October 23rd, 2007 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
Bob Kauflin just had a great post on his blog about the difference between a Rockstar and a Worship Leader, some reflections on a 60 minutes interview with Bruce Springsteen. It’s worth the read. Check it out: Bruce Springsteen on Meaning and Purpose.
August 14th, 2007 by Justin Meyer | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 1 Comment »
Maybe what I actually mean is “what I am learning it means to love God.”
I think I have been a christian about 20 years now, but for the first time in my life, I am actually developing an intimate relationship with God. I am starting to enjoy being in His presence more than about anything […]
July 17th, 2007 by The management | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Writing | No Comments »
An excellent read about art and worship.
prayerbookproject: the revealed and revealing mystery
I want to insist that the worship of Christ becomes worthless when it is pursued as a hobby…that the worship of Christ becomes worthless when it is pursued as evangelical apologia…and that the worship of Christ becomes worthless when it is understood […]
April 19th, 2007 by The management | Posted in Announcments, Ministry Philosophy, New Music | 1 Comment »
One of our contributers, Dan Price’s band Ish was just signed to Semper Reformada Records and they conducted an excellent interview with him.
I found questions 4 and 7 to be particularly good.
If a young musician felt called to become a lead worshiper for their church, what advice would you give them to help in their […]
January 30th, 2007 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 2 Comments »
Paul showed me this quote the other day. I think it captures the heart of why I am passionate about excellence in our ministry (our music, our Web site, our promotions, our speaking, everything…).
“‘Great works’ (of art) and ‘good works’ (of charity) had better also be good work. Let choirs sing […]
January 23rd, 2007 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Production, Song Selection | 5 Comments »
I was asked this weekend, what’s the most difficult about leading a music ministry? The discussion started off talking about the usual hot-button issues:
volume levels styles of music (hymns vs. contemporary songs, and blended services) instrumentation (electric guitars, acoustic drum sets, pianos, three pianos, how many singers) how to choose music that makes everyone happy, etc.
I would […]
January 6th, 2007 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, New Music, Song Writing | 30 Comments »
From the “850 Words” E-newsletter from Relevant Magazine.
Editor’s Note: In the latest issue of RELEVANT, we got the chance to ask seven leaders about seven big questions facing the Church. Here’s an excerpt from their responses. To read more, be sure to check out the January/February issue of the mag.
[…]
November 11th, 2006 by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links, Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
JR Woodward collects some great definitions of “worship” in a recent post: Defining Worship.
November 9th, 2006 by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links, Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
Indelible Grace has written an excellent paper on Rock Music, and whether or not it is appropriate for ministry. Judging Rock Music
Almost everyone has an opinion about rock music. Some seem to think that it is God’s gift to the 20th century, others, that it has more diabolic origins. A lot of rhetoric but little firm […]
August 18th, 2006 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
(Originally an email to me from my dad, Monte Swan, August 2006. -Travis)
A couple weeks ago at a family reunion in Wisconsin I learned that my grandfather came from Sweden one hundred years ago with three guitars his father had made and a strong beautiful voice. He opened two photography studios in Illinois […]
July 17th, 2006 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection | 5 Comments »
I was recently pointed to an interview with Jeff Johnson, discussing “Selah services”; a quieter, more contemplative style of worship service that incorporates music, reading, prayer, and extended silence. I am intrigued.
“I personally prefer this kind of worship since it tends to be less centered on those who are leading and requires a very […]
May 3rd, 2006 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | 2 Comments »
(Posted on behalf of Mitch Majeski, one of the pastors at Summitview Community Church. -Travis)
As I attempted to worship today a profound sense of my frailty overwhelmed me - and then, indescribable gratitude. I say “attempted” because I literally could not muster the words – suddenly they seemed too holy, too pure for me, a […]
April 15th, 2006 by Milton | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 1 Comment »
I have yearned for some feed back on this. I have for years been trying to get folks to say Resurrection instead of Easter, why? Politics or Christianity? I guess that I just want to point everyone to Christ and Easter only says rabbits and eggs to me. I do not want to get into […]
March 14th, 2006 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 2 Comments »
A couple of years ago I was at a Shane & Shane concert and something struck me quite oddly. The way that Shane Barnard was speaking about his playing and singing was almost as if it wasn’t totally what he wanted to be doing. He talked as though he felt commissioned by God to use […]
February 27th, 2006 by Dan Price | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 7 Comments »
I’m sitting here laughing out loud reading responses to this weeks music. Most people seemed to really enjoy it for a change. I got some very encouraging notes from “Loved the music!!” to “Do the Folk thing again soon!” And then a couple anonymous “I hated the music tonight” notes. It’s amazing how opposite ends […]
January 17th, 2006 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 16 Comments »
Over the past few years I have been mentoring a few young worship leaders, through this process I’ve had to determine what is vital for one to know in order to go from being a singer or singer/guitarist or singer/keyboardist into a worship leader. Though there are many intricate details I could go into, […]
January 3rd, 2006 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | 1 Comment »
Lately the song “Breathing the Breath” by Matt Redman has been kicking my butt, and yesterday I found some scripture that tied in this idea even a little more, so I thought I would share it with you all.
Matthew 10:39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his […]
December 27th, 2005 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 1 Comment »
I know many churches do multiple services each week, and for simplicity’s sake we keep the music, message, etc the same. One thing I’ve noticed though is that when the same band, worship leader, & pastor do each service, there is an obvious amount of similarity between what each person shares. One thing […]
December 22nd, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | 3 Comments »
Why do I spend so much time practicing, creating, and listening to music? There are many factors involved, but ultimately there is a powerful connection between music and worship expression. Music has the incredible power to reach through the intellect and go straight to the heart. It is something to experience, and a form of communication, rather than just “understanding” intellectually.
I don’t think I need to get into theory and philosophy to explain that music moves us. I believe it is self-evident. But why do we use music in worship?
November 18th, 2005 by Ben Tipler | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 4 Comments »
Ok, here’s the deal. I grew up through highschool etc leading the worship team, I’ve been doing Ministry for about 10 years and Leading worship for about 6. As of this year I have completely stepped down from leading worship for the high school and college age ministries to make room for the […]
November 9th, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection, Theology | 6 Comments »
Throughout the years I’ve lead worship, I’ve experimented with the style of what our church calls “worship” - we’ve tried a bunch of things, but lately it seems like we’re getting back to the basics. This year I let the band take the summer off and our church (used to drums, two electric guitars, […]
November 2nd, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 3 Comments »
I was sitting in a hotel room in Utah, watching Ed Sullivan reruns on Vh1, 17 years old at the time, on a trip with my family. We had been driving around Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah for a couple of weeks, visiting homeschool groups in small towns. This was the final destination, a larger […]
October 25th, 2005 by Travis Swan | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection | 2 Comments »
Today I’m listening to a bunch of worship cds and also browsing iTunes, listening to 30 second snippets of worship songs. There are so many things I look for to find a “good” song for the Rock to worship with. Music in general is a topic that is plagued with baggage - styles, volume […]
October 20th, 2005 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy | 5 Comments »
A thought on the music at The Rock.
As most of you know, I spend most of my waking hours thinking about music in one way shape or form, and am constantly mulling over how music fits in with worship of God, it’s place in the Church (the church in general, Stonebrook on Sunday Mornings, and […]
