Going Hillsong

Since my post about the Hillsong movie seems to be pretty popular, I thought maybe I'd do a little series related to the Hillsong phenomenon.

To be honest, I know the name Hillsong, I know a little about the churches, and that the worship band is extremely popular, but I couldn't name one of their songs. Nonetheless, I'm very excited about their upcoming movie Let Hope Rise because I think its wonderful that a documentary about a worship team with a great message is going mainstream.

Surely, Hillsong has been mainstream for years and I have been a bit oblivious to it. I decided to listen to some of their songs just because I should, as a worship leader.

Their vibe is reminiscent to Coldplay. It sounds like liquid gold. It's contemporary, but not especially trendy. It's lyric-forward. It's worship-forward. It's rock-star-like without the rock-star showiness. It seems sincere and humble. I kinda love them.

Even though I love what I've heard, it's hard for me to picture my uber urban congregation embracing the songs wholeheartedly without force-feeding it. Our congregation, when they listen to Christian music at large, primarily listens to gospel. But maybe this is just my brain going straight to all the reasons why something won't work.

Yes, that's exactly what just happened!

I think what I'll do is find a song that I think will work and give it a try. I'll update you guys later in the year on this.

Blessings!

P.S. Before anyone thinks or says it, I'd just like to add that there are a lot of people who attend small churches, living in their own niche who are not up on a lot of music in the Christian genre. Conversely, there are a lot of people who attend large/popular churches, living in their own niche who are not up on Gospel music. It's all love! We are one!

Anthony Brown & group therAPy - Worth (Official Music Video)

This song right here... if it doesn't take you in, nothing will. Enjoy!

It's a celebration

Sunday I premiered the praise and worship song that I wrote at our 15-year church anniversary service. Unfortunately, I had no one to video tape it. (#smallchurchproblems) I think it went well except our drummer played us to the left and there was bit of dead air where he was supposed to be adding some special riffs. Not sure "riff" is the right word to describe a small solo for percussion. Oh well. You can't control everything.

I'm very happy that 3 of my old friends made it to the service. We all used to sing with New Direction back in the day and it was great to see them again.

Also at the service, my God-brother did a beautiful mime performance where the music was so apropos. I hear it's on FB and will post the link so that you can enjoy.

Here's to 15-years of ministry! Praise God!

Blessings

Show me what you got

I received a request to address the question "should people be required to audition to be a part of the praise team." This one is a no-brainer. Yes, yes, yes! Here's why.

A praise team is not a choir. There aren't as many voices to drown out someone who's a bit off. Every voice counts so you need to know that a potential member can at least hold a part.

Additionally, if there are a ton of people who want to participate, an audition is probably the best way to identify who should be added to the team and determine what part they would sing (soprano, alto, tenor, or bass). You need to hear that person sing live. If they're too shy for an audition, they should be too shy to be a praise team member/leader.

At the audition, you can ask some general questions like why do you want to serve on the praise team, can you commit to the rehearsal schedule, how would you handle conflict with another member.  This will give you an idea of how the person might fit in with the team. I don't care what anyone says, chemistry is important. There's nothing worse than conflict on a small team. I would rather have an average singer that is committed and easy to get along with than a phenomenal singer who can't stand to sing background. Remember, it's called a "team" for a reason.

In conclusion, the audition isn't meant to be mean, just to assess skill and fit. And of course, everything should be done in love and should be done in a fair manner. This is not the place to channel your inner Simon Cowell.

Blessings

4 things I think I know about worship based on Chicago's Gospel Fest

Chicago Gospel Fest was held in Millennium Park

The 2015 Chicago Gospel Fest was last weekend and the devil was busy messing with the weather trying to keep Christians from coming out. :) I managed to go to the last set Sunday evening. Here are 4 things I think I know about worship based on the four performances I saw:

1. Your remix better be hot.
To be honest, the only song I know by Anthony Brown and group therAPy is Testimony. That song is fire! I'm not sure I would've taken the gamble, but they decided to sing a new rendition. And guess what; it was hot too! Your fans are expecting your main song to slay so you've gotta be sure you don't disappoint.

2. You've got to run a tight ship.
Marvin Sapp had his band with him, but also used tracks. The backup sounded like they were literally on the stage with him. I'm still trying to figure out how he did it! His performance was flawless.

3. You've got to work the heck out of your new song.
Richard Smallwood is one of gospel's finest musicians/writers. He opened with his popular Anthem of Praise and then moved on to their new song Same God. They sang that song for a good 6 minutes. When that song hits the airwaves, my ears are already primed to receive it because they drilled it in my head at Gospel Fest. That's how you get your fans on board!

4. Get the audience to participate.

Israel Houghton getting his praise on!

Israel Houghton was the headliner and you could tell by the number of staff on stage setting up his mic's/technical equipment. It looked like quite the ordeal. While all of the set-up was a bit taxing, he was the only one to use the video screen to project his words. This really helped get the audience involved. Of course it ended up being a fun performance because everyone was singing along and was excited. I still have whiplash from all the jumping around I was doing. :) Whatever program he used to display the lyrics was visually captivating. The colors were fun and you can tell they spent a lot of effort thinking about the visuals.

 

 

 

 

 

My God-brother, Daybreon, my sis Amber, and Me (Nicole) at Chicago Gospel Fest 2015

Well, that's my recap on this year's Gospel Fest. Maybe next year it'll be warm and sun-shiney.

Blessings

Thinking of a master plan (in my Eric B./Rakim voice)

Even though the anointing is always necessary to make a service, you still have to have a plan. If you are like me, you've got a certain formula for how you'd like P&W to play out.

At our church we sing four songs each Sunday so I typically go upbeat, slow, slow, medium tempo/upbeat. I like to start and finish with something peppy. However, considering the way our congregation trickles in, I should save the upbeat songs for last. (Note to self.)

We have a small congregation so we typically don't sing complicated songs. That means we don't do songs that require a lot of vocal skill. I try to select songs that are in a singable key for the average person, don't have a crapload of words, songs that rhyme, and songs without a lot of parts. For example, we sing things that tend to have one or two versus with a chorus in between. (Not a whole of lot vamps, bridges, etc.) I love call and response songs so things like Judith McAllister's High Praise goes over very well with our congregation.

We have song books (actually they are folders so that we can easily add more pages as we increase our repoitoire), but I don't like to use them. People start to focus on the book itself, turning pages, looking down, etc., rather than focusing on worshiping. We also have lyrics on PowerPoint, but that requires someone to do AV. (small church problems) I strongly suggest the use of displaying the lyrics if you have visual capabilities. You'd be surprised at how many people don't really know the words to the songs you've been singing for months. Shoot, I even miss the words at times!

Hats off to the people who wear uniforms; I'm not a uniform kind of gal, but we do coordinate for special services or events. By coordinate I mean we have matching scarves or a flower and we wear black as our base, but ladies can wear skirts, dresses, pants, etc. Guys can wear the color of the scarves in their tie or wear a shirt in that color. We used to buy matching blouses, but that can get tricky when sizes vary.

There's so much to consider in terms of P&W! Sometimes we get asked to sing certain songs by the pastor or others and I try to accommodate. I try to find songs from both Christian and gospel music. We sings some oldies too. You've gotta have something for everyone! I think it's sine qua non that you consider your audience when planning for P&W. You have to know what goes over well and take small risks incrementally. Needless to say you won't please everyone every Sunday, but without a plan in mind you're more likely to flop.


Blessings

Conquer distractions with 5 tips

Crying babies, hecklers, cell phone ringers, loud music coming in from outside the church, drunkards. We've all been in services where there have been distractions. How do we not let distractions ruin the praise and worship (P&W) experience?

Make sure you're squared away early - I have a 3 year old and sometimes (most of the time) she's the main distraction! (Sorry Zoe.) If I don't have her squared away prior to P&W, I can expect chaos. If you're a parent, make sure the child is with the designated caretaker early and let him/her know to keep a special eye out for the child. While we want folks to make a joyful noise, kids can sometimes take it to the next level and sometimes the caretaker is engaging in P&W without realizing the kid is banging the tambourine into a coma. 

Find the right outlet to inform congregants of proper protocol - If you're at a church like mine, there are many people who aren't used to general church protocol. We can't assume that people know how to act during P&W. Sunday morning might not be the best time to say it, but find a way to inform the congregation of your church protocol. Maybe a handout, addressing it in a business meeting, a sign on the bulletin board (if people read it), addressing it during church announcements or during new members class might be helpful.

Give people direction - My new thing to do is to tell people what I want them to do. "Hands in the air," "tell the Lord thank you," etc. This generally stops whatever people are doing because they're listening to you talk and will likely respond. Giving people directions helps them to stay focused.



Work with your ushers - If we had ushers I would totally collaborate with them so that they know to ask individuals to quiet down or excuse themselves from the sanctuary if they are distracting others. You could also ask the ushers to remind congregants to silence their cell phones as they greet them when they enter the sanctuary. "Good morning, glad to see you, come right this way and don't forget to turn down your cell phone please!"

Get gangster - While I don't encourage this tactic as a first resort, sometimes it needs to be employed. This should only be used if the distractions are really bad. In between songs or before you start, you could make a statement in a number of manners:

• "We're not going to stop singing until you bring in your wandering minds and usher in God's presence" (I find this one to be the most effective.)

• "Father God, our prayer today is that you help us not be so distracted while we sing your praises." (A tad passive aggressive, but whatevs)

• "How dare us come all the way to church and act like we're too busy to worship God?!" (Straight gully, but even Jesus turned over those tables in the temple.)

Would love to hear other strategies. Please feel free to share and let me know if you try any of these tips and how it went.

Blessings