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
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.
Prioritize relationships.
- Ministry must not come at the expense of relationships. This is NON-NEGOTIABLE.
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.
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.
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
Each year the team at Desiring God (John Piper and co.) hold an annual conference in Minneapolis at Bethlehem Baptist Church. This year’s event will…
“…deal with words and the different ways we use them to glorify God (or not).”
Today they posted a video interview with a musician and pastor that I have great respect for: Bob Kauflin. This clip is a refreshing insight into his thoughts on worship and why the words we sing are so important to the Lord.
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.
Have music ready (chord charts, sheet music, etc)
Play it through for the band.
Go through it section by section (be open to other’s input!)
Go over any transitions, fine tune the rough spots and trouble areas.
At CrossPoint, we have two identical one-hour worship services: 8:30a and 10:30a with Sunday school sandwiched in between. The first service is notoriously groggy, and today was no exception. It felt like I was singing alone at times. The contrast between the 1st & 2nd services was pretty extreme today.
Problem areas…
I don’t think we had the songs down as well as we could have (I take the full blame for not working with the band long enough ahead of time, although we were much more prepared than last time). Also, we were missing a couple of volunteers in some key service areas, which made the weak areas of the worship team all too noticeable (read that: it stressed me out). So, sleepy parishioners aside, I would give the worship today a 5.5 out of 10. (Just to clarify - that isn’t a criticism of the other volunteers or musicians… just myself.)
Here’s the setlist from this morning…
Hosanna - Baloche
Shout to the North - Smith
My Savior’s Love - (hymn) announcements / offering
Enough - Tomlin “How to Be a Good Neighbor”, Robert McKeehan
Nothing But The Blood - (hymn)
The closing hymn was wonderful. We made a last second decision to drop the drums in lieu of a djembe, and it worked perfectly. It gave a classic hymn a rhythmic and worshipful feel.
Two things I’m focusing on this week: We need more volunteers to help with sound and video, and I need to start learning more new songs. I read one of my old blog posts and am completely ashamed to admit that I’ve been using the same songs week after week, month after month, year after year (here’s the evidence… see for yourself).
Okay… my wife pointed out that it’s really not THAT bad, but it’s close enough to warrant some self-reflection.
This session took place during lunch. Tim, Al and Brenton answered questions from the audience and spoke candidly about songwriting and collaborating with other artists. Tim Hughes is the Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in London, UK, Al Gordon is the Associate Director of Worship at HTB, and Brenton Brown is a recording artist currently residing in Malibu, California.
Tim Hughes, Brenton Brown & Al Gordon.
How do you write a song?
“You have to be open to the moment… Find ways of documenting the ideas that come to you while reading a book, while watching a movie, humming a melody. Just be ready.”
Why is songwriting important?
“Worship is a response to God’s love. If we don’t have adequate ways to express that… it can often be lost. So, great songs are completely crucial to the church.”
“Great songs aren’t always written in one sitting. Don’t get frustrated if the song doesn’t come together at once.”
The process of a song…
The key is perseverance. Don’t settle for something that isn’t as strong as it could be… If you have a song idea, the subtle changes you make are like little hooks in a fish’s mouth that help you get closer and closer to the goal. Take those small steps and persevere to the end.
Is secular music beneficial to worship leaders?
“First of all, use discernment. Some things are obviously not beneficial… But that said, if we don’t listen to ANY secular music, where do we draw the line? Do we stop watching all secular films? Stop reading all secular books? Do we stop hanging around our non-Christian friends? That path quickly ends up putting us inside a Christian bubble.
“…we can benefit from lots of art produced by society and culture. And sadly, most of it seems more inspired than the stuff on a lot of Christian radio stations these days.”
Which comes first, the melody or the lyrics?
“Usually the melody comes first, then you can immerse yourself in the Bible to finish the lyric so it fits the tune… But at times it’s gone the other way.”
When is a song done?
“You don’t have to be a professional musician to sense when a song is finished. The more you write the clearer this sense will be…
“…There’s a story I’ve heard of a pottery class that was split into two groups. One group had to make one piece of pottery for the entire semester. They would only be graded on quality, not quantity. The other side was to be graded on how many pieces of pottery they produced. They would only be graded on quantity, not quality… the result was that since the 2nd group made so many pots, they ended up with much better pottery as a result of their continued practice… so keep writing songs. The more you write, the better you will become at it.”
Final thoughts…
“Remember that collaboration is very useful and effective. Only one of the past 25 Grammy Award winning songs was not co-written. Work with others and you will be a more effective songwriter.”
