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
Free Backgrounds
Oct 30, 2008 Free Stuff, Media and Technology
I have shared some free image resources that I have found or created before. Here are a few more sites I have found that have photos and backgrounds free for you to use. Of course it is always fun to create your own.
Creative MYK- I have mentioned this one before but they have added a ton of stuff since last time. They have not only background slides but Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files, jpegs and more. Make sure and check out my waterfall slides.
Flickr Shared Worship Background Graphics- This flickr group is designed specifically for worship backgrounds. I have also started my on Flickr site of backgrounds.
Simply Youth Ministry Background Freebies- These backgrounds are some they use for youth talks, worship services etc.
Tim Schmoyer of Life in Student Ministry always has some great giveaways. Freebie Friday #95 has some sky background pics from me, and freebie #43 is a set of powerpoint backgrounds from Stevan Sheets.
What other sites do you know of that have great free worship backgrounds?
Tags: Background, Free, freebie, Photoshop, Powerpoint, Resource, resources, video, Worship, youth
Youth Worship: Making Your Job Easier
Oct 23, 2008 Youth Worship
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
Tags: band, CD, Chords, Free, Free Stuff, guitar, How To, interactive, Media Shout, Powerpoint, Resource, resources, Songs, Team, video, work, Worship, youth, Youth Worship
5 Reasons to consider a smaller worship space
Sep 17, 2008 Media and Technology, Youth Worship
This past week we have been hosting Ike evacuees in our youth center. We also had scheduled our youth worship service. Since our normal place was now living quarters for 112 of our guests, we had to look elsewhere for a place to hold our service. We ended up scaling down and moving the service to our chapel. Our chapel seats about 60 comfortably. While we were a little cramped for space in the stage area, we managed by using a djembe instead of a full drum set and a condenser mic to pick up the vocals. We still had electric guitar and bass but had them run through their amps and keep the volume low. The result was one of the best services we have had in a while. We ended up with an average number for us of about 25-30. Instead of being lost in a large youth gym, everyone was close together, and the band and the congregation were practically one group.
Reflecting back here are the reasons I think it worked so well
1. The band didn’t overplay- Since we were without a real sound system the instruments had to back off and be below the vocals. Using the djembe helped because it lowered the drum volume, therefore everything else could be softer and still be heard
2. The band was in the congregation- Practically the bass player and acoustic guitar were face to face with the front row of the congregation. This seemed to help the us, them idea and made it seem more like one group. In our youth center we have a stage and the congregation is separated by several feet.
3. The congregation could hear each other- Since the band was not so loud, it meant the congregation could hear themselves and each other sing. They started out a little timidly, but it caught on and they began to sing, participate and clap more than they have before.
4 We didn’t lose sound- Since we were packed into a smaller space surrounded by brick walls no sound was sent out into vast nothingness of a big room. The bodies absorbed enough sound to eliminate bad reverb but enough sound from the band and congregation bounced around to make it seem full.
5. We didn’t focus on technology- When we usually meet we have screens, PowerPoint, 16 channels of sound, microphones, cords, cables, amps, speakers, and all the other “stuff”. Since we were moved at the last minute we didn’t have time to set all that up. We had minimal sound, our words were printed on sheets and there were no clever video clips to set up the message.
Tags: band, guitar, Powerpoint, technology, video, work, Worship, youth, Youth Worship
A List of Free Worship Resources
Sep 5, 2008 Free Stuff
When I began this blog one thing I wanted to do was to provide worship leaders and churches with free resources to use in their services. Over the past year I have shared mp3 files of songs, PDF Chord sheets, powerpoint background files and photos free for such use. My hope is that this will grow into a place for many different people to share resources and materials. Recently I moved my from blogspot to my new home on wordpress ad when I did this not everything made it over in transition. So I have created a resource page. It contains a list of each resource I have offered so far.
You are free and encouraged to use any of the resources on this page. You may also share them freely with others. I just ask that you do not sell them or use them for commercial use. For more information check out the Creative Commons.
You are also free and encouraged to submit your resources for others to use. You can do this either directly or indirectly. First you can directly, send your file to me, I will host it, post it and share it. You will get a link to your blog or website and a huge thanks. Second you can indirectly send me a link to your blog page where you have your resource hosted. I will write a post linking to your blog or website and again you will get a huge thanks.
What am I looking for? Whatever you use that would be helpful for others. This could include but is not limited to photos, powerpoint files, songs, chord sheets, websites, drama plays, skits, and videos.
Tags: Background, blogs, Church, Free, Powerpoint, Resource, resources, Songs, video, websites, Worship, Worship Leader
Youth Worship: Worshipping without a band
Aug 11, 2008 How To, Youth Worship
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.
Tags: Appreciate, Background, band, blogs, camp, CD, Church, guitar, interactive, Media Shout, Powerpoint, Resource, resources, Songs, video, work, Worship, Worship Leader, youth, Youth Worship
Free Stuff: Angel Background
Jul 27, 2008 Free Stuff
Ok.. so everything is free on this site. That’s kind of the whole idea but I wanted to be able to have a place to share resources that come my way or that I create. The first one is fairly simple. It is a background I made using a picture taken at College UM ARMY of an angel statue.
Right click the link and save as.
If you have resources you would like to share please email them to me. If I post them I will give you a link back to your site and a huge thanks. Thanks.
Tags: angel, Background, Free, Free Stuff, freebie, Powerpoint, Resource, resources
Media: Where to Find Graphics
Jul 23, 2008 How To
I remember 10 years ago going to a mid winter camp for our conference and the worship leader was leading music and the words were on transparencies being “projected” onto a sheet. A few years later I was at the same event where the white words were projected onto a black background. It seems today though that a slide isn’t a slide without countless number of background graphics. While I sometimes wonder if we may have gone overboard, putting a different picture with every slide, not staying with a theme etc, I do realize the value of a well chosen graphic to go behind the words that we are singing, or for a sermon, announcements and other uses.
There are several websites where you can go to find free graphics for you to use. Here are some of my favorites:
Stock Exchange- http://www.sxc.hu/ – This is a photo exchange where thousands of photos exist for your use. All the photos are huge, big enough to print, but can be easily compressed down for use on screens. Most of them are covered under the normal licenses which allows you to use the photo for free unless you are using it to make money by selling it in a design set or something like that. Some photos require you to notify the artist when you use the photo in public.
Creative MYK- http://www.creativemyk.com/ Creative MYK adds a different twist on the traditional photo site. It allows people to upload not only photos but also Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator Files. Most of them upload in layers so if you see something you like you can edit it for your uses. I actually have a gallery here with a few photos.
There are a ton of other sites out there. These are the ones I use the most.
Where do you find your graphics?
Tags: Background, camp, Free, How To, Media Shout, Photoshop, Pictures, Powerpoint, websites, Worship, Worship Leader
Backgrounds Part #2
Jun 2, 2008 Uncategorized
A few weeks ago I attended a UM ARMY camp for the college students. While there I took these pictures and we ended up using some as worship backgrounds. I thought I would share some with you.
Tags: Background, camp, Media Shout, Pictures, Powerpoint, Worship
Summer Camp Survival Tip #2- Get Rest
May 29, 2008 Uncategorized
Camp is stressful, the kids are loud and rambunctious, and it seems like you are always running from one place to another. The best thing you can do for yourself is to get rest. This applies to everyone from directors, to music people, to counselors and even campers.
The camp I still go to the most often usually gathers the counselors on the Sunday before camp starts to go over programming, decorate, setup crafts etc. This is a great time that we reconnect with old friends and make new ones. It is also when the temptation to stay up late playing 42 or spades, or just catching up can be the most harmful. The next day we have 300-500 campers coming in buses, cars and trucks. They are full of energy, mostly from Dr Pepper and Twizzlers, and they are ready to go. You need to be fully rested to be in a good, happy, helpful mood when they arrive.
The first night with kids is also an important time to emphasise going to bed early. Trust me if you don’t start it off at the beginning of the week, you’ll never get them to go to sleep later in the week.
Finally for those of us who do music and don’t have campers it is often a temptation to stay up as well. Don’t do it as much as possible. I have found that there is a correlation between the amount of sleep I have and the amount of voice I have at the end of the week. This year I’ll have three camps in a row so this is very important. Find time in the day to do what you need to do for the next day, make powerpoints, write out chords etc… But when bedtime comes, take that opportunity.
Again if you have summer camp survival tips then please email them to me and I’ll get them up here.
