Notes from Worship Central Saturday.

Al Gordon is the Associate Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in central London. He heads up Worship Central, a new worship training resource with Tim Hughes.

The Authentic Leader.

Six learned habits to cultivate.

“…Jesus was the only one to found his empire on love, and to this day millions will die for him.”
- Napoleon Bonaparte

1. Prepare the heart.
   - What echoes in heaven is not our instruments or voices, but the sound of our hearts.
   - Who are you behind closed doors?

   - Don’t lead worship like your favorite worship leader. God has called you and the Spirit has empowered you to be exactly YOU.
   - The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.

2. Prioritize relationships.
   - Ministry must not come at the expense of relationships. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE.
3. Pursue Holiness.
   - The reason we aren’t more holy is because we haven’t decided to grow in holiness.
   - Sin flourishes in secrecy.
   - This is non-negotiable for yourself and your team members.
4. Practice Humility.
   - It’s easy to fake faith, love and even worship, but it’s impossible to fake humility.
   - No one will notice you cleaning up after everyone has gone home or setting up chairs before anyone else arrives, but those are LONG TERM investments.
   - If you want to ascend, you must first descend.
5. Pastor Yourself.
   - The leader needs to spend 50% of their time investing in themselves: checking their hearts, staying in holiness, etc. Take a sabbath to rest and to be refreshed.
   - When we’re stressed and overstretched, we’re of no use to God.
   - Build into your week a time to review yourself. Take your Bible and your journal.
   1. What was the high point of the week?
   2. What was the low point of the week?
   3. What lesson can I learn?
   4. What is one action point for this week?
   5. Is there one warning to take away?

Questions for Self-Leadership, by Bill Hybels

• Is my calling sure?
• Is my vision clear?
• Is my passion hot?
• Am I developing my gifts?
• Is my character submitted to Christ?
• Am I overcoming fear?
• Are interior issues undermining my leadership?
• Is my pace sustainable?
• Is my love for God and other people increasing?

Pray Courageously.

“The good news is, Jesus is praying for you. The bad news is: you’re gonna need it.”
- John Wimber, Vineyard Church founder

Notes from Worship Central Saturday.

Tim Hughes is a worship leader and songwriter with Survivor Records, who is currently Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in central London and heads up Worship Central, a new worship training resource. (Wikipedia)

Band Dynamics.

• We need to get inspired and get our team inspired.
  - Be intentional about what you are trying to build and where you are trying to go.
  - Seek out musicians that are skilled and who are learning more all the time.

  Empower the local church.
  - Build up and encourage the local church.

• We need to get organized.
  - Get songs (mp3’s) and chord charts of the songs you want to teach them.
  - Resource your team.
  - Make sure you are rehearsing.

  If you aren’t rehearsed, it’s impossible to focus on what God is doing in the worship service. You’re only focus is on surviving the set without a musical meltdown.

  - NO EXCUSES FOR NOT REHEARSING.

• We need to learn to play as ONE.
  - Unify the music, the sound, the teachings. Sound checks are CRUCIAL.
  - work together.

  Learn/teach signals for cues
  - Ending: Tim tilts the guitar and looks at the drummer
  - Repeat: Tim lifts his leg (not like he’s going to pee, more like a flamingo)
  Find clear signals of communication and teach them to your band.

  Be unified on the arrangement of a song.
  - the groove (bass & drums/percussion)
  - the feel (chords, tension)
  - the dynamics (i.e. terrace dynamics: one instrument at a time)

  Change up the arrangements - add brass sections, vocal harmonies, different bands, add piano, etc.
  - add some instruments, or take some away
  - Try just going with the acoustic guitar for a Sunday

How to teach your band a new song.

1. Have music ready (chord charts, sheet music, etc)
2. Play it through for the band.
3. Go through it section by section (be open to other’s input!)
4. Go over any transitions, fine tune the rough spots and trouble areas.
5. Make sure to vary the intensity.
6. go over the ending. (nail the endings!)

Notes from Worship Central Saturday.

JD Walt is a husband and father, a theologian, a pastor and a songwriter. He has written and co-written songs with Chris Tomlin and other artists and worship leaders as well. He currently serves as the Vice President of Community Life and Dean of the Chapel at Asbury Theological Seminary.

The Job Description of a Worship Leader.

Romans 12:1-2; Philippians 2:5-11

“My primary theologians are my kids… I’m trying to teach them how to worship, but instead they are teaching me how to worship.”

The goal of theology is not to become a master - it’s to become mastered.

“Blessed are you, Abba, for you have hidden these things from the wise and have revealed yourself to little children.”

God loves us with ACTION.

“We often reserve the verbs for ourselves - ‘I will worship’ ‘I will bow down’ - and we need to realize that God is not inactive in worship.”

Worship Leaders are those who give themselves in service to the gathering of people for worship. This includes the pastor, the musicians, the vocalists - even the volunteers that hand out bulletins.

the 4 Roles of a Worship Leader:

1. Theologian.
   You are shaping the congregation’s view of God through your words and music.

   We need to become a student. A theologian is a student in Scripture.

   Ask yourself: Do I have anything more important to do than to become immersed in the Word of the Living God?

   “It is not about taking something out of the Scriptures to make it apply practically to my life. It’s about entering into God’s world by immersing ourselves in Scripture.”

2. Pastor.
   - Constantly painting a picture of Abba.
   - Knows where people are living and the pull of the far country.
   - Lover of people
3. Priest.
   - Orients people in the presence of God.
   - Good worship orients us in the 360 degree view of the glory of God.
4. Prophet.
   

   “God gets tired of singing in worship if we aren’t opening up the doors and letting the music play into the streets.”

   - The prophet knows of the injustice in the world and the suffering that people are feeling.

   “We get this massive gathering of faith each week, while outside the church, 2/3 of all people are crying out for the Lord saying, “Why have you abandoned us?” And all that we can think to pray for is for the pastor to preach a good sermon and for the congregation to get something nice out of it.”

   - We need to be in touch with the groanings of the congregation.

Every worship leader should go to seminary. Not necessarily attending a school, but more specifically, giving yourself to study, to learning, to searching. You need to enter into an intentional season of seminary.

Think about this…

“John the Baptist gave 30 years of preparation for a six-month ministry. Jesus gave 30 years of preparation for a three-year ministry. How much more should we be in preparation for what could be more than thirty years of ministry?”

Worship Leaders know that they know that they know that they don’t live by bread alone, but by the Word of the Lord.

“You are a beloved son or daughter with a heavenly Father, and in you He is well pleased.”

Our identity is NOT “worship leader”. That is our vocation. Our identity is “cherished son or daughter of God”.

I Chronicles 16:34 “give thanks to the Lord for His love never quits…” (JD’s paraphrase)

Romans 12:1,2 “…offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
- We are to collectively offer ourselves (the Church) as one sacrifice to God. All the worshipers will become ONE.

Alternate title for a worship leader: Enlivener - immersed in the Word and animated by the Spirit.

Worship will accomplish two things:

1. It will express people’s faith.
2. It will form people’s faith.

Are we depending too much on experiential worship? What doctrines are we orienting people toward?

What are we remembering?

How comprehensive was the view of God’s mercy in our last worship set?

Remember Philippians 2:5-11. We need to become lower to see the Lord most glorified.