April 26th, 2009 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | 2 Comments »
Excellent article kicking off a series at The Resurgence on the qualifications of a worship pastor.
At Stonebrook / The Rock, we don’t have a specific “worship pastor” (and I don’t think one is required for a church), rather we have volunteer, mature(ish) men leading bands, but I believe strongly that this kind of character is [...]
February 28th, 2009 by Matt Heerema | Posted in External Links, Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
I just read an interesting book by Ed Stetzer, Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that reach them.. I consider myself a bit of a student of the culture we live in as well as a data geek. This book has some interesting insights into the younger unchurched.
One statistic that [...]
December 31st, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Liturgical Calendar, Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection | No Comments »
January 6 is Epiphany, marking the end of the 12 days of Christmas, it commemorates the revelation of the Messiah, and in some traditions also celebrates the visit of the Wise men to the Nativity scene (called “Three Kings Day”).
The Sojourn Music blog has a good little write-up about Epiphany and why we should recognize [...]
December 16th, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Song Selection | 1 Comment »
The Worship Community has a great post on Liturgy for Non-liturgical churches. An important one to check out.
The literal definition for “liturgy” is “the work of the people.” It come from the Greek Leitourgia. In Ancient Greece, before Jesus came, this word referred to work done by citizens of a community, [...]
November 5th, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in History, Ministry Philosophy | No Comments »
I missed posting this the other day. ABSOLUTELY hilarious. If you have a few free moments and need a laugh, check this out.
Top 5 things I miss about 90s worship.
November 3rd, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Production, Song Selection | 3 Comments »
AllAboutWorship.com recently posted 17 common Worship Leading Mistakes and how to avoid them. They’re worth a look.
Key takeaways:
Use a click track Pay attention to tuning Pay attention to dynamics (and arrangements in general) Pay attention to transitions PREPARE
Check out [...]
October 20th, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | No Comments »
Great little article by Paul Glavic over on Nueue about the complexities of a life of worship.
He shares my perplexity over the term “worship” and “worship leader” and gives a very helpful analogy to describe it. Worship life as a metropolis:
While no metaphor is perfect, this analogy helps us to understand worship. [...]
September 24th, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | 4 Comments »
This fall marks my seventh year as a “worship leader”, 8th as a member of the music team. I was brought in to the team way too early, and given leadership of a band far prematurely by our current standards. However, after talking with pastors and leaders looking back at that time, I [...]
September 21st, 2008 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy, Theology | No Comments »
I thought I’d share with all of you the document we hand all potential new music ministry members (as well as current members from time to time) communicating to them the standard we expect of music ministry participants. I hope you find it helpful.
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 Matt Heerema | 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 Matt Heerema | 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 | 7 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 | 36 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 Jeff | 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 Jeff | 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, [...]
