Album art from Matt Jackson’s terrific record!Many worship leaders (including me) are vexed by the question, “How do I get my people to worship?” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked that question by fellow songleaders. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard or read some speaker or writer on the topic. I was never fully satisfied with some of the answers I got. Often times they were pragmatic “tricks of the trade” like raising … Read More
I’m Looking for a Few Good Interns for the Summer
Hey Web, Coral Ridge has a fabulous program where we host interns from all over the country (and even sometimes abroad) for three months in the Summer. There are internships in all sorts of ministry fields, but I’m looking for one or two interns to partner with our music & worship ministry. Julie Anne Osterhus (my worship assistant, who happens to also have started as an intern a few years ago) and I are cooking up some ideas for the … Read More
How the Organ Could Make a Comeback in Modern Church Music
Yesterday, Coral Ridge announced our official partnership with our new Organist and Artist in Residence, Chelsea Chen. You can read all about it here. She’s remarkable from top to bottom, and she’s the right person to help us steward our 6600-pipe Ruffatti organ. It’s a stunning instrument, and it’s especially remarkable when it’s in capable hands. Coral Ridge has had a rich history of such capable hands, and Chelsea will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in that line. I have … Read More
Worship Book Roundup, 2013-2014
Not every worship leader is built to be a voracious reader, however it’s still important for worship leaders to be worship readers, in some form or fashion. In this post, I want to highlight some of the books that have inspired, aided, and encouraged my ministry of worship pastoring in 2013. Then I want to talk about books I hope to read and books I have my eye on. GREAT READS FROM 2013 Robbie Castleman, Story-Shaped Worship A deep, sweeping … Read More
The Reason for and Content of Worship (Psalm 102:19-22)
As one who not only leads worship but desires to teach my congregation and others about what worship is, I’m always on the lookout for ways to explain worship in a brief yet sweeping fashion, especially when the explanation is packaged in a nice, Scriptural summary. Isaiah 6:1-7 is my go-to passage to talk about Gospel-shaped worship. I use Psalm 95 when speaking of the balance in worship between celebration/joy and reverence/awe. And now Psalm 102 is in my tool … Read More
Singing the Bible – Cardiphonia’s Canticles
Astounding. They just keep getting better. A little before Christmas, Cardiphonia (that influential blogging and resourcing site that is in my top three go-to worship destinations online) released Canticles. A “canticle” is just fancy liturgical language for any song actually pulled directly from the pages of the Bible, more or less. Read more about it in my post here. There’s a lot of talk out there about “biblical worship.” It means a lot of things. I’ve posted before about the difficulty … Read More
Even “Lead Musicians” Have a Pastoral Impact Whether They Know it or Not
Methodist camp meeting (1839)Under-appreciated by us worship leaders is the role of music in the shepherding of our emotions. Sure, plenty of ink has been spilt blasting some worship leaders for using music as a tool for emotional manipulation (and this cuts both ways in the traditional and modern spectrum). But rarely has that kind of manipulation been identified as the dark underbelly of a very positive and inevitable pastoral enterprise–music as an emotional shepherd. The Church has a love-hate … Read More
“Art Diagnoses Me” and Other Fabulous Thoughts
I recently watched this 45-minute lecture by my friend, Dan Siedell, and I found it challenging, compelling, and fresh. He gives a very different angle on how Christians think about art and its purpose(s). I don’t hear others talking like this. It’s vulnerable and autobiographical, but its points aren’t just subjective musings. Teasers: What Dan describes as “art interpreting me” gets at art’s prophetic role in our lives, causing us to question ourselves, analyze ourselves, as it forth-tells truths to … Read More