I wonder what the song would sound like if it was describing 30 minutes in my town.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
Here’s my Watercooler Wednesday contribution. I’m posting this a week early – I hope this isn’t old news by the time it hits my blog! What a world we live in.
Anyways, I’m not sure what it is about this video that caught me – the visual or the song itself? Either way, I hit play and I was hooked. Beautiful song, beautiful video – I love how the flow and movement of the visuals is really supported by the song itself. Great concept that’s executed really well.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
This is a regular feature on Tuesdays. I highlight a blog that I’ve been reading for a while and one that I’ve found recently. Hopefully it will give them some new readers and maybe you’ll find their blogs helpful as well.
Something old: Jordon Cooper
Jordon’s blog was the first one I ever read – before I even knew what a blog was! Jordon lives in Saskatchewan and really knows how to tell a story. He posts about faith, religion, the church, politics, social justice issues, parenting stuff and a million other things. He is often talked about in Canadian blog circles and is regularly nominated for blog awards.
Something new: Jim Drake’s blog I met Jim at re:create and was really impressed with his contributions to our group sessions. He’s a worship pastor out in Texas and always posts some good thoughts on how things are going there.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
I found out this morning that Jeff Healey died yesterday at the age of 41. Wow. His name may not be familiar to you but if you have even a remote interest in Canadian music you know who he is. Jeff became pretty well-known in his 20′s as “that blind guitarist” – he had a rare condition that caused him to lose his sight when he was just a year old and it was this condition which eventually led to his death.
The most impressive thing about Jeff, to me, was how he played guitar. He didn’t hold it the regular way but instead would lay it on his lap and play it almost like a keyboard. I had the chance to see him live in concert once and was so inspired by his ability to do incredible things with his instrument.
I’m going to link a couple of articles because you really need to hear more about this guy’s life – the travelling he did, his personal collection of jazz records, the radio shows he hosted, the influence he had on the Canadian music scene, so much amazing stuff.
Here’s a great video of Jeff and his band playing on some Oriental cable access show – haha. Check it out -
I have no idea what Jeff’s spiritual state was when he was dead but I pray that God has indeed given him “Angel Eyes”!
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
When people hear I’m from Canada the first question is usually “What part of Canada are you from?” My standard answer is that Orangeville is a nice little town about 45 minutes northwest of downtown Toronto. This is true but I thought I’d do a post to give you some more info on the place I call home.
Orangeville is a town of about 30,000 located on the Niagara escarpment just outside the suburbs of Toronto. Our town was founded in the late 19th century as an agricultural centre and most of the population growth has happened in the past 20 years or so. The name of our town comes from (allegedly) the town’s founder, a guy named Orange Lawrence, who has been memorialized in a pretty controversial statue that’s been built right downtown.
The core of Orangeville is Broadway – the main east/west street with buildings dating back to the 1890′s. Lots of these buildings came down in a fire but were rebuilt in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Most folks who live in Orangeville work out of town – they’ll drive to Brampton, Newmarket, Guelph or get the train right into Toronto. Our housing market is expensive but still much cheaper than any of those places so people are able to work in the city and make Toronto salaries while enjoying life in a smaller town and having a nicer place to live. Obviously this has an impact on families – people are busy with work and commuting and family time gest squeezed. Commuting also has a significant impact on our church culture – when people do have extra time they tend to prioritize that time towards family, friends and just living life. Being involved in church stuff tends to fall lower on the priority list.
Demographically, our town is pretty young – I remember hearing a stat when I first moved here that the average age of our town is much lower than other similar-sized towns in Canada. The geography and economics have an impact on this. Young professionals who are starting their careers and looking to buy their first home can move here while still working in the city. Because our town does have so many young families it is an awesome place to raise kids – there are lots of family-friendly events in town all year long.
The age breakdown also translates to our church. I may have mentioned this before but in the past year we had 27 babies born in our church – for a church our size, that is pretty ridiculous. The baby boom has come through our congregation and that has affected how we do ministry and how we interact with people in town.
So that’s the basics on Orangeville. I have been here for about 2 1/2 years and really do enjoy it. My wife is a small town girl so it didn’t take her as long to get used to the fun things that come with living in a small town. We love being here and know that God has called us as a family to be here for this season of our lives.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY has been very involved in the arts culture of their city for a long time and I have been a fan of their previous releases so I was eager to get their new CD “Before The Throne Of God Above” this week. I have known the title track for a few years and it’s great to see that it’s finally been recorded for them – it is a beautiful modern hymn in line with what Keith & Kristyn are doing and is very accessible for congregational worship.
The songs on this record are, in a word, authentic. This is the un-Hillsong of worship records. I don’t know what their worship services are like but I would be surprised to see big production, big lights, big screens, etc filling the room. This isn’t a live CD but it does a good job of communicating the ethos of Sojourn and their worship philosophy. Not all of these songs will be good fits for congregational worship but there is lots of good material here.
“Before The Throne” is, like I said, a great song and is definitely the stand-out track for me on this CD. The poetry and depth of the lyrics do a great job of telling the whole story of the gospel. I often remind our congregation what a privilege it is that, by what Christ has done, we have the opportunity to come before God’s throne to praise, to worship and to petition. This song is a great reminder of the assurance of the salvation we have through the blood of Christ.
“There Is A Peace” is the other favourite song for me. I can definitely see us using this song as a performance song sometime this year. I’m not sure who the singer is but her voice is reminiscent of Jennifer Knapp and has a really beautiful tone. The melody of the chorus really supports the theme of the song and expresses the longing we all have for Christ, for heaven and for home.
There really is something for everyone on this album – blues, acoustic, singer/songwriter-vibey songs – and is very much a change from the “typical” worship stuff that’s out there. If you’re looking for something new, looking to expand your library, looking to introduce some new music to your church this may be a good place to start.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
We ran our So You Think You Can Sing vocal workshop this morning and it was a big hit. For those of you who missed that earlier post I just wanted to gather the singers from our worship ministry to do some training as well as design an event that would be open to people in our congregation who enjoy singing and want to do it better.
We are fortunate to have a classically-trained soprano in our congregation and Hannah did an incredible job leading the workshop this morning. She led two 40-minute sessions – one on posture & breathing and the other on stretching & warm-ups. As the morning progressed we used different iWorship videos so that people could sing along and feel how they were singing differently based on the different suggestions Hannah was making. I also led a session where we spent some time talking about the theology of worship and the uniqueness of the calling the church has to sing praise to God.
We had about 40 people come this morning – men, women, young, old, experienced singers, people who just sing in the shower – and we had a really fun time together. We’ll be running the event again later in the spring because there were lots of people who were very interested but weren’t able to make it.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next
Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.
Chris Vacher Married to Sonya, dad to Avery, Emmy, Isabelle and Anderson. Director of Worship at Orangeville Baptist Church near Toronto. Founder of WorshipRises and doing my best to follow Jesus in the midst of it all.
