Hillsong: Aftermath and Expectations

Last week, I took a group of twenty people from LRCC to see Hillsong United. We loaded up three vehicles of teens and members from the worship team and made our way to Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

Now, I have long loved Hillsong’s music. They are one of my “go to” places to look for new worship music for my church. The worship leaders there are simply anointed. God has blessed them with gifts for writing songs with strong melodies and lyrics that connect with today’s generation of worshippers. I was really excited to see them in a live setting.

I wasn’t disappointed.

It was the most authentic and passionate expression of worship I have experienced in a long time. I want you to get a picture of this in your head: Young and old, racially and culturally diverse, standing together with an expectation that God was going to show up. They were EXPECTING Him! For 3 uninterrupted hours, every hand lifted into the air and every voice sang out their offering of worship to the Father. It was an intense, spiritual workout!

The Hillsong United guys made it clear that none of the evening was about the lights or smoke or the heavy guitar riffs; it was about an authentic expression of worship to God. And it was. The band and leaders had such an amazing ability to get out of the way and let the Spirit move.

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And at the end of three hours – no one was ready to go. They wanted more. They wanted to CONTINUE worshipping!

I woke up the next morning still exhausted from a night of worship. Yes, you read that right, exhausted.  I had 3 hours of pouring myself to God! I have never felt like that before.

A series of questions to ponder from the night:

How can we encourage our churches to EXPECT God to show up in our worship assemblies? I am convinced that if people look for Him, they will find Him. Is it a teaching problem? Is it that our churches have become spiritually lethargic or apathetic? Is it because we really don’t expect to encounter Him? Are we too comfortable learning about Him on a Sunday morning and not interested in meeting with Him?

What do you think?

My final take home was this song. If you haven’t heard it, go to iTunes and download it! I posted these lyrics to it below.

Like An Avalanche

Verse 1

Beautiful God, Laying Your majesty aside You reached out in love to show me life Lifted from darkness into light- oh

Verse 2

King for a slave

Trading Your righteousness for shame

Despite all my pride and foolish ways

Caught in Your infinite embrace

Oh

Chorus

And I find myself here on my knees again

Caught up in grace like an avalanche

Nothing compares to this love love love

Burning in my heart

Verse 3

Saviour and Friend

Breathing Your life into my heart

Your word is the lamp unto my path

Forever I’m humbled by Your love

Oh

Bridge

Take my life, take all that I am

With all that I am I will love You

Take my heart, take all that I have

Jesus how I adore You

Chorus

And I find myself here on my knees again

Caught up in grace like an avalanche

Nothing compare to this love love love

The Art Of Worship Flow Part 2

My last blog began the conversation about creating a good worship flow.  All the elements of an assembly should work together to point a person in one direction: the central message. (ATTENTION: What I’m not saying here is that the sermon is the central point of the service. Nor am I saying that up tempo worship songs should be the “opening set up” song to the more important or meaningful ballad!) What I’m saying is this: it all works much like a great story where one word isn’t wasted.

In light of this, I want to share 4 additional tips to help craft a good worship flow.

5) Pay attention to the transition between different elements. A worship leader should not just want to eliminate silence, but to move seamlessly from music to video to sermon to communion to (fill in element here).  For example, you are playing a video with music behind it.  Choose a song in the same key as the background music so you can move seamlessly between the two elements.

LRCC does a meet and greet time every Sunday, which is one of my favorite parts of our services.  It gives our church time to fellowship for a few minutes and/or meet any visitors (I prefer the term “guests”) who are seated near them. However, it is hard to transition back from this brief “social time” into a spirit of celebration or reflection. This Sunday, we are trying something different. We are going to quietly “ooh” the song “I Worship You, Almighty God” followed by a prayer. I believe this will ease us back into a time of reflection without feeling like we just did a 180.

This is where we get to think creatively.  There are several ways to create a flow between these elements.  Are there ones that work better for your church?  What has been successful? What has crashed and burned?

6) Beware of the biggest Worship Flow Killer: ANNOUNCEMENTS.  This element is a struggle at most churches. It is a vital way to communicate special projects, trips, prayer requests, and events to your people. So, where do you put them in your service where everyone hears them? Some opt for the beginning of services; just get them out of the way! Others know that many of their people arrive “fashionably late”, so the beginning isn’t an option.

Some churches place announcements at the end of services. The upside- everyone is in attendance and hears them.  Downside- many have trained themselves to tune them out by the end of services. Church members are turning their phones back on, pulling their things together, and ready to eat lunch.

A third option is to place announcements right smack in the middle services, maybe just before the sermon, to eliminate the problems of both. However, placing them in the middle disrupts the flow of worship.  It gets people thinking about plans and schedules and “How are we gonna pay for this trip?” questions.  It is extremely difficult to find a way to call the congregation into refocusing on the message.

So, with the pros and cons of all the options, which is best? That is something each congregation must decide on its own. We have just recently reevaluated where our announcements go in our church service at LRCC. We have been doing them during the offering while the baskets are being passed (I think this is a good idea), but it was right in the middle of services. We felt the resistance as we pulled them back into a song or two before the lesson.

We have now opted to put them near the end immediately following our prayer time. We have a “Altar Call/ Prayer” song as people respond to the message.  Both our Preaching minister and Involvement minister read through the prayer requests and we pray.  We immediately move into the announcements with our involvement minister. Some of our announcements are about the sick and prayer request related news, so we begin with those. This transition works seamlessly! Then we end with a closing song – one that is a charge to go and live out the message we just heard.

7) Don’t overuse music as transitions. With a cappella churches, we don’t have the luxury of having the key player or pianist play transition music behind everything or during prayers. We have to think creatively about these kind of things. I like the idea of using ooh’s (as we are this Sunday), but I do so with caution.

Two reasons:

a. You have to have a well-trained praise team to do this. I have seen some teams try this and end up overpowering the pray-er or fall apart on tempo. Some teams just aren’t comfortable singing anything but words – and that’s ok.

b. Like bread, it can get stale quickly. So, use it sparingly. Besides, part of the creative process is finding creative ways to make a worship time flow. Let’s not cheapen things by always using the same old ideas.

No matter how much you plan, the Spirit of God is the only One who makes it work. I’ve created and crafted what I thought was the ideal worship flow, only for it to be lackluster and rigid.  There have also been times when I thought: “This Sunday isn’t going to be very good”, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Worship was vibrant and passionate – and it had nothing to do with my planning!

You must remember that the Spirit of God can work through your planning and creative energy.  If I’m reading 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 correctly, He gave that creative energy to you! But realize that He also can take what you feel is your weakest work and breathe life into it.  It is in those times that He is reminding us that we don’t control the Spirit. It isn’t about us – it is all about God! If you take nothing else from this blog, remember this last point as we plan, create, and build better worship flows!

The Art of Worship Flow

Sunday morning services are like telling a story. The “story” takes you on a journey through high points and low points. The plot twists and takes its hearers to unexpected places. A good storyteller can build excitement to set up a major plot point and knows when to add a bit of humor to relieve a tense moment. He or she can paint a scene so vividly that the hearers can actually see the story unfold in front if them. Have you ever been to a church service like that? You could close your eyes and stand alongside the main characters. You could walk around in the scene; drawing new insight as you discover new vantage points to observe the story. You respond to God as if you were that woman at the well or that lame man who realized he could walk again!

As Larry The Cucumber of VeggieTales fame exclaims, “I laughed, I cried. It moved me, Bob.”

Too often Sunday morning reads like a stale novel. It’s predictable. The characters are flat. There’s nothing compelling about it to make you want to turn to the next chapter to keep reading.

Have you ever been to a church service like that?

As a worship leader, it’s our job to put the pieces together to help tell a compelling story. Another way to say this is: it’s our job to create a good worship flow. We have a palate of words, songs, music, videos, readings, prayers, testimonies, the sermon, communion, etc. to work with. All these elements fit together to help clearly communicate the overall message and how we should respond.

You can tell when flow works, right? The hearers lean in and turn their heads a bit to catch every word. Like a sponge, they soak in every phrase sung or spoken. Worship becomes more intense; more personal. I want that kind of worship every Sunday, don’t you?  I’ll be honest, that kind of worship can only come from the work of the Spirit of God. However, I want to share some tips I’ve learned to help eliminate the distractions and allow God to move!

8 tips to create a better worship flow

1) Keep groups of songs in the same key. If you are doing a block of up tempo worship songs, keep them in the same key and sing them straight through. No stopping! You may need to rehearse this with the worship team to nail those transitions, but it is worth the extra effort!

2) Pay attention to tempo. It kills me to see some worship leaders lead fast song/ slow song/ fast song/ slow song. I feel like I am in the car with a new driver who is hitting the brakes every few feet! Are there times when an abrupt and dramatic change in tempo is necessary? Yes. But use those sparingly. If you need to move to a slow set of songs, I would suggest a good medium tempo song as a transition between the two. It just feels right. This can also be achieved with a prayer or a video. The same is true when moving from slow to fast.

3) Let the songs help tell the same story as the teaching time. It is powerful to respond in worship with the same type of language you just received in the message, so choose songs that reflect a similar theme. I realize that you can’t force every song in a service to work in this way. In fact, I would never suggest getting every song to match perfectly. But there does need to be consistency in the message. And if you are struggling to make it all fit together, I believe that straightforward worship songs are always an appropriate choice.

4) Eliminate awkward silences. Unless the silence is intended for personal reflection time, do your best to avoid them. It is easy for people to disengage when these moments occur. Our postmodern brains usually jump to one conclusion: what has gone wrong? One of the worst offenses is this scenario: The last note is sung just before the scripture reading. Then, a few moments of silence. A figure from the back pew arises and begins to move to the closest aisle. Hundreds of eyes are now glued to the person as he or she is casually walks to the stage- ALL IN SILENCE. Do what you can do steer clear of this one.

This is a two parter. Stay tuned for tips 5-8!

Worship Teams on Stage: Part 3

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A brief rant on church history

I have one more major point in the discussion of a worship team on stage. But first, I want to re-visit the concept of “showy” for just a moment. I’ve reflected more on what it means to be too “showy”. I don’t think the concept starts with a group of people on a stage. I think it starts with the stage itself.

I’ve read a lot about the first century church. I have read how these early churches met in homes, hid in caves, etc.  No stages. No chairs. No suit and ties. Just small groups of people gathered together as a church (a family), eating together, serving the poor, worshiping God, and loving each other.

So, where did the idea of church members sitting in pews all facing toward a “stage” come from? An appointed leader stands on this “stage” facing the “audience” and leads them in a “church service”. Where did this whole concept emerge? Polycarp? Constantine? Peter? Our whole Sunday morning church experience is set up for an audience to “receive” from whomever is standing on the stage. Sounds a bit like “Christian theater”, doesn’t it? If we are going to argue that everything feels too showy, then we have to get at the root of the issue:  The concept of a group of people facing a stage is already set up for people to “expect” a performance. And that doesn’t just go for the praise team, it goes for the preacher as well! If we feel that a performance is a threat, maybe we should eliminate the very surroundings that encourage such an idea. Take out the pews and stage and all sit in a circle!

OK, ok- I digress. Though I agree with the above paragraph (I should, I wrote it!), I also realize that we can too easily become argumentative and reactionary. Those of us pushing for such changes in our churches can’t let Satan get a foothold on us. We can’t let it drive a wedge between those “for” or “against” it. This issue truly does not matter – like so many other issues and concepts. We have inherited this church, with its strengths and weaknesses, from our forefathers.

Now, back to the last group of people I want to aress. We’ve discussed the suppressed voice of women in our churches, but there is another group- equally silenced in my church heritage. This group hits home for me because I’m one of them.

Standing praise teams encourage those with musical gifts to get involved.

I was an extremely musical kid growing up at an extremely conservative church of Christ.  I can remember singing songs on Sunday and hearing music in my head that wasn’t written in the hymnal. I heard Christian songs on the radio and knew that I could come up with an arrangement that we could use in church. I could use the music that God gave me to encourage my church family.  I wanted to be used for Him!

But those ideas were unwelcome. I had more than one meeting with elders telling me that those kinds of gifts weren’t useful in the Lord’s church.  I was literally told I had a “bum gift” and I should become a band director if I wanted to use my gifts. At the same time, I saw some of my friends who were gifted musicians and vocalists (both male and female) leave the church to sing and play in bars.  Some still loved God and ended up at churches that were more “user friendly” to those with musical skills.

Seeing my friends leave killed me. I’ll be honest- I wanted to leave too.  I had a “bum gift” anyway, so what was the point?

But then I went to a church that welcomed such “bum gifts”.  They didn’t alienate the right-brained, creative types… they embraced them! They found ways to use those with musical giftings to bless the church body. My first experience with this was seeing standing praise teams at Woodmont Hills Family of God and Otter Creek Church of Christ in Nashville, TN. I saw people (like me!) who were able to stand on that stage and pour out their praise to God.

I wept.

Then I came across this passage in 1 Corinthians 12 (NIV):

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Paul wasn’t writing the definitive list on gifts. These were examples of giftings and how they all were designed to work together.  I didn’t have a bum gift after all!  God didn’t curse me with a musical ear; The Spirit BLESSED me with it! It felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders!

Too often our churches alienate the right-brained, creative types. There is no wiggle room in our liturgical formulas. Can we find ways to incorporate those with gifts in music, painting, pottery, and poetry into our church services? Are there other areas of giftings that we tend to alienate? Good questions to ask ourselves.

Final thoughts

It is because of all these things that I believe that standing worship teams are a good idea. They can be a healthy and encouraging part of the worship experience. They can bring a counter-cultural message of hope through diversity. They can bring an energy and air of excitement to our services. They can bring a variety of previously suppressed but valuable voices to the table.

Are there mistakes made along the way?  Sure. Can we figure out the perfect system?  Never. But we CAN know that God wants us to be one body. His Spirit gave us these gifts and there is nothing better than to give them back to him.

The Lindberg Road Church of Christ has just transitioned over the last few months to a standing praise team. I have shared all these thoughts at some point or another with several of our church members. Our leadership has discussed and prayed over them. Finally, our last piece of the transition was Easter Sunday. It was fantastic!! For those who are working toward this change- don’t give up. It can be done.  Be encouraged and have hope! Why?

Because there is something powerful about the body of Christ when it does what God made it to do!

Worship Teams on Stage: Part 2

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art 2:  A worship team standing on stage is an inter-generational event.

“One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts.” – Psalm 145:4

“…we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.” – Psalm 78:4b

Many of the Psalms paint this grand picture: a powerful vision of unity among believers, both young and old. In this vision, cooperation and love and encouragement are all shared between these generations. Grandparents tell stories that inspire the children to live faithful, godly lives. Parents are inspired by their children’s passion when they speak of what God has done for them. Beautiful ideal, isn’t it? No worship wars, no church splits, just people of all ages uplifting each other and sharing Jesus. The very idea of a multi-generational group sharing in faith and worship seems too good to be true.

It’s funny that, in so many churches, the vision of worship is a divisive one.

Not so for the Psalms. It’s unifying.

Now, let’s switch back to Part 2 of the discussion at hand: standing praise teams.

I believe that the standing praise team is one way to see this vision of the Psalms come to life. When people see several generations on a praise team singing together in worship to God- it’s an awe-inspiring sight to see. A young generation raises their voices to the LORD, crying out “Be Thou My Vision”. In turn, an older generation lifts their hands in prayer and worship to sing “Let God Arise”. It’s not so much about the song style or even how current the song is.  It’s not so much about how poetic the lyrics are or how old it is.  It is more about each other: mutually giving and receiving to the benefit of the other age group.

Inter-generational worship: what an encouraging and beautiful thing to participate in!

This picture goes against the ideals of our society. We are a niche culture that specializes in catering to specific tastes. Too often, these extremely individualized tastes drive us away from each other. TV channels and radio stations all direct their services to a specific market or age bracket. And though I still love my Grande No Fat No Whip Caramel Macchiato, I realize that there is plenty of room for people who simply need a medium coffee.

Now, I realize that not every church has musically gifted people in every generation- that’s OK.  Use who God has given you! The point is: God wants to bring us together…. that we can truly become the body of Christ. If the church is truly a “counter cultural” movement, then what can be more counter cultural than seeing various generations standing together for a common goal, let alone singing together? The standing praise team is an upfront and visual reminder that God calls us to be that “one generation commending God’s work to another.”

Standing praise teams give women an avenue into public ministry in the church.

Hand in hand with the Psalms’ inter-generational vision is a second, but just as powerful, vision. The praise team on the stage is not just made up of young and old, but of men and women.

^“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” – Galatians 3:28-29

The standing praise team gives us a snapshot of this ideal vision from Paul. It gives a public venue for women to actively participate in a worship assembly. I won’t get into all the theology and defense for women in ministry here. (That is for another blog by some other scholar!) What I will say is that I believe we need to see and hear from our women. They are an equal, but stifled, voice in our churches.

For churches that have little or no outlet for women in public ministry, they can take first steps with a praise team! There are many women whose gifting is music and they should be encouraged to use their gifts to bless the church. Whether it is holding down the alto part, singing solos, or even doing a dramatic reading, a standing praise team is one small step to make the change.

With the variety of backgrounds, ages, and sexes on stage, we find a whole new host of opportunities to connect with people in our worship assemblies.

As much as hate to admit it, someone may not connect with me while I am leading on stage. But they may with someone else. I venture a guess that with several people on stage they would find a person that they DO connect with.  Have you ever been encouraged by seeing our teens in the youth group leading worship? Have you ever been surprised to hear that one shy girl has a voice like that? Whoa! Have you ever made eye contact with someone who is older in years, and they return your eye contact with a smile?  It’s uplifting, isn’t it? It puts a smile on your face. You want to sing a bit louder in those moments. There is something that you can’t teach- you can’t really even put your finger on it. It’s this realization that you are a part of something bigger and more powerful than you noticed before. It’s in those moments that you experience the “thin spaces” in our world, where the lines between heaven and earth are a little blurry.

I believe that it’s in those times we catch a glimpse- just a peek- into the kingdom of God. The curtain is peeled back for a second and we see worship the way God’s sees it. One group of people commending and singing God’s work to another. That other group responds by commending and singing God’s work back to them. Unity found in diversity.

There is just something powerful about the Body of Christ, isn’t there?