“For the Weary Souls”, This Hope Prevails – Album Review
This Hope Prevails just released their first EP, For the Weary Souls. This unique blend of ambient techno and indie seems almost reminiscent of Gungor with a bit more electronics involved. Though this is a local recording done in Alberta, Canada, the production quality is not lacking at all. This free 5 song EP is definitely something you will want to download.
The album begins with “Our Refuge” – this song grabbed me right off the bat. The electronica balances nicely with the ambient guitar, to set a nice atmosphere of worship. I love the chorus of the song which goes, “Jesus You are, You are Hope, for the weary souls, Your eyes are fixed on those, on those who fear You, Lord. You’re our refuge.” It just grabbed me as a song that would really exhort and encourage both the churched and unchurched. It is definitely a song I would consider for a Sunday worship service.
“Always” is a much heavier praise song. The electronic influence shines through here. The lyrics are great but often get lost in the volume of the electronica and instrumentation which is a bit of a detriment, but if the vocals were mixed better it would be a fantastic song. I love the ending of the song where they strip away all the instrumentation down to only an acoustic guitar and voices and play the classic hymn “Take My Life and Let it Be”. It is a stark contrast from the rest of the song yet really helps add to the overall theme and feel of the song.
“You Have My Affection” is the final of the five songs and is probably the heaviest song of the EP. I love the cry of the chorus – “Oh Lord, You are faithful Creator, You take hold of my life in Your hands and before You. I stand with my affection, You have my affection; You have my hearts cry.” It is a strong song and a great end to this EP.
I would say the overarching theme of this album is the salvation power of Christ, which is always a welcome theme. I enjoyed this album and think it is a good start for This Hope Prevails. I think they will have a good platform to build off of for future albums. It’s a solid 3 star album if you like electronica.
Grab it for free at: thishopeprevails.com
Review by Mathew Reames
Video Interview w/ Dustin Smith, Part 1
Here’s part 1 of a recent interview we did with worship leader/songwriter, Dustin Smith. We’ll be featuring the interview on our podcast this month!
Podcast Episode 86 – Featuring An Interview w/ Paul Baloche
We invite you to listen to episode 86 where we welcome one of the “godfathers” of worship music, Paul Baloche. Wisdom and Paul discuss his foreign language albums (Paul demonstrates his mastery of both Korean and French), the release of his 12th recording with Integrity music - The Same Love, the challenge of maintaining humility while utilizing social media as an artist, and more.
What Else?
- Ben reveals why he is a worship leader and not a beatboxer
- Our hosts introduce a new, nearly useless superhero, Remember-the-Date Man
- Wisdom bears witness to Ben’s unique shofar skills
Quick Links:
leadworship.com
facebook.com/PaulBaloche
twitter.com/paulbaloche
Stay connected with us:
twitter.com/allaboutworship
facebook.com/allaboutworship
comment line: 913.735.4229
allaboutworship[at]gmail[dot]com
A special thanks to Christian Copyright Solutions for sponsoring this podcast. Be sure to use promo code, AAWPODCAST, on CopyrightSolver.com to receive a special 10% off the PERFORMmusic and WORSHIPcast licenses and the PERMISSIONSplus service.
Copyright Q&A for 4/5/12
Here are a couple of questions we received for our bi-weekly Copyright Q&A feature. Answers are provided by the CopyrightSolver.com Team. Feel free to email us your questions to copyright[at]allaboutworship.com or tweet them to @allaboutworship w/ hashtag #copyright. We answer as many as we can here on our site, every other Thursday.
Q: Does a church website have to have a privacy policy and/or terms of use publicized on their website?
A: No, privacy policies are not required for a church website. However, if there is anything you feel needs to be clearly spelled out, this is your opportunity to do it. Privacy policies are helpful to instill a confidence from site visitors that you will not use any information they provide to harm or inconvenience them in any way. Terms of Use are helpful for your own protection to reduce your church’s risk, should any content from your website be used by a third party in any illegal manner, or without your licensed permission. In addition, you may choose to copyright the content on your website (and the website itself) with the U.S. Copyright Office to further protect your works.
You should be very cautious about publishing any photographs of persons without obtaining signed consent and release forms from individuals, as this does involve privacy issues; also make sure you obtain clearances for use of any third party copyrighted material (not owned by the church) on your site, including music performances, recordings, visual images and videos. You may want to obtain legal counsel specific to your website terms and conditions as well as policies and copyrighted material.
Q: Many people at our church believe that since we use our hymnal for most things, and since we paid for the use of the hymnal, we’re covered. Is that the case?
A: In most cases, the purchase of a hymnal for your church does not include any additional rights (such as reproduction or making copies, performance, display or derivatives) for the use of the copyrighted material contained within it. So it remains the responsibility of the church, to have the appropriate permissions in place for the use of any copyrighted material contained within it. The same is true of any other printed music, such as sheet music, song books, etc.
Fortunately, the “Religious Service Exemption” states that the performance or playing of music or non-dramatic literary works during a religious service at their place of worship or other religious assembly does not require licensing. This allows churches to use hymnals, and songbooks for the purpose of performance, and even play sound recordings and background tracks during their worship services.
However, beyond your worship services, it is important to have licenses for any performances of copyrighted material.
It is important to note that most hymnals also contain many songs within the public domain. Songs within the public domain would not require additional licensing for their use, unless it is a copyrighted arrangement of the public domain song. Below each hymn (or on a Copyright Notice Page) you should find the hymn author’s name and their publisher from which permission to use the copyright can be obtained. Churches that do not have a blanket performance license need to be keenly aware of which songs they are using outside of worship so that they do not act in violation of copyright law.
You can find a list of your church’s most common activities which need performance licensing at www.copyrightSolver.com/
The CopyrightSolver answers provided are information, not legal advice. For more information and resources, including fact sheets, videos and idea kits, visit www.CopyrightSolver.com. Use promo code “ABOUTWORSHIP” to receive 10% off the PERFORMmusic and WORSHIPcast licenses and the PERMISSIONSplus service.
Into The Glorious, Christy Nockels – Album Review
Christy Nockels will be a name and a voice already familiar to many of you – she has been an ever present on the Passion series of albums for a number of years. Returning to the studio to release her second solo album Into the Glorious, Christy has had the opportunity to show a somewhat more personal side to her worship. Let’s take a closer look.
Opening with the album’s clear standout track is the first single release “Ever Lifting”. With a catchy picked banjo riff in the intro (which actually forms the melody for the chorus), pulsating drums, and an overall feeling of energy, this track certainly lives up to the title. This is a song where the production genius that is Christy’s husband Nathan comes to the fore – the song is made by the sublime overlaying of several textures and layers, all fitting seamlessly together to produce a great opener to the album.
The title track (“Into the Glorious”) resonates with me as being more Christy’s “natural style” – a beautiful piano part sits perfectly under Christy’s melodic vocal line, and there is much more of a “live”, uplifting feel. The transfer from minor to major keys from the verse to the chorus gives it a particular lift, and really captures the idea of coming out of darkness and into light. Listen to this while reading 2 Corinthians 3:18 – where Paul speaks of us being transformed from one degree of glory to the next – it puts it in a whole new light.
Christy includes new versions of a couple of the songs from Passion albums on this offering, and the first one we come across is “Waiting Here For You”. In a way, comparing a version of a song from a live rendition (very much in a live worship context) to a studio version could be seen as unfair. One thing I do feel that is valid in this case however is the “progressive” nature of the song, and how that comes out in both the live and studio versions. By the very nature of the song, we are waiting expectantly for the Lord’s presence – to be transformed by the wonder of Him, and to be changed by encountering Him in worship. This is an aspect of the concept of the song that, I feel, has not been played out to the extent it could have been in the studio version – the lift just isn’t there for me.
“Sing Along” is a great example of how to bring the feel of a great live worship song back into the studio. Those of you who have already picked up Passion’s latest release White Flag will already be familiar with this song – a song that displays the unity we have in Him and His love for us and the world in which we live. The idea of joining with His and Heaven’s song, and having His song fill the earth with His heart and hope is really moving. This is a great example of how production doesn’t need to be overly heavy for a song to have energy, passion and drive – for most of the song the backing is very stripped back – it is only really for the last chorus that overdriven guitars and full kit come in. A particularly nice touch is the children’s choir at the end – it finishes the song wonderfully.
As a whole, this album definitely has something to offer the worshipper – the songs mentioned, along with the likes of “Healing is in Your Hands” and “How I Love You” will find their way into many a worship leader’s Sunday repertoire. I’m happy to give this 4 stars – on the strength of the production and the songwriting, however I feel it definitely had something more to offer.
-Review by Ed Rotheram
(album provided by EMI)
Why Worship? (Devotional)
(Download MP3 Version or Download PDF Version)
My purpose in this devotional is to really share with you the reader (Worship Team, Pastor, Leader, Musician, Study Group, etc.), what God continues to remind me of day after day, week after week and is what I believe to be a foundational reason that all of us are created to be worshippers.
What is the foundational purpose or reason WHY we WORSHIP? Why do you worship? Individually, Corporately, as a Worship Leader or part of a Worship team or Band? Write down your answer(s) here.
For so long I was convinced that I was supposed to worship God for all of the things that He’s done: Goodness, mercy, grace, loving-kindness, salvation, family, health, jobs, financial provisions etc. These sound really good and the act of praising and worshipping Him for what He has done by providing us these things along with all the other things he does for is not wrong, in and of themselves. However, these things are not the primary purpose for which we were created to worship our creator. These are all things God has done, is doing and will continue to always do for us because He never changes.
Ask yourself these Questions:
What is the greatest gift that God has ever given us? What is the greatest thing He has ever done?
Hopefully you’re a Christian and you’re answer was: “He gave His son’s life for us and gave us a free choice to accept Him as our personal Savior.” Or something along those lines.
Now think about this:
Almighty God, NEVER would have given us that gift and He NEVER would have done that act of love or any other act for that matter…If He wasn’t WHO HE IS.
Read the following phrase a couple of times and really let it soak in:
“God never would have done for you, what He did….if He wasn’t Who He is!”
Try and really wrap your mind around the fact of who God is. “He was, He is and He always will be!”
Our number one purpose in this life and the reason WHY WE WORSHIP God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is because of WHO HE IS! We were created to Worship Him for Who He is.
Read Psalm 40:3
The Positive
Often times, our fervency for worship (in the natural), acts as a barometer of what’s going on in our lives. It’s so easy to walk into our weekend gatherings of corporate worship and fellowship and be excited about worship when life is grand. It’s especially easy for us Worship Leaders (and by Worship Leaders, I mean everyone involved in the service: the audio guys, the band, the media team, the song leader, the Pastor, the volunteers etc.), to get into our flow and be “all systems go” when life outside the walls of church is in our favor and especially when we are ahead, financially.
Remember, It honors God when we bless Him with our mouths. Our praises and thanksgiving are huge vehicles of worship. It’s important to honor God and be constantly aware of His presence that’s in and around us and not wait for a tragedy or crises to go running to or cry out to Him. The more we recognize His Spirit and His presence and not just wait for Sunday morning to roll around, the more of an understanding we’ll have for true worship. We can actually become worship beings. We can BE worship, not just do worship.
The Negative
It’s usually evident in people’s attitudes, countenance and in the general way they carry themselves; when tragedy , persecution, financial crisis and hardship are at hand.
I believe that It’s in these situations and trials of life that we find ourselves in, where we have the best opportunities to honor God in our worship. When we reach the end of ourselves so He can take over through our worship. Our weakness is made totally perfect in His strength. Be it in song, prayer, crying out to Him, reading His word, soaking in His presence…whatever it is that get’s you into a place where you are totally and 100% reliant and focused on Him. It is impossible to do this based on a feeling or gauged by emotion. The act of choosing to magnify God’s name and declaring his goodness and mercy and his love in these times…this is worship, personified. When you choose to command your soul to praise Him, the breakthrough has to come.
As leaders we have a higher road to take and a bigger responsibility to choose to worship through our circumstances, trials, tests and situations while at the same time dealing with the very raw feelings of emotion.
This is much easier said than done, I know. And believe me, it is usually right after I talk about this topic at a conference or write a bout it in a journal / devotional; that I am tested to put my money where my mouth is and actually walk this out.
On a Personal Note:
Recently, I fully ruptured my Achilles tendon, twice…the same tendon within 6 weeks. The average full recovery time from tearing an Achilles tendon and then having It surgically repaired is 6-8 months. It has been almost 6 months for me now and let me tell you that if there has ever been a time in my life where I have felt like giving up on my job and career of leading worship it has been in these last 6 months. This injury has messed with my head in SO many ways it’s ridiculous, not to mention what it has done to me physically. I’ve pretty much been home at my house in Tampa Bay, FL the entire time.
Not being able to travel for me = not playing conferences / gigs and not leading worship which in the long run = not making money. You want to talk about stress? Mortgage & car payments, insurance & cell phones bills along with all the other household bills that add up to thousands of dollars a month has allotted me SO much anguish, a few sleepless nights, and caused me to worry about not being able to provide for my wife and our long-term future, BUT…God has provided so many opportunities for me to worship him sitting right at my piano at home with no one watching, no kicking sound system, no lights, reverb and no crowd. He has given an opportunity for me to show Him that I will still worship Him when all those other things go away and when I am at the end of me. There have been a few days in these past few months that emotions have ruled over and gotten the best of me. I’ve said things and acted ways that I regret but not without recognizing I need to will myself to take the high road. I choose to worship through my thoughts, attitude and my emotions. My love for Him and this walk far outweighs a little “self-pity party,” that creeps in every once in a while.
Taking the high road is a choice. Everything we react to in this life is a choice. God gave us emotions. He designed us to feel things, that’s why they are called feelings. He designed us in His image and He made us to be like Him. He was tempted, so we WILL be tempted but just like He did, we have the ability to call on our Father’s strength and allow Him to pull us through and be made perfect in His strength.
Summary
Q: Why do we worship God?
A: Because and for Who He IS.
Remember to find ways and make conscious choices to recognize God’s Presence away from Corporate Sunday morning times.
Use negative situations (whether you fall victim to them or you have made choices and put yourself there), to draw close to Him. There’s nothing that can separate you from the love of God. Absolutely nothing.
Worship is a choice. Choose to take the high road. Choose to worship in everything and through everything.
Be Worship.
-Dave Fitzgerald
Dave is a worship leader, songwriter, and Kingsway artist. To find out more about Dave Fitzgerald, visit www.davefitzgerald.com
The Idol of Worship
I’ve been doing some thinking lately. About ministry, my walk with God, and more specifically, about my relationship with this thing called worship. If I’m being completely honest… as a writer, and an all-out music lover, worship can so easily become something I never intended. 
There’s only one way to phrase it. For me, and many others that I personally know or have observed, there is a gravitational pole towards something I would call the “idol of worship.” No, not idol worship… That’s a little more overt.
I’m talking about something that starts out harmless enough… maybe even with the best of intentions. But it seems to always result in the same issue – the most pure form of glorifying our Creator can be hijacked by something that’s just a degree off of center… the idol of worship.
What exactly do I mean? I’m convinced that songwriters, worship leaders and even music enthusiasts can fall so in love with the act of worship that it can become just that… simply an act.
I want to be sure that you understand my heart in saying this. I love worship. I love “worship artists.” And more than anything, I love The Church. But I see a tendency in my own walk with God to lose site of what worship is all about, and I thought it might be a good idea to think out loud amongst friends.
I’m not suggesting this is an issue for every worship leader. It’s possible that this tension most commonly exists in writers and those who enjoy to create. But it’s an undeniable reality in the circles I seem to find myself in.
So how do I know if I’ve been sucked in? A few things come to mind…
How often am I connecting with God? Is it hit or miss at best? Every few days? Maybe once a week before the mad rush for the weekend hits? This is a big indicator of our heart condition.
Another gauge… my ability to join in worship with the congregation. For some, this applies as we’re leading worship, and for those like me, this applies as I worship with the church (I’m on staff at a church and I write for our worship records).
But truthfully… I can’t tell you how many moments I’ve wasted thinking about the technical aspects of a worship set. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve spent entire seasons of ministry disconnected from God as my church worships all around me.
And even more shamefully, I admit that song choice has down right angered and offended me! I’m just being real… Many times I’ve thought things like, “Are we seriously going to play that again?” or “Oh we’re playing your song and not mine,” or “I can’t believe the people aren’t in to this! They so liked his song more than mine!”
Maybe I’m the only carnal person who’s ever thought these things, but maybe I’m not…
How about the whole “record label” thing? This is huge for a lot of writers. Many of us would never say it out loud, but it’s easy to feel like our ministry will never be legit until we’ve been “discovered.” Until others are singing our songs, inviting us to lead at their event or even registering for our worship conference to hear our thoughts on worship.
And I totally get that this is a tricky thing. I mean God gave us these desires after all, and it pleases Him when we use our gifts for His glory. Right? But that is the key… when the act of glorifying God has become something less, we are in a dangerous place.
So what’s the solution? I’m not pretending to know all the answers, but God has been leading me to ask some hard questions of myself. Questions like…
“What if we eliminated the lights, the people, the record labels, the writing and everything else that comes with “modern worship…” and we spent a year on an island… Just you and Me… does that get your heart racing as much as the thought of your song being sung by millions?” Ouch!
I think we could all benefit from a time away from worship as we know it. A worship fast if you will. No blogs… No comparison… No looking at the iTunes top ten chart… Just us and God.
What if the reward wasn’t the compliments, adrenaline, and fill in the blank…? What if He really became our exceeding and great reward?
I’m not suggesting that it’s impossible to sincerely worship God with lights and people present… A huge part of leading worship involves “leading” people into worship. I’m just wondering how much more of God there is to explore… What would my world look like if I truly allowed God to have all of me?
And what if one of my songs never “hit”? What if my only desire was for my song to hit Heaven, and Heaven to hit earth? My prayer is that those who are already practicing this type of worship would only grow hungry for more. And those who feel stuck in the rut that I’m talking about, would simply examine their worship, take inventory, and invite God to do something extraordinary.
-Joe Cameneti Jr.
Joe is a contributor and team member of All About Worship.
All Sons & Daughters, Season One – Album Review
In All About Worship’s first collaboration to span 2 continents, Barry Westman (Janesville, WI) and Ed Rotheram (London, England) have each chosen their standout tracks from All Sons & Daughters’ existing EPs, and each taken a look at one of the new songs. We hope you enjoy it!
This past week sees the release of Franklin-based worship duo All Sons & Daughters’ debut full-length album, 
Season One. Comprised of their 2 EPs Brokenness Aside & Reason To Sing, with a couple of brand new tracks, this album brings together the last 18 months of worship leaders David Leonard & Leslie Jordan’s design for a great addition to the current crop of acoustic worship duos. The combination of natural acoustic feel, tight vocal harmonies and a constructive yet poetic approach to songwriting creates an amazing synergy. Let’s take a closer look:
“All The Poor & Powerless”
Ed: My first pick comes from the Brokenness Aside EP – “All the Poor and Powerless” begins with a beautiful piano introduction (the amazing technique shown in the recording of the piano is a great feature of this record as a whole). The song takes on a great feel when the drum loop comes in – I really like the stripped back, progressive feel to the song. The lyrical reference to the Great Commission in the bridge adds a great dimension to this song:
“Shout it, go on and scream it from the mountains, go on and tell it to the masses that He is God”
The final stages of this song see a wonderful overlaying of the chorus on the bridge, creating an amazing texture, filling any room with sound and praise.
“Brokenness Aside”
Barry: This is the title track from their first EP, and since it came out, it has spoken to many people about God’s amazing restorative power from brokenness to beautiful. The song starts with an honest, simple verse just asking the question “Will Your grace run out if I let You down”, almost hesitantly, as if afraid to ask. Then the chorus comes in with the addition of piano and vocal harmonies to reassure us – “But You are a Savior and You take brokenness aside and make it beautiful”. This song highlights the vulnerability in the vocal sounds of this duo, while also showing their range as it builds to the powerful climax. Simply amazing!
“Reason To Sing”
Ed: My second pick is the title track of their second EP – “Reason To Sing”. Praising God when times get hard is one of the struggles that many Christians face – and one that David and Leslie found was going on in their own church. The awareness of a desperation for God in this season gave them a vision for writing songs for the seasons that their church was going through, and through it, God revealed to them that He is the reason to sing at any time, because He has the world in His hands. What really spoke to me was the line:
“Your peace is the melody, will You sing it over in me now?” – reminiscent of Zephaniah 3:17 in which Zephaniah speaks of the Lord rejoicing over us in song.
“Spirit Speaks”
Barry: Also from their Reason To Sing EP, this song highlights the theme of waking up and walking in wholeness Leslie referred to about this second EP. The verses talk about how the Spirit lives and moves in us, and once we’re awakened to His love and grace, our response is to listen to what He is saying, go where He leads, and love the least of these. It’s a powerful song, and a challenge to the church to not only look inward and upward, but also to look outward and share his love with those around us. Musically, this song is a bit more straightforward than some of their other more unique stylistic songs, which lends itself to being a very usable song for the congregation to sing.
“Your Love is All Around”
Ed: My last pick is the new song “Your Love is All Around”. A song that speaks in the first verse of the vast qualities of God’s love – His mercy, grace, compassion, life-giving qualities and freedom we find in Him. This is a song that, for me, shows that, although All Sons & Daughters’ undeniable strength is primarily in writing choruses and bridges, that their writing of verses is spot on too. This song has raised a question for me though – in the closing sections of this song they introduce the “this is all my hope and peace” part of “Nothing But the Blood”. This hymn has been widely used recently, and while I am all for the fusing of the old and the new in worship songs, I wonder if they had sat down to write the last section with an original choice of words, whether their lyrics would have come out broadly the same, or with a touch more individuality? I’ll leave you to decide on that one.
“Dusk To Dawn”
Barry: This is the other new song that is included on Season One, and it actually was written as a collaboration with Stu G, both in the songwriting and recording. Stu G said in a recent tweet that this song was inspired by Lent, and it seems like the phrases “Tomorrow’s freedom is today’s surrender”, “We look to You as our hearts remember” and “Lord as we give you more Your spirit swells within” may have been inspired by that focus. This lilting, peaceful song has a unique sound, mainly because of the 3-part harmony in the vocals instead of just the two; a very nice addition!
Season One is an amazing compilation of the All Sons & Daughters repertoire to date, including these two new songs. In addition, the extended version of the album includes song story videos and music videos for three of the songs on the album, chord charts, instrumental version, and an album play visualizer that displays the lyrics along with each song. For fans of All Sons & Daughters, this is the ultimate collection, and one that you surely will not want to miss!
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Review by Ed Rotheram and Barry Westman
(review copy provided by Integrity Music)
Copyright Q&A for 3/22/12
Here are a couple of questions we received for our new Copyright Q&A feature. Answers are provided by the CopyrightSolver.com Team. Feel free to email us your questions to copyright[at]allaboutworship.com or tweet them to @allaboutworship w/ hashtag #copyright
Question: If a worship team is playing a conference at a hotel, what kind of copyright do they need?
Answer: A music performance license is required to legally perform or play music in a public place. All who participate in presenting the public performances of music are responsible for ensuring that proper copyright licensing is in place. In most cases, the hotel will have performance licenses from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC (the three US performance rights organizations) as one of their typical and accepted costs of doing business. However, it is important to check with each individual venue before you perform; if no license is in place, you could be held liable for copyright infringement. The CopyrightSolver’s PERFOMmusic License for non-profit religious organizations covers over 16 million ASCAP, BMI and SESAC songs on an annual basis and covers your performances at facilities that your organization owns, rents or leases.
Question: Spotify has performance tracks available for some songs. Is it okay to use these in a church service setting without getting any license or permission?
Answer: When using any online music service, it is important to read and understand the Terms and Conditions to see the restrictions for use of the service’s content. Online music services likely all have a “grant of license” explaining that “You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to make personal non-commercial use…”; essentially explaining this is for private-home use only. Spotify further clarifies the issue by providing specific restrictions of use for their users. From Spotify’s T+C:
13. Restrictions of use
The use of tracks featured on Spotify during your service constitutes a public performance (referenced above as “make available to the public”). Although the Religious Service Exemption (U.S. Copyright Law (Section 110[3]) allows the performance of musical works during your church service without licensing, it is important that the track itself is legally obtained (purchase of a properly licensed product) or is used within the rights outlined by the music service providing those tracks.
Although Spotify can be a great place to experience new songs, it’s important to purchase the performance track before using it in your church service.
The CopyrightSolver answers provided are information, not legal advice. For more information and resources, including fact sheets, videos and idea kits, visit www.CopyrightSolver.com. Use promo code “ABOUTWORSHIP” to receive 10% off the PERFORMmusic and WORSHIPcast licenses and the PERMISSIONSplus service.
Interview w/ Mike Kim About the Outloud Conference
Recently, Wisdom Moon had a chance to interview worship leader/songwriter, Mike Kim, about an exciting worship conference coming up, that he is coordinating…
How did Outloud Conference get started?
Outloud was a natural progression from several regional worship nights we hosted. I felt we could culminate these nights with a conference and launched Outloud in 2011 with a desire to impact and equip churches in deep worship. By deep worship, I don’t mean a particular style or sound but moving from running a service to hosting God’s presence.
When we host someone either at our house, restaurant, event etc. everything is about that person. Further, we wanted to make an impact in churches across the Northeast U.S. Church can be a different animal in this part of the country, and we wanted Outloud to be a place where we can all learn more about stewarding a move of God in our respective ministries. There are 3 tenets the Outloud Conference is based on:
1. LOCAL CHURCH
We’ve enlisted the help of some people that will lend their expertise to particular ministry needs. Jesus Culture’s Bryan & Katie Torwalt, New Life Worship/Desperation Band’s Glenn Packiam, Joel Klampert, The Father’s House (church of 5,000+) in Rochester, NY…these folks all have proven track records both in their local churches and itinerant ministry. They are truly from the church and for the church.
2. PRIORITIZING THE PRESENCE OF GOD
We could all use “more God” in our worship gatherings. None of us are against programs, so you won’t hear any baby-out-with-the-bathwater rhetoric at Outloud Conference. But what we are after is a shift from running a church service to hosting God’s presence. We’ll talk about this during our teaching sessions, but most importantly we’ll do it together when we worship.
3. IMPARTATION
Conferences are often heavy on information but light on impartation. Outloud Conference is a time where God’s people can receive more than great teaching. We want to pray for new strength, anointing, and vision to come upon your life and ministry. And we’re all going to ask our good heavenly Father to make His church glorious through each of us.
What was the response your first year of doing the conference?
Tremendous. Our first night the sanctuary was so packed we had to seat people in the lobby. The response wasn’t just in the numbers, it was also in the quality of ministry that took place. Things went well enough that a day and a half felt short, so we extended the conference by one full day without a big price markup. In fact, Outloud Conference is one of the most inexpensive worship events out there, especially for length of the event and the caliber of guests we have coming to minister.
When and where will it be held this year?
May 10-12, 2012 hosted by Church of the Living God, 199 Deming St., Manchester, CT 06042. The site is just 10 minutes outside of Hartford, CT. You can find out more and register at www.outloudconference.com.
What can people expect from this year’s conference?
What makes Outloud Conference different is that we don’t offer things you can find on an instructional DVD or YouTube. We wanted to hit even closer to real life and ministry issues, like what to do when you’re trying to implement some order to a worship ministry in a small church, or how to balance ministry and family. Most of the challenges that arise in worship ministry aren’t on the platform, and those are the things we want to hit.
Our lineup of speakers was brought in with that in mind…Bryan & Katie Torwalt bring a prophetic edge in their worship leading. Glenn Packiam brings a tremendous theological bent as a teaching pastor and proven worship songwriter. The Father’s House team that has flourished (and survived!) their church growing from 500 people to 5,000 in about six years. Their church is incredibly diverse, so they’ve got tremendous cross-cultural and cross-generational experience. On top of that we’re going to have incredible worship, too!
How can our readers be praying for you and the conference?
That Outloud Conference would ultimately be a tool to initiate change and growth in the people that attend. I’ve never wanted to hold an event for the sake of holding an event, and even if this year’s conference is a blast, I wouldn’t be opposed to shutting it down if it became just another thing to do. We want to truly help impact churches in our area, so please pray the ministry would be rich, the worship refreshing, and that people and churches would be able to connect with each other well after the event is over!
Follow Us!
