Worship Leading Archives - Page 2 of 6

Humans or Machines – How Much Tech is Too Much Tech?

Rich KirkpatrickJuly 25, 201701K views

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 A person is always a better investment than a technology. [bctt tweet=”A person is always a better investment than a technology.” username=”rkweblog”] My first huge ministry job when I was green as moss on the shady side of a redwood tree, placed me in a megachurch with a brand-new, state-of-the-art worship center. I was the guy who got to break in this beautiful room. The 150-plus light fixtures on the five catwalks at this point had no gels in them and were opened as wide as possible, washing the front church platform in blinding light. The joy of developing a team to aim the lights and design looks for our services, was one of the first tech accomplishments. The other was realizing that the back…

Country music isn’t that bad!

Joel BucknerFebruary 28, 20170738 views

Over the past few weeks, my worship team has been reading The HD Leader by Derwin Gray. The book speaks about building multiethnic churches and embracing diversity. According to the book, a homogeneous church is one that is made up of 80 percent or more of the same ethnicity. Ring any bells? I certainly grew up in a church that was homogenous. Every Sunday we had a full-on production: big choir, praise and worship team, a loud and passionate preacher, and it wasn’t church without a b3 Hammond organ. My church experience shaped my perception of what worship was “supposed” to look and sound like. It was what I was comfortable with, and for a long time, it was all I knew. I moved to Nashville, the music mecca, a few years after college and my perception of worship and church began to change as I was exposed to new…

Five EVEN WORSE Ideas That Will Make Your Worship Services FAKE!

Rich KirkpatrickJanuary 30, 20176976 views

In the original post, “Five BAD Ideas to Make Your Worship Services FAKE,” I discussed some ways of thinking that seem to reinforce inauthentic worship. Hundreds of shares and thousands of readers later, the new year has brought us a new and even worse list! I know, it’s not the best moment to be negative with our discourse in the public arena these days. However, a new year brings with it an opportunity to evaluate and refocus our worship leadership. And, it is important to find a clear way to articulate what we may actually be feeling—for better or worse. If we can form a lingo to describe something very subjective like our worship services, then it helps us to clarify where our closely held values come into play. 1. You use EDM-pop dance worship music written and recorded for a youth-oriented market for your intergenerational congregation. If we don’t…

10 Reasons Why you should NEVER wear ALL the hats of a worship leader!

Rich KirkpatrickJanuary 2, 201701.4K views

If you are a worship leader and have ever been asked about what you during the week, this post is for you. Maybe you are the one asking the questions as the pastor or congregational leader. Let’s be honest: Being a worship leader or musical ministry leader is a big job. The entire church will receive this public ministry–whether it is in all its glory or lacking something. The typical problem is that there seems to be trouble communicating between the worship leader and the leadership. And, I already know that most pastors and church leaders have this concern as much as worship leaders do. We all know there are tasks to be completed but mostly we observe the end result. There is more than what we see, however. Here are two questions: Do we know about the hats worn behind the scenes that make what is public shine? Do…

Do I Need to Go to Church? – Why we get worship all wrong

Rich KirkpatrickSeptember 12, 20163809 views

Do I really need to go to church as a follower of Christ? When Jesus talked with the “Woman at the Well” about places of worship, his point wasn’t that place was unimportant. Worshiping in “Spirit and truth” can be done anywhere, so we know it is not about the exact address. We know our place of worship is where the Spirit is and where truth is. Widely, worship is looked at as a personal choice and activity. In fact, that is quite true! We all have to choose to worship Christ. We all have a personal free will. But, what is missed is that gathering for worship seems to not be valued. Our worship services are more than an additional stop in a lifestyle of worship. They are the base camps to living life, connecting us to story that’s bigger than us. Worship is sacred. Discipleship is daily. Liturgy…