Leading worship

I'm attending the National Worship Leader Conference (NWLC) in Leawood, Kansas, July 20-24, presented by Worship Leader Magazine. I'll try to write about my experiences there as the week goes on. This evening was the opening night of the conference--the next three days will be all-day affairs, quite literally, beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day and concluding (theoretically) at 9:30 p.m.

Since I live within about an hour of the conference site, I'm not staying there--I'm driving back and forth each morning and evening (bummer), but at least I get to sleep in my own bed, and the cost of driving every day is nowhere near the cost of lodging.

I've been to three worship conferences before this one--the first two were Willow Creek Worship Arts Conferences in Chicago, several years ago, and the most recent one was a Worship Leader Institute last fall, at the same site as the NWLC--the Church of the Resurrection (CoR) in Leawood, Kansas, a southern suburb of Kansas City.

I like conferences, generally speaking, because even though they rarely provide content that can't be obtained from other sources, they also provide the attender with an opportunity to get away from the normal routine long enough to actually sit down and learn something new. If I weren't attending this conference, there is no way that my normal work schedule would allow me to spend this kind of time "charging my batteries," as it were.

But the very thing that makes these conferences so rich is also a liability, in a way--there is so much content presented in such a short span of time that there is virtually no way to benefit properly from everything you hear and learn. About the best one can hope for is that a little bit of what you learn at such events will stick with you long enough for you to get home and apply it. So each day I'm going to be looking for the one or two most important things that I can take home.

Tonight was the opening session--a Night of Worship with a very diverse group of worship leaders. The evening of worship was opened by Evie (you've got to be a certain age to even know who that is), who was followed by Bill Batstone, Anthony Evans and Tommy Walker. Pastor Greg Laurie preached a very good message, the chief point of which is that even when we don't feel much like worship, worship is exactly the right thing to do. Pastor Laurie spoke from painful personal experience, having lost his 33-year old son last year in an automobile accident. The final part of the evening was a worship set led by David Crowder*Band.

All of the worship artists were good--some (most notably Evans and the DCB gang) were really excellent. Pastor Laurie's message was also excellent.

The next three days will be a flurry of general sessions, break-out workshops, and three more Nights of Worship, featuring a variety of artists and speakers--it's really an amazing line-up of people, and I'm looking forward to hearing Mac Powell, Christy Nockels, Paul Baloche, and Micheal W. Smith, among many others, including Dr. Leonard Sweet, David Nasser, Sally Morganthaler, and many, many more.

One of the hardest things about attending one of these events is the vast collection of resources that is always available at the book tables. CDs, DVDs, books, t-shirts, hats, and a variety of other kinds of resources tempt me to whip out the plastic and have a hey-day, but I usually try to resist, figuring that if there's something I really can't live without, I can always get it cheaper from Amazon. But tonight, I couldn't resist--I bought a book by the Midnight Oil guys about creating visual imagery for worship--it includes a DVD with various tutorials, and I can hardly wait to dig in.

The theme passage for this years NWLC is Psalm 90, the Psalm that Isaac Watts drew on for his hymn, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." Several of the workshops in the line-up are related to the notion of intergenerational worship, or a revival of very ancient worship styles and such, so it is an appropriate theme for worship--past, present and future.

A mere six and a half hours from now, I will be on the road back to Kansas City for Day 2--so I'll wrap this up for now. (If I can ever get a decent wireless connection at CoR, I'll try to blog directly from the conference site as the day goes on.)

I'll keep you posted!

We get about an hour with our congregations on Sundays, and it's crucial that we make that hour count, which means every member of the worship team must be ready. Here are three ways you can make sure that you are ready to contribute when you get your cue.

1. Be "prayed up." Yeah, we all pray together before we go on stage, but I wonder what it would be like if each one of us spent time in prayer before we showed up to play, asking God to move in our hearts and the hearts of our congregation?

2. Be warmed up. For some of us, 9:45 (our first service time) is pretty early in the morning to be in top vocal (or even instrumental) form. We joke sometimes about our earlier service being the "warm-up" service, and even if we don't really mean that, if we're not warmed up when we get there, that's exactly what it is. Even a little singing in the car on the way to church can help. As a guitarist, I know it makes a difference when I've taken a few minutes before the service to play and get my hands and fingers loosened up.

3. Be prepared. Rehearsals for our team are on Wednesday nights, and it's a long time between Wednesday and Sunday, particularly when it comes to remembering any little details we work out at rehearsal. Prepared team members make notes on their charts and review their notes prior to the service. I don't know how many times I've failed to remember a break, or even how to start or end a song, just because I forgot and didn't review my notes before heading for the stage.

Following these three bits of advice will make a difference in your singing or playing, and it will help you be better prepared to lead people into the presence of God. Any other tips or suggestions out there? I'd love to hear them.