Help Me Save a Life
Nov 15, 2009 Communication, Devotions and Thoughts, Me
For the past two years I have been supporting the “Nothing But Nets” campaign. The campaign raises money to provide mosquito nets that protect from Malaria with the goal of wiping out the disease on the continent of Africa.
Between now and Christmas I want to raise enough money to buy 1000 nets. At $10 each that makes a total of $10,000
Wow, you might say that’s a lot of money but think of it this way.
Between now and Christmas is around 45 days. That means if you saved 22 cents per day between now and then you would have $10 for a net.
I figure that I have about 2000 people I am connected to between facebook personal page, fan page and twitter. If only half participated we would reach the goal.
How you can help:
1. Donate: I have created a netraiser team called Fork In the Road. You can help support me by making a secure online donation. Click here to donate.
2. Forward, Retweet, Repost: Send this on to your friends in your social networks. Get them to help.. who knows we could pass 1000 nets easily.
3. Start Your Own Team: Why not start your own effort with your church, youth group, or among your social media friends. It doesn’t matter who raises the money, just that they get raised.
For more information on how YOU can participate in Nothing But Nets, please visit www.NothingButNets.net
Thanks for your support!
Tags: application, camp, CD, Christmas, Church, Click, facebook, fork In the Road, help, Malaria, Methodist Church, Mosquitos, Music, Net Raiser Team, Nothing But Nets, people, Team, twitter, Wave, work, youth
Big Event for 6th Graders
Sep 16, 2009 events
This year I get another opportunity to lead worship for an amazing group of kids at a great weekend retreat. It’s called “The Big Event” and it’s our conference 6th grade retreat held November 6-8 at Lakeview Conference Center in Palestine Tx.
Please pray for me as I go, and for all those who will be coming. I am also looking forward to meeting Illusionist Jared Hall who will be there for the weekend.
Texas Conference Methodist Folk.. click here for all the info
Tags: 6th Grade, camp, Click, conference, Event, Lakeview, late, Methodist, retreat, Worship
My Daily Photo 07/23/09
Jul 22, 2009 Photos and Backgrounds
This past summer I spent 3 weeks leading worship at Lakeview Methodist Conference Center in Palestine Tx. I have done this for about 12 years now. This sign is in front of the camp where I started.
– Post From My iPhone
Tags: blog, camp, conference, iphone, Methodist, photo, summer, Worship
Instrumental Reflection Break
Jul 20, 2009 Free Stuff
For one more week I will take a break from posting an instrumental reflection. I unintentionally went on break from them during My weeks of summer camp. I I tended to record some of me playing piano at camp but seems like all I aged was guitar. That being said look for new reflections and othe regular blog posts to resume shortly.
Tags: break, camp, guitar, Instrumental, piano, reflections, summer
What Should I Sing?
Jul 10, 2009 How To, Worship Planning, Youth Worship
When I am a guest worship leader at a camp, or retreat, one of the hardest things I deal with is figuring out what songs I should sing. This seems like a small thing, but I can’t help but think, “Are they going to know these songs?” or “What songs mean the most to them?”
Here are three ideas about how to choose songs in that situation:
1. Talk to leaders and participants ahead of time if possible. When you first are contacted about leading worship, ask about what songs they use. Find out if they use hymns or worship songs, gospel, cutting edge, emerging? Ask what the worship service is like at their church or churches? Do they have a band, or is it more acoustic? This doesn’t mean you have to change your style, but this information can help you to choose songs that are more representative for the group.
2. Have a suggestion box- The first time I tried this I was skeptical about it. I was leading worship for a college work camp and the program director put out a suggestion box in the back. She told the group that if they had any suggestions for worship to put them in and we would try to accommodate them. It turned out working great. The song suggestions they had let me know what they were familiar with, and by their choices told me what they were needing to hear. We were able to use most of the songs, many of which I was already planning on anyway. Some of them were ones I did not know, but learned, and not only used there, but have used many times since and have become a regular part of my repertoire.
3. Well I don’t have a third one.. what would you suggest?
Tags: band, camp, choose, Church, College, guest, help, How To, Music, question, retreat, Service, sing, song, Songs, work, Worship, Worship Leader
The Songs I Sing
Jun 30, 2009 Worship Planning
I recently had the opportunity to be a guest worship leader at a church on a trip to Houston. We made the arrangements and I was to send them a list of the songs I would be using that morning. I chose several songs I thought would work and emailed those to them. A few days later I received a phone call. “Russell, these are great songs… we just don’t know most of them.” We then spent about 15 minutes trying to go back and forth and find out what songs they had that I knew, which ones I did that they knew etc.
I realized then that I know pretty well the songs that our home church does and are familiar with. I cannot however take for granted that other churches sing the same songs. And while I definitely love teaching new songs, I don’t want to introduce too many in a guest worship leader situation.
So here is what I decided. I will create a list of the songs I sing. Not necessarily those I do at my home church, but those that I generally use when I am leading either by guitar or piano at camps, retreats, and guest worship leader situations. This way when someone calls and asks me to lead worship, I can send them to the page, and they can at least let me know what songs their congregation is familiar with.
Click for the Songs I Sing
Requested Songs- College UM ARMY
May 25, 2009 Worship Planning
Last week I had the awesome privilege of leading worship for 170 people at College UM ARMY. Before heading to camp I had sent out a request for people to send me the songs they wanted to use during the week. Although I got very few beforehand, I got several requests in the request box during the week. Here are most of the songs that were requested during the week.
Better is One Day
Walk By Faith
Enough
If We Are The Body
Light The Fire
Open The Eyes Of MY Heart Lord
Forever
Alabaster Jar
Shout Unto God
Come Thou Fount
Prince of Peace (You Are Holy)
True Love
Don’t Feed the Bears
If We Are The Body
You Said
Sing to the King
Word of God Speak
Shout to the Lord
Beautiful Scandalous Night
I really enjoyed having the request box there because it gave me place for feedback and to see what songs they connect with.
Do you just choose the songs you are going to do, or do you have some way to get feedback in your services or camps?
Why We Don’t Rehearse Every Week
Feb 21, 2009 Uncategorized
How It Was
We used to reserve every Wednesday night for an hour and a half rehearsal. We showed up at 6:30 and rehearsed until 8:00. Then we would show up again at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings for an hour to rehearse and soundcheck before Sunday School and our service at 10:30 am. That all changed last summer.
When it Changed
Last summer I had a few weeks where I was leading worship for some church camps and I was going to be out two weeks in a row on our regular Wednesday rehearsal. So I decided that for one month we would take a break from our Wednesday rehearsals and just show up a little early on Sunday morning. We made sure that our songlists did not include any new music, just songs that we needed to review. The band loved it. We have decided to continue the process.
How it Works Now
We meet on one Wednesday per month to work on new music that is coming up. That means I have to be prepared atleast 4 weeks ahead of time with the probable songlists. We use that rehearsal to go over new music. We listen to the songs, double check the songsheet and then try to run it atleast once through so we understand it. I also record these rehearsals and email them the recording we made, or make it available on planning center.
Then Sunday mornings we meet from 8:00 till 9:30 to rehearse for that Sunday morning. We go over each song atleast twice, and then take the rest of the time to work on the new song for the next week, just to refresh. Then we are ready to go for Sunday morning services.
The Challenges
Doing our rehearsals and lists this way has had its own set of challenges. The first would be that I have to have our songlists done in advance. (How we do that). The second challenge is having enough time to go over songs. This has meant we have had to be more disciplined with our time and not waste time during rehearsals.
The Benefits
The first benefit I have noticed is that we have been forced to limit our amount of new songs. This means we have, as a band, learned the ones we use better. It has also meant our congregation has had time to learn the songs. It seemed like before we would learn a song, use it, and then not use it again for a while.
Secondly I have noticed we are not going over things twice. It seemed like no matter what we worked on for Wednesday we were repeating it on Sunday morning anyway.
Thirdly I work with volunteers who have families. We all do. I think it has been great to give my already busy dedicated volunteers an extra night most weeks that they can spend at home.
The fourth reason was more of a factor this summer when gas prices were topping $3.50. The less times that we were driving back and forth to tthe church, the less gas was spent.
Our band has agreed to keep Wednesdays free and I agreed to give one weeks notice of an extra rehearsal. We did this as we prepared for Christmas and probably will for Easter.
What is your rehearsal schedule?
Tags: band, busy, camp, Christmas, Church, Free, Recording, rehearsal, songlists, Songs, summer, Sunday, Team, work, Worship
Older Songs Still Resonate
Feb 18, 2009 Worship Planning
Last summer I led worship for a group of college students at a work camp. They take a week to spend together repairing homes in the area where they are working. I was leading worship for their evening services. The first night I got up with a great songlist. Some new songs from the up and coming worship bands leading worship out there. The response I got back was mixed. There were some who knew the songs and sang along, but overall there was not a huge participation.
That night we announced our suggestion box. If anyone had a suggestion about camp, including song requests, they could put them in the box and we would try to work them in. What I saw both comforted and suprised me. The majority of the requests were not the new upcoming worship songs. Most of the requests were for songs like, God of Wonders, Here I Am to Worship, Heart of Worship, Light the Fire, Lord I LIft Your Name on high. To be honest I had overlooked alot of these when I was preparing for the week because I thought they might be too old, too overdone. That clearly was not the case.
I wondered. Maybe in the drive to hear, learn, play and write the newest great worship songs I had stopped using some songs that really resonate with people. Maybe it was because these were the songs that this group grew up in with in youth group. These were the songs they had come to faith to. They were the songs that they were introduced to at church camp. They were songs that are known by heart, no words needed, nothing to learn, just worship. I can tell you it was great to get up in front, strum one chord, sing the line “Lord of all creation…” and then sit back and play guitar.
What I learned from this experience is that it is important to find out the songs of the group you are leading. I wish I could have had the song suggestions before camp started, instead of after the first night. I will not stop introducing, or writing, or singing new songs. But I also will remember that some old songs still resonate loudly and not leave them out either.
What are some songs you may have passed by that still resonate?
Tags: band, camp, Church, guitar, preparing, Songs, summer, work, Worship, youth
Free Background- Garden Angel Blur in 4 Colors
Jan 2, 2009 Free Stuff, Photos and Backgrounds
One of the most downloaded backgrounds on this site has been the Garden Angel Blur that I made from a photo I had taken this Summer at one of my work camps. I thought maybe someone would like it in a color other than green… so here they are. Click on the image once to go to the gallery, and then again to view the full sized image. Then right click and save. You are free to use them for your worship services, announcements etc.. It would be cool if you would let me know how you used them.
Tags: angel, Background, camp, Free, freebie, Media Shout, Powerpoint, summer, work, Worship
