All About Worship Live: “Sr. Pastor and Worship Leader Relationship” Roundtable
On Monday, August 16, Ben and Wisdom will be recording a “Roundtable” session for an upcoming podcast episode. This is our second roundtable since our initial “Manly Worship” back in October, 2009. The topic this time around…”Sr. Pastor and Worship Leader Relationship”.
How many of you worship leaders have struggled with your relationship with a “controlling” Sr. Pastor? How many Sr. Pastor’s have struggled with your “free spirited” worship leader? The Sr. Pastor/Worship Pastor relationship is extremely important in leading a local church week in and week out. Join us live on Talkshoe as we discuss how we can work together as a team with some experienced leaders in the local church and worship leading community. Meet our roundtable guests:
Tim Howey. Sr Pastor of Grace Church in Overland Park, KS. Tim and Ben have been working in ministry together for ten years. Visit www.TimHowey.com to learn more about Tim. He will be joining us live from the palatial All About Worship studio. If you’re going to talk about a Sr. Pastor and Worship Leader relationship….why not ask a Sr. Pastor to join us? Tim also facilitated a breakout session at the All About Worship Retreat in 2010.
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Troy Kennedy. Songwriter/Worship Pastor from Kansas City will be joining us. Troy has taught classes on worship leading ministry in conferences around the nation including the recent National Worship Leader Conference 2009 & 2010 and also at the All About Worship Retreat 2010. Log on to www.NewWorship.com to learn more about Troy.
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Fred McKinnon. Songwriter/Worship Leader from St. Simmons Island, GA will be joining the roundtable discussion. With the “Sunday Setlists” and TheWorshipCommunity, Fred has become an influential member of the online worship community. Visit www.FredMcKinnon.com and www.TheWorshipCommunity.com to learn more about Fred.
If you have any thoughts or questions that you would like to see discussed regarding this topic, please drop a comment and we’ll try and get to your questions. You can also join us live on Monday on Talkshoe at the link below and discuss with other listeners in the Talkshoe chatroom. The fun begins Monday, August 16 at 10 p.m. EST/ 9p.m. CST. Hope you can join us!
Choosing Worship Songs: Style
All right, now here’s a topic that can get many a worship leader in trouble with their congregation. Choosing a style to present the music is a hot topic in and of itself. Rock, Reggae, Classical, R&B, Gospel, Country or traditional. These are just a few of the styles one can choose from when leading their church in worship. In this post, I’m going to share how I approach this issue.
Style
I have found that as a worship leader, it’s necessary to know that I am in this role to serve the church, not just entertain them. Once I learned and applied this principal, I discovered that I must not simply choose song styles based on my preferences. This is a difficult thing, because simply put, there are some styles that I enjoy more than others and there are some styles that the praise team can tackle better than others.
When people mention a cool worship song they’ve heard and say they’d love to hear our team do it, I quickly run through my mind the style and whether our team can play it at the level of excellence necessary. There are just some songs that we can pull off well and some that just don’t quite work. And that’s ok. Challenge your team to play things that they aren’t used to playing. You may just discover that you can play a little gospel along with your rock.
Now back to the people in the church. You must be willing to take risks in leadership. Serving the people does not mean catering to everyone’s opinion of what worship music should sound like. Refer to my post on “10 Things on Worship Leading“. Sometimes the church body is best served by the worship leader who challenges them to open their ears, eyes and hearts to styles that are relevant in today’s world. There’s a can that I won’t open here labeled “Music styles and instruments that are Biblical” that many folks like to pull out and open from time to time. I typically like to stay away from that since it usually gets you nowhere. Just ask them if they’d prefer you play a Sackbut.
So find the style that best fits your community and from time to time, mix it up. It might even revive a bored worship team.
Ben Abu Saada
Originally posted on Ben’s blog on July 25, 2005 at BabuLife.blogs.com
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!
AAWPrayers – Follow and request prayer on this new Twitter feed.
AllAboutWorship Retreat – Log on to take advantage of the Early Bird Registration and find out who’s coming! (You can also follow the retreat updates on Twitter)
Click Here to listen to all of our episodes (Click Here if you’re on a mobile device).
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!
Contact Us
Follow AAW – follow our tweets for regular updates and news.
Like AAW – join our growing number of friends on Facebook.
913.735.4229 – leave us your own voice message.
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:
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
All About Worship LIVE: Q&A With Darrell Evans
Join us on Monday ninght, 6/28, at 8:30 p.m. CST for a live 30 minute Q&A with Darrell Evans on the All About Worship
hotline. We’ll be taking your calls live with your questions. Darrell is an influential songwriter of songs like “Let the River Flow”, “Trading My Sorrows”, “Your love is Extravagant” , and “Fields of Grace”. You can be a part of one of our July podcast episodes while we record this session.
Join us over Talkshoe live by clicking below at 8:30 CST on Monday, June 28.
Episode 46: Interview with Miriam Webster
On this edition of the podcast, Mandy catches up with Miriam Webster who is an influential songwriter and worship leader. You’ll hear her heart for worship and her new song “Made Me Glad” on the show. We also hear from you in our “Listener Feedback” and we talk to Tom Metz from WorshipPlanning.com about some new features coming down the pike. Don’t forget to take part in our giveaway!!!
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. One of our favorite features mentioned on the show is the “Songbook” feature. Creating online books with sheet music that you can assign team members to. Check them out and be sure to thank them on Twitter for being a part of the show by tweeting “Hey @wpupdates Thx for 
sponsoring the @allaboutworship podcast!”
Livestream.com/GraceVideo – Wisdom said it, here’s the link. You can watch Ben lead worship at his local church.
MandyThompson.com – Visit Mandy’s website and learn more about our AWESOME correspondent.
MiriamWebster.com.au – Visit Miriam’s website.
Miriam on iTunes – Check out Miriam’s latest recording “Made Me Glad”.
All About Worship on iTunes – Visit us on iTunes and PLEASE leave some feedback! We’re always looking for ways to improve the show and we’d love to hear from you. (Plus we need some good ego stroking)
AAWPrayers – Follow and request prayer on this new Twitter feed.
Giveaway
We want to hear from you. Call us at 913.735.4229 by July 1 with your answer to this question: Wh
at are the top 5 songs your church is currently connecting with this year. If you leave an answer, we will enter your name into a drawing for Paul Baloche’s latest CD “Glorious” along with the worship tools set with instructional DVD and song charts. Make sure you leave your name, the name of your church, the songs and the authors of the songs. Call us at 913.735.4229 (please note, Darth Tater and Spud Trooper are NOT a part of the giveaway)
Contact Us
Follow AAW – follow our tweets for regular updates and news.
Like AAW – join our growing number of friends on Facebook.
913.735.4229 – leave us your own voice message.
Thanks
We want to say a BIG thanks to WorshipPlanning.com for sponsoring this episode. Start your 30 day free trial today. Check out their new uploading feature allowing you to upload multiple files simultaneously! Be sure and follow them on Twitter at @wpupdates right here.
Thanks to Miriam for stopping by the show! And special thanks to Kingsway for permission to share “Made Me Glad”.
Listen
Check us out on iTunes. Feedburner. Or stop by our Archive page and listen in.
Episode 45: Interview with Hillsong United
Recently Hillsong United came through Kansas City on their tour through the states. Wisdom was able to meet up with Joel Houston and J.D. from Hillsong United for an interview before the worship began. Of course, stay tuned for their most embarrassing moment leading worship. We also catch up with two attenders of our recent retreat back in May. Listen in as they share what the Lord did in their lives during the retreat.
Quick Links
WorshipPlanning.com – More new features available! If you’re looking for a way to support the admin part of your ministry, you NEED Worship Planning. Check
them out and be sure to thank them on Twitter for being a part of the show by tweeting “Hey @wpupdates Thx for sponsoring the @allaboutworship podcast!”
All About Worship Retreat – HUGE thanks to our friends Joe Brookhouse and Todd Barton for stopping by the show! Click Joe and Todd on Twitter.
HillsongUnited.com – Visit the official website.
Joel Houston on Twitter – Follow Joel’s tweets.
Hillsong United on Twitter – Follow the official tweets of Hillsong United.
Hillsong United on iTunes – Check out their music catalog online.
All About Worship on iTunes – Visit us on iTunes and PLEASE leave some feedback! YES…WE ARE DESPERATE! We lost all our feedback and comments due to a “ahem” technical problem with iTunes deleting our feed.
AAWPrayers – Follow and request prayer on this new Twitter feed.
Giveaway
We want to hear from you. Call us at 913.735.4229 by July 1 with your answer to this question: What are the top 5 songs your church is currently connecting with this year. If you leave an answer, we will enter your name into a drawing for Paul Baloche’s latest CD “Glorious” along with the worship tools set with instructional DVD and song charts. Make sure you leave your name, the name of your church, the songs and the authors of the songs. Call us at 913.735.4229 (please note, Darth Tater and Spud Trooper are NOT a part of the giveaway)
Contact Us
Follow AAW – follow our tweets for regular updates and news.
Like AAW – join our growing number of friends on Facebook.
913.735.4229 – leave us your own voice message.
Thanks
We want to say a BIG thanks to WorshipPlanning.com for sponsoring this episode. Start your 30 day free trial today. Check out their new uploading feature allowing you to upload multiple files simultaneously! Be sure and follow them on Twitter at @wpupdates right here.
Thanks to Joel and JD for stopping by the show! Stay tuned for our next episode with Miriam Webster.
Listen
Check us out on iTunes. Feedburner. Or stop by our Archive page and listen in.
Shownotes for Episode #41: Interview with Chris McClarney
On this episode, Wisdom talks to worship leader Chris McClarney. We feature Chris’ song “Your Love Never Fails”. We also share more updates on the All About Worship Retreat along with the BIGGEST giveaway we’ve EVER had….seriously….ever.
Sponsor Announcement
We are excited to introduce you to our brand new, long term sponsor, WorshipPlanning.com. Tom Metz and his 
crew have been a huge blessing to us. If you’re looking for a fantastic resource to help with the administration and organization side of planning worship services and worship teams, you HAVE to check out WorshipPlanning.com. This resource was created by people steeped in worship ministry and understand the limitations, the needs and the requirements necessary to craft worship services that honor Christ and minister to local churches around the world.
Visit their website and check out this nifty tool at www.WorshipPlanning.com. You can also follow them on Twitter here. Be sure and thank them for being a friend to the podcast by tweeting “Hey @wpupdates, thanks for sponsoring the @allaboutworship podcast!” We’d appreciate it!
Listener Feedback
Last episode we encouraged you to call in and let us know what worship leader has influenced you most on your worship leading journey. We heard from you and have some great calls to share. Thanks for phoning in! Give us a call and let us know you’re listening! 913-735-4229
Featured Interview
Wisdom had a chance to sit and talk with worship leader, Chris McClarney. Chris has a fresh,
unique sound that stands apart from much of what is heard in the worship music world today. You’ll hear about some of his musical influences, his journey to worship leading and how his song “Your Love Never Fails” came about….and of course….his MOST embarrassing moment….yeah…it’s a GOOD one. We also feature his song “Your Love Never Fails” on the show.
Visit Chris’ website here. Follow Chris on Twitter here. Join Chris’ Facebook page here. Check out his music on iTunes.
HUGE thanks to Chris for stopping by the show!
All About Worship Retreat Update
The amazing folks at YAMAHA have generously offered to donate audio equipment and their time to the retreat. Seriously….how amazing is it that companies like Yamaha are interested in helping bring a positive experience to you! Have we mentioned how grateful we are to our sponsors and friends? THANK YOU YAMAHA, INTEGRITY MUSIC, THEWORSHIPCOMMUNITY, WORD RECORDS, WORSHIP THE ROCK, AND GROUP PUBLISHING!!!
Check out the line up for the retreat and register now…seriously…before it’s too late.
Giveaway
We are giving away over $1,000 worth of gear and registrations.
3rd place – 13 CD’s
2nd place – 13 CD’s plus 6 months of Gold level service at WorshipPlanning.com
1st place – 13 CD’s plus a free registration to the National Worship Leader Conference 2010 in Kansas City.
All you have to do is sign up for the All About Worship Premium membership or write a 3-4 minute song or 1-2 minute video to promote the podcast. If you do either of these, email us at giveaway@allaboutworship.com and your name will be entered into the drawing.
You can watch the video and learn more about the giveaway here.
Contact Us
Visit Wisdom’s site here. Visit Ben’s site here. Email us at podcast@allaboutworship.com or call us and leave a voicemail at 913-735-4229. You can also follow @AllAboutWorship on Twitter. Follow Ben on Twitter. Follow Wisdom on Twitter. Don’t forget to join us on Facebook.
Listen
Visit our Podcast Feed Burner page for links to subscribing OR subscribe with iTunes. You can also stream the episodes. Be sure and join the AllAboutWorship Premium membership for discounts and exclusive content.
Shownotes for 3/24/10: Interview with Dwayne Moore
On this episode, Wisdom takes a trip to Alabama for a face to face talk with Pure Praise author and Worship Pastor, Dwayne Moore. We touch base on the All About Worship retreat coming in May along with a toolbox segment featuring Jonathan Riggs with LifewayWorship.com. And a strange story from Ben about his daughter’s prayer on Easter.
All About Worship Retreat
Now is the time! Register today! Log on to www.WorshipeRetreat.org On this episode, Wisdom reveals some of our food selections for dinner. And yes…vegetarians are welcome and encouraged to attend! We also reveal that on Friday, May 21, there will be an acoustic night of worship with Jared Anderson, Darrell Evans, Tommy Walker and more. This worship night will be open to the public.
Check out the line up for the retreat and register now…seriously….go here and do it.
Worship Leader Toolbox
Check out this great resource by our friends at Lifeway. Jonathan Riggs stops by the show to talk about LifewayWorship.com and its’ resources to help the congregational worship leader. Check out the Worship Charts and Worship Tracks. GREAT resources for worship leaders “on the go”. Worship Map is also a fantastic way to help the worship leader plan services. A great tool for any worship team. Check them out at www.LifewayWorship.com. You can follow Lifeway Worship on Twitter and also follow Jonathan on Twitter. You can also stop by Jonathan’s blog. And of course…don’t forget the amazing SUPERCHARTS resource.
HUGE thanks to LifwayWorship for offering our listeners a promo code for 5 free downloads. In the checkout type out: allaboutworship-032010
Show Links
- AllAboutWorshipRetreat.org. You know what to do…why wait? Dwayne’s the key speaker.
- LifewayWorship.com. Check out this great resource. Don’t forget the promo code for our listeners for 5 free downloads: allaboutworhsip-032010
- NextLevelWorship.com. Stop by Dwayne’s great site for worship leaders and church leaders.
- NextLevelWorship Giveaway. Check out what Dwayne’s giving away.
- Blog.NextLevelWorship.com. Leave a comment for Dwayne and say hi from the All About Worship podcast!
- Pure Praise Study. We canNOT preach the importance of this book for worship teams everywhere. A MUST HAVE.
- Dwayne on Twitter. Follow Dwayne!
- Dwayne on Facebook. Go be his friend…Dwayne loves friends.
- Contact us. Visit Wisdom’s site here. Visit Ben’s site here. Email us at podcast@allaboutworship.com or call us and leave a voicemail at 913-735-4229. You can also follow @AllAboutWorship on Twitter. Follow Ben on Twitter. Follow Wisdom on Twitter.
All About Worship Premium Update
It’s coming in April. Get ready. Wisdom has been working hard and we’re getting some fantastic giveaways, discounts and partnerships with some of our friends like IntegrityDirect.com, MusicAdemy.com, WorshipPlanning.com and more! Stay tuned for more announcements as we gear up to offering All About Worship Premium.
Listener Assignment
We have a new feature to the podcast. We want to hear from you. We’ve all heard from some of the most influential worship leaders, songwriters and artists from around the world…and now…it’s YOUR turn. Your assignment should you choose to accept, is to call us and leave a voicemail answering this question:
Who has been the most influential worship leader in your life and why?
Call us with your answer at 913.735.4229. State your name, local church or city and state then tell us who has influenced you the most and why.
Thank you to Jonathan and Dwayne for being a part of the show this week. Thanks also to LifewayWorship.com for the special discount for the BEST listeners in the world!!! And as always…THANK YOU for listening and for your support. Go tell a friend a neighbor and others about the podcast. Thanks for the love everyone!!!
Listen
Visit our Podcast Feed Burner page for links to subscribing OR subscribe with iTunes.
National Worship Leader Conference 2010
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Wisdom and Ben are thrilled to announce that they will be official bloggers for the upcoming National Worship Leader Conference 2010. Both Wisdom and Ben will be attending the conference held in Overland Park, KS…home of the All About Worship Podcast. We hope to meet many of our fellow worship leading friends this year. Check out the official announcement on the NWLC10 blog.
In 2009, Ben and Wisdom were able to attend the conference and were truly blessed by the worship time, the teaching and the new friendships founded with so many amazing worship leading friends. This year’s conference will undoubtedly be another great opportunity.
If you haven’t heard, there are three conferences being held in different parts of the nation. The larger gathering will be held right here in Kansas City. Check them out:
- June 15-17 in Albuquerque, NM
- July 19-22 in Kansas City, KS
- October 5-7 in Lancaster, PA
During the week of July 19-22, you can keep up with Wisdom and Ben’s thoughts and also hit their personal blogs. There are some other great bloggers who have been invited to participate. Here’s the official list:
- AllAboutWorship
- Ben Abu Saada :: Blog
- Brian Wurzell :: Blog
- Cheval Glass :: Cynthia Cullen’s blog
- Live to Worship :: Alastair Vance’s Blog
- Transition Pete :: Pete Kim’s Blog
- Wisdom Moon :: Blog
Giveaway
Stay tuned to this blog as we will be giving away ANOTHER free registration to the upcoming National Worship Leader Conference!!!
If you haven’t registered, check out the lineup and join us in Kansas! Thanks to our friends at Worship Leader.com for the opportunity to help keep so many worship leaders from being left behind!
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