Episode 48: Darrell Evans Q&A

On this edition of the show, Wisdom and Ben catch up with Darrell Evans.  We hear your questions submitted to us before the recording and live over Talkshoe.

Quick Links

WorshipPlanning.com – Stop by our kind sponsors and try them out.  There are some fantastic features that Tom and crew continue to roll out for worship teams. Check out their new iPhone App! It’s free and it will make your life much easier!

DarrellEvans.com – This is Darrell’s site. You can also “Like” his Facebook page.

Darrell on Twitter – Follow Darrell on Twitter to see what’s going on in his life.

Nothing Less Than Everything on iTunes – Check out Darrell’s latest album on iTunes and leave him a review!

All About Worship on iTunes – Visit us on iTunes and PLEASE leave some feedback! The smart folks at iTunes deleted our page by mistake recently along with all the listener reviews we had. We would greatly appreciate your leaving a review!

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Giveaway

We are doing three big giveaways!

1. A FREE Registration to the Forge Conference. Sept 30 – Oct 2, 2010 in Ocean Grove, NJ.

2. A FREE Registration to National Worship Leader Conference East. Oct 5 – 7, 2010 in Lancaster, PA.

Just leave a comment on this post to be entered to win. Deadline is Aug 18th. We’ll announce the winner here!

3. Free music! Beginning August, visit the AllAboutWorship blog once a week you’ll have a chance to win free CD’s!

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Thanks

We want to say a BIG thanks to WorshipPlanning.com for sponsoring this episode. Start your 30 day free trial today. Be sure and follow them on Twitter at @worshipsense right here or find them on Facebook.

Thanks to Darrell for spending time with us on the show. And as always….THANK YOU for listening!!!!

Check out this new song “You Could Never Be Praised Enough” from Darrell that we discussed on the show:

Resources abound at the National Worship Leader Conference!

We had a wonderful time at the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City this past week! The All About Worship Team was there throughout the week, both as attendees and workshop leaders.  If you missed it, I’ll try to give you a quick recap and plenty of links to some great resources made available at the conference.

Conference attendees not only had the the chance to worship, learn, and build relationships, but also participate. Songwriters could bring in original songs and have a panel of experts give them feedback on their songs at the Song DISCovery Listening Panels. Singing in the conference choir was another great way to participate. There were about 80 people in the choir, under the direction of Stan Endicott. I had the privilege to sing in the choir this year, along with 10 others from our church.  Stan has such wonderful insights about worship, music and life. On Monday night, we sang with Keith and Kristyn Getty, and on Thursday evening we sang two of the Odes.  Stay tuned to the All About Worship Podcast for an upcoming  interview with the Gettys!

On Monday morning, before the actual conference began, I attended a pre-conference seminar on being a “Steward of Technology in the Service of Worship”. You can read more about that in an earlier blog post here.  It was a topic that I believe will become increasingly relevant as the use of technology in worship is skyrocketing! Ben Abu Saada did a great job as part of a panel discussion on this topic, as well!

One of the pre-conference leaders was D.J. Chaung, the network developer for Worship Leader Magazine. D.J. has put together an excellent website on this topic. TechSteward.net is an excellent resource for worship leaders who are interested in learning more about technology stewardship. All About Worship co-hosts Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada did an excellent job leading their workshop called “Leading Your Team Through Technology”.  It was filled with great tips and resources.

Besides the great workshops on a variety of topics, dealing both with the heart and the art, some of my best memories were the times of corporate worship and the speakers who challenged us from God’s Word.  To be led in worship by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Phil Wickham, Tenth Avenue North, Starfield, Pocket Full of Rocks, the list goes on… was truly an experience I will not forget.  Also, to hear 3,000 worship leaders singing at the top of their lungs (in tune!) was a sound that will not be forgotten.  All of the speakers did an excellent job, but I especially enjoyed hearing from from Louie Giglio, Marcos Witt, and Lisa Harper.

Michael Farren, from Pocket Full of Rocks, was one of the worship leaders. I actually was privileged to have a surprise lunch with Michael and Meredith Andrews during the conference! Twitter paid off once again, and 4 of the team from our church, along with a few others won a contest and were treated to lunch. Here are a few pics:

If you weren’t able to be at the conference, or if you would just like to relive some of the main sessions, you can using the video on-demand feature of the Worship Stream site. The people at Worship Stream were busy all week live streaming the main sessions, but you can now go back and watch them again. Just go to the NWLC Worship Stream site to view all the speakers and even the worship set with Jonathan Lee!

Another really cool part of the conference was connecting with other worship leaders from around the country! I met so many people face-to-face who I had previously only known through Twitter.  There were several All About Worship listeners there this week, and it was great to meet some of you face to face!

If you attended the conference, why don’t you share some of your best memories, or some of the things you learned here in the comment section. We’d love to hear and learn from you!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

A Steward of Technology #nwlc10

This week I’m privileged to be a part of the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City, KS, put on by Worship Leader Magazine. The week kicked off with a pre-conference seminar on the topic of “Stewards of Technology in the Service of Worship”. It really was a very interesting 4 hours, filled not just with a boatload of practical tips, resources and ideas, but also a challenge to really think about the whys in what we do with technology.

The seminar was led by Chuck Fromm, Publisher of Worship Leader magazine, DJ Chaung, Network Developer at WL Magazine and other guests, including Dr. Mark D. Roberts and our very own Ben Abu Saada, co-host of the All About Worship Podcast.

There were so many great thoughts that came out of this, but I thought I would just share a few.  Dr. Roberts asked the question “How do I exercise my stewardship of technology in a worshiping community”.  He really challenged us to focus on three main areas of our job as a tech steward.  We are to think critically, biblically, and spiritually about each new technology we would like to add. Technology is both good and bad, Roberts said.  We’re also to ask questions, such as why are we doing this, what are the benefits, and other theological and psychological questions in regards to how we should be involved. Finally, we’re to pray about how God would want us to use technology in worship.  It  was a good reminder that just because we can, doesn’t mean we should, in every circumstance.

Both Dr. Roberts and Chuck Fromm did a great job of helping us look critically at the use of technology in worship. It’s so easy to just add this new feature, or add this new avenue of communication, just because it’s out there, and the latest thing. While it may be a good thing, is it really helping us do a better job of being the Body of Christ, or is it just cool?

DJ Chaung is the network developer at Worship Leader Magazine, and he gave us some very practical ideas on how we can use technology in a worship setting.  He gave a great presentation, and wanted everyone to make sure to know that his presentation is available at the website for this event,  which is www.techsteward.net. You can actually find the slides and presentations for all the speakers from this morning’s event at this site. You should definitely check it out!!

DJ explained how he defines a tech steward,  and after hearing his explanation, I think a lot of us might identify ourselves as one! A Tech Steward is involved in four different areas in the church: researching, selecting which social media tool to use for your church, coordinating and training.  Researching involves knowing your community, knowing technology, and knowing the Bible. He said that we need to research and know our own community because every community has a way of communicating that will work best with them. We can’t assume that just because Facebook works with one church, it will work in every church. He also said a tech steward should be resourceful, trustworthy, optimistic and open to new concepts.

Following that, the morning ended with a panel discussion with all the speakers. Ben Abu Saada joined the panel and fielded some questions from the audience (even ones sent in via text message or Twitter during the workshop, of course…)  Ben did a great job, and explained what tools his church uses to reach his community.

I would really encourage you to check out the Tech Steward website for all the notes from today’s workshop. I’d also love to hear your comments on this topic. Let’s share ideas of how you use technology in your churches!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

National Worship Leader Conference, KS – Preview

In less than a week, from July 19-22, the National Worship Leader Conference 2010 will be held in Leawood, KS. The NWLC10 is put on the  by the great folks at Worship Leader Magazine.  Check out the conference website to get all the details! All About Worship hosts Ben Abu Saada and Wisdom Moon have been invited to be part of the team of official bloggers for the conference.   Check out this site to see a complete list of all the official NWLC10 bloggers.

Conference attendees will be challenged by excellent speakers such as Louie Giglio, Marcos Witt, Scotty Smith and Dr. Quentin Schultze and more. Musical artists will include Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Laura Story, Pocket Full of Rocks (a favorite from our All About Worship Retreat last May), Starfield, Tenth Avenue North, and others!!

Besides amazing times of worship, challenging speakers and worship concerts in the evening, there will also be several different workshop tracks covering a variety of topics, including Worship Leadership, Pastoral Leadership, Worship Songwriting & Technology, Worship Tech, Visual Arts & Technology, Vocal Team,  Worship Musicians, and others! Click here to find a list of all the workshops offered, and here to download an alternate version of the workshop schedule that I put together.

One of the tracks will focus on Stewarding Technology, and All About Worship hosts Ben Abu Saada and Wisdom Moon have been invited to teach a workshop called “Leading Your Team Through Technology”.  If you’re at the conference, be sure to stop by! I’m sure Ben and Wisdom would love to meet you!!  It will be taught on Thursday afternoon, July 22nd, at 1:45 and 3:30 p.m. If you have a question on this topic that you would like addressed, leave a comment here and let us know. Here’s the course description:

“In today’s culture it is critical that we, the local church, know how to utilize technology and social media in our ministries. Have you ever wondered how you could use social media and technology to help you lead your team? Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada, hosts of the All About Worship Podcast, will share with you how worship ministries big and small can utilize blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and podcasts. They’ll share resources and practical tips on different ways to communicate with your team without needing a big budget.”

Check back to this site to see more updates about the National Worship Leader Conference. Hope to see you there!!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

Online Worship Leadership Training – Registration Giveaway!

Dwayne Moore, author of Pure Praise, is at it again! He will be teaching a 10 week long online course for those involved in worship ministry. We are hereby announcing a registration giveaway to this training course!

Here are the topics Dwayne is planning on covering:

Session 1: Developing Your Team to Be Ministers Through Music
Session 2: Preparing for and Leading Weekly Rehearsals
Session 3: Dealing with Conflicts, Negativity and Immorality in Your Group
Session 4: Developing Your Personal Leadership and People Skills
Session 5: Understanding the Five Goals When Leading Worship
Session 6: Planning Effective Worship Sets that Flow
Session 7: Teaching Your Team Proper Stage Presence and Presentation
Session 8: Communicating Well With Your Pastor and Your Worship Teams
Session 9: Teaching Your Congregation about Worship and Worship Styles
Session 10: Understanding the Keys to a Long and Successful Ministry

This course will be held on Tuesday evenings, September 7th thru November 9th, 2010. Find out all the details here.

If you would like to have a chance at winning a free registration (a $199 value), leave a comment on this post by Wednesday, July 14th. We’ll pick a random winner. It’s that simple.

“A Beautiful Exchange” – Hillsong CD Review

I always wait with great anticipation for the next release from Hillsong Live, hoping to find at least a few gems that I can use with our teams at church. After listening to their latest release, “A Beautiful Exchange”, I’m glad to say that I was not disappointed, and there are several songs that I can’t wait to incorporate at church. Beyond that, as I sat and listened to the entire project from beginning to end with just me and my headphones, I was ushered into a time of worship right there in my living room.  Thank you Hillsong, once again, for giving us such great tools to use in the church to lift His name on high!

Here is the complete track number, title and songwriter list:

1. “Our God Is Love” (Joel Houston, Scott Ligertwood)
2. “Open My Eyes” (Reuben Morgan, Braden Lang)
3. “Forever Reign” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram)
4. “The One Who Saves” (Ben Fielding)
5. “Like Incense/Sometimes By Step” (Brooke Ligertwood, Rich Mullins, David Strasser)
6. “Greatness Of Our God” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram, Stu Garrard)
7. “The Father’s Heart” (Gio Galanti, Jorim Kelly)
8. “You” (Joel Houston)
9. “Love Like Fire” (Matt Crocker)
10. “Believe” (Reuben Morgan, Darlene Zschech)
11. “Beautiful Exchange” (Joel Houston)
12. “Thank You” (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)
13. “Forever Reign (Radio Version)” (Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram)

The album opens with “Our God is Love”, a great call to worship written by Joel Houston, who was featured recently on our podcast, and “Open My Eyes”, an upbeat, vertical prayer for God to open our eyes and let us see all the wonders and power of His name.

Then comes my favorite track of the entire project, “Forever Reign”, a soaring anthem of praise.  While the verses declare who God is: “You are good, You are good, when there’s nothing good in me…”, the chorus is vertical: “Oh, I’m running to Your arms, the riches of Your love will always be enough”.  You may already be familiar with this song, though, as it was recently released by One Sonic Society on their 5 track EP.  Reuben Morgan teamed up with Jason Ingram, a member of OSS, to co-write this song (along with “The Greatness of Our God”, another title on this CD).

You can watch and listen to “Forever Reign” below:

This CD was not without its surprises. As I was listening to “Like Incense/Sometimes By Step”, all of a sudden I said – hey, I know that song! This song takes the very familiar chorus “Sometimes By Step” by Rich Mullins and pairs it with some rich new verses by Brooke Ligertwood. There’s the other surprise – as I was listening to this song, I was sure I heard Brooke Fraser’s distinct, beautiful voice, but the credits said Brooke Ligertwood. Now I was confused… Until I did a bit of research and discovered that Brooke married Hillsong member Scott Ligertwood recently and has changed her name.  Needless to say, regardless of her name, Brooke has done a wonderful job pairing these two songs into a seamless flow, and has once again brought this powerful anthem for the church to a whole new generation.

Other songs that are on my shortlist include “Love Like Fire”, a song of surrender to God’s love; “A Beautiful Exchange”, a story of salvation; and “Thank You”, thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. Those are just a few standouts for me, but the entire album is filled with great songs for the church to sing. If you’re a fan of Hillsong, then you’ll definitely want to make sure to add this CD to your collection!

Barry Westman

Choosing Worship Songs: Horizontal or Vertical?

A friend of mine asked me to consider blogging on how I go about selecting worship music. So I’ve assembled some thoughts on the topic and will be sharing them periodically.

Well, let me start off by saying I am NO expert on this subject by any means.  But I love to read experts and use their ideas enhancing them for the use of the Grace Church worship services.

Often I have folks suggest songs for our worship services here at Grace.  Sometimes they make the list and other times they don’t.  My hestiation in sharing this info is that people might make the assumption that the worship song idea they have won’t make the cut based on the criteria.  I LOVE having people recommend songs!  I like to hear when people get excited about a song that caused them to take pause in their busy life and reflect on God. So don’t judge your recommendations, don’t hold them back…please!

Horizontal or Vertical?

Does the song cause the singer to sing about God or to God?  There are many inspiring songs that speak of the wonderful works, nature or truth of God, however they aren’t being directly sung to God.  These songs are horizontal in nature.

Some great worship song examples that I consider horizontal are: Amazing Grace, Standing on the Promises, In Christ Alone and How Great is Our God. If you read the lyrics of these songs you will find that there are no phrases that indicate it’s being sung to God but about God.  They all tell great truths that teach us aspects about the nature of our great God.

Some great worship song examples that I consider vertical are: Here I am to Worship, You Are My King, How Great Thou Art and Heart of Worship. Even in the titles you can see the direction these songs might take a singer.

When you listen to worship music, see if you can classify it as vertical or horizontal.  Think of it in terms of “in Spirit and in Truth”.  Is the song proclaiming truth?  Or is the song directly sung to the Lord in Spirit?

Now that these two types of songs have been identified, the next step is figuring out what to use on Sunday!  And that depends greatly upon the needs of the church, the direction of the pastor/teacher and the particular message that Sunday.  I’ll get into that on another post.

What would you add to this topic?

Originally posted on July 20, 2005 on Ben’s blog at BabuLife.blogs.com

Worship Leader Highlight – Erin Cameneti

When and how did you know you were called to ministry?

I grew up in an awesome home where God was always the focal point. My parents were and still are amazing Pastors & Worship Leaders in a small town right outside of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve always loved worship, and I’ve always loved God, but I don’t think I actually heard His call until I was about 15. It was at a student summer camp…

The night was intense! There were over 700 students there, and God was moving all across the room… The part that blew me away was that He found me in that service… I’m not sure I was even really looking for Him, but He found me and gave me a word through a Pastor from another church that spoke to the heart of exactly what I was going through at the time. (Not to mention I met my future husband at that camp! Whole ‘nother story…)

From that moment on, I knew there was a call to ministry, and as the years have passed, I’ve just been following His voice step by step in amazement!

What do you do to keep yourself fresh as a worship leader and/or songwriter?

I’m a young wife and a young mother… My husband (who is also involved in ministry) and I have been married close to 3 years, and we have a 1-year-old boy who is all over the place! We’re definitely experiencing first hand what it looks like to “do life” while “doing ministry.”

Doesn’t matter who you are, life is no respecter of persons. And whether life brings a difficult relationship, a physical challenge, emotional battles or just “busyness,” there has to be a moment every day where we press pause and redirect our attention to the only One that matters! I love what Craig Groeschel, Pastor of lifechurch.tv, says… “I don’t ever want to become a full-time minister and a part-time follower of Christ.” Bottom line, there is no substitute for time in God’s Word and time in His presence…

Oh yeah, and you’ve got to have moments where you step away from ministry, songwriting and life in general, and just have some fun! (Eating great meals, getting away with your spouse or friends, “vegging out” in front of the TV… in moderation! Or whatever you enjoy…) Many times, these can actually become the moments where God is able to do the most!

What are five worship songs you are really connecting with currently?

This is a tough question! There are so many bands and worship projects that I can totally camp out on for months, but I’d have to say these are my faves of late…

1)    Show Me Your Glory (Jesus Culture) – This song is like brand new, but it’s been on repeat in my playlist for 2 weeks! I love the prayer, and I love the bridge… incredible!

2)    How He Loves (John Mark McMillan) – Who hasn’t been touched by this song! Our worship team and congregation have really grabbed a hold of it… We’ve been adding a 2nd chorus “We love You, Oh how we love You, Oh how we love…” It’s really added another dimension to the experience!

3)    Rise and Sing (Fee Band) – This is THE most fun song to sing live… if you’ve never heard these guys, check out the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta!

4)    We Will Run (Gungor) – Wow… by the time you get to the chorus on this song, you’re ready for lift off!

5)    Love Like Fire (Matt Crocker/Hillsong)  – How could I not put Hillsong on this list! This is straight from their latest album, and it’s one of the easiest songs to catch… you’ll be belting it out after 1 time through!

What is the most important thing you would share with an up-and-coming artist or worship leader?

Always remember, worship isn’t about a position, an album, a goose bump or a paycheck. It’s difficult to imagine that we can reduce the act of glorifying our creator to those terms, but sadly it’s one of the easiest things to fall prey to. Worship has to be an overflow of our daily walk with God. The time we spend in God’s presence off of the stage is 10 times more important than the few moments each week spent under the lights.

My challenge and encouragement to those who know they are called to BIG things is to learn how to be content in ALL things… especially the small ones! Embrace every moment in this incredible journey God has for you! Make your mission to glorify God and disappear from the picture. It seems backwards in a culture like ours, but it’s the very key to longevity in ministry!

Be faithful with the little that God has entrusted to you (Your small group, daily walk with God, relationships, worship team, church) And God will some day make you ruler over much! (Matthew 25)

Could you share one of your most embarrassing moments while leading worship?

I knew this was coming! An All About Worship trademark…HaHa! Honestly, I am very thankful that I don’t have too many embarrassing moments in my short history of leading worship! I’d say the most awkward/embarrassing moment that I have experienced is one that many have gone through…

I was leading at a women’s retreat, and the drummer and I were the only two instruments starting the song off… The rest of the band was going to come in at the very end of Chorus 1. Everything seemed to be going fine, until I realized that the song was feeling completely out of my range… I quickly realized that I had forgotten to capo! There was no saving it at that point… I had to bite the bullet and start the entire song over again! Thankfully it didn’t suck too much of the momentum out of the service, and God still moved!

Oh yeah, one time I definitely swallowed a gnat while leading a song. If you knew me you would understand how icky and disgusting that would be for me! I persevered though! No one knew until after the set that anything had happened!

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Erin Cameneti leads worship at Believers Christian Fellowship in Warren, Ohio. Her heart is simple: help people connect with God through honest and authentic moments of worship in His presence. As the daughter of a worship leader, Erin was exposed to God’s presence from an early age. Her style and approach have been greatly influenced by the likes of Kim Walker of Jesus Culture and Darlene Zschech of Hillsong. Today, as a singer/songwriter, wife, and mother, her passion is to see people of all ages get rooted in their local church and watch God’s call become a reality!

To learn more about Believers Worship, visit ancientanthem.com. There you can sample the latest album, download free sheet music and much more! Erin is featured on “Send Your Glory” and “All We Long For”.