Over at Fors Clavigera, James Smith raised the topic of the practice of leading worship by writing an open letter to praise bands encouraging them to consider, or reconsider, the theology of Christian worship and the practices employed by praise bands.  I found it a thoughtful and helpful article.  Here’s a snip:

My concern is that we, the church, have unwittingly encouraged you to simply import musical practices into Christian worship that–while they might be appropriate elsewhere–are detrimental to congregational worship. More pointedly, using language I first employed in Desiring the Kingdom, I sometimes worry that we’ve unwittingly encouraged you to import certain forms of performance that are, in effect, “secular liturgies” and not just neutral “methods.” Without us realizing it, the dominant practices of performance train us to relate to music (and musicians) in a certain way: as something for our pleasure, as entertainment, as a largely passive experience. The function and goal of music in these “secular liturgies” is quite different from the function and goal of music in Christian worship.

So let me offer just a few brief axioms with the hope of encouraging new reflection on the practice of “leading worship”: (read the rest here)

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Observations?  Do tell….

We introduced this FANTASTIC song this past Sunday:

From King’s College, London:

At Carnegie Hall, gospel singer Wintley Phipps delivers an amazing rendition of Amazing Grace. In his explanation of the song he says,

“A lot of people don’t realize that just about all Negro spirituals are written on the black notes of the piano. Probably the most famous on this slave scale was written by John Newton, who used to be the captain of a slave ship, and many believe he heard this melody that sounds very much like a West African sorrow chant. And it has a haunting, haunting plaintive quality to it that reaches past your arrogance, past your pride, and it speaks to that part of you that’s in bondage. And we feel it. We feel it. It’s just one of the most amazing melodies in all of human history.”

I love that kind of insight.  Mr. Phipps then delivers a stirring performance bringing the audience to its feet.

Enjoy.

This song ‘caught’ me in my evening devotions.

One of my favorite hymns married to one of the all-time best scenes to open a movie.

We are very pleased and excited that Jeremy Riddle and band are coming to St. Andrew’s September 28 for a special evening of worship. This special event will take the place of our normal Wednesday Worship gathering and is open to the general public. We expect people to come from around the region as Jeremy’s songs have resonated quite strongly over the last 4-5 years, so we encourage you to purchase tickets ahead of time instead of waiting to buy at the door.

Songs that we sing at St. Andrew’s by Jeremy Riddle:
Stand In Awe
More Than A Friend
Bless His Name
Sweetly Broken
God Of The Redeemed
As Children
Christ Is Risen

Jeremy is a songwriter and worship leader. Previously the Youth Pastor at the Anaheim Vineyard, Jeremy is now the Worship Community Pastor at Bethel Church, Redding, Ca, where he leads worship and oversees the more than 200 people who are part of the worship ministry at Bethel. He first hit the scene in 2007 with the critically acclaimed record, Full Attention. This project had the radio hit Sweetly Broken, which was the number one song on the radio station K-Love for over 40 weeks in 2007. Other singles from that record were Stand in Awe and God of All Glory. Since then Jeremy has toured extensively all over the US. The Riddle Band has opened for Rebecca St. James, Big Daddy Weave and has played events with Brenton Brown as well.

In 2009 Jeremy released his second project, The Now and Not Yet with the radio singles Bless His Name and Christ Is Risen. in the fall of 2010 his first full length live project Prepare the Way will be released, which will include tracks from live shows in 2009.

Ran across this at Gospel Coalition. Good article:

I’m visiting a church in small-town Ohio.

The lights are off, and there are candles burning somewhere, I think. There’s a giant screen up front with the Relevant magazine willowy font that is requisite for churches trying to appear “hip” and “edgy.” In front of the screen is a worship band in which every member has his/her shoes off, and is standing on an area rug, John Mayer-style. This is the kind of thing that would normally be snicker-worthy, except that the band is great and the lyrics are meaningful.

I know full well that meaningful to one guy may not be meaningful to another, but by meaningful I mean lyrics that remind me of my sinfulness/brokenness yet show me a Redeemer. They aren’t the sort of worship songs that make me feel like I’m skipping through a field of poppies with the kind of 80s-bearded Jesus who looks like he played third base for the Phillies in 1984. Nor are they the kind of songs that make me feel like I’m solving Africa’s groundwater problems with bandana-wearing Activist Jesus.

Read the rest.

An intriguing question and many opinions abound. At St. Andrew’s we’ve grown into an understanding that our worship team members (as well as our children’s ministry, youth ministry, and every other ministry) are offering themselves and their gifts to the congregation and to the Lord as an expression of gratitude and as a part of their “tithe” – or giving. Other churches have differing practices.

Vicky Beeching takes on the topic, offering pros and cons, in a recent article. She writes:

It’s a tricky question, and one I get asked a lot by church worship leaders and pastors, who are trying to figure this out!

I call it a ‘taboo’ as it’s one of the things people find it hard to discuss sometimes… Money and ministry are a tricky mix, and often $$ does become a bit of a ‘taboo’ in church. So I’m going to be doing posts every now and then on the ‘Worship Taboos” topic, addressing things we want to talk about, but often find hard!

So… Here goes. I’ll play ‘advocate’ and pretend to argue one side, and then the other! I’m not giving you my opinion here, or my conclusions on this issue, just showing you both sides of the debate, then opening the floor for your comments.

Read the rest.