Jon’s Worship Blog
A discussion of life as a worship leader
Oregon Fine Arts & The Gift of Worship
Wow! What a few days as I participated in the Oregon Fine Arts Festival in Albany on top of my other responsibilities here at my church which included leading worship Sunday morning and helping with a Youth Choir Auction fundraiser in the afternoon/evening.
One thing I’m learning about myself is that I really do enjoy the art of teaching. I’ve been doing more and more lessons, classes and panel discussions and I thoroughly enjoy the exercise. I’ve learned that the more you teach, the more you may in turn love and appreciate WHAT it is you’re teaching…and I love sharing things that I’ve learned along the way. Often the lessons were learned through the fire - so my hope is that I can help others avoid the pitfalls I had to experience first-hand.
When you look at worship in the musical sense and all the planning and preparation that goes into it, you realize what a great honor and RESPONSIBILITY we have as worship leaders. People know right away if we’ve come unprepared.
The most important part of worship leading is serving as a helpful resource or conduit to engage worshippers with the object of their worship - namely, the Lord God. It’s important that we realize that all the things we do or don’t do…everything must align with one end-goal in mind. We need to strive to remove all distractions to allow the Lord to move through His people.
In leading worship, one of my greatest joys is to back off the mic and listen to the voices of the hundreds singing God’s praises. It’s a constant reminder that it’s not about me at all.
If you are reading this blog for the first time because you heard me at the recent Fine Arts event, drop a hello in the comments section.
Great Worship Video
I was sent this preview by our Media Pastor. This is a great video idea to display during a church/youth service to re-emphasize the object of our worship. In a day and age when we become so concerned with OURSELVES … it’s good to be reminded that it really isn’t about US at all.
All for HIM. All to HIM.
[ click here to view/preview ]
The Art of Stage Lighting
Information is power and for the typical worship leader - information is crucial to one’s effectiveness in “creative” ministry. While I have a good understanding of music, there are so many more elements that encapsulate a “worship service” that requires most of us to have a well-rounded knowledge on many subjects pertaining to the music and ENVIRONMENT of worship.
In working with our Youth Department on upgrading our stage and general youth room feel, I’ve had to delve into something that I frankly don’t know much about at this stage - STAGE LIGHTING.
For those like me that need a good crash-course in this field of expertise, I happened upon this site that offers a good and well-rounded tutorial regarding the ins and outs of stage lighting.
Guitar Amps and Stage Volume
One of the more common “issues” facing worship bands in churches is the level of stage volume. I won’t go into all the details about dbs and like in this post but I do want to offer a solution that may only pertain to those using my basic gear-rig when I play electric guitar.
Here’s my gear - ‘52 Fender Telecaster through a Line6 PODxt which then goes through a small guitar amp that is mic’d into the system. I’ve tried using a great Fender Blues Amp (tube) but the issue (and this is the thrust of this post) is that an amp like this sounds GREAT at high volumes but suffers greatly when you’re trying to keep from drowning out everyone else around.
The situation at the church where I lead/play is that we have those infamous electronic drums (don’t even get me started)…which means stage volume can get out of balance really easily.
My simple solution? I’ve found that as far as guitar amps go - if you keep it to a decent solid-state guitar amp, you’ll be able to still get great tone but at low volumes that makes everyone happy. I use a small Fender amp and although I love the warmth of the Fender Blues … I’ve had to put my wants aside for the greater good.
A Continuation of Previous Post
I have found this list of “What Should be in Your Gig Bag?” from BWL.com to be so incredibly helpful. The following are the final 5 items making the total 20. I’ve paired the entire list down a bit and may add more items in the future.
Again, if you’re a worship leader, this is some VERY sound advice. To assume everyone you play with is on top of their own gear is a dangerous assumption to make. You can help yourself by coming prepared with the items that are the often-forgetten items that many forget until it’s too late. (Note: some of these items are guitarist-specific. I’ll post a bonafide list for guitarists and non-guitarists shortly to make sense of all the gear-speak)
And now…the final 5.
16. Multpile AC/DC Adapter BWL.com
17. BOSS GE-7 EQ Pedal - 7-Band EQ BWL.com
18. Capo and a Cut-Capo BWL.com
19. Clip-on Light (for stand) BWL.com
20. Bible (extra) BWL.com
A New Worship Journey Begins
As we enter the Fall season, I’m so proud to be heading up a new season of worship/music ministries with the youth and young adults at Portland Christian Center.? With a new season comes a new name and the name is… “y.WORSHiP”.
So, join me on this journey. I’ll be posting various materials and words of wisdom as this moves forward.? I already have some great insights and materials that our leadership team has put together.? I’ll be making some items available soon for you to use in your own ministries.? A lot of the materials we’re putting together involve a lot of questions that I’ve heard and asked countless times in the practical and spiritual aspects of music/worship leadership.
More to come…
What’s In Your Gig Bag?
I recently enjoyed a great podcast from “The Bald Guy” over at baldworshipleader.com in which he discussed the importance of worship leaders having a GIG BAG, and the importance of having certain items contained within that bag. The following is a list of items and links to recommended products. I’ve noted those that were ideas pulled from my friend over at baldworshipleader.com (Phil Ayres) and added some of my own.
The overall point of this list is to avoid the things that can be avoided with just a little bit of pre-planning and a small investment which will, in the long run, make you and your band/musicians look good when the inevitable “Why didn’t I plan for that?” occurs. I’m not recommending the purchase of a huge trailer with every conceivable contingency available, but here are some simple items that will fit in a good, easy-to-carry gig bag.
1. Spare Set(s) of Guitar Strings in a variety of gauges and types (acoustic & electric). Reason? If any of your band members breaks strings and they don’t have replacements. (BWL.com)
2. Bipassable tuner. Recommeded brands/types include: BOSS TU-2 (chromatic tuner - Retail: $99). Fender PT-100 (Pedal/tuner - Retail: $49). (BWL.com)
3. Altoids/gum/breath-mints (BWL.com)
4. Extra Batteries 9V’s, AA, AAA’s (BWL.com)
5. Extra Quarter-inch Guitar Cables. These cables can and do go bad on occasion so be prepared with a replacement or two…or three. These extras also come in handy when your bassist forgets to bring his cables. (BWL.com)
6. Direct Box. Most churches/venues will have these available for you to use but have an extra in case they don’t have one or enough for you. Also, these are electronic items so they can and will go “bad” on occasion. Be prepared. (BWL.com)
7. Adapters. (1) XLR - 1/4″ plug adapter, (2) Jack to XLR (BWL.com)
8. Chapstick (BWL.com)
9. Thumb-drive (BWL.com)
10. Spare Change (BWL.com)
11. Feedback Buster (BWL.com)
12. In-ear Monitor Set-up (BWL.com)
13. Needle-nose pliers (BWL.com)
14. Shure SM-58 (vocal mic) & Shure SM-57 (instrument mic) (BWL.com)
15. Handi-wipes (BWL.com)
Again, thanks to Phil Ayres of baldworshipleader.com for these invaluable insights. Being an effective worship leader (or leader of anything for that matter) requires us to be good planners as well as people who come into any setting prepared. This is not a daunting notion and requires little investment considering the serious reduction of stress. Your attitude come leading time should be directed on leading worship - not fretting about a guitarist who forgot to bring his extra strings.
Trust me on this one - being prepared makes your life so much better and people you lead will trust you even that much more when you demonstrate how much you care about making everyone look and sound as good as possible. Win-Win!
(Looking for the products listed? Click on my SQUIDOO button on the top-right hand side and there’s some key products there that you can simply order right away.)
Great Deal on a Gig Bag
My next posting that I’m currently almost finished with is a run-down of items every worship leader should carry in his or her GIG BAG. Well, before I go into what should go INTO the bag, it might be good to make sure you know what a GIG BAG is and, even more helpful, where to find one.
Well, in my research today (May 11) I came across an awesome deal on a great bag. So great of a deal, I’m posting a blog about it.
Check out the special deal on Musiciansfriends.com [ CLICK HERE ]. It looks to be a one-day online sale so hop on right now and fork out the $30 plus shipping. 
This bag retails for $99 so it’s an incredible deal (70% off).
I’ll be discussing more of what should go into the bag here in the next few days but for now, if you’re a worship leader and lead from an instrument, get your hands on this bag (unless you already have one) and we’ll begin to delve into the other fine points such as WHAT is to go into the bag. This bag will contain the basic tools you will need to be a well-prepared and effective worship leader. This is an important tool that will not only help you as a worship leader…but it will make your team that much better - because they’re being led by someone who came prepared.