Looking back over what I experienced over the last few days at the National Worship Leader Conference, and having attended a fair number of these sorts of conferences over the last eleven years, I'm struck by several aspects of such experiences. I'm not sure I can articulate well everything that is swirling around in my brain right now, but I'll take a stab at it.

The camaraderie among the participants is genuine and meaningful. Worship leaders are a unique breed of people, with unique challenges, unique gifts and abilities, and while each of our situations is different, we share a common purpose, our hearts beat more or less in unison with the goal of helping our congregations express their love for God in a corporate context, and experience his presence in profound ways. And when we come together to talk about leading worship, to learn how to do it more effectively, and to worship together, there is an uncommon unity of spirit. At meal times it was easy for strangers to enter into meaningful conversations quickly. There was a prevailing, permeating sense that we're all in this together, and that even though our situations and cultures may be vastly different, we understand a common set of pressures and stresses, and we experience the same kinds of blessings. That unity made our conference worship times very intense, and very special.

There was a shared sense of brokenness among the participants. I don't want to overstate this, because it wasn't as though the auditorium was filled with weeping people the whole week, but there were certain moments, certain songs, certain messages during which there were many wet eyes. I believe this is a very natural part of genuine, heartfelt worship--when worship helps us somehow get a clearer picture of the holiness of God, we are undone in the awareness of our sin, and at the same time we are filled with an overwhelming realization that God loves us anyway, no matter what. Worship can take you apart that way, and I suppose that when worship leaders worship, they are more likely to get to that place more quickly. Although one might expect that it would be easy for a worship leader to become jaded over time, I have found the opposite to be true. The more I lead worship, the more I become aware of my own brokenness, and the more I experience a tenderness of heart, if you will.

There is a seemingly endless variety of expressions of worship. This is, I'm sure, evidence of the creative character of God in us. Yes, there are some truly awful worship songs out there--I've sung a bunch of them, and I've even written a few. But I'm amazed and awestruck by some of the beautiful new songs that I heard this week. And it was not only the music, but also the visual stuff--the video loops behind the projected lyrics, the worship videos between bands, the creative ways that stages can be arranged, the creative ways that lighting is used...and there is still room for more.

There are still some great songs yet to be written. I read (or heard) something recently (before the conference) about how many worship songs are expressions of a level of devotion that few human beings can honestly claim, and by leading songs of this sort, we may be actually lying to God and bringing our congregations with us in the lies. That may be an unfair criticism, but I think there is something to think about there. As we sang dozens of songs together this week, I found myself drawn more to the songs that seemed to me to be more honest and real. And it occurred to me that if we need any more worship songs in the world (and I believe we do), we need more of the sort that help people understand the truth about God and the truth about themselves. We need songs that help give expression to our struggles and our doubts, songs of confession and repentance, songs that acknowledge our brokenness and pain, and help us hold on to hope and experience forgiveness.

There are clearly some popular formulas in worship music today. Some songs and worship bands are becoming incredibly predictable. There is a certain electric guitar sound that every guitarist on stage seemed to have, on every song (am I guilty of that, too? Probably). The same is true of keyboard parts and pads, and the drum beats. And it seems to be true of song architecture and arrangement, as well--so many songs start really big with full, in-your-face walls of sound, then you get to a very quiet bridge that builds back into the in-your-face wall of sound, which the cynic in me tends to see as the get-them-on-their-feet-with-their-hands-in-the-air cue, and if it doesn't work the first time, you repeat the cycle until the people respond appropriately. Is this really the only way to lead worship meaningfully? It's a minor thing--musical styles and trends and tastes change, I know, but there was a small part of me that longed for someone to do something really different, and not to just play for the hands-in-the-air response. (Again, that's just the cynic in me coming out. I'm not above that sort of arranging myself.) I'm just saying.

I've still got a lot to learn. The content of this conference was quite good, perhaps better than at some of the other conferences I've attended. And I know I've got a lot of work to do to improve the quality of my worship leadership, musicianship, etc.

I've still got a few good years left in me. I was so blessed by hearing Lenny LeBlanc lead worship before Louie Giglio's talk--he's as old as me, maybe older, and still doing it well and effectively. I'm tempted often to think that because I'm older, God can't really use me as effectively as he could use someone younger and fresher. I don't think that's true; though it may be that as I get older, he's going to use me in different ways. I'm totally okay with that.

I didn't mean to make a whole book out of this post, so if you're still with me, thanks. If you're a worship leader and you need some inspiration, some fellowship, some time to worship without being the leader, or some new ideas or resources, I highly recommend that you find something like the National Worship Leader Conference to attend. There are many such conferences in various locations around the country. You never waste any time sharpening your tools.

It's all over, and I'm spent, and probably rightly so--the schedule for the National Worship Leader Conference is pretty much packed for three and a half days. I typically arrived before 8:30 a.m., and didn't leave until 9:30 or 10:00 pm each day. There were four Nights of Worship, four general sessions, and eight workshop sessions; eight times of worship ranging from 30 minutes to three hours.

Today was "practical workshop" day for me--I attended a session on "Leading Worship Between the Songs," a session on learning how to read music, and a session on vocal stylings. All very practical and helpful. I was exposed to so much content that it will take me quite a while to synthesize and digest what I heard and learned. If I am able to apply even one or two of the things I learned about this week, my time will have been well-spent.

It is hard to over-estimate the importance of the worship times at a conference like this. Worship leaders sometimes carry significant job, relational or personal burdens, and when a worship leader can experience worship without being the leader, that's a good thing.

Today's worship leaders included Shannon Wexelberg, Pocket Full of Rocks, Starfield, Scott and Vonda Dyer, the conference worship choir, and Israel Houghton. I was so tired by the end of the day that I decided to bail before Israel played (sorry, Israel). Lisa Harper spoke this morning in the general session, and Scotty Smith spoke during the evening worship session.

If you're a worship leader considering whether to attend the NWLC, let me offer this advice: if you can do it, do it. You won't be disappointed.

I was wiped out last night after the worship concert with Jonathan Lee, Laura Story and Chris Tomlin--an amazing time of worship. So I'll try to get caught up a bit today.

The highlight of the day yesterday was Louie Giglio's talk in the afternoon, in which he simply encouraged us to "focus on Jesus" in our worship leading. Seems obvious, but the truth is that most of us focus on our work--our songs, our band, our appearance, the people we're leading, etc. Laura Story said essentially the same thing, admitting that sometimes when leading worship she's really working, not worshiping. I can definitely relate--it was good for me to hear that stuff.

I attended a great session about storytelling through video in which we learned the basic elements of every great story and how they resonate with the human heart because God designed us that way--the Gospel is that story.

Gotta run now, Day 4 has begun!

Happy Birthday! (to me)

I think it's going to be a good day--Louie Giglio speaks this afternoon at 3:30 (streamed live at http://video.worshipstream.com/channel/NWLC2010 at 3:55 CDT. I've heard Louie enough times to know that any time he is on the schedule, you can expect to be challenged and encouraged.

Tonight Chris Tomlin and Laura Story will be leading worship and several members of my home church worship team will be joining me for that event.

I haven't decided what workshops I'll be attending today, but I'll let you know later.

Peace.

Tonight's Night of Worship was opened by One Sonic Society, followed by Tenth Avenue North, and finally Matt Redman and his band. Let's just say the evening began good and just got better and better.

I had heard of Tenth Avenue North, but I probably had only heard one song from their set before tonight. But I was impressed with how singable some of their stuff was, and with how fresh and powerful their sound was, particularly the three-part harmonies.

Matt Redman was (not surprisingly) brilliant. Maybe it's me, maybe it's not, but there are some worship leaders who are able to just take me with them into the presence of God. I suspect it has to do with what I perceive to be their degree of authenticity, but it could be some other factor or combination of factors.

In any case, we worshiped God tonight, and it was good.

Catch you later.

Okay. I think I might be part Irish.

I had no idea that Keith and Kristyn Getty (Keith is the co-author with Stuart Townend of "In Christ Alone") were Irish, but Irish they are, and their part of tonight's Night of Worship concert was nothing short of remarkable. Uilleann pipes (Google it), an Irish flute, one of those Irish hand drum things you play with a stick thing, and a fiddle, plus drums, bass, electric and acoustic guitars, synth and acoustic piano, all backed by the NWLC conference choir, fronted by Kristyn Getty on lead vocals--the sound was big, the cadences were infectious, and these guys are creating what I suppose you would describe as hymns for a new generation. They are passionate for corporate worship, and they are creating songs that are truly cross-generational in style.

My own dubious Irish ancestry notwithstanding, I really liked the Gettys. I was taken by their authenticity--something that isn't always readily discernible in some artists, but which just shines in others. I believe that they are doing a hymn writing session this week, and I might just be there, if for no other reason than to hear those Irish accents again.

The Gettys occupied the last segment of the night--they were preceded by Pastor Steve Berger of Grace Chapel, who spoke from Psalm 40 about how God ministers to people in pain. He lost his 19-year-old son to an automobile accident about this time last year, and has written a book (Have Heart: Bridging the Gulf Between Heaven and Earth) about heaven. His talk was heart-rending and encouraging at the same time. He brought along the gifted Grace Chapel worship team, who led a remarkable worship set after Berger's talk.

The first artist of the night was Phil Wickham, who kicked off the evening with a great set, accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. Kudos to the sound crew for mixing his Taylor big and full, and to Phil for his tasteful, innovative, beautiful playing. (He's an amazing singer as well, and he wove several of his own worship songs together in a set that had great "flow" as we worship leaders are wont to say.) In what one Tweet during the set described as a "humble and powerful way to begin," he led the crowd in "How Great Thou Art," arranged in an updated style that just worked very well. Wickham knows his way around a worship set.

I was pleased to see my good friend, Phil and his wife Penny--I hadn't seen Phil (a fine keyboard player and singer I worked with years ago) for years, and he showed up in the parking lot next to me at last year's conference. I hadn't seen him since last year, but was glad to see his name tag on the registration table this afternoon, and he somehow found his way to my row in the darkened auditorium a few minutes after the festivities started tonight.

That's all for now--it's after midnight and I've got to hit the road early tomorrow for Day 2. Catch you later.