Worship Leader Blog

If you check this site periodically, you'll notice that the layout changes from time to time. Early on I mentioned that it was an experiment, and that experiment continues, as I try different arrangements of the content and menus and such. I hope this isn't too disconcerting for anyone (I doubt that it is), and I hope that sometime over the summer I'll arrive at a more-or-less stable layout. Along the way I may be testing different layout themes--color schemes, fonts, content arrangements, etc. Don't be surprised if the look changes every now and then for a while.

I know some of you are either learning to play the guitar or at least have an interest in it, so here is a link that you'll appreciate:

http://www.strummeronline.com/

The third annual Worship Arts Retreat is now scheduled for September 22 and 23, 2006! This will be a wonderful time for fellowship, planning, instruction and worship for all who are now or would like to be involved in the worship arts ministry at the Lawrence Free Methodist Church. An audition session will be held on Saturday, September 30, 2006, as well. (Read on--there's more!)

The current poll on this blog site is intended to informally survey your familiarity with something relatively new in our media culture--the podcast. There are tons of places on the 'net where you can learn about what podcasts are (and what podcasting is all about), so go Google for a bit if you're interested. I'll give you the basics, but what I ultimately want to do is let you know about some interesting podcasts that are relevant to our ministry.

I've just upgraded the CMS software that runs this site. For the nerds and gearheads among us, the CMS (content management system) software package that serves as the foundation for this site is called Drupal, and I've just upgraded to the newest version (4.7.0), which adds some functionality (most of which will be transparent to the average user).

If you notice anything that isn't working right, or if you see any weirdness in appearance, or you have problems logging into your account, or anything else goes wrong, please let me know.

We're going to be putting another Worship Arts Retreat together for the early fall (this will be our third), and there will be a session during that retreat that will be specifically targeting all those who wish to audition for a position in the Praise Band.

The date isn't set yet, but we'll get it set soon. The current plan is that auditions will be conducted the weekend after the retreat, and auditionees will be encouraged to attend the retreat to learn what they need to know before the auditions. If you know people who are interested in auditioning for vocal or instrumental positions, please be sure they know about the retreat.