote a little vamp to "Let it Rise."
Anyways, gotta get back to work.
Tip of the Day: When leading for 2 services in a row, don't expect the 2nd service to be the same as the 1st. Different people, different temperments, different life circumstances, different problems - DIFFERENT WORSHIP EXPERIENCE.
So I guess this is Update 1 for The Vision.
Yesterday, I led worship for the first time at HOPE's House Sunday services. OMG. How exciting! I hate to sound like an amateur cuz I've been been leading worship for a few years now at campus fellowships and conferences. But leading for my church was like a totally NEW experience for me. I've even led on Wednesday nights and it wasn't the same as yesterday. Maybe because it was the first time leading since God started to speaking to me about this ministry. I don't know.
But it went well. Iris threw her shoe at me. If you weren't there, that sounds kinda random and inappropriate for church, but it isn't that crazy. I definitely saw a side of myself that I've never seen before as a worship leader. I might have thrown a shoe at me too if I wasn't afraid of knocking me out or worried about how my feet smelled.
I was a little nervous because I had been sick all last week and my voice still sounded kinda nasally. But I listened to the recording and it didn't sound horrible, so that's good.
One of the biggest things for me was that worship leaders that I look up to and respect A LOT (Tonee, Darnell, P. Chuck) all had great things to say. And I know it wasn't perfect and I'm waiting for the constuctive criticsm (looking forward to it actuually), but the kudos meant a lot coming from them and I feel comfortable with how yesterday went (for the most part).
We sang "Let it Rise," "Breathe" and "Trading My Sorrows." Yes, all CCM, but all done with a gospel twist. I even wrote a little vamp to "Let it Rise."
Anyways, gotta get back to work.
Tip of the Day: When leading for 2 services in a row, don't expect the 2nd service to be the same as the 1st. Different people, different temperments, different life circumstances, different problems - DIFFERENT WORSHIP EXPERIENCE.
Friday, October 12, 2007
The Vision
Hey Everyone,
I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea if I'm going to be able to keep updating this blog, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it works.
The purpose of this blog is to start to share my vision (or ministry) with anyone who is interested in learning. I'd like to keep it updated as to the progress and how God starts to move. I guess it would make sense to start off by sharing The Vision.
The Background:
I have a heart for introducing people to new styles of worship. Particularly, I love to show people there is no 1 way to worship God. I'm a worship leader, so I'll explain this in terms of musical worship. God doesn't value 1 style of worship music, 1 language of worship or 1 action (dance, lifting our hands, laying prostrate) over others. He loves them all. And since He loves them all, we might as well put all into practice. It keeps our times of corporate as well as private worship fresh and not stale.
With that said, I love music. I've always been around it, especially christian music. I grew up in the church, my dad is a worship leader/choir director, most of my family (on my dad's side) either sings or plays some type of instrument. Growing up, I went to choir rehearsals and concerts and workshops. I was so excited when I was able to join our church's praise team. Because of this background, I am no stranger to gospel music or gospel artists. It's what I was immersed in almost all my life.
Then I went to USC. I wanted to join a Christian fellowship and the ones I ended getting involved in mainly worshipped to Contemporary Christian Music (from now on, I'll refer to this as CCM). Wow! CCM was different. "Shout to the North"..."Did you Feel the Mountains Tremble?"..."Here I am to Worship"..."Shout to the Lord"..."Better is One Day". And I LOVED IT! It was new to me but I felt the power in the lyrics and passion behind the singing.
Don't get me wrong. I didn't throw off gospel altogether. I joined the USC Gospel Choir (Saved by Grace) and even ended up being President of the choir. But I also ended up leading worship for Intervarsity (TCF), which was primarily CCM. Two VERY different styles of worship and I loved them both.
Got taught me so much about worship through both of those experiences and did some major reshaping of my life.
What I don't love is that there is a division in the church. People who worship to gospel music and people who worship to CCM seem to be in 2 different worlds. It's gone so far that people have started saying "black music" (equals gospel) versus "white music" (equals CCM). Not only is this inaccurate, but it's exclusive.
Okay, long story short...?
The Vision:
God has given me a vision. He's allowed me to imagine that I (under His leadership and guidance) can work to bridge the gap between the two groups. The idea is to take CCM songs (which, as I mentioned before, I love because of the powerful lyrics) and rearrange them by adding vamps and making the music sound more "gospel." Then sharing that music - most likely by putting out an album.
So there it is. I'll keep you informed about what happens next. Maybe I'll try to implement a song of the day or tips for worship leaders or something...
I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea if I'm going to be able to keep updating this blog, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it works.
The purpose of this blog is to start to share my vision (or ministry) with anyone who is interested in learning. I'd like to keep it updated as to the progress and how God starts to move. I guess it would make sense to start off by sharing The Vision.
The Background:
I have a heart for introducing people to new styles of worship. Particularly, I love to show people there is no 1 way to worship God. I'm a worship leader, so I'll explain this in terms of musical worship. God doesn't value 1 style of worship music, 1 language of worship or 1 action (dance, lifting our hands, laying prostrate) over others. He loves them all. And since He loves them all, we might as well put all into practice. It keeps our times of corporate as well as private worship fresh and not stale.
With that said, I love music. I've always been around it, especially christian music. I grew up in the church, my dad is a worship leader/choir director, most of my family (on my dad's side) either sings or plays some type of instrument. Growing up, I went to choir rehearsals and concerts and workshops. I was so excited when I was able to join our church's praise team. Because of this background, I am no stranger to gospel music or gospel artists. It's what I was immersed in almost all my life.
Then I went to USC. I wanted to join a Christian fellowship and the ones I ended getting involved in mainly worshipped to Contemporary Christian Music (from now on, I'll refer to this as CCM). Wow! CCM was different. "Shout to the North"..."Did you Feel the Mountains Tremble?"..."Here I am to Worship"..."Shout to the Lord"..."Better is One Day". And I LOVED IT! It was new to me but I felt the power in the lyrics and passion behind the singing.
Don't get me wrong. I didn't throw off gospel altogether. I joined the USC Gospel Choir (Saved by Grace) and even ended up being President of the choir. But I also ended up leading worship for Intervarsity (TCF), which was primarily CCM. Two VERY different styles of worship and I loved them both.
Got taught me so much about worship through both of those experiences and did some major reshaping of my life.
What I don't love is that there is a division in the church. People who worship to gospel music and people who worship to CCM seem to be in 2 different worlds. It's gone so far that people have started saying "black music" (equals gospel) versus "white music" (equals CCM). Not only is this inaccurate, but it's exclusive.
Okay, long story short...?
The Vision:
God has given me a vision. He's allowed me to imagine that I (under His leadership and guidance) can work to bridge the gap between the two groups. The idea is to take CCM songs (which, as I mentioned before, I love because of the powerful lyrics) and rearrange them by adding vamps and making the music sound more "gospel." Then sharing that music - most likely by putting out an album.
So there it is. I'll keep you informed about what happens next. Maybe I'll try to implement a song of the day or tips for worship leaders or something...
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