Worship Central’s vision is to “encounter God, equip the worshipper, and empower the local church”. If you take these principles and apply them to Thursday night’s event, the aims were met, exceeded, and positively blown away.

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 describes an atmosphere where an unbeliever comes into a worshipping congregation, encounters the Glory of God through His undeniable presence, the secrets of their heart are laid bare and really the only option is to bow down, crying “God is really among you”! There were times during this event where you could almost touch the thickness of the Lord’s presence.

There is something quite amazing about 2000 worshippers gathering together to experience God’s presence. Everyone turns up with expectancy, and the Lord shows up every time. Mike Pilavachi described worship, during his talk on the night, as being akin to the atmosphere at a Jewish wedding – singing, dancing, celebration – an event where you’re either dancing, or standing on the sides watching.

If the dancing is that infectious, your guard drops and you find yourself caught up in it, whether you had planned it that way or not. This is quite a good summation of the event as a whole, though I went to the event with friends and family, from start to finish my attentions were focused purely upon the Lord, His voice, and His presence. He was in charge of the evening, the night was His.

From a musical perspective, the set contained much of Tim’s new Love Shines Through album, with songs such as ‘Counting On Your Name’, ‘All Glory’ and ‘At Your Name’ going down particularly well. Many of the arrangements of songs were very similar to the album tracks, although there were some slightly more experimental sections, notably the re-working of Ben’s ‘Not Ashamed’ into a more electronic offering, with rapped verses and an anthemic chorus.

Vocally, songs were led with gusto, both Tim and Ben have excellent ranges, great control, and clear projection. There were no shortage of instrumental gifting on the stage either – at one time I counted 3 acoustic guitarists, 3 electric guitarists, a bass, 2 keyboards, drums, percussion and around 5 vocalists, contributing to a full, rousing sound mix.

It is in equipping the church where Worship Central’s greatest calling lies, in my opinion. This was demonstrated within their very setup on the night, with experienced worship leaders encouraging the, perhaps less well-known (though no less effective or gifted), up and coming worship leaders.

Coming from a Vineyard church, where the ethos is very much laid out upon giving away the gifts we have been given by the Lord, I find this very encouraging as a model. Expect to hear much more from Al Gordon, Luke Hellebronth and Nikki Fletcher in the coming years, as these passionate, anointed worship leaders and songwriters have a great deal to offer the church as a whole.

As a final reflection, you’ll remember that in 2 Samuel 6, David’s worship becomes ‘undignified’ – dancing wildly in the presence of the Lord. Not wanting to leave these acts consigned merely to text, Tim Hughes decided to recreate this manner of worship on the night:

reflections by Ed Rotheram

Related posts:

1. Dancing in The Minefields – Andrew Peterson (music video)
2. Where Can I Go (Songwriting Challenge Submission)

Related posts:

1. Jared Anderson on Dealing w/ Writer’s Block (plus video)

Recorded live at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, this album features worship leaders Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, William Matthews, Amanda Falk and Steffany Frizzell. Be Lifted High includes 13 songs recorded live over a series of Bethel Church worship services and features the passionate, genuine and spontaneous worship of the church. The DVD also includes personal stories from the artists of how worship has changed their lives, including Brian Johnson sharing in detail for the first time the story of how the power of praise freed him from years of spiritual torment. Bethel Music, formed as an organic extension of Bethel Church, represents the worship of the church.

Here are just some of the songs that stood out to me:

“You Are Good” (Brian Johnson and Jeremy Riddle)

This is an upbeat song of praise that really caught my attention. I can easily see using this song as an opening to a worship service!

“One Thing Remains” (Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Christa Black Gifford)

To me, one sign of a great song for congregational worship is that when you hear it for the first time, you feel like you already know it, and that’s the case with this song. The marriage between the words, the rhythm and melody is so seamless that I could sing along the first time I heard it, and the music wasn’t a barrier to my worship. Great song!

“Furious” (Jeremy Riddle)

The lyrics to this Jeremy Riddle song speak of the intensity of God’s love for us “His love is fierce, His love is strong, it is furious”. The intensity of the rhythms in this song match the intensity of the lyrics, moving this song along at a “furious” pace.

“Be Lifted High” (Brian Johnson, Christa Black Gifford, Tim Hughes, Jeremy Riddle)

The title track of this album is another very singable chorus for the church. “Lord, release the sound of heaven | Let it rise in every nation | We will join the anthem singing | Be lifted high | Be lifted high | Higher and higher, Lord”

“God I Look To You” (Jenn Johnson and Ian McIntosh)

I have to say, though, that my favorite track on the album is this song – “God I Look To You”. It’s such a simple song, as are several on this album, but it’s such a powerful song! The verse is a prayer for vision and wisdom, the chorus is a declaration of love to the Lord, and then the bridge is a soaring anthem for the church to sing – “Hallelujah, our God reigns!” Those words linked with that melody should find its way into churches everywhere to be sung by the Church! My favorite part of the whole project!

This project is definitely worth checking out! It has been on repeat in my office all week! For more information about this album, go to www.bethelmusic.com, where you can also download the chord charts for all the songs on this album.

Barry Westman

(The Free Download has now expired.)

Related posts:

1. I Am A Worship Leader Because… (Bethel Live CD Giveaway)
2. Darrell Evans Live Acoustic – CD Review

The first episode will be hosted by Darrell Evans. He will be sharing some thoughts on worship as well as taking questions from the live audience. The second episode will be hosted by Wisdom and Ben.

Join us live online or on the phone. This is YOUR podcast and we LOVE when YOU participate!

On Monday, June 1st at 9pm Central:

Call: (724) 444-7444 and enter the call ID: 41106

Or logon: TalkShoe OR Livestream (a.k.a. Mogulus)

This live recording is presented by All About Worship and Darrell Evans Ministries.

Hope to see you there!

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Shane & Shane is known for their unique sound and extraordinary songwriting.

You will have an opportunity to ask questions, so bring your questions for Shane & Shane to our live interview on Mogulus.

Tonight’s interview will be featured on our upcoming podcast.

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