Love For Uganda

We are deeply committed to long-term, life-changing cultural impact in Uganda and have been working on the ground there for a couple of years with some amazing people. We have led a consortium of churches in Ontario to fund a project that would see the lives of thousands of children changed for the glory of God. One piece of this puzzle is a new project we’re launching this fall called “Love For Uganda” – here’s a quick video that someone from our church put together. We’ll be showing this on Sunday morning.

RSSers – you may need to hit the blog!

Our new stage

I’ve been talking about our new stage for a while and some of you have been asking about photos so here’s the best I can do right now -

Here are a few pictures of what our platform looked like before the renovation – remember that our auditorium is a gym and every week we set up about 400 chairs, set the stage for the worship team AND set up 6 portable stage boxes that build the lower portion of our stage. I’ve pointed these boxes out on the photos below -

If you want a better view of any of those photos just click on them and a bigger one will open up.

Okay – so that was the before with some of the wonderful features of our stage pointed out. Why did we need to change things? A few reasons - 

1. The amount of work we were putting in each week to set up our stage was getting ridiculous. We weren’t able to leave any of our A/V stuff set up – because of the short depth of the stage and the crazy amount of use that our gym gets during the week we had to tear down after Sunday morning and then come back in on Friday evening to set up before practice. Add to that the strain of moving those “portable” stage boxes (they really aren’t that portable – it takes two guys and a dolly to move them) several times a week was getting very old, very fast. We needed a better solution.
    
2. The footprint and layout of our stage meant that we were very limited in any kind of set design or creative stage set up. We were basically stuck to the same format every weekend – drums in front of the tank, piano off to one side, bass off to the other, singers down in front with the guitar or keyboard player squeezed in wherever there is room. Not cool.
    
3. The look of the stage was very dated – the back wall was purple, the carpet was green, the tank was finished with that beautiful oak panelling. Our building was built in 1992 and its age is starting to show – we needed a fresher look that fits with the contemporary vibe of our church and our services.

So the work isn’t totally done but we are far enough along that the stage is usable on Sunday morning. Actually in these photos you can see some of our A/V techs terminating cable so that we can use our new stage boxes. Here are some photos of where we are right now -

If you’re wondering about the boxes where we’ve placed the plumbing and drain for the new tank, the box on the opposite side of the stage is where our new sub is going to go. We decided to build the stage symmetrical but leave that side box open – after using our tank a few weeks ago we figured out that we needed a better plumbing solution than we had thought. The idea of installing that stuff in the empty side box was a beautiful solution that made sense for everyone.

The last photo is a little tough to figure out but I tried to show how much stage space we have gained by removing the tank. It’s a shot from the side and I’m basically standing in one of the alcoves that used to exist below the walls that covered the stairs leading to the tank.

Also, showing the retractable sections like that is a little misleading. When they are pulled out full there will actually be about 2′ of those sections still underneath the upper stage so they will come out 8′ toward the middle of the room. We are going to come up with a solution that will allow those sections to be bolted securely to the floor once they are in place – right now they are on heavy duty casters and they can be moved with a little momentum if you’re standing on top of them.

So there you go – let me know if you’ve got any questions or if I can take some more pictures to clarify anything.

Worship Confessional – Sunday, Sept 14, 2008

I’m hoping to get some photos posted this week but on Sunday we used our new stage for the first time. We are in the middle of a building expansion as well as a bunch of renovations in our auditorium (which is also our gym, making things interesting) – new PA, new projectors/screens, new stage, new soundbooth and storage rooms. Lots of new, lots of work!

The big change on our stage is that we’ve removed our elevated baptistry as well as torn out the existing stage, rebuilt the whole stage area with two retractable sections that pull out towards the middle of the room – before we had been using 4 very heavy “portable” 4′x8′x16″ stage boxes. I’ll have to get some pictures up to show you the changes but basically we’ve gained 30% more stage space as well as modernized the look of our auditorium with new paint and carpet. There are still some final touches to come but using the new stage was a bit of a milestone in this whole process.

Our set list from Sunday morning - 

God’s Distinct Society – Romans 12:3-8
You Are – Mark Roach – F
Everlasting God – Brenton Brown – Bb – with click from Duane Rogers
Mighty To Save – Hillsong United – A
Christ Arose – chorus only – A
Video – I Am Community
Message – Unity With Great Diversity
Communion
You Are My King – Stuart Townend – D
Solo – O Church Arise – Keith Getty & Stuart Townend – D
Next Steps
O Church Arise – congregation 

Okay – so if you’re thinking that the line-up looks pretty packed, you’re right! We ended right on our time limit and it felt like there was alot to pack in to the morning. I’ll just hilight a few things - 

1. Clicks – Carlos tweeted about Duane Rogers and his click tracks this week and they are amazing! I think I will be using a bunch of these and that started by using his ‘Everlasting God” track on Sunday. The vibe of the click is very different from other ones we’ve used and it worked perfectly. He’s added a nice touch by inserting audio cues on the metronome side to remind the band what’s coming next. Have a listen and you’ll understand what I mean.
2. Christ Arose – I was playing through the songs on Friday afternoon and got to the end of “Mighty To Save” and felt like that package really needed something to close it off. Playing off the theme of the MTS chorus we went straight into a very open, mid-tempo chorus of “Christ Arose” and it worked beautifully – first time through we had just piano and vocals and the whole band dropped in right at the end of the last line, leading us back to the “Up from the grave…” lyric. It was awesome – a great closing tag to a package of very solid songs.
3. Next Steps – This is a new thing for us and I need to blog about it some more. Basically we have introduced a “connection card” to our worship service that is serving three main purposes – giving our congregation a chance to communicate prayer requests to staff and elders, gathering contact info from first- and second-time guests, and also to encourage everyone in attendance on Sunday morning to be taking intentional next steps in their walk with Christ. We launched this last Sunday and after two Sundays we are seeing some good results. 

How Awesome Is Our God

Some of you have been asking about a new song that I wrote with my friend Craig from the Meeting House in Oakville, ON called “How Awesome Is Our God” – it’s shown up in my worship confessionals for the past six months or so and the song has become part of the worship repertoire at both of our churches.

Craig & his team did a live recording of the song and sent it on to me – it’s always cool to hear a song go through the progression from just a melodic or thematic idea to a chorus hook to an actual arrangement to a full band recording with lots of re-writing along the way.

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If you’re interested in a lead sheet you can grab the PDF here – How Awesome Is Our God – D.pdf

Victory!

I’m going to post more about this tomorrow or Tuesday but let me just say that the first step in the public launch of our new “connection process” was a massive success. Massive. Making the changes that we made for this Sunday are going to have big implications in the spiritual growth of our church. I am already very, very excited for next Sunday.

Creative Exercise #2

I enjoyed my little Photoshop funk-buster so I thought I’d try another one. You can find the tutorial over at PSDTuts.com - 

The original with lots of flash & pizzazz - 

My quick attempt at the same idea using a favourite picture of my oldest daughter - 

Hey Google – Getting pushy much??

I’m a fan of Google and I use lots of their products. I installed the new Picasa 3 the other day and was a little disappointed to see this pop up on my screen at the end of the installation process -

Nevermind the fact that apparently I downloaded the latest version of Picasa 2 and NOT Picasa 3 but I’m starting to think Google is getting a little pushy, no??

Joel Hunter – prayer at DNC

There was lots of talk of Donald Miller’s prayer last week at the Democratic National Convention but thanks to Mark Waltz (the guru of First Impressions at Granger Community Church) I found out that Joel Hunter closed one of the sessions in prayer in a fairly unique way.

Check this video - 

So what do you think? Did he increase or decrease the “value” of the prayer by doing that? Thoughts?

Q&A w/ worship pastors

This interview was emailed to me and I thought I would share it. There is some good insight here from two guys who are serving in churches in Ontario with worship & creative arts as their main ministry focus. Both of these guys are great at what they do and their churches and communities are benefitting because of that.

LEE BRUBACHER graduated from Heritage with a Bachelor of Church Music Degree in 1999. In September 2001, he joined the staff at West Highland Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario. Initially his title was “Pastor of Music & Christian Education.” As things progressed, his role was changed to “Director of Worship Arts Ministries.” He is currently working toward a Master of Arts in Worship Studies through Liberty University. Lee is married to Cheryl and they have three delightful children – Sierra (age 8), Kyle (age 5), and Carter (age 2).

JEFF KENDRICK graduated from Heritage with a Bachelor of Church Music Degree in 2000. Prior to coming to Heritage, Jeff had seven years of camp work experience. He is currently the Pastor Of Worship at West Park Church, London Ontario. He has been married to Ellie for 11 years, and they have four children: Caleb(9), Moriah(7), Jadyn(5), Kaelyn(2), and a BIG golden retriever named Smudge.

eQ: Lee and Jeff, what are the key roles you currently fill as Worship Leaders?

Lee: My general role is to provide direction to the various ministries that are involved in our worship services. These include leadership of our music and choir ministries, oversight of our drama ministry, and interaction with our technology and service support ministries. Specifically, as the main worship leader, I plan the worship services including music, order of program, and other creative elements. My main goal is to help the people of West Highland (of various ages, nations, classes, and backgrounds) connect with God through the arts. Striking a healthy balance in worship is not easy. However, the challenge is well worth it when we see lives changed for God’s glory!

Jeff: I currently have many responsibilities, but to name a few things that I do on a regular basis: I plan most of our services, lead four adult bands, oversee the leadership of our three youth bands, direct our Worship Choir, mentor young men who are praying about full-time ministry, and lead a weekly small group in our home. My role is to equip others to do Kingdom work, so much of my time is spent with other people. We have a lot of technical needs at our church so I have a lot to do with that also. Some of the things we are planning are: the release of a CD/DVD in the coming year, as well as Christmas and Easter Productions.

eQ: How do you build up/connect the members of the worship team “ musically and spiritually?

Lee: Musically. Over time, as people consistently participate together in music, skills are deepened and musical unity is formed. I have certainly seen this happen in my seven years at West Highland. As music conferences and seminars are brought to my attention, we offer them as training opportunities for our players and singers. Every couple of years, we plan our own training work-shops for our artists.

Spiritually. It has been my joy through the ministry of West Highland, in seeing many people won to Christ, baptized, brought into church membership, and involved in ministry service. This “spiritual journey” has been tremendous in our Worship Arts Ministries. Many people have used our adult choir ministry, for instance, as a way of getting to know the church and as a way of making friendship connections. We are intent in making the Word of God fully known in our people and community. A regular part of our artistic ministries is prayer and the study of God’s word. This September, we will be launching a new opportunity for spiritual growth in our Worship Arts Ministries. I will be leading an on-line blog book study using Blackaby’s “Worship “ Believer’s Experiencing God.” I’m praying that this on-line discussion board will allow many, who otherwise could not commit to another weeknight out, to deepen their relationship with Christ and their understanding of biblical worship.

Jeff: I believe that the first thing we must do with our teams is to be Worshippers. For us to be effective Lead Worshippers, we must first be Worshippers, and then lead by example. We focus on prayer, Bible reading, and worshipping together. Sometimes this is with us all playing and singing, sometimes just I play… it depends…

After this is taking place, we focus on becoming better at what we do (Psalm 33:3). Play skillfully… We have weekly rehearsals in which we learn music and group technique. From there we move to a five-week rotation of breakout sessions where we work more in depth on skills of a particular discipline – Drums, Keys, Bass, Guitars [Acoustic and Electric], and Vocals. For example, week #1 is our Drum week. After our regular rehearsal of an hour and a half, I let everyone else go and get all of our drummers together to work through a course of some sort. There are a lot of great resources that you can work through with your teams.

Changes to Sunday morning

So we’re making some changes to Sunday morning that I’m excited about. We are still going to be focusing on gathering together to worship, to hear from God’s word and to encourage one another but the structure of Sunday morning is going to be changing a little bit for a few reasons.

To start, let me talk about what is typical for us right now. Our services run about 75-85 minutes and we do two identical services on Sunday morning. On a normal Sunday, this is what our service would look like - 

15 minutes – Opening/Gathering worship – call to worship, upbeat songs, scripture
10 minutes – Community – Announcements, offering, Q&A, congregational prayer
10 minutes – Worship continued – leading towards the message
40 minutes – Message – applicational preaching as part of a series of Sundays usually focused on a book or specific theme of scripture
10 minutes – Worship response – typically one or two songs, maybe some sort of interactive response 

If you’re part of a “typical” evangelical church then your service probably looks something like that too. We might change things around – add some time to one section or another, break the message in to sections with some worship response in between, etc – but as a general rule that’s a pretty good template for what Sunday morning looks like for us.

Over the past few months we’ve been talking about some stuff behind the scenes which started out as a discussion about how we help people move further along in their walk with Christ. As a church our mission is “to glorify God by making disciples who love God completely and others sacrificially.” That is the reason we exist. If we’re not doing that then we are wasting a whole lot of time. We are not called to be a social club, a counselling agency or a catalog of programs or services – we are called to make disciples of Christ who are increasing in their love for God and in their love for people. Because of that calling, we have to do everything we can to help people along in that journey – including on Sunday morning.

I won’t explain our new “connections process” in this post but let’s just say it’s having lots of impact in places that we weren’t anticipating – including in the design of Sunday morning. Starting this week we will be changing the layout of a typical service and it will look more like this - 

30 minutes – Worship – call to worship, creative expressions of worship, scripture
40 minutes – Message – applicational preaching
10 minutes – Response – this will include our “community” aspects – offering, prayer, Q&A – as well as a very focused opportunity for everyone to commit to taking a “next step” in their walk with Christ

Personally, I am super excited about this but there are three things in particular that I think are worth mentioning - 

1. 30 minutes of worship – This will not be easy for our people at first but I am PUMPED about this. This will give us the opportunity to move away from a “music is worship, worship is music” mentality on Sunday morning. Having this much time to fill will give us the freedom to be much more expressive in terms of the artistic presentation of our times of worship on Sunday morning. 
2. “Next Steps” – By being intentional about communicating the importance for all of us (not just spiritual seekers or new Christians) to be taking steps in our walk with Christ we again communicate the mission of the church as well as the need for worship to continue out of Sunday morning.
3. Implications – Don’t think that this doesn’t change things. There are lots of things to consider when making a change like this (even though it seems very simple) so we have had to make sure that we can clearly communicate the HOW and WHY and not just the WHAT of this change.

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