It's Tuesday night, you're sitting at the computer browsing a digital song concordance (or perusing a hymnal), sipping a bold cup of joe, and making a song list for the upcoming Sunday worship. Sometimes, these lists practically write themselves and sometimes, it takes a bit of digging to compile a solid song set. In churches … Continue reading Digging Deeper: The Invitation Song

"It's not about the music, just the words" "We're just singing" "We need to be careful about emotion in worship. It is the flesh and must be suppressed" All of these christianese expressions are well-meaning, but discouraging and naïve. In many places, singing is not really treated with regard or used as a teaching tool. … Continue reading The Sermons that Keep on Preaching

No, I'm not talking about making your church sound like a trained chorus, though that is a blessing wherever it's found! I'm talking about getting them singing—getting 100% participation, and getting each singer to give a little (or a lot) more. Before we get there, it's important to talk about why we would even need … Continue reading 5 Steps to Better Singing

We've all been there. It's Sunday morning, worship starts in 5 minutes, and the song leader is frantically flipping through the book trying to find that invitation song he always leads. It's no surprise when the worship isn't very edifying and engaging, when preparation was an afterthought. (I used to be that guy, so I'm … Continue reading Ten Habits of Highly Effective Worship Leaders