I Need Your Suggestions- College UM Army Songs
May 14, 2009 Worship Planning
Next week comes one of my favorite weeks of the year. I have been asked again to lead music for College UM ARMY. During this week teams of college students, from all over, spend a week working on houses in the Houston area. This will be at least the fourth time I have had the privilege to participate in this wonderful work camp.
Last year we did something new that I thought worked really well. We set out a box and just asked for participants to send in their song requests for us to use in worship. Having 150 people participating there was no way we would be able to do all the songs requested but it gave me a good list of ideas to use.
I was surprised last year at the requests. They were for mostly “older” songs.. This year I am not sure what to expect so I am hoping we can start the process early by getting some suggestions from you. If you were going to lead worship for a group of college students for a week what songs or types of songs would you suggest?
Sunday Setlist 3/29/09
Mar 29, 2009 Worship Planning
Our worship service went great this week. I tweeted at the beginning that I could feel the excitment and engergy in the crowd even as they were entering in the doors. We had a good crowd, full stage and great songlist. Really had no hitches with A/V or anything else. We missed having Kerri but loved having our new vocalist with us. It was just a good Sunday. My prayer is that it was good for other people because they learned something new, or drew closer go God in some way. Those things I really cannot tell from the stage but continue to pray is happening each week.
Here is our list (Links go to Itunes)
Open The Eyes of My Heart- Sonic Flood
Everlasting God- Lincoln Brewster
You Never Let Go- Matt Redman
My Savior Lives- New Life Worship
My Hope is You- Third Day
So that’s what happened with us. What happened in your worship service? Read others and share yours at Sunday Setlists on Fred Mckinnon’s Blog.
Have a song you’ve written and would like feedback or input? Share it on the Online Songwriter’s Showcase. Last week we had 4 entries.. check them out and leave your own.
Tags: Fred McKinnon, songlists, Songwriting, Sunday Setlist, Worship Planning
Sunday Songlists- 3/1/09
Mar 5, 2009 Worship Planning
This past Sunday was an interesting one. I thought that the band and vocals sounded great, were tight and was over all an awesome Sunday. Unfortunately there were many other events this weekend that hindered our Sunday morning attendance. I do have to give props to our ladies who do the stage decorations each week. When I arrived at the church 3 years ago all we had was the black curtain background. This Easter will mark one full year of using colors in different ways to decorate the stage. They don’t really use elaborate props but have come up with a quick and easy system to add some color and a different focus depending on the week. Hopefully Ill put a post up next week showing how we do our stage.
Songlist (Planning Center)
Everlasting God
My Hope is You
Your Love is Amazing (Halleluiah)
Here I Am to Worship
Praise to the Lord the Almighty (from the Wow Hymns)
In the Secret
This Sunday Setlist is posted as part of Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlist #32. Come on and see what other churches are doing each week, and share your own Sunday experiences.
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Tags: Background, band, Church, fork In the Road, Fred McKinnon, Setlist, songlists, Sunday, Sunday Setlist, Worship
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
What I’m Singing for the Next 6 Weeks
Feb 17, 2009 How To
Yes you read the title correctly. I just finished our songlists through the end of May. I can tell you though that it has not always been this way. There was a time when my songlist compiling was a week by week, even night of basis. Before you say “Hey that’s how I do it, whats wrong with that” I’ll say nothing at all. There are many ways of choosing songlists. But let me tell you some of the advantages of doing things way ahead of time.
1. My band stays informed and in the loop- By doing songlists several weeks ahead of time it gives my musicians and vocalists a chance to be constantly working on upcoming music. They can find the songs that may be difficult and begin putting extra time in. As a band we can work on more difficult music that is coming up several weeks out.
2. It gives us a longterm view of song use- Ever get into a rut? Have those songs that keep popping into your lists because they are easy and the first thing that comes to mind when you are needing just one more song? When we sit down and grid out 6 weeks worth of songs we can look for things like that. We can see what songs we are using more often, and what songs may be appropriate but we may have forgotten about.
3. It helps us think about other parts of the service- When we know what we are singing that is one aspect of worship planning that is taken care of and we don’t have to worry about. We can then turn attention to visuals, graphics, decorations, videos, sermon helps, special music and other things that will help the worship service.
xperience_songlist_2009_march_may
Tags: band, songlists, Songs, video, work, Worship, Worship Planning
Choosing Songlists: Christmas Vs Advent?
Dec 16, 2008 Worship Planning
It seems every year that I come across the same delimma when choosing songs for this season. It stems from the fact that what the stores and media call the Christmas season is, for our church, Advent, or the 4 Sundays immediately before Christmas Eve. Most of the traditional carols that people expect to hear, that are coming over the store intercom systems, are the songs that tell of Christ’s birth like Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. However during that time we really should be singing songs that talk about the anticipation of Christ’s coming like O Come O Come Emmanuel.
This year we tried to at least not give in to the carols until the 3rd Sunday of Advent. Up until then I kept doing mostly our regular worship songs. I like worship songs that hint at or lead us to Christmas like “Here I Am to Worship.”
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You
The third week we did our Sunday of all Christmas music. We had the children’s choirs, liturgical dancers, special soloists and Christmas songs. Our list included Christmas Eve Sarajevo with the dancers, Born in Bethlehem by Third Day with the kids singing the first verse, O Come All Ye Faithful, What I Want for Christmas, Welcome to Our World, Christmas Time is Here, and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.
So here are my questions. Do you not worry about liturgical seasons and just sing all the carols you can in December? What songs did you do during this season? What songs did you do during advent?
Favorite “Go To” Songs
Oct 23, 2008 Uncategorized
Sometimes you have a worship set planned and rehearsed but something happens before time to lead. Maybe someone gets sick, or doesn’t show up. Whatever the reason you now have no time to rehearse but have to choose a setlist your team can lead, basically from memory with their eyes closed…
Give me three songs that are in that list…
GO…
Sunday Setlist 9/28/08
Sep 28, 2008 Worship Planning
This week was really nothing out of the ordinary. We have begun trying to do songs more frequently so that the congregation can learn and participate better. Before I came the idea was to do new songs that were cool, now we are focusing on congregation participation and songs that fit the theme or message if possible.
This week’s message was “Regarding Others as Better Than Yourselves” Philippians 2:1-13
We started off with the song Map from Kerri Crocker’s last CD. It really didn’t match the theme completly but the band has kept saying they want to do more orignal songs so we put it in. After that we had our welcome and announcements and then did Let it Rise and Open The Eyes of My Heart, the harder Sonic Flood type version. For offertory we used Grace Like Rain, our invitation was Crowder’s Only You and then we closed with the band jammin to Let it Rise while everyone left.
Last week Kerri and I sat down and put together tentative songlists for the rest of October. Our pastors preach from the lectionary, so since we chose songs to try to compliment that I will put those up for other churches which may do the same. Look for that later in the week.
This post is also part of Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlist Blog Carnival. Check it out and see what other churches are doing.
Tags: band, CD, Church, Fred McKinnon, Kerri Crocker, Resource, Setlist, songlists, Songs, Sunday, Sunday Setlist
A Time to Be Still
Sep 9, 2008 Uncategorized
As I sit and type this post I can look over to my left and see a big brown and white dog name Mia. Mia is about two or three years old, still very much a puppy. Still being very puppy like Mia is constantly running, and jumping and licking. She is constantly on the run barking at squirrels outside or inside playing with the other dogs, biting on their back legs, or playing tug of war with the various toys. She also enjoys jumping up in your lap whether you expect it or not.
A few months ago I found out a secret about Mia. If I would grab her collar and hold her still for 30-60 seconds she will sit down, lay down and often go to sleep. If I make her be still, she stops running, stops jumping, stops licking, relaxes, calms down and rests. It’s like she needs a reminder to slow down, but once she gets that reminder, she is good to lay down and take a nap.
Today I got such a reminder myself. Apparently there was an extra large amount of pollen in the air over the past two days and my allergy problems went on overdrive. I had to take today and not do anything but rest. So I stayed in bed. I didn’t get on the computer, or go into work, or answer the phone, or return text messages, or create songlists, or play the piano, or read or even watch tv. I just laid down and rested. It was hard at first because I thought that I could “make it through” whatever was going on at the church, or that I really could wash some clothes or do something around the house. But what I needed, and what I got was rest.
My hope is that in the future I will not have to be reminded to rest. That I will take care of myself and go to sleep at a normal time, do things that are relaxing and be productive with my time so that I don’t have to be working all the time. My hope for you is that you can do the same.
How To Organize Your Worship Song Libraries
Aug 7, 2008 Free Stuff, How To
Something I have run across when working with youth and adult worship teams is to maintain a balance between songs we know well, songs that are getting old and new songs we should be working on. We keep a list of the songs we have done each week on google docs spreadsheet and that helps us to keep track of song use as we go along but I find it very helpful to sit down once or twice per year and really take inventory of our songs. Something I developed and have used for several years is the A,B,C,D method. Here is how it works. I take our list of songs we have used for the year or for 6 months and take time to categorize them.
A- The letter A is reserved for songs that are still relevant, and that we know really really well. I usually include songs that are very familiar to both the band, singers and congregation. I think of it like this, if I had to throw a songlist together and have my team play it with no rehearsal whatsoever, these are the songs I would choose.
B- The letter B is used for probably the largest group of songs. B songs are those that we know, but definitely need some work. Some of these are ones we have not done in a while but are bringing back, maybe because of their seasonal significance like Christmas or Easter music. Sometimes we just have let a song rest for a while and we are coming back to it. Think of it like this, if I had to pull a songlist and had at least 2 rehearsals to refresh over them, these are the songs I would choose
C- The letter C is used for the songs that we don’t know but would like to know. These are usually the new songs. Maybe I will get a new CD or hear something on the radio and we will want to work on these to use in our worship sets. These songs are also songs we use once or twice for special occasions, offertory or for special numbers.
D- The D list are those songs that we are giving a rest for a while. These songs include songs that may be great but that we have just overdone and they have lost their impact because they have become too familiar. The list also includes songs that for whatever reason they did not work. Maybe they don’t match the style of our group, or are too hard or too easy. Just because a song goes on to this list does not mean we will never use it, it just means it is out of our repertoire for that season.
Once your list is categorized then it will make it easier when it is time to choose songs. It is often difficult for a youth or adult praise team to learn 5 brand new songs each week. On the other hand musicians like to be challenged and doing all old songs doesn’t make sense either. Once you categorize your songs you can find a balance that fits your group. I found that if we use 5 songs in a set it works well to do 2B songs, 2A songs and 1C song. You will need to find the balance that works for your team.
Tags: band, CD, Christmas, How To, organize, rehearsal, songlists, Songs, Team, work, Worship, youth
