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Reminder: Heaven’s Praise Online Bible Study Begins Today!

Russ Hutto — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:41:44 +0000

It’s not to late to join us here at The Worship Community as we host a worldwide group Bible study beginning today, Monday, February 6, 2012.

Just order your book and jump in when you can, and make up the other days as you can!

Heaven’s Praise, a 6-week Bible Study by Dwayne Moore, is the follow up to the well-received and widely utilized Pure Praise study.

TWC hosted the Pure Praise Study once in 2009 and once again in 2010 and we’re excited to host this online group study as well. We’ll have participants from all over the world joining us.

The cost to participate in this study is FREE.

However, if you’d like to participate you need to obtain a copy of the book for yourself. You can find it at http://www.store.nextlevelworship.com/?p=65 or at Amazon.com.

Listen to what TWC members are saying about Pure Praise (the previous study):

God has given Dwayne Moore a unique ability to look at things from a slightly different perspective, and to be able to write in a very engaging, understandable style what God has taught him. He uses many real-life examples from his own life and the lives of others that clearly illustrate the point he is making.

Also, every premise he presents is supported by scripture. There are a minimum of two scripture passages to study in each day’s lesson, so this is not merely one man’s opinion, but is scripture explained clearly and reliably.

The study, alone, is very valuable and should have life-changing results. But the best part of the study, for me, was doing it together with several others and daily posting what we had learned onto the TWC page created for that purpose. It was amazing to see the many things God had shown each of us in that day’s lesson, and there was much to be learned from what others posted.

Many of us were led to post heartfelt prayers; there were links to worship songs posted — I first heard Revelation Song because someone mentioned how well it went with that day’s study. For me, a budding songwriter, two songs were born from the study.

One additional benefit of the online part of Pure Praise is the group of new friendships that was formed during the study. Although I have not yet met any of these friends personally, I continue to interact with them regularly on TWC and FaceBook.

I can’t wait to do this all over again with Dwayne’s new book, Heaven’s Praise.

— Tom Kline

I am one of the group who has gone through Pure Praise on-line through the WorshipCommunity.com.
I don’t have deep theological insights or incredible revelations – what I have is a changed heart, a changed focus, a changed life.

Through great Scripture sections and questions that challenged any complacency, I learned so much about what worship IN my life and AS my life needs to look like, feel like, live like.

Doing it as part of an online group was a wonderful experience. The variety of church backgrounds, locations, viewpoints was a huge part of why I am looking forward to a new study through this web site. I am a small church member and really love the wider view I get when I walk through these studies with this online community.

I look forward to the study of Heaven’s Praise and the learning and growing that I will undertake!

— Maggie Cook

I recently completed an online study with some folks over at TWC. The study is called “Pure Praise” written by Dwayne Moore. During this nine-week study, the Lord moved my heart in some powerful ways! Admittedly, I am not currently a part of a worship team. The reason why I decided to join the study is because I heard so many good things about it, and I also heard it applies to congregant worshipers. Indeed it does! The title of “Pure Praise” is so appropriate. Even church attendees can benefit from this study, and that’s where I got the most out of it – from that perspective. My desire is to please the Lord and one way of doing that is ensuring my praise is pure before Him!

— Melanie Siewert

What others are saying about Heaven’s Praise:

“Dwayne takes us into the throne room of heaven where we are worshiping Jesus face to face. With uncommon insight Dwayne reminds us that life is short, and to make every day count so we can one day hear Jesus say, ‘Well done.’ Dwayne has translated the complexity of heaven into a very real experience for the reader. You are left with an incredible glimpse into what heaven is really like!”

— Rick Muchow, Worship Pastor at Saddleback Church, CA

“I recommend Heaven’s Praise: Hearing God Say Well Done wholeheartedly. Filled with spiritual truth that will both encourage and stretch your faith!”

— David Nasser, Author, Evangelist, Pastor

“Engaging in this study will delight your soul and clarify your purpose each day. What a glorious thought that God wants to praise us! I deeply appreciate the simple truths – grounded in scripture – that Dwayne Moore has crafted into a daily tool for individuals or groups to immerse themselves in. This study is a gift to the Kingdom.”

— David Nasser, Author, Evangelist, Pastor

If you’d like to participate, here are the important details:

You’ll need YOUR OWN copy of the book Heaven’s Praise.
The study begins TODAY, Monday, February 6, 2012.
The “discussion” portion of the study will be hosted at The Worship Community Forums. The study will be categorized into 6 week sections and daily sub-sections. DAY ONE BEGINS HERE.
You must be a registered member of The Worship Community Forums to participate in the forums.
The “week” consists of 5 daily study sections and also a bonus small group leader section to be used for weekly small group discussions you can use with a group.
Each day consists of a reading of scripture passages that reinforce the “life goal” for the week.
Feel free to share your daily “responses” and “meditations” – thoughts, insights, perspectives, etc. each day at TWC.
If you miss a day, please jump in on the next day and come back later and catch up the day you miss!

Sunday Setlists #185

Russ Hutto — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:50:10 +0000

Share your worship confessionals, recaps, and setlists for the week of: Sunday, February 05, 2012

Welcome to the 185th consecutive week of “Sunday Setlists”. The purpose of “Sunday Setlists” is to share a recap of your worship services. What songs did you use, what arrangements? What worked really well and what didn’t work as well as you’d like? What issues did you have preparing? What is the sermon series? How about creative elements used in the service? You don’t have to be the pastor or worship leader to participate. We would really love to get reviews from the perspective of those in our congregations each week.

Click here to receive an email reminder each week to participate.

Click here to view the archives of “Sunday Setlists” posts.

To participate:

1. Blog about your worship services this week. In that blog, mention that you are participating in “Sunday Setlists” at TheWorshipCommunity.Com and link back to this post.

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-185/

2. If you don’t have a blog, leave your own recap right here by simply adding a comment to the discussion thread below.

3. Share your information (links, media, etc) and encourage others to do the same.

Oh … and whatever you do … don’t forget to leave a comment below! If you aren’t a member of TheWorshipCommunity.Com, you can register quickly, or just use the “Facebook Connect” login!

Share your Experience:

1. If you blogged about your worship recap, add the link in the “Mister Linky” below. Be sure that the link goes directly to the specific entry about this week’s “Sunday Setlists” post, and not to your blog’s homepage.

2. If you use Twitter, use the #sundaysetlists hashtag. Your “tweet” will show in the box below soon. You can even tag videos or images with the #sundaysetlists hashtag.

3. Regardless, don’t forget to leave a comment in the discussion area. Subscribe to the thread so you can come back and see what others are doing.

Links: (add a link to your “Sunday Setlists” blog post below)

Do You Have Musical Benchmarks For Your Worship Team?

Russ Hutto — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:21:56 +0000

Thanks to Steve Ball for sharing his thoughts with The Worship Community! Republished with permission – originally published here.

I believe we should all be aiming to excel in what we do – both individually and as part of the worship team. But having a musical benchmark that doesn’t enable new members to join easily really bothers me. Maybe it’s my ‘music teacher’ background wanting to see students develop, but I’ve seen too many people get discouraged (or worse, hurt) over the years by being told they are not good enough.

I believe in being as inclusive as possible – but sometimes this can create more work for the person responsible for worship, which maybe why some worship leaders shy away from the challenge? We also need to create an inclusive environment within the worship team, as it will usually not be as easy to play with musicians that are ‘less competent’. Below are my personal views about the musical benchmark, and I would be interested in other peoples approaches.

Nobody has to play every note!

If someone comes to me and says they want to join the worship team, but can only play four chords, I think that’s great! There is no rule that says every musician must play every song, so why not encourage the newcomer to join in the songs with the chords that he knows (or better still, show them how to use a capo and transpose the chords for them!). You will be surprised how quickly they will want to learn more. With this approach, you are setting the benchmark very low, but still encouraging someone to develop. When I think about when I first started to play at church on my tiny Casio keyboard, I’m sure it wasn’t great – and I still make plenty of mistakes now!

I’ve also heard it said that someone can’t be in the band unless they have grade three or four on their instrument. This is complete nonsense! I once had a student come to me because he wanted to pass his Grade 8 piano. He was a brilliant music reader, but when I asked him to play ‘Happy Birthday’ by ear, he had absolutely no idea what to do (quite shocking!). On the other hand, I’ve had students who are not interested in exams who are extremely good musicians – they just haven’t got a certificate to prove it. I would much rather have someone who is musical in how they play, and so can fit in with a band set up, rather than a ‘trained’ person who can only play what they see.

Shadowing

On a practical note (no pun intended!), I have used the process of ‘shadowing’ several times and it is really effective. Get an experienced person – preferably with the same type of instrument – and let the newcomer join in with what they can, and if they go wrong, the more experienced person is there to take over straight away. This method can be used with any instrument – even the drums. I started two (now very good) drummers off with someone with a tambourine right next to them to keep them in time if they lost concentration.

In this post, I have only been talking about a musical benchmark. There are other benchmarks for joining a worship team that are equally, if not more important which I may well go into another time.

Points to ponder:

What musical benchmarks do you set for your worship team – and why?
What other benchmarks should there be for the worship team?
If you have a higher benchmark, how can we ensure inclusivity?

Steve works in IT and is a piano teacher who also serves at his church as part of the Leadership Team with specific responsibility for worship.

5 Reasons To Use Liturgical Music In Your Contemporary Service

Russ Hutto — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:50:45 +0000

Republished with permission from Alex Mejias. Originally published at HighStreetHymns.com.

As a person who grew up in the age of CCM and “contemporary” worship, I had little exposure to traditional liturgies and “liturgical music.” I think the closest we came to using anything liturgical was when sang the Doxology (the “Old Hundredth”) as traveling music for the ushers after the offering. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure that was the original intention of Thomas Ken, who penned those words back in the late 17th Century.

It wasn’t until after college that I had my first really full experience of traditional liturgy in spoken word and song. I had always had this image of stuffy Catholic services where people were being brainwashed to mindlessly repeat prayers and creeds. I never imagined that what I would find would be this giant collection of the most thoughtful and beautiful expressions of faith I’d ever encountered. I had been missing so much. Now I want to help churches find what I found and see meaningful ways to incorporate these prayers and songs into their worship.

A few definitions and qualifications:

- By “contemporary” worship service, I mean one that does not utilize one of the traditional liturgical texts and outline as found in Catholic services, the Book of Common Prayer and other historic sources.

- Every church has a “liturgy”, which is simply the structure of a church’s worship service. For the purposes of these posts when I say “liturgical music” I’m referring to specific Catholic, Anglican, etc liturgical pieces that have been used in corporate worship since the formation of Christian worship structures. For example, the Gloria, Kyrie Eleison, Sanctus and others.

- This list is not exhaustive and I’ve just written a few words about each. The points below need much more explanation than afforded here, so if you’re interested in learning more I’ve included some good sources below.

1. Liturgical music is Biblical. The Bible is full of liturgical songs – “benedictions, prayers, creeds, eulogies, responses and doxologies” (Paul S. Jones, Singing and Making Music) to name a few. And the use of ceremonial music goes back to early Jewish worship in the original Temple. Jones writes, “the five divisions of the book of Psalms each conclude with doxological passages, and Psalm 150 in its entirety serves as a doxology to close the Psalter.” Though these songs have long been associated with Catholic mass and other formal liturgies, they are first and foremost Biblical expressions of praise and prayer.

2. Liturgical music helps us re-tell the Gospel story. In Christ-Centered Worship, Bryan Chapell writes that, “Christian worship is a re-presentation of the gospel.” The original purpose of the traditional liturgical music was to help the church re-tell the Gospel story in a consistent manner.

Much in the way church architecture was designed, these elements often correspond to specific aspects of the Gospel story. As part of a contemporary service, these pieces might allow deeper reflection and focus on the Gospel narrative. On a larger level, many liturgical pieces link up with the liturgical calendar, which walks through the Gospel story over the course of the year. The rhythms of the Christian calendar draw us into the Gospel story and can serve as a way of dwelling in it.

A few examples — grasping the depth of our sin during lent, lamenting the brokenness of the world and crying out for a savior in advent, and rejoicing in the incarnation at Christmas. Taking advantage of these long-standing structures helps us go deeper in worship.

3. Liturgical music connects us to the Historic Church. Leslie Newbegin writes, “the thing given for our acceptance in faith is not a set of timeless propositions: it is a story. Moreover, it is a story which is not yet finished, a story in which we are still awaiting the end when all becomes clear.”

We are a part of God’s story in the world, a story that began in a specific time and place. As the church has become more and more fractured, we’ve lost that direct connection with the ones who’ve gone before us in once united Church of Christ. When we sing songs from the earliest days of the church, we join the worship of the Church across the ages. It’s a way of remembering that we are part of a story that began long ago, one that we carry on today.

4. Liturgical music connects us to the Global Church. Growing up I heard little of the Eastern Orthodox Church. But as it turns out, there’s this huge other branch of Christianity that is not Protestant or Catholic.

Here’s the crazy-simple story. A thousand years ago, Christians were all in (not so perfect) communion. A dispute arose about leadership between the East and West (roughly based on which side of the Mediterranean they were on). The result of that dispute was a major split in the church spawning the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

What’s the point of all this? Well, while that split caused changes in worship practices, the common liturgy of the early church remained partially in tact. One of commonalities is in the liturgical songs. Thus when we sing those ancient songs we also united with our brothers and sisters from all over the world. We also stand in protest of the divisions that have alienated Christians from each other for hundreds of years. We also proclaim that one day there will no longer be denominations and divisions, only one body of Christ.

5. Liturgical songs complement contemporary worship songs. In many ways the move to “contemporary worship” threw the baby out with the bath water – starting completely from scratch in song and structure. Yet, hymns and liturgical elements still have much to teach us and enhance worship greatly.

Incorporating a traditional piece or two can really add some theological depth to contemporary worship (and vice versa). And these elements may actually help refresh contemporary worship. Most contemporary services began in reaction to the monotony of traditional worship. Yet, these new and exciting services have become woefully formulaic — usually a chunk of worship songs followed by a long sermon ending with another song (with prayers, announcements and an offering thrown in somewhere).

For contemporary services, traditional liturgical elements may actually help break us out of the patterns we’ve fallen into, giving your congregation a new way to participate in worship. When done with sincerity and understanding, liturgical songs are just as spirit-filled and edifying as the best of what we have today, so why not strive for the best of both worlds?

References and Further Reading:

Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell

Singing and Making Music by Paul S. Jones

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society by Lesslie Newbigin

Alex Mejias is a singer-songwriter, worship leader and the founder of High Street Hymns, a non-profit ministry dedicated to reclaiming Christian hymnody and liturgical music.

Sunday Setlists #184

Russ Hutto — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:48:41 +0000

Share your worship confessionals, recaps, and setlists for the week of: Sunday, January 29, 2012

Welcome to the 184th consecutive week of “Sunday Setlists”. The purpose of “Sunday Setlists” is to share a recap of your worship services. What songs did you use, what arrangements? What worked really well and what didn’t work as well as you’d like? What issues did you have preparing? What is the sermon series? How about creative elements used in the service? You don’t have to be the pastor or worship leader to participate. We would really love to get reviews from the perspective of those in our congregations each week.

Also be sure to join us for our online group Bible study, beginning Monday, February 6, 2012. We’ll be using Dwayne Moore’s Heaven’s Praise. You’ll need your own copy of the book. See this post for details and make sure to check in at our forums.

Click here to receive an email reminder each week to participate.

Click here to view the archives of “Sunday Setlists” posts.

To participate:

1. Blog about your worship services this week. In that blog, mention that you are participating in “Sunday Setlists” at TheWorshipCommunity.Com and link back to this post.

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-184/

2. If you don’t have a blog, leave your own recap right here by simply adding a comment to the discussion thread below.

3. Share your information (links, media, etc) and encourage others to do the same.

Share your Experience:

2. If you use Twitter, use the #sundaysetlists hashtag. Your “tweet” will show in the box below soon. You can even tag videos or images with the #sundaysetlists hashtag.

3. Regardless, don’t forget to leave a comment in the discussion area. Subscribe to the thread so you can come back and see what others are doing.

Links: (add a link to your “Sunday Setlists” blog post below)

REVIEW: Reuben Bidez – the Signs of God

Shannon Lewis — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:38:38 +0000

Reuben Bidez The Signs of God
(Independent)

In all honesty, you may not be ready for this.

Following his big, anthemic, modern rock, corporate worship CD, GENERATION, Reuben – an Atlanta-based worship artist – felt a tug on his soul to do something quite a bit different with this project. Fans of Gungor, take note: though THE SIGNS OF GOD sounds nothing like Gungor, that same stretched feeling you got when first challenged by Gungor’s unorthodox take on worship resides here as well, for many reasons.

Reuben explains his heart behind THE SIGNS OF GOD; “It all started when I attended the Jesus in the Qur’an seminar.” Now, if that sentence has already thrown you, these articles Muslim Followers of Jesus? and A Muslim Follower of Jesus: a Response from Christianity Today may be helpful. Reuben continued, “It blew me away when I realized how much Muslims and Christians had in common.” Based on the 7 stories that the Bible and Qur’an have in common, THE SIGNS OF GOD, Reuben says, “is rooted in finding peace through what we have in common. Rarely are great relationships born from disagreement and argument. I hope that we can sit down with a Muslim friend and talk about how significant these stories are as they relate to God’s mercy for mankind – that we’d set our preconceptions and agendas aside and just talk about life, family, and Jesus!”

Musically, Reuben experiments greatly with the same approach of combining middle-eastern melodies with modern Brit-rock and English folk songwriting that the Beatles experimented with in their mid-to-late period. His vocals are authentically raw and at times almost fragile, and the music and tempo of each song are well paired with the themes of each Biblical story. The results are fresh and interesting, at the very least, and at best, quite challenging and captivating.

My personal highlights would be “Abraham”, which feels at once both ancient and modern, “Moses”, an epically triumphant call to freedom, and “David”, the albums’ only – but very effective – guitar-driven, raucous rocker.

I can’t help but admire Reuben for his love of Jesus, his radical heart for Muslims, and his absolute refusal to retread the same old ground. This CD is risky and he knows it – and many will not be ready for it – but Reuben has taken a big step towards being Jesus to a people who don’t often encounter Christ – sadly though it be – in their engagements with so-called Christians. If you’re willing to face the challenge, this CD is for you.

Worship Songwriting: What is the GQ (God Quotient) of Our Worship Songs?

Russ Hutto — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:54:08 +0000

Thanks to Mark Snyder for sharing this great approach with TWC. Not only is it a great practical approach to writing worship song lyrics, it’s also a great way to analyze our Sunday Setlists.

Worship songs are an area of vastly differing opinions. Evaluating what works and what doesn’t can be very subjective. One sentiment I hear and read all the time is ‘let’s take the focus off of us, or I, or me, and put it on God, where it belongs.’ In many ways, this is a push back on the effects of a ‘generation me’ culture. But, to figure out why a song leaves this impression is not as easy as it sounds.

As a career software engineer who is also a worship songwriter, I try to allow my analytical side to influence what I do musically. When I am songwriting or considering songs for my set list or recording projects, I like to think in terms of an analytical measure of a song I call the God Quotient (or GQ for short). GQ is a way to look at a song and try to evaluate its real focus.

Each song we use for corporate worship has a certain amount of creative energy expended to write it, and a focus it brings to the congregation. It is useful to examine where the creative energy of a song is strongest. Assuming a song is well written, theologically sound and grounded in Biblical truth, I like to then evaluate a song along several scales to look at its GQ.

I look at each lyric, especially focusing on the pronouns that describe me, or us, but also the ones that describe God. Repeated lyrics get more weighting. I also look at where the song has its strongest musical moments (typically the chorus and bridge) and what those are saying. Here are some contrasts I typically draw:

Feeling versus Fealty

This one is probably the most controversial, because we like to write and sing from the heart. Many worship songs spend a lot of creative energy on how we feel.

“I love to bring You praise”
“I eagerly run toward You”
“I feel liberated”
“Your Spirit moves me”

These are good sentiments that express our heart toward God, but what we hear way less of is our duty toward God, our obligation toward God, our obedient response to God.

“I willingly keep Your commands”
“I listen for Your voice”
“I will love the poor because You do”
“I will glorify You in everything”

I judge a songs GQ score higher if it can offer a response that urges me toward action and not only toward emotion, because God is a God of action and we are His hands and feet to carry it out.

Problem versus Provision

We expend vast creative energy describing our problems.

“In the deepest, darkest night”
“When the storm is rolling in”
“When I am in the valley and I cannot go on”

The Psalms do a lot of this. We need to express our need to God, but His provision is always greater than our need. How much creative energy do our songs bring to describing His provision?

“Your sufficiency is infinitely greater than my fear”
“Your willing death overcame all of sin’s pain”
“You faced the cross because I was a sinner and was lost”
“Your Heaven is my real, amazing home”

A songs GQ is higher if its creative energy is spent more on who He is and what He provides, and less on our need.

Response versus Renown

This is primarily focused on the actions of a song – its verbs. What are they telling us? Are they all about our response?

“I joyfully lift You higher”
“Our earnest praise rises to You”
“I worship You humbly”

All of these things are great attributes of our response, and they are necessary. But what about the attributes of Him, and who He is?

“You are infinite”
“You are eternal”
“You created everything”
“You rescued Your people”
“You sacrificed everything to save us”

When a song gives Him the renown He is due its GQ is higher.

Of course, these are not hard and fast rules. Some low GQ songs are great. Many Psalms are low GQ.

However, if the majority of our set list consistently rates low on the GQ scale, you can probably be sure the worship music will generate the kind of comments I began the article with. The songs we sing will be ‘me’ focused, and we will not impart as many great treasures from His Word as we might otherwise. We should strive for, at a minimum, a balanced GQ in every song, and it never hurts to have a high GQ. But low GQ can be a problem.

Why is this important?

Why not just worship and leave this kind of analysis aside? For me, anyway, it is simple. God wants to speak His truth into our congregations, and our worship music is one vehicle for that. He wants to see His bride on fire for who He is, what He wants to do. He wants to see His truth, as He gave us in His Holy, inspired Word, made manifest, so that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess who He is, hopefully now, before it is too late.

If worship music is to be a part of His Bride’s mission, then its focus should be where it belongs – on Him.

Mark Snyder is a longtime worship leader, software engineer, and lead songwriter for the Tree Hill Collective (www.treehillcollective.com). He runs the web site www.weekendwarriorworship.com as a resource to provide songs for the church from its weekend warrior songwriters, focusing on the art of the worship song as it applies to the worshiping church of all ages. Mark has a wife and two grown sons and resides in Glendale, AZ, with his wife of 27 years Roseanne..

Review: The Loft Sessions by Bethel Music

Russ Hutto — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:12:30 +0000

Thanks to Kim Castro and Mat Reames for sharing their thoughts and insights on Bethel Music’s newest release, The Loft Sessions, which releases today.

Kim

Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, and other artists met to create an experimental and authentic worship experience made evident in this latest project, The Loft Sessions. At once moving and original, this work displays the talent and emotion of those wishing to praise the Almighty through music. Worship sessions were recorded in a refurbished loft, and this passionate, driving work shines with creativity.

As a burgeoning pianist, the opening strains of One Thing Remains drew me in like a moth to a flame. The light piano riff sets the tone for a song both cheerful and contemplative. The mix of instruments and voice is wonderful. The song starts strong-it begins with lead vocals and wailing background vocals that are supported by a strong percussion section, then circles back to end with the piano. This song may be somewhat difficult for an inexperienced or “green” worship team, but if well done, is an excellent choice for corporate worship. It is beautiful and compelling.

I love the first person perspective of God’s voice in Come to Me. The strong vocals backed by acoustic guitars, then piano, brings to the worshiper a tone of authenticity. I also like the difference between verse and chorus-verses are rhythmically dancelike, but the chorus is soaring and smooth. I, personally, would love to try this song, a simplified version at least, while leading corporately. I believe it offers a lot in terms of setting an atmosphere of worship. Very thoughtful and lyrically simple, it’s as if God himself is speaking.

Walk In The Promise follows on the heels of Come to Me, and is in every way as strong as the other tracks on this album. This song is very atmospheric and almost touches on an environmental style. It speaks of “hope and healing…with fire and with wind…you fall on us again.” It is a song that implores God to come and fulfill His promises. There is definitely a beseeching tone to the song, and I would recommend this song be used in towards the end of a worship session, as it is emotionally wrenching. The arrangement and quality of voice and instrument is, in my opinion, flawless. It ends with a simple phrase, “We lift you up!” – a fitting way to end.

One of the final tracks on the album is This is What You Do. Upbeat, with acoustic guitars, hand clapping, and a small chorus of voices, this song reminds me of modern folk. It is simple, yet charming. It is a song that invites people to stand and sing, even dance. I love it. The chorus is repetitive, but this definitely adds to the ease of singing along.

“This is what you do, this is what you do…you make me come alive!”

Again, this is a selection that would fit perfectly into a contemporary worship service. Even the most conservative of worshippers will be tapping their feet to this one!

The Loft Sessions, for me, is one of the most enjoyable worship projects yet. Musically, everything is strong. Vocals are almost flawless, and instruments are manipulated beautifully. The recording quality is gorgeous. Overall, a beautiful offering in the world of contemporary worship music.

Kim Castro is a worship leader and songwriter hailing from central California. Her heart is to obey the Great Commission and to serve others as God leads.

Mat

The Loft Sessions is a very powerful intimate worship album. A lot of which comes from the smaller intimate setting with only friends and family involved as opposed to a large church night of worship.

This album will really help churches that do not have huge teams with lots of high tech equipment. While this isn’t an acoustic album, it has a much more stripped down feel. The high energy praise songs still show a softer side that almost any team can use. It has a feel at times that reminds me of Benjamin Dunn and friends or Rend Collective Experiment with the liberal use of banjo and xylophone tones.

I loved the song My Dear which just drips with the overflow of love between God and man. The high energy of this song makes it perfect for really getting a congregation on their feet. We all know that it’s a Bethel album so all the songs are for corporate worship and will make their way into church repertoires all over the world. So just assume that fact applies to all the songs. Hunter Thompson really marks his place on the Bethel family with this offering.

You Have Won Me is a song I have heard in live sets at Bethel, but this recording take it to a whole new level. The Benjamin Dunn influence is very strong in this especially in the intro with the banjo and the vocal “Whoa.” I am very excited about this song and now have to go buy a banjo and subsequently learn to play it just for this song.

Newcomer to the Bethel Worship family Stefany Frizzell just breaks out with her song You Know Me. It has a classic feel to it with soft vocals, piano leads with cello undertone. The lyricism in this song just brings me to my knees. This may be her first Bethel outing, but I am eagerly anticipating when she gets to release her own solo album. This must be played in our churches; the passion is palpable in a way few songs have achieved.

I could discuss every song on this album in depth, but I don’t want to spoil all of your fun when you hear the album for yourself, because you know you want it. It’s fresh, its new, and its something spectacular.

It’s a full 5 star album.

The final song This is What You Do is a great song that closes out the album with excitement. Its upbeat with clapping as percussion instead of heavy drums. It is about how God causes us to live. It’s a great ending to a great album.

So go to itunes or your local worship music retailer and get this. If you don’t like it, give it to someone because if you don’t, I know the next guy will. It’s just that good of an album.

Mat Reames is a worship leader at Eagle Rock Church in Lawrence, Kansas and blogs at www.matreames.com.

Bethel Music | The Loft Sessions | itunes | facebook | @bethelmusic

The Worship Community Loves YOUR Voice

Russ Hutto — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:56:03 +0000

We at The Worship Community would like to extend our continued thanks and appreciation for all of you who continue to be a part of our community.

Whether through weekly participation in Sunday Setlists, where people from all over share their experiences, testimonies, struggles, ideas, problems/solutions, and song setlists from their worship gatherings each week…

…Or whether over in the TWC forums discussing ‘all things worship’ with brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world…

…or if you’re a regular reader of our articles here on the front page.

Thank you! Thanks for being a part of building and nurturing this community.

Another area in our community that WE LOVE here at TWC is our contributors. Over the years we’ve had some GREAT content shared with us by folks just like you who are ‘in the trenches’ doing ministry day in and day out. Folks in big churches, and small churches, and everything in between. Folks in established traditional churches and folks in brand new church plants.

We’ve had folks from many denominational backgrounds contribute insight and perspective to this community and we’re RICHER for it. We’ve even published controversial posts that stirred the pot a little, so that we could discuss and learn and grow with each other.

Thank you for your voice!

If you’d like to contribute to TWC, we’d love to consider your articles, blog posts, essays, ideas, etc.

We’d love to hear from:

Worship Leaders (full-time and part-time)
Musicians (people who make up the worship bands, orchestras, and choirs)
Tech people (staff and volunteer)
Creative types (who use their creative arts in worship gatherings: photography, design, dance, art, etc.)
Congregation Members (yep, this is the WORSHIP community, not just the worship leaders on staff community!)
And anyone else who has a heart for our worship gatherings (specifically those moments that we plan and lead under the direction of The Holy Spirit each week!)

How to contribute:

Get your best THREE (3) articles/ideas together (they can be blog posts, word documents, forum posts, etc.)
Email them to editor@theworshipcommunity.com with “TWC CONTRIBUTOR” in the subject
We’ll look over your articles/ideas and contact you with our thoughts and potential steps moving forward.
Our community is “member driven” so contributions and re-publishes (of already existing blog posts) are VOLUNTEER basis. That means we don’t pay for contributions, but if you have a heart to share some of your perspectives and serve the community at large please consider sharing your ideas with TWC!
We DO include a brief bio with links back to your website and/or original blog posts (or article locations) if they exist online. This is a win/win for us both, you get a potential traffic drive to your website, and we get great content from folks living and doing ministry like you!
After we publish or republish your contribution, we can discuss your involvement with TWC on a regular or semi-regular basis, it’s all up to you! We have several contributors who allow us to syndicate their personal/ministry blogs on a regular basis, and we have others who write exclusively for us from time to time.

Contributing Via Music Reviews:

We also have a list of folks who are sent periodic notifications for worship albums to review. Folks on this list get to choose the albums they review and can participate as regularly or pseudo-regularly as they choose. To participate in this opportunity:

Email editor@theworshipcommunity.com with “TWC PANEL REVIEWER” in the subject.
Include a brief bio with links back to your website, twitter, or facebook (whatever method you prefer to be contacted online).
Get yourself a dropbox account if you don’t have one. We use dropbox to share files.
Wait for the notifications of available reviews via email!

Reviews are usually brief, focus on the top 3-4 songs on the album, are usually combined with 3-4 other reviewers into one large panel review. The general review “culture” at TWC is not strong opinion pieces, but effectiveness and “use-ability” of the album/songs in the church at large.

We hope to hear YOUR voice soon at The Worship Community!

God Bless,

Russ Hutto

Editor, The Worship Community

Sunday Setlists #183

Russ Hutto — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:15:13 +0000

Share your worship confessionals, recaps, and setlists for the week of: Sunday, January 22, 2012

Welcome to the 183rd consecutive week of “Sunday Setlists”. The purpose of “Sunday Setlists” is to share a recap of your worship services. What songs did you use, what arrangements? What worked really well and what didn’t work as well as you’d like? What issues did you have preparing? What is the sermon series? How about creative elements used in the service? You don’t have to be the pastor or worship leader to participate. We would really love to get reviews from the perspective of those in our congregations each week.

Click here to receive an email reminder each week to participate.

Click here to view the archives of “Sunday Setlists” posts.

To participate:

1. Blog about your worship services this week. In that blog, mention that you are participating in “Sunday Setlists” at TheWorshipCommunity.Com and link back to this post.

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-183/

2. If you don’t have a blog, leave your own recap right here by simply adding a comment to the discussion thread below.

3. Share your information (links, media, etc) and encourage others to do the same.

Share your Experience:

2. If you use Twitter, use the #sundaysetlists hashtag. Your “tweet” will show in the box below soon. You can even tag videos or images with the #sundaysetlists hashtag.

3. Regardless, don’t forget to leave a comment in the discussion area. Subscribe to the thread so you can come back and see what others are doing.

Links: (add a link to your “Sunday Setlists” blog post below)