Life, Pets and…Worship
It was Saturday morning, before dawn, when I woke up to the sound of my cat coughing up what was apparently a very large fur ball. As I stumbled out of bed, hoping to conquer the inevitable stain before it set in, I turned on the lights—or rather—the dark. The power was out, and each second, critical to the longevity of our 30-year-old carpet, was quickly vanishing. To compound the situation, I had a radio interview in a little over an hour and had neither lights nor a functional flat iron to tame the bed head that was a result of my fighting the war on terror in my sleep.

I’ve felt that way a time or two on a Sunday morning—overwhelmed and frazzled when I had not adequately prepared for our services. The moments I’ve rested on my own laurels risked creating what I call a “man-made worship experience,” far less than what God desires. Mercifully, the Lord still blesses, but it is so much sweeter, redemptive, and transformational when I have taken just a few extra steps to be prepared for his presence.

Here are five questions I ask myself when I plan our worship set:

1. Am I connected to the Lord through prayer?
   As one who helps the church experience God through music, it is critical that the worship artist is intimately connected with the creator. Because song selection is so important, much of my time is spent seeking God about which songs will speak personally to our congregation. Not too long ago, I attended a wedding where Richard, one of our youth leaders who was struggling with cancer, sang the most touching rendition of MercyMe’s, “I Can Only Imagine.” I had been restless all week about our offering song but it was that Saturday—in the final hour—that the Lord spoke. We revamped our set; Richard sang the offering, and that Sunday our congregation joined this precious believer in his fight against cancer. Today Richard is cancer free.
2. Am I connected to my congregation?
   The Rock is a thriving multicultural church—a testimony to the stunning craftsmanship of our God, an artist who mixes different textures with each hue of the rainbow to reveal a living, breathing masterpiece! At the Rock we strive to “Do Something” to impact the secular world for Christ, so I study everything: from the ii-Vs of jazz to Michael Jackson grooves, to Bach inspired harmonic movements. What fun to incorporate these techniques into our worship—sometimes all in the same song!
   From the homeless to the wealthy, the former stripper to the Bible study leader, or the drug addict to the physician, I must read the souls of our congregation and interpret spiritual thirst in a musical way. Since some are reached by rock sounds, others by hip hop, Latin-jazz, or gospel, being a lifelong learner of a wide palette of musical styles brings credibility to your ministry and trust within your congregation. In this way, we modern-day Levites can be “all things to all people” (1 Cor 9:19), like the Apostle Paul.
   
3. Am I well connected to our musicians?
   I sure hope so since the worship artist is also a mentor, a teacher, and a coach. To know our artists’ hearts promotes mutual respect and commitment, glorifying God and blessing us all along the journey. Being familiar with the skill level of our musicians enables us to play to their strengths. Staying close to our volunteers helps me put like-minded players together in settings where we can all be confident and at ease. I never made it at as a cheerleader in high school, though I incessantly tried, but now I cheer for our musical team as their advocate and biggest fan! 
4. Am I connecting with excellence?
   One of my favorite verses is Psalm 33:3, which says, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy” (NIV, emphasis added). Like our Father gave us his best in Jesus, I am inspired to give my best offering of worship to him. This is where the creativity makes its grand entrance. At the Rock we are blessed with volunteer string players who play for the local symphonies, so, often we will feature a hybrid of live strings with a DJ and a rhythm section. If your church only has a violin player, start small and write parts that are simple yet beautiful. Other musicians will be drawn in because there is a significant place for their art, and soon you’ll have your own symphony. (In the meantime, study up on your arranging chops and encourage your musicians to “woodshed”!) 
5. Am I connecting our worshipers to an accessible encounter with God?
   My first rule of thumb in making this final connection is that I am always mindful of the melody. No matter how far I take my arranging liberties, the melody is never compromised. With original tunes, I make sure my melodies and lyrics are in harmony so our people don’t have to guess at the phrasing. In addition, the flow of the service should make sense and be well rehearsed. Usually five last-minute prayers before five songs is a giveaway that I am scrambling to fill up dead space. On the other hand, deliberate testimonies with heartfelt prayers may give the drummer time to start the click or allow the guitarist to change instruments, all while leading the worshiper into a meaningful place of contemplation and reflection.

Finally, let us connect the dots: preparedness as a worship artist begins by anchoring ourselves in a relationship with the Lord, listening for his voice. The music will follow; our congregations will worship. Oh, and about the fur ball, you ask? Well—after a few bumps in the dark, the dawn broke and the stain was lifted. Joy eventually came that morning. Hmm … sounds a lot like a song to me.

About Stefanie Kelly
For more about Stefanie Kelly, visit stefaniekelly.com.

Villain Emotion
The world completely changed where we stood. Cramped together with a couple hundred others in a warehouse-sized venue, transfixed, bewildered, incognizant of the visual and sonic assault that would soon overwhelm our senses. Costumes, Broadway backdrops, smoke and lights, animated motion backgrounds that spanned entire walls, and all of it in support of the drum-driven; broiling crescendo art-rock; and filled with cascading guitars alternately bowed like a cello or caressed with fingers, and to bring it all to fruition, the strange, nearly iconic falsetto melodies of the frontman for the Icelandic instrumental-rock band Sigur Ros. All of this coalesced into a transcendent emotional experience, and it was then that the question became clear: “Could worship be like this?”

Question Everything
Along with that question, or more rightly, right on it’s heels came the follow-up: “Should worship be like this?” That is another question entirely, and all-too-often an overlooked one. Emotion in worship can quickly find itself in sticky territory if we aren’t careful with how we approach it. But still, humans have great capacity for emotion. Emotion is a primary driving force in everything we do, from the simplest act of getting out of bed to the most complex of choosing a life partner. Emotion, however, is pretty much treated as the Esau to the Jacob of our brains when it comes to worship. Obviously we want to feel, but it should never be something so strong that it overwhelms the thoughts we are thinking while we emote.

Age Old
In 17^th century British poetry, this same digression can be seen between the composed sparring between metaphysical poets (poetry of the intellect characterized by John Donne), and the romantics (poetry of intuition characterized by William Wordsworth). John Donne put the highest importance in metaphor and intellectual grasping of his clever turns of phrase and thought. In contrast the Romantics declared, with their words and their work: beauty needs no other reason to exist aside from beauty itself. Metaphysics sided with the idea that “form” was worthless without function; romantics would be fine trashing function straight up. Beauty doesn’t have to say anything to have a reason to exist.

Elliot and Yeats
It’s similar to the difference between T.S. Elliot and William Butler Yeats. Elliot doesn’t so much write words as he delves beautiful blades of thought from the English language into our hearts, and forces readers to feel with the hands of our minds the deepest complexities of life’s struggles.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Religion, marriage, war, life and death, and worlds are hidden in Elliot’s “The Hollow Men.”

Now what about Yeats? William Butler Yeats represents almost the exact opposite of Elliot in that, you could read one of his poems, check your brain at the door, and let the stunning beauty of his carefully crafted words that seem to reveal the heart of humanity, pull tears from your eyes and love from your heart.

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping
than you can understand.
(“The Stolen Child”)

Our Songs
What does talk of past century poetry have to do with songwriting for the Church? In order for our worship to be meaningful, our words must be chosen carefully. Beauty in worship has a function. Our songs point to Jesus (icons), or else they point to themselves (idols). It is up to us to create with care. Our hearts must be aligned with the Spirit of God as revealed to us by careful study of the Bible and the traditions of the Church. Without thinking and study and awareness, emotions have the ability to exist separate from anything of significance—it’s pretty easy to work ourselves into a frenzy simply by feeling a steady drumbeat. The danger is that we let the emotion drive the worship so much so that substance isn’t necessary. But must we vilify the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling? Is there an amount of mindful worship that can be found in the letting loose of your inner critic and dancing with abandon? Could there be an aspect of God that is just as real and complete that can be found in emotional release? David danced. Jesus wept. Mary poured out the costly perfume. John ran to the tomb. So did Peter, but John ran faster.

The suggestion here is clearly not to offer our thoughts up at the altar of emotion. It is more of a commission. Accept emotion. Even seek it out; as songwriters, perhaps become intentional about making sure there is a good measure of emotion in the songs we write and present to the Church. But combine it with powerful thought and careful scholarship. In short, combine Yeats with Elliot, Mick Jagger with Bob Dylan, Sigur Ros with John Wesley. Let us write music for our churches that are unabashedly emotional, yet just as powerfully crafted with intentional thoughts and words that direct us to Christ Jesus through the power of the Spirit. And let us use everything we have that might help arrest those emotions—our minds, our visuals, our lighting, our volume decisions, our stage design, our smoke machines, yes, even our choice to disregard all of those things and lead with a single guitar … or no instrument at all. Let’s use it all to enhance, enrich, and encourage the offering of minds and hearts in our services of worship. And let us never forget that unless our songs move us outside the doors of the sanctuary, we are only creating noise. Emotional noise, to be sure, but noise nonetheless.

Aligning Our Songwriting with Worship Principles
Here is a brief list that hymnwriters can use to ensure that the songs they are writing have some deeper roots in the function of worship.

• Worship is participatory;
  our songs invite participation. 
• Worship is mindful; 
  our songs invite inspired thoughts.
• Worship is emotional;
  our songs invite emotional expression.
• Worship is invitational;
  our songs invite people into the experience.
• Worship is collective;
  our songs are the voice of a common people with a common heart.
• Worship is individual;
  our songs recognize help us pour out our personal hearts.
• The object and subject of our worship is God;
  our songs reflect the same.
• God prefers certain kinds of worship;
  our songs are vetted with biblical reading and study.
• Worship has traditions;
  our songs are informed by the psalm, hymn, and spiritual songs that have gone before us.
• Worship is innovative;
  the Spirit is as active today as he has ever been, our songs are fresh and new.
• Worship marks our lives and our years;
  our songs are written to represent cherished events in our liturgies, years, and lives.
• Worship is honest with both beliefs and doubts;
  our songs acknowledge pain and happiness without wallowing in either.
• Worship takes place in all of life’s seasons;
  our songs are multigenerationaly inclusive.
• Worship is an offering of our best;
  our songs come from practice, diligence, discipline and care.
• Worship happens spontaneously;
  our songs spring from God connections.
• Worship is planned;
  are labored over and cared for in order to have maximum impact.
• Worship is more than music;
  our songs explicitly connect our worship with the way we live our lives as followers of Jesus.
• Worship makes use of technology;
  our songs are multidimensional in their possible uses.
• Worship is collaborative;
  our songs come from a community and are designed to be shared with others.

About Jeremy Armstrong
Jeremy is the managing editor for Worship Leader magazine. Contact him at jeremy@wlmag.com.

When to Say When: Using IMAG with sensetivity and heart
“I must appear giant” is how a friend always explained the acronym. For those unaware, IMAG, for short, is the process of using a video camera system to isolate a subject on stage and then enlarge them on a projection screen. With the cost of such systems becoming increasingly more affordable, it’s a popular solution for large facilities (or medium ones with visibility issues) to connect far and non-ideally seated participants with what’s happening on a seemingly distant stage.

Flip the Coin
I break down IMAG into two main categories, the first of which is what I call logistic IMAG. As a pastor gives a message, a camera operator follows intently, allowing onlookers to see the facial expressions and hand gestures more clearly. When a pastor holds up a small trinket or prop, people in the back of the room don’t feel left out asking themselves, “What was it?” It clarifies the complexities of what is happening on stage by pointing the audience’s focus to whatever the camera enlarges on a screen. In this case, cameras are meant to isolate and reproduce what is happening.

The flipside is a much more recent use of IMAG, the artistic side. Simply put, this approach is akin to rock concert imaging, and it’s probably what you’ve seen if your church has a band or choir. Shots are meant more to reflect the energy and mood of what’s happening and consist of things that are out-of-focus or at odd-angles with a higher pacing and rhythm.

Think. Please.
In an interesting paradoxical turn, people are becoming disillusioned by video screens. In a normal day, the average person stares at their smartphone, sits at their computer screen for a few hours, then probably relaxes at home to their new flat-panel TV. Come Sunday morning what do those same people do? Because it’s become natural to look to screens for information, they gravitate their eyes to another screen. Therefore, context is everything. What you put up on that screen is very important and should be approached with due consideration.

It’s human nature to see an image and connect our past experiences and knowledge with what we’re seeing. If we look up at a screen and see a shot of a loaf of bread that is being used for communion, we instantly begin to think about what that bread means to us: the sandwich we ate yesterday, the bakery down the street, and that old bread machine under the sink that you never use but always keep meaning to. This isn’t always a bad thing, rather something to keep in mind. Perhaps, taking a more artistic approach and shooting a shot of a cross in the sanctuary could help direct the focus of the room on communion with a stronger emotional effect. Or maybe having a camera shot of a stage light, out of focus, could evoke imagery of stars and the heavens. There’s no right way of course, but in a worship setting, you always need to remember that the essence of what you’re doing is ultimately not about the people or things on stage, but rather the message that they embody. Learn to be intentional about what you focus on and direct screenward.

Don’t Do It
A camera shot is never something you must have. While it may seem important, IMAG is ultimately secondary to what is happening in your space or on your stage. Take a step back before you start an event or service and think about the whole picture and environment. Ask yourself what images can be truly reflective of what’s happening. As soon as an image appears, it captures everyone’s attention, so always have a reason for what is going up on your screens. If you have to think more than twice about using IMAG, then don’t.

About Nicholas Rivero
Calling Nashville, TN home, Nick Rivero is currently out on the road with country artist Lady Antebellum but has traveled with artists such as TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, and Hillsong United, as well as, directed video for events such as the Passion Conference. Stop by nicholasrivero.com and say hey!

Ancient Future: Worship and the Cosmic Drama
One of the great tragedies of the Enlightenment era is that the Bible, God’s story, has been turned into a book of propositional statements. The modern method of learning is to set forth facts and then seek to prove those facts by reason and science. So we turned the elements of God’s story into factual statements that we set out to prove. This intellectual Christianity spawned many expressions including intellectual worship. Intellectual worship is “to gather the people, do the preliminaries and get to what we’re really here for—biblical facts presented by the sermon.”

Another great tragedy of the Enlightenment era was the Romantic movement of the nineteenth century. It opposed factualism and claimed truth was known in feeling, in intuition, in emotion. This view spawned a “feeling faith” and a worship that said, “gather the people, sing and get emotional then preach an emotional sermon and give an emotional invitation.”

These two tragedies and their worship results—intellectual worship and emotional worship—spawned a new worship in the late twentieth century: contemporary worship. This combined “feeling” and “intellect”; it “feels God in the music” and “knows God in the teaching.” So worship gathers the people to sing and learn, and if you are Pentecostal or Charismatic, worship adds on a time for healing prayer at the end.

God’s Story
Biblical worship is really none of the above. Biblical worship does God’s story. God’s story is not this or that story contained in Scripture. God’s story is the story that Scripture tells from Genesis through Revelation.

The story is about the Triune God who lives in eternal community and needs nothing. But God is so overflowing with love that God creates a world to be the dwelling place of His glory and a people to share fellowship in His very triune life.

But God’s creatures rebel. God’s creation becomes dysfunctional. The world and all creatures are separated from God and cannot live in His love. And no one can fix it.

So God becomes involved in history to restore the world and to establish a people of His own. In Abraham, He establishes His family; in Isaac, a tribe; in Israel, a nation; in David, a Kingdom. But all these people, like Adam and Eve, fail again and again.

In the fullness of time, God embraces His creation and all His creatures by an incarnate entrance into their lostness and suffering. He then takes their rebellion to the cross, dies to destroy death, rises to bring all creatures and all creation to new life and establishes His earthly people, the Church. Now He moves creation toward its ultimate destination in the new heavens and the new earth, where creatures and creation will dwell in the praise of the triune God forever.

Historical Recitation
Worship recites God’s saving activity in history. Both the worship of Israel and the worship of the Church recite God’s saving actions in creeds, antiphons, songs, palms and preaching. Look, for example, at the creed in Deuteronomy 26:5-9 and the creed of 1 Corinthians 15:1-6; look at the Antiphons in Joshua 4:6-7, 24:14-28 and the heavenly antiphons recorded in Revelation 5; look at the song of Miriam in Exodus 15 and the song of Jesus in Philippians 2:6-11; the whole book of Deuteronomy is a historical recitation sermon as is Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-36).

Dramatic Re-enactment
Also, the worship of both Israel and the Church is characterized by a dramatic re-enactment of God’s great works of salvation. Consider for example the drama of the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:1-34 and the drama of Christ, our High Priest, recorded by the writer of Hebrews 6:11-10:39. Then, too, the drama of the Passover, instituted in Exodus 12 and still practiced today among the Jews, and the fulfillment of all the Passover images in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-26) and at the end of history in the Great drama of the Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).

Counter-imagination
The Church lives by this great drama and is shaped by a counter-imagination of the world. The Church’s worship is no mere intellectual fact, no mere personal experience, no mere focus on the self. It is instead a recitation and re-enactment of the mighty deeds of God restoring the world to Himself by His own two hands—the incarnate Word and the life-giving Spirit—resulting in a vision of history, of the world and our place in it that is counter to all the visions of the world held by the world.       

It is the true story of the world, the truth about the meaning of human existence. You don’t prove it with reason or science. You don’t make it real by experience. Worship is not factualizing it or feeling it. It doesn’t need reason. It doesn’t need feeling. Worship just does it. The drama of the world, that is.

About Robert Webber
Robert Webber wrote an article in every issue of Worship Leader, from its debut issue until he passed away in 2007.

Senior Pastor Sync
“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! … For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalm 133

I don’t know about you, but I am seriously interested in anything that causes the LORD (the ALL CAPS, self-existent LORD) to bestow His blessing and life forevermore. Through my years as a worship leader, I’ve learned that unity is more important than great plans, seamless transitions, or slick production. Those things, while beneficial, don’t cause God to bestow His blessing, but one, holy pursuit, does: Unity. A critical place for unity to begin is between brothers, and leaders. For me, that first means being unified in vision and purpose with my senior pastor, and then moving on to the necessary mechanics of facilitating and leading worship.

Long before Sunday
On the first day of the workweek, I get together with our senior pastor (Steve) to understand the heart of his Sunday message. Particularly important is to know the takeaway point for the congregation. What thread runs through the sermon, and how can we sing songs that are anchored to (or enhance) that particular thread? Because we have ministered together for almost 14 years, these conversations can be relatively short, but, regardless of length, they are the critical first step for making sure we are both aiming at the same target. I believe deeply that if the heart of the musical worship and the heart of the message are in unison, God comes and bestows a tangible blessing, and people can sense clearly where we are all headed. Asking questions and coming to a common understanding are the all-important first steps to a unified vision.

Now, before I go further, I have to admit things didn’t always work that way. There were plenty of times when I had no idea what he was preaching and he didn’t know what songs I was leading, yet the Holy Spirit graciously put us very much in sync. However, there were also times that the songs and the sermon told very different stories, and we realized ktalking might be a very good thing. A very good thing, indeed.

Building a Bridge
We began having more in-depth conversations about what the LORD was saying to our church, and how that message could be served from the opening to the closing prayer. These conversations weren’t always easy because he’s a visionary senior pastor-type, and I’m a quintessential sensitive artistic-type. We had to invest the time in our relationship to understand and communicate clearly with one another. The fruit of that investment is a very intuitive relationship that allows us to flow freely with what we believe God is saying. When Steve finds a specific song that fits he suggests it, and we almost always end up doing it. Otherwise he leaves me to select the songs, trusting that we are both heading toward the same goal.

More Than Choosing Songs
So here’s what the first day of the workweek day looks like: After my conversation with Steve about vision for Sunday, my work begins: the mystical journey of song selection. After praying, I often come up with one word to search for in my song folder. I’ll pull every song that contains that thematic word, waiting to see which ones strike a chord. Often, I spend lots of time walking laps around our sanctuary—guitar-in-hand—singing song after song, listening for the ones that have “life” on them. Once the songs are selected, we load them onto Planning Center for the worship team, giving us all time to move in unity for the coming Sunday.

For us, it’s a fairly simple process. We both seek God for his vision, tell one another what we’re hearing, and walk out that vision together. Amos 3:3 says “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” We’ve learned it is critical to get in sync (to agree) early, letting everything flow from that common vision and purpose in order to continually experience the blessing of the LORD.

Worship Leader Quick Tips: Connect With Your Pastor

1. Relate (build relationship) with your senior pastor
2. Pray (separately and together) for vision and share what you’re hearing
3. Listen to the teaching pastor’s vision for the service
4. Work through any roadblocks
5. Mutually honor one another
6. Define the theme
7. Pray, play, and consider
8. Select service songs
9. Distribute to the team
10. Move in unity in preparation for Sunday