Fork In The Road Music » interactive

An Interactive Prayer Time

Russell Martin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:48:30 +0000

For the past several years we have been doing a time of prayer in our worship service where congregation members would call out those who were in need of prayer. It had always seemed to work well. We would usually have 5-10 names lifted up by members, and after each one we would respond with “Lord hear our Prayer” then the leader closed by leading us in the Lord’s Prayer.

I recently had a meeting with one of our ushers. During the course of the conversation we began talking about the service. He said, “You know I’ve been here for 4 years now, and I have yet to hear one of the prayer concerns.” Wow! I had never thought of it. It made me wonder how many others had the same experience. Were people really hearing, and praying for the concerns lifted up?

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to pray for them, it was just that with everyone facing forward, and with the size of the congregation, a concern lifted up was only being heard by those surrounding that person.

In a completely different conversation I was talking with one of our speakers about ways to do things differently in the service. One thing we were discussing was that sometimes people are reluctant to call out a prayer concern because they do not like speaking in front of others, or think their prayer concern is not important enough to mention.

After listening to both of these we brainstormed on ways we could make our prayer time more effective and meaningful. We came up with a simple solution.

As people walked in we handed them an index card. We set out markers in the chairs. During the greeting time we told our members we were going to do something a little different. We wanted them to write down their prayer concerns that they wanted us to lift up. We also asked them to notate if they wanted their concern added to the church prayer list. We invited them to place them in a basket, located in the middle of the room, at anytime during our worship set.

While we played the next two songs, many people brought their cards to the basket, then quietly returned to their seats. After our worship set is the Children’s message. During that time our prayer leaders collected the concerns and read through them. They were able to bunch alike prayers together, they also could edit them for privacy concerns etc…

When it came time for the prayer they started out by opening in prayer, and then two people read off the concerns. Sometimes they would group 2-3 names together and then the congregation would respond with “Lord hear our prayer.”

Where before we would have 5-10 concerns lifted up, we had over 35 concerns mentioned and prayed for.

Though we may not do it this way every week, we definitely will be using this again in the future. Here’s why:

1. All prayer concerns were read into a microphone and heard by all of the congregation.

2. People felt more free to share their concerns anonymously.

3. We have a written list of things people are in need of prayer for.

4. It added an interactive element to the prayer time.

How do you do prayer time in your service?

photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bagoogoo/

Youth Worship: Making Your Job Easier

Russell Martin — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 07:01:48 +0000

This used to be the way I did things when I was leading the youth worship team.

1. Find a song that the youth wanted to do.

2. Type up the lyrics

3. Use my awesome ear training skills to figure out the chords

4. Transpose the key if needed for the vocals to sing

5. Rehearse with the band

6. Create a powerpoint slide from the lyrics

6. Repeat

I guess I have done it that way for the longest time because there was really no other way to do it. There were some song books that went along with some CDs but they usually contained the full piano sheet, not really easy to use for a guitar player. So I continued listening to songs, chording them out, and my computer began to become filled with pages of these creations. That was until now…

Now there are many resources that come out with everything provided for you. There are many out there from different companies. I started out using SPIN or Student Praise Interactive Network. They provide CD’s with split tracks along with lyric sheets, chord sheets, piano parts and powerpoint or media shout ready lyrics.

Recently I have started using Vertical Music Worship Tools. These provide pretty much the same thing like split tracks, lead sheets, guitar parts etc. They also include a DVD that contains videos of each instrument playing their part. This is great for demonstrating how to play a certain song on a specific instrument. This Vertical Music resource creates its arrangements from a specific artists CD. The most recent one I received were arrangements from Lincoln Brewster’s “Today is the Day” CD.

As I said before there are tons of resources like this that are now becoming available. The ones I mentioned are just the two that I have been most familiar with. I suggest these because while it is great to be able to sit and chord out song after song, is it really the best use of my time? There are still many opportunities for me to hone my ear training, music transcribing skills like when I am writing songs, or when those songs come along that I don’t have a resource for. By using these resources though I can drastically cut my arranging time down.

Oh.. I don’t have powerpoint lyrics or split tracks but I do have the lead sheets for several of my songs available for you to download. Check out all my free resources on my resource page or by clicking on free stuff

Interactive Communion Service

Russell Martin — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:21:38 +0000

For the past year we have really tried to elevate and emphasize communion in our service. Every month we have tried something interactive or at least different. We have used the paper that dissolves in water and had the congregation write on the paper what they needed to let go of. The dropped the paper in, stirred and the paper disappeared. Our pastor has had the congregation repeat the Jesus Prayer. We have put up sheets of paper and asked them to write a thank you note to God, after taking communion. We have used a song of confession that I wrote for our congregation called “Awaken our Hearts“.

This week we went interactive again and set up two stations with rocks, basin and pitcher of water. We had the members come up and think about the things they cannot let go of, but need to. They held the rock over the basin of water and let it go, listening to their worries go with the rock.Then they go ahead and take communion.

We run a video during the first part of communion and have a song following so I was able to sit and watch people as they came to the rock station. Some of them walked up, grabbed a rock and tossed it in, seemingly with out any thought. However there were some for which you could tell this was a difficult, yet meaningful experience. I have been very excited to see the changes happening in our congregation and we have received many comments about how meaninful communion has been now.

So what do you use to make your services interactive?

Oh.. Since I am entering this on Fred McKinnon‘s Sunday Setlist I should give you our list from Sunday.

We started the service with “Matchless”, the band really liked it I think. We followed with “Meet With Me.” After that we had our sermon and then used my song Alleluia for the offering. During communion two of our leaders sang “The Blood Will Never Lose It’s Power.” Our Song of Invitation was the Passion version of “Jesus Paid it All”

Over all it was a great Sunday..

Cardboard Testimonies

Russell Martin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:41:36 +0000

Today I was reading a post from Jan Owen about something the did at their church. They had people share their testimonies but instead of one or two people standing with a microphone saying the testimony, they had many people write a cardboard testimony. They took a piece of cardboard and on one side wrote the problem, hardship or addiction they faced, and on the other side wrote what God had done to help them through and to conquer it.

Cardboard Testimonies from Jan Owen on Vimeo.

I thought this was really effective because it allowed many people to tell their stories.

What was do you encourage your church members to share their testimony?

Youth Worship: Worshipping Without a Band

Russell Martin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:36:07 +0000

Recently my friend Tim Schmoyer who blogs at Life in Student Ministry received the following email from a youth leader looking for some help. He asks:

“Do you know of any GOOD cd’s or dvd’s for sing-a-long praise and worship music for teens. We are a small group in rural Missouri. No praise band but we want to praise God during our meetings. I’d appreciate any help you have to offer. Thanks a million and God bless.”

Worship music is a very important aspect of any youth ministry I have been involved in. Sometimes we had groups that sang a few songs at the beginning or end of a youth group time, sometimes we had a band that played for a youth worship service or maybe just some guitars around the campfire singing favorite songs. But the question is what do you do when you do not have anyone who can play guitar, or who can lead songs? There are a few options.

Option #1CD/DVD resources- Many different companies now offer worship music on CD and DVD. Two of the main ones I have used before are Iworship and SPIN or Student Praise Interactive Network.

The Iworship DVDs included the songs being performed and video backgrounds with the words displayed. They even have a new cool product called IWORSHIP Flexx which allows you to easily move between verses, bridges etc. They also include split tracks so you can either worship and sing along with the vocals, or just have the background music play.

Student Praise Interactive Network is another great resource and the one I am more familiar with. SPIN sends you a package of resources in one disc. These include the split tracks for each song, lyrics formatted for Media Shout and Powerpoint, Chord Sheets, Lyric Sheets, and Piano Music. I really like this resource because it provides a great transition if you do find an guitar player, piano player or vocalist who can slowly work into leading worship for you. Since the piano and chord sheets go along with the CD, they can play along, and sing along while they learn and become more comfortable and confident.

Option #2 Find a Service Nearby- Although it does not meet a need for worship every week, on an occasional basis you may be able to take your group to a worship service somewhere else. Maybe there is a church or youth group in your area that does a weekly contemporary worship service. What a great way not only to worship as your own group but to join others in worship, maybe even from a different denomination. Also keep your eyes and ears open for concerts that may be coming to your area. Worship groups like Hillsongs, David Crowder, Chris Tomlin not to mention many others, all tour and offer great worship opportunities for your group to attend.

Option #3 Bring Someone In- Maybe there is someone in your area who leads worship who would be willing to come lead worship for you on a one time or regular basis. There are many beginning worship leaders who are just looking for opportunities to lead and would love to have the opportunity to share in worship with your group. Check with other churches in your area, or your denominational head office to find some names. There are also sites like indie heaven which have a collection of christian artists, and a way for you to search for some in your area.