Now Hiring Songleaders - Update

Position: Song Leader

Church: Christ The King
Employment Type: WFW (Work For Worship)

Wanted to catch your attention and give everyone a quick update on my commitment to help develop the position of SongLeader. We have had Caleb, Nick and Jared step up to take on greater responsibility in leading portions of the singing during Sunday's worship service. Other team members have also stepped up to lead songs as they have felt led. I have seen this as a blessing and a very positive step in developing our team and I hope to look back on this commitment in an even more positive light a few months from now.

Wondering what it means to me to be a song leader - thought you'd never ask... See this document. I'm still looking for more leaders

I have also seen some very focused and productive rehearsals happening over the last 2 months as we have implemented some healthy adjustments. I thank you for your commitment to them as well. These included:

• Firm Start Time
• Consistent Prayer Time
• Sheet Music Maintenance
• Consistent use of our Audio Monitoring System
• Setup roles defined

I'm always open to more suggestions so please talk to me!!

I thank all those on the music team as it is a blessing to lead such a talented group!!!

"It's all about relationships and simply sharing life..." - Jesus from 'The Shack'

Pot-O-Chili + Team = Good Stuff

Some good food and even better conversation was had when the Music Team gathered this Jan 25, 2009 to discuss where we've been, how we're doing, and where we're going.

If you missed the gathering I've tabulated our Agenda and discussions here. Feel free to leave any general comments you have on this blog and send any specific comments to my email Inbox. Here are my general take-aways for you to browse...

• We've made measurable progress on many items from our 2008 Retreat. PTL!
• Let's use our communication tools even more effectively to help us prepare during the week.
• Let's pray more.
• We feel like having and developing song leaders is a direction we want to go in.
• Let's start on time and use our Sunday practice time most efficiently while looking for other practice options.
• We've done well at including those in the congregation with musical gifts - let's continue to look for even more inclusion opportunities.

I encourage you to browse "Scott's Links of Interest" on the right side of this blog - we talked about them during our meeting and I hope you find them useful! One of note is CCLITV (see the INSTRUCT link).

I'd like to thank all those who attended in body, mind - and spirit! Your focus on our ministry is a blessing to me and to our congregation. Thank You!!

"Hosanna In The Highest"

Why Do We Sing?

Here is a snippet from a Worship Blog about why God wants us to sing. I found them relevant and purposeful so I'm re-posting... (See the original post here) from Bob Kauflin

1. Singing can help us remember words.
   In the church we should use melodies that are effective.We should sing words that God wants us to remember. The lyrics to our songs should reflect the broad themes of Scripture. We should seek to memorize songs.



2. Singing can help us engage emotionally with words.
   We must differentiate between being emotionally moved and spiritually enlightened. Singing should be an emotional event. We need a broad emotional range in our songs.



3. Singing can help us use words to demonstrate and express our unity.
   Every voice in the church matters. We should seek to sing songs that unite, rather than divide, the church. Musical creativity in the church has functional limits. We must be clear that it is the gospel, not music, that unites us.

Thoughts?

"1 Chronicles 16:23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day."

Are You Ready?

Your favorite day of the week has arrived and you actually got a good night's sleep! You're at church... the A/V equipment is ready to go - it's now 9:30AM.... now what? Are you ready to start preparing to lead worship? Really? See how many questions you can answer Yes to:

• Are YOU ready - Is your heart prepared to worship? Are you at your music stand? Did you warm up your voice on the way to church, or did you already tune your instrument?
• Is your AREA ready - music stand and mic adjusted/checked? Monitor system working?
• Is your MUSIC ready - Hymnal and other music in your hands? Is the music that we're singing marked?
• Do you know which songs you could LEAD, or which ones you need to rehearse?
• Are those around you ready to go? Can you help them get ready?

These questions let you know what it means to me to be ready at 9:30AM. It really boils down to our team using the limited preparation time we have in the most efficient (and courteous) manner to ensure we are ready to fulfill our Ministry's role to lead the congregation in singing and praising the Lord! Amen.

I offer up some other tips/resources to help you prepare:

Many times the Order of Worship is ready a week or more prior to the service - even before I send out an email saying that it's ready. Put a reminder on your calendar to take a look at the Worshipwebsite to see. Keep a copy of the hymnal to review Hymns at home. Check this blog periodically to see what I've been writing about - the nice thing about blogs is that you can search for content from the past - say you wanted to look back at the highlights from our '08 Music Tream Retreat. See the "Search Blog" box in the top left corner of the blog.

Lastly, I'm always open to feedback and suggestions - please let me know if something is on your mind... Thanks for what you do for our growing ministry!!

"Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord"