The Church Collective Worship Leader Podcast: Recent Episodes
The Church Collective
In this episode we talk with Dr. Gabriel Miller, professor and pastor, about how we can make an idol out of worship itself, the value of gaining skills at our craft, and fostering a heart of worship.
In this episode of the Church Collective Podcast, I had a heartfelt conversation with Sarah Kroger. We explored her journey through faith's tough questions, the concept of lament in worship, and the unique challenges faced by worship leaders. Sarah opened up about her personal struggles, the inspiration behind her music, and how she found God's presence in unexpected ways. Join us for an honest and encouraging discussion that I believe many of you will deeply resonate with.
It's always a great time when Alexander Pappas joins us on the podcast. We talk about where worship culture is going, serving in the local church, and a bunch more.
In this episode, we had the chance to talk once again to Josh Holiday about their tour with Lecrae, their new music, collaboration with Forrest Frank, creativity and a bunch more. Stay tuned to the end where we dive into authenticity in worship and what it looks like to mentor younger worship leaders.
We had a great chat with Chris Kuti of lakepointe worship about healthy discipleship, effective songwriting, caring for your team, and much more.
We talked with Josh and Jariel from Saddleback Worship about their new album, discipleship in worship ministry, developing worship in multiple languages, healthy transitions, and much more!
It's always an honor to have Kristian Stanfill join us on the podcast. We talk about Passion 24, that amazing Agnus Dei moment, dealing with pride and narcissism in our leadership and a bunch more.
In this episode we had a chance to talk to Terrian about songwriting, leaning into your calling wherever that as, her story, and much more!
Always a blast to have return guests on the podcast! Patrick has been a friend of The Church Collective for years and it was an honor to talk with him about his new album Wild Faith!
In this episode we talk with Tiffany Hudson about:How we need both corporate and private worship times, and need music that resonates in both situationsThe value in being ourselves as worship leaders rather than trying to emulate others.How Tiffany keeps her heart close to the Lord and what that means for her platform leadership.
Elevation Worship Returns! In this episode Jonsal and Tiffany from Elevation Worship talk about the new album, "Can You Imagine?" They also talk about how to lead a room of any size, what a healthy relationship between the senior pastor and worship team looks like, and we get an inside look at how their latest tour is going!
Josh and Nate join us for the podcast to talk about their latest album, This is the Gospel!
C3 NYC Worship joins us to talk about building a healthy volunteer culture in our worship ministries, advice for the next generation of worship leaders, and encouragement for songwriting throughout every season of the life of the church.
Wow, I hope you're ready for some wisdom! Jesse Reeves talks about what the Lord is doing through his home church network, KingsPorch, and the music that God has brought out of it. If you need encouragement, regardless of the size of your church, it's here in this episode.
In this episode we talked with Shealy worship about how to foster a heart that is all about God in worship as we're leading and songwriting, both for the church locally and globally and how to really connect with God in each and everything we do in ministry.
We had the chance to sit down with Dane, Luke, and Nic from Rocky Worship. We talk about health in ministry, when and why to write music for our churches compared to using popular songs and we got into an important conversation about depression and anxiety for ministry leaders and how to lead others through it.
Ryan had the chance to sit down in person with Eric and Jonatan from Stockholm worship. They talk about their new album, how to be faithful in big and small things with the Lord, songwriting for the sake of the local church, and a bunch more!
It's always an honor to have Kristian on the podcast!We talk about everything going on with Passion, being faithful wherever we're serving, and trusting God with our plans!
Chris and Ryan head to Church Gear headquarters to talk to Toby about everything they do. If you haven't heard about them yet make sure to get connected! In the middle of the episode we'll take a pause and do a tour, if you'd like to see that tour head over to our YouTube channel.
We had a chance to talk with the founder and amazing guy that runs FILO, First in Last Out. Do you find that you need encouragement in the midst of worship and production ministry? This is the episode for you!
We had a great chat with Dan and Chelsea from SEU worship with special guest host Jamie Anderson who's of the VP's at Southeastern University and a great friend of TCC! We talk about how SEU worship got started, leading worship in contexts outside of the church, the future of worship music, and a bunch more!
We had a chat with Benjamin Hastings about his new self titled album, how the Lord was involved in his songwriting process through deconstruction and reconstruction, his thoughts about lyric writing and a bunch more!
First off, you've gotta go check out Cody's new album, God is Good! Then, after you've done that, come back here and check out the podcast where we dive deep on how Cody put the album together with an incredible team. We talk local worship ministry, songwriting, the future of the church, and a bunch more!
Chris had the chance to talk with Anne Wilson about her new album "My Jesus," touring, songwriting, and more!
Wow! The wisdom that Steven Curtis Chapman brought to the podcast this week has been just incredible. He talks about longevity in Christian music, how his music is a reflection of what the Lord is doing in his life, and his thoughts on the future of music and the church.
We talked with Bryan and Katie Torwalt about their new live album I've Got Good News. We also talk about worship leadership in the world today, their songwriting process, what it's like touring and leading worship with your spouse and a bunch more.
Davide and Josh from Elevation RHYTHM stop by the podcast to talk about their new album, Growing Pains.
We had such a great chat with Carlos and Mariah from Mosaic MSC that we needed to make it two episodes! Enjoy!
It's always great to sit down with Carlos and Mariah from Mosaic MSC! Here's the first part of our chat!
We had a fantastic talk with Jonsal from Elevation Worship about their new album, Lion. You can get the transcript and links on our site!
We had a great chat with Katy Nichole about:
How God used her prayer journal to inspire her songwriting. What the Lord has done with her success on tiktok. Advice on leading worship at our churches and online.
We had the chance to talk to Jordan St Cyr about his new self titled album, his song fires, trusting God through a big move for his family, and how he goes about leading others in worship.
We had yet another chance to talk to Brett Younker from Passion Music about their latest project "Burn Bright." Also in this episode of the podcast: Songwriting for the local and global church How the passion team goes about preparing to put on an event for 50k people and what you can do in your home church to plan for incredible worship sets. Brett's story on how he got involved in Passion Music in the first place.
We had a chat with Anna Golden about: The story behind her new album Peace: The Album How Anna got involved in worship and songwriting Lessons from Tasha Cobbs Leonard How to maintain a healthy relationship with the Lord and the balance of spontaneous and planned worship
We had a fantastic convo with Lincoln Brewster about: How Lincoln wrote and recorded his latest album before everything shut down Tracking and recording process for Mostly Acoustic Christmas and Perfect Love How they tracked drums on the new album Lincoln's guitar chain Lincoln's touring chain Opinion on the UA and profiling The balance on digital and analog and how to combine them Where Lincoln finds his inspiration When will he release new guitar presets and the his process of creating them
We had a great chat with Pat Barrett about his latest project, housefires, songwriting, worship leadership, and a bunch more!
We sat down with the guys from Red Rocks Worship and talked about: How Red Rocks Church and Worship got started Their writing and recording process How they go about worship planning for multiple venues How to give your church tools to worship throughout the week Planning for spontaneous moments in worship services Prerecording your livestream and why you might want to Their guitars and gear There's even some sax solos from Chris mixed in!
In this episode we talked with Matt Hein from I Am They about: Their album faithful God How I am They got started Dealing with discouragement and disappointment Maintaining a healthy spiritual life And a bunch more!
In this episode we're sharing one of our guitar and gear zoom hangs with David Liotta who plays for Elevation Worship. We talk about how he got involved in worship, what it's like to play for Elevation, his favorite guitar gear, his practice routine, and a bunch more. This episode is for all those guitarists out there but there are some wonderful insights into the heart of Elevation as well. Enjoy!
We had the chance to talk to Joth Hunt from Planetshakers about: How is planetshakers doing church in 2020 and 2021 How planetshakers goes about writing and arranging their albums Vocal health and practical worship leadership And tons more!
We had a great chat with Hope Darst about:
Patience and trust in God while waiting for Him. How to know when God is shutting or opening a door in our lives. How Hope got involved in songwriting, worship leading, and connected with Natalie Grant. Advice for getting involved in worship ministry when you're just starting out. The value of longevity and wisdom in ministry.
Kari Jobe joins us again for the podcast. We talk about her new album and the title song "The Blessing," vocal tips, spiritual health, and a bunch more!
It's always am honor to have Mack on the podcast! We talk about his new album, Space, worship leadership, and a bunch more!
In this episode we talk with Elle Limebear about: The story behind "angels" The importance of taking care of our mental and spiritual health Her musical inspirations How she got started in music
If you've been to one of our conferences then you know Cliff Lambert. Cliff brings us some great wisdom in this episode on how to effectively plan transitions in our worship sets.
We talk with Dwan Hill from Nashville Life Music about their album, church, musicianship, and a bunch more..
It's always a treat to have Pastor Louie Giglio join us on the podcast.. He's got a new version of Goliath Must Fall out for students and he brings so much wisdom that you're probably going to need to listen through this episode a couple times!
We talk with Ryan Stevenson about his latest album, songwriting, and of course how things are going in this wild year!
In this episode we had a fantastic conversation with Chris McClarney about:
Worship leadership Jesus Culture's new album Songwriting Mental health A bunch more!
In this episode, Matt Maher drops some serious wisdom about life, worship leadership, musicianship, and so much more. Enjoy!
In this episode Chris and Ryan talk with Alex Pappas from Hillsong Young and Free about:
Their new album How Hillsong has been adapting to the world of 2020 How Alex got involved with Hillsong What inspires their songwriting!
So much fun on this podcast. Mariah and Carlos from Mosaic MSC join us to talk about their new album, creativity in the church, and just a bunch more.
We had a heck of a chat with longtime friend and TCC west coast conference veteran Nate Parrish. He has a rad new album that you should go check out.
In this episode Ryan and Chris talk once more with Corey Voss and Madison Street Worship about their new album "Heaven Come Closer"
It's always an honor to talk with Paul! Here's some of what we talked about plus so much more:
How to grow in our musical and spiritual craft. The process in creating his new album “Behold Him” How to write music both on your own and in a cowrite. All of the awesome people that wrote on Paul’s new album with him. How to archive your creative ideas and use and cultivate them. The value and need for community in a church body.
It's always a great time with James Duke joins us for the podcast! He and Chris talk about:
All The Bright Lights vinyl release His home studio setup Surround sound guitar effects A possible solo album Tiger King How to cope with the current climate
Cody Carnes talks with us in this episode! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll learn something new. Thanks for being a part of our community! We hope this is a blessing to you both personally and in your ministry!
In this episode we talk with Melodie Malone from passion music about:
The songs that are resonating from their new album with people around the world Her background and how she got involved in passion The importance and value of serving before striving for a platform. “Bloom where you’re planted because God knows where to find you” “The stage can do weird things to your heart” The songwriting process for passion How they go about woodshedding their music. Practical tips for a solid in-ear mix Mixing vocals when you have a large team What she’s been inspired by lately Who she’s been inspired for in music.
In this episode Ryan and Chris talked with Andew Holt from the Belonging Co about:
How he got involved in the Belonging co How to pastor yourself and your team How to use the current time at home to further a relationship with God The best way to get involved in a local church and much more!
In this episode Ryan and Chris talk to Sean Curran from the Passion Movement about his latest work and everything God is doing in his life and ministry.
In this episode Chris Bellamy talks to James Duke about his new project with Mack Brock, a new endeavor with All The Bright Lights, playing slide guitar at the Passion Conference with his new 357 term, recording at home, and Kemper profiles.
In this episode Chris Bellamy talks to Elevation's Garrett Davis about recording their live albums as well as working on the newest project from Passion. Find out the secret of Elevation's monster floor tom sound and how they manage broadcasting with multiple campuses.Footnote from Garrett regarding the Passion album: Sean Moffitt mixed the album. Sean and Garrett co-engineered the album together.
In this episode Ryan, Josh, Chris, and Adam answer a question given to us on Instagram. Burnout in ministry is something we all deal with and if we're not careful it can become all too normal for us. We give some practical advise on how to avoid burnout in the first place and some strategies to get back to a healthy place if we're already having a hard time.
In this episode Cliff, Chris, and Ryan talk through what it means for God's presence to be in our worship services.
In this episode we got together and talked through how to have effective stage presence as well as what it looks like to be a paid or volunteer part of worship ministry.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy got the chance to talk to Matt Redman again about:
The story behind his new project Glory Songs. Some thoughts on worship leadership in todays culture. Ideas for getting out of our comfort zones in our own leadership. The value of connecting with other worship leaders in differing contexts. How Matt connected with others for the writing and recording of this project. What Matt has been up to in Southern California. The importance of brokenness in our walk with Christ.
In this episode, I had the chance to talk to Sandra McCracken again about:
How scripture inspired and is woven throughout her new live album. The recording process for a live project. Some practical considerations for how to do it ourselves. Advice for how to go off script in a healthy way during a worship service. How to go about fostering a healthy devotional life. Thoughts on worship leadership and facilitating the room. What has been inspiring her lately. How our community can go about praying for Sandra.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy had the chance to talk to Chris Quilala again about:
Jesus Culture's latest project. What God has been doing lately through Jesus Culture Sacramento. What it looks like to do week to week worship ministry for Chris. The nuts and bolts of how teams are scheduled for Jesus Culture. Chris's heart for training others and the fruit he's seen at his church. How Chris found his style and voice as a worship leader. Advice for the development of a songwriting habit. The various people that are involved in Jesus Culture's latest project. What it was like leading at Hillsong LA recently.
In this episode I had the chance to talk to Josh Baldwin of Bethel Music about:
How he went from being a drummer to a worship leader and songwriter. His home church. How he got connected with Bethel Music. Advice for songwriting and working through songs that may not be finished. Growing in the craft of songwriting. Who he wrote with for his latest project.
In this episode Chris had the chance to talk to Stephen Christian about:
His transition from Anberlin to local worship ministry. How songwriting looks different for worship. His latest project Wildfires. Some of the details on what he uses to record with in the studio. Why we need to be careful that the worship stage isn't used as a our own personal platform. His music influences. Some thoughts on where worship music is going.
In this episode we got to talk to Louie Giglio about:
His latest book Goliath must fall. How to get connected with Louie through a daily devotional. Some practical advice for keeping our mind on Jesus in the midst of ministry and life. Something really cool he's got in the works for the fall.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy talked with Stu G about:
The beatitudes project. How it evolved to be more than just an album. Thoughts about the upcoming movie. How the story of God's mercy can be seen throughout the project. All the technical details surrounding the recording of the album. What Stu draws from for creative inspiration. How Stu hones his music craft and what it looked like when he first began to play. What his guitar rig looks like today.
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Elias Dummer of The City Harmonic about:
How they're wrapping up The City Harmonic and what that means for them personally. What he's been up to lately. How to go about ending something well. What it looks like to do ministry in a local church while being a part of a external project. How to make sure we're the best possible leader we can be. Managing the tensions we face with senior leadership. Why it is vitally important that we spend time actually reading our Bible. Finding God in the moment when we regularly lead. Ways we can pray for Elias and The City Harmonic.
In this episode, a couple of our main contributors over on the East Coast got together to talk about some practical worship leadership stuff. They’re part of a fantastic connect group that you should get involved with. Check it out here. Some specific topics discussed:
The importance of being teachable as a leader. Why we need community around us to help us grow as leaders. How older leaders can learn from younger leaders. Why we have to be open to constantly learning but also willing to change. Some simple steps to combat pride in our lives. How to avoid an entitlement mindset. Why we absolutely have to delegate and set up others for success. The tension that comes from handing authority over to others and how we can navigate it. How to not let insecurity control how we lead. Why we have to make sure we’re listening to feedback from those around us.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy got to talk with Darlene Zschech about:
How God called her and her husband out in a step of faith to plant a church. The worship conference that her church will be doing for the first time this year. Fostering a heart of gratitude in everything we do and in every stage of our lives. Her role in coaching and encouraging worship leaders. Who some of her influences were when she began in worship. The importance of unity among churches. How to go about identifying those whom God would have us mentor and train. The role of the worship leader as an encourager. Why we should stay out of the green room on a regular basis. How to go about setting up a culture of team worship leadership. Practical advice for longevity in worship ministry. The importance of evolving and staying fresh as we grow older. Why the worship world at large is in need of mentorship. What new music Darlene is listening to. The heart behind her latest project. Her health journey and what God did through it. How to look toward God when we don’t feel like we want to.
In this episode I talked with Joshua and David from Covenant Worship about:
The creation of an album that might not necessarily be intended for corporate worship but how God can use the music in a corporate setting. How we can incorporate various elements in to our service to glorify God. What the week to week ministry looks like at their home church. The importance of discipleship and why we need to work ourselves out of a job. Some simple ways to empower our volunteers on a weekly basis. The need for and power of team worship leadership on the weekends. Advice for longevity in ministry. How God expands our ability and leadership when we actively empower others. Why we have to leave room for others to make mistakes. How we can work with our church leadership to help them understand why making mistakes is important for growth. What God has been doing through their ministry and what they’ve been learning. Spiritual health best practices for our worship teams. Ways for our community to pray for their ministry.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy were able to talk to the man Behind Labyrinth, David Baloche about:
The heart behind writing the music for Labyrinth. How the music has been amazing in ministering to those who suffer with anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Who was involved in the writing and recording process. David’s musical background and how he it was used for this project. Some advice for how to take such intricate music and use it in the church. What David’s home church looks like. How to write music in a way that honors personal sensibilities and how to trust your gut. Some practical ways to use technology to create some new inspiration. How to use ableton as a thought production machine.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy get to talk to Kim Walker-Smith about:
Her newest project, “On My Side” The dynamic of creating a personal album while being involved in the music and life of Jesus Culture. Some practical advice on how to manage the tension of personal ministry and corporate ministry in our churches. Thoughts on doing live vs studio work. A rundown of who was involved on the p Practical advice for vocalists. Ways to keep your voice healthy and how to both warm up and cool down. The realities of doing ministry when you’re a parent and how to find some sort of balance with it. Why family is the first ministry we have to focus on. Important thoughts on how to set in-ear monitors and why it is vitally important for us Family and ministry balance. Some really incredible thoughts on how to keep family first. The big question! Kim’s signature laugh while leading worship and what’s behind it. How to keep ourselves connected with God while leading regularly. Ways to keep the worship time fresh for both us and the congregation.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy were able to talk with Sarah Reeves about:
How God has been moving in her life. Her latest project! Thoughts on worship and how it sounds similar in a lot of places. Where Sarah thinks worship music is going. The danger in trying to compare ourselves to other leaders. Her involvement with the Belonging and what God is doing through her church. How God uses difficult seasons to help us grow and advice on how to find God when we’re in the middle of it. What the new project sounds like and how to go about doing the music in the church.
In this episode, Josh and I talk with Chris Abbott about:
Why are we talking about Facebook advertising on the TCC podcast? Tons of practical ways to use Facebook ads to connect with new people for your Easter service. Things you can do today to engage with your congregation online. Why you should pass this episode on to your communications/media people to help broaden the impact of your ministry. How to avoid wasting money when using the “boost” button for your Facebook page. How exactly to craft a simple invitation to your church.
In this episode I talked with Kristian Stanfill about: Their new album and what God’s doing in and through their music. Some of the practical steps taken to pull off Passion every year. The relationship between the passion conference and doing weekly church for their team. Songwriting practices and how they go about identifying the songs that will best resonate with their church. The how and why behind The End It Movement The constant need to balance ministry with family and practical advice for maintaining a healthy heart in the midst of all of it. How we can pray for Kristian and the Passion team in this season.
In this episode we talk about:
Creating intentional space for God to move through planning for spontaneity. How to go about treating our teams with great care. Practical application for praying over those that will be under our worship leadership during a service or concert. The balance between the emotional highs of worship with a personal touch. Why it's ok to make mistakes while we're leading. The importance of caring for others and love for those we are leading in worship. How we can pray over Darren and his team.
In this episode I had the chance to talk to Ellie Holcomb about:
How God has been working in her and her community over the past two years. Why is it important for us to find opportunity to celebrate God in the midst of difficulties. Songwriting as a way to process through pain. Encouragement for those going through a difficult time. The vital importance of hope in our lives. Advice for young songwriters. How to go about fostering a personal relationship with God.
In this episode I had the chance to talk to Kari Jobe again! You can hear her first interview here. Here are some of the highlights:
How God has been working in and through Kari through marriage, having a kid, and life in general. The process in which God called her from her church to join what God is doing at The Belonging Co. Why we have to be grounded in a local church that we know God has called us to. What the day to day for Kari looks like as an artist and a mom. The dynamic of songwriting with your spouse. The process for vetting theology in the songs they write. How some songs can start as a melody and others start as a lyric. The seasons of life and their effect on songwriting. Challenges for worship leaders in the church today vs when she began. Practical advice for how to make sure your team is strong enough in the details to be able to let the Spirit move in our services. Ways we can pray for Kari and Cody while they're on tour.
In this episode I talked with Jenn Johnson about: What the day to day ministry of Bethel Music looks like. The heart behind Jenn and Brian’s latest project together. How God uses our life circumstances to mold our hearts and the songs we write. What it looks like to do ministry with your spouse. The value of counseling in the life of a marriage. Thoughts on changing culture in the local church. How to identify and empower leaders within the church. Who to combat the jealously that may come from helping others become better worship leaders than ourselves. Why we need to trust God to take care of us through seasons of life. How to keep our hearts open to what God is directing us to do. The way they plan and schedule people for church services at Bethel as well as touring schedules.
In this episode Chris Bellamy and myself talk with David Gungor of the Brilliance about:
His podcast to help tell the stories of the music in their album. The theme and purpose of their latest project. The reason we have to have a why behind the music we write. The influence of his trip to Assisi and being able to talk with Pope Francis. What the band for The Brilliance looks like. How David goes about writing and who he involves in the process. The logistics for the recording process. Advice for worship leaders to be able to strike the balance of creativity and worship leadership. Some thoughts on what genre of music you would call The Brilliance, and how ultimately it's about pointing people to Jesus.
In this episode we talk about:
The heart behind publishing "The Jesus Bible" What God has been doing with the their Bible so far. Why Jesus must be at the center of our Bible reading. Louie's thoughts on the power of the Passion movement over the past twenty years. The importance of college ministry in the lifeblood of the church. Some thoughts on those pressing issues for college students today vs twenty years ago.
In this episode I talked with Audrey Assad again! You can check out the first interview here. In this one we talk about:
How to balance the joy of Christmas but also recognize that there is room for hurt too. Thoughts on what the spirit of Christmas is in the context of a local church and for a worship leader. Some advice on how to use some advent liturgy in our services if we don't normally use liturgy. How the context of our lives impact how we lead worship. Advice for longevity in worship ministry. How to look out for sings of burnout and how to recover. How we can pray for Audrey. Why it is ok for us to be able to open to up to others and let them know we're struggling with something.
In this episode, myself and Fox talk with Grant Norsworthy of More than Music Mentor about:
What it was like touring with Sonic Flood. What he is doing with More than Music Mentor to help train worship leaders. His take on what's going on in the church and worship ministry in general. Why Jesus has to be central to everything we do. Some practical advice for how to keep our heart healthy while leading worship. The danger of falling in love with worship rather than God Himself. How to stay healthy through the week to week grind of worship ministry.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy talk with Chris Quilala about:
His new project and what it was like creating it. The differences and similarities between his new music and what's come from Jesus Culture. How the difficulties of life have influenced this music. Chris talked about this in our last interview as well. The recording process and those that were involved. Here's our chat with Jacob Arnold, Chris's drummer. The balance between inspiration and discipline in the songwriting process. The discipline of creating music and being intentional about it. How to do some of the music from Chris's new album without getting backing tracks or stems. The inspiration for the music video for "Because of Your Love."
In this episode I talk with the Krissy Nordhoff and Maribeth Dodd over at Brave Worship about:
Their ministry to women in worship ministry. The tension of raising kids, songwriting, worship leadership, and everything else involved. What it takes to be a mentor. How to recognize that God has called you to pour in to others. Their conference coming up on November 11. Ways to personally worship throughout the week.
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Lacey Sturm (Flyleaf) about:
How God changed her when she was going through dark times in life. How God led her in to songwriting and music. Ways to look for God's direction when seasons of life change. The new things God has been doing through her life. Her new book. You can get more info about all of that here. Some advice for being able to focus on our families in the midst of the busyness of life. Ways we can pray for Lacey and her family in this season.
In this episode I talk with Michael Neale about:
The journey that brought Michael to Prestonwood. The process of moving the hearts of the church toward participatory worship. What the songwriting process looked like for Prestonwood Worship. What creativity looks like at the church. How to foster songwriting and develop it as a personal talent. The development of participatory worship on the stage. Conversational worship leadership. The value in writing out what you are going to say on the platform. What a typical weekend looks like at Prestonwood.
In this episode I get a chance to talk to Paul Baloche about:
The lead worship conference he just led in PA. How you can come join a bunch of us in Modesto, CA in November. Get info here! The process of writing his new album. Collaborating with other worship leaders and songwriters. Getting to write music to some lyrics penned by Fannie Crosby and how Paul came upon the lyrics. Some practical insight in to the co-writing process. The importance of pliability in our growth as worship leaders. The difficulty in promoting our work vs promoting Christ through our work. How to balance that tension. Advice for week to week worship leadership. The value in serving in the local church. How to prayerfully forecast the weekend and our worship leadership. Paul's prayer for us as worship leaders.
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Jeremiah Carlson of The Neverclaim. We chat about:
How the Neverclaim was birthed from local church worship ministry. Their move to Nashville and how God was calling them back to local ministry. The balance of touring and leading in a church. Advice for songwriting in the local church. The need for quality recording when we present our music. Book and music recommendations. Why we need to take the time to work on our instruments and musicality. Some of their upcoming events.
In this episode I had the chance to catch up with the always awesome Zach Bolen of Citizen's and Saints. They just put a new album out, you should probably go get it. In this episode we talk about:
What they have seen God do through the music from their new project. The need for different types of themes in our music in the church. How this latest project differs from their last. Why people are hungry for a more personal touch in worship. Some thoughts on what it means to be a worship leader. Why we need to look toward relationship over having people do tasks. What we as a community can do to pray for Zach and the band.
In this episode myself, Josh, and Fox talk about the age old question. How loud should our services be? Some topics:
The levels we are running in our services. How the level at your church will likely be different than another church. Why the physical space we are in has an effect on the levels we should run. The need to understand who is in our congregations. How to overcome difficulties among our churches when volume is an issue. The need for the lead pastor and the worship pastor to come together and decided on levels. The levels that are conducive to various styles of worship. Why we need to have a servant's heart in whatever situation we are in. The danger in trying to copy in our churches what we see when we go to a big worship concert. The need for honor among the leaders at your church.
In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy talked with Josh Havens from the Afters about:
Growing up in worship ministry. The balance between touring and doing local church ministry. Their new project "Live on Forever." How God has been working through their latest music in their churches. The process of writing the album of the course of two years. How loss has played a big part in the writing of their new music. How we can recognize pain and loss in our lives and in the lives of those in our churches when we lead. Some recommendations from the new album to do in your church. What the songwriting process looks like for their team. How the local church plays a part in writing and touring.
In this episode I talk with Jeff Sandstrom about:
What it looks like to run production for Worship Night in America. Worship Connect at Sweetwater. We'll be there! You should too! Details about all the technology used for some of the biggest worship events. How to go about aligning tech and worship vision. The role a sound guy plays in helping the congregation participate. The need for preparation for the production team. The additive approach for mixing. How to do a professional soundcheck every week at your church. The need for the production team to be familiar with the music they are preparing. The language needed between techs and platform. How vital relationships are for the worship and production teams. Why healthy relationship allow for mistakes and growth to happen.
In this episode myself, Fox, and Chris talk about how to encourage more participation in our churches. We talk about:
How to go about recruiting musicians and leaders. What songs we should choose to help encourage participation. The importance of the pastor/worship leader relationship. The resources available to us when we're looking for songs that will resonate in our churches. The value in using multitracks and stems to help flesh out the worship service. Why we need to keep focused on our relationship with God above everything else. How we know when to retire a song from rotation in our sets. How to tastefully bring some older songs to our sets.
In this episode I talk with Luke McElroy about:
Salt! (you should come join us!) How they go about changing the set for every main session. Advice for a smaller church who wants to go for the bigger things they see at conferences. How to do ministry while also doing setup and tear down. Why a lot of smaller churches are having a lot of success. What the heck environmental projection is. Thoughts on where the church is going in substance and composition. The importance of the why behind excellence in design and leadership.
In this episode myself, Chris, and Adam talk about:
What should we do when our senior pastor is part of the worship team. What if our older pastor feels like the younger worship leader is not picking the right music? The need for trust between the lead pastor and the worship leader. Why we need to be intentional about the songs that we pick. How you can work with your senior pastor if you feel like they are really hands on with the worship. Why we need to be open to the thoughts of our worship teams. Passing leadership to those on our worship team. How we need to provide parameters for our team to work with when we pass leadership to them. The need to look at the actual content of every song we do.
In this episode Chris and I talk with Bryan and Katie Towalt about:
Their new album champion. The need to recognize God's power in the midst of our situations. How Bryan and Katie got connected with Jesus Culture. Why most of the album will resonate with the local church. Here's our review. The story behind the songs "Champion" and "God with Us." How they stay grounded in their faith while they are touring. The recording process for their latest album. How they work on getting a live worship feel through their studio work. Advice for those that want to get involved in worship ministry. What they have been reading and being inspired by lately. What they hope to be doing in twenty years. How we as a community can pray for them.
In this episode myself and Chris talked with Keith Everrett Smith and Tasha Layton Smith about the value of theology in worship. Some points made:
The difference between corporate and private worship. A discussion about the "why" for corporate worship in the first place. The importance of teaching our churches about worship. Partnering with our lead pastors to move our worship culture forward. Some practical advice for how to bring our churches into deeper experiences. Where to start in teaching theology in worship. How the senior pastor is also the lead worship pastor. What we as the worship leaders can do to help foster our relationship with them. Making an honest assessment of our leading on a week to week basis. Where to find Biblical references for the typical worship motions we ask out of our church (clap your hands, raise your hands, etc.) Why we should think through and prepare what we say on the platform. How we can go about getting our whole team together to be unified in our worship leadership.
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Leeland about:
How the band Leeland came to be. What it was like growing up in a traveling ministry family. How powerful it can be to have mentors in our lives. Why Jesus needs to be at the forefront of our ministry. The danger of identifying ourselves by our musicianship or worship leadership. Why we need to foster a heart for worship in the secret place. The story behind how "Lion and the Lamb" came about. The importance of collaboration in songwriting and leadership. The change in the team and how Leeland and Casey came to Bethel. Some practical advice for learning how to have worship in the secret place. How to rekindle a hunger for God in our personal devotional times.
In this episode Miles, Adam, and Chris talk with Chad from Kings Kaleidoscope about:
What the band has been doing lately. Their latest project Beyond Control. What it's like now that Chad is no longer a week to week worship pastor at Mars Hill. The heights and depths of emotion found in this album. The story behind the song "Enchanted" and how it conveys the theme of the entire record. How God is with us in every step of our lives. How that thought is reflected in the album. Here's some more of Chad talking about what's been going on in his life over the years. How our hope in Christ outbalances whether we feel like we are resonating with the lyrics. The thought of this album being more of a gospel album than a worship album. The process behind writing "A Prayer" and the decision to have an explicit version. Why we need to be able to open and honest with God in our prayer time. The composition of the band, how Chad is the driver of King Kaleidoscope's music. What their tour this year looks like. The idea of blending genres as a worship leader. The co-writing process with guys like Zach Bolen on the album. The importance of music theory when wanting to include all the instruments of our church.
In this episode Adam and I continue our discussion with Dustin Smith about:
Why we need to constantly fill ourselves up with the Word of God. The songwriting process with others. Starting the songwriting process with just worshiping. Ways to become inspired. The importance of community for worship communities. The need of joy in our lives and how to express it in a worship context. How the venue we are leading at doesn't necessarily need to change how we lead. How we need to focus on fostering a heart for worship in our congregations. The need for space in our worship sets to let God speak. Discernment as a leader when picking sets and leading.
The trouble with trying to aim for young people for the sake of just aiming for young people. Should we use a fog machine in our service? The franchising of the church vs the smaller boutique church. How the fasted growing churches in the country are multisite. The village mentality and what it means for the worship service. How things in the church are constantly changing. Some lessons learned from Mars Hill. Here are some of the interviews we reference in the podcast. Here's our interview with Bob Kauflin. Understanding who the people in our congregation and what it means for our worship leadership. The value in chasing after a "hymn-like" sensibility in our songwriting. The worship pastor vs. the worship leader. The need to pour in to our people. Discipling our congregation in worship. Submitting to our leadership and supporting them in their vision. The danger of going to a big worship concert and expecting to have the same experience at our church every week. Recognizing that there is a wide spread of circumstances in the lives of our congregation.
In this episode myself and Adam talk with Dustin Smith about:
His heart and ministry in The Healing Project. Why we need to be focused on the people in our church over the music. Dustin's dream about the healing power of music. What Dustin has seen God do through his music. The power of declaring God's place over everything in our life. Encouragement for the weekly worship leader. Why we need to think more about the people we are serving rather than the music. The value of personal worship time and the effect it has on corporate leadership. The need to become more community driven rather than song driven. Why we need to not try to emulate everything we see the bigger churches doing. The importance of growing in our leadership and not fall in to just imitating. How the lyrics we sing are so valuable in the framing of our theology. The need to write songs that bring value to everything we do in our church service.
In this episode I talk with Travis Ryan about:
The tension of writing music from a place of brokenness. The reason for worship music in the first place. Why we need to be vulnerable as worship leaders. The tension of being an artist and a worship leader. Why that idea is flawed in the first place. The honor of being an artist in a community. How to become more vulnerable in your worship leadership. Encouragement for how to connect help your pastor let you be more vulnerable on the platform. Why the music we write from our personal experience can also effect those we lead. Infusing humanity in a weekend worship service. Understanding who we are in light of who God is. Why people respond to realness in our leadership. The difference between honoring and respecting our leadership. Why we need to help others become better followers of Jesus. How to stay inspired.
Here's part two of our talk with Bob Kauflin. You can hear part one here. In this episode you'll find:
Why it is dangerous for our churches to try to just copy what we see coming from the most popular churches. The importance of multiple generations worshiping together and learning how to to do so. Thoughts on how to contextualize for the group we are leading worship for. The difference between what is written for radio and what is needed at the local church. Some thoughts on church services that aim for young people. Great ways to open up a worship service. How using scripture can really help in kicking off a service. Some of Bob's favorite modern worship. Some of the authors that have been an influence on Bob. Emotional feelings in response to worship. Colossians 3:16 in relation to our worship experience. Advice for leaders and volunteers.
What we think is going on with worship ministry and church in general. How the change in church culture is cyclical. The reality of the retirement of a lot of mega church pastors. How the internet has helped break down the walls for worship leaders and churches. The balance of churches focusing on multi-generations vs younger generations. Why the senior pastor has to be able to cast vision for the direction of the church. The support that younger leaders can provide in these transitions. Some history lessons from Hillsong, Brian Houston, and Calvary Chapels. The back and forth pull between multiple worship leaders vs a single leader on the weekend. The value of the mega-church experience on the life of a growing young leader. The pull back from video campuses for a live teacher on each campus. The balance of smaller church communities vs the big church experience.
In this episode Miles and Adam talk with Bob Kauflin about:
His latest book and how he come to write the ones before. The importance of a Biblical understanding of worship. The story of Sovereign Grace Music. Why the church needs theologically driven, accessible music. Some perspective on the evolution of worship over the past 30 years. The importance of looking toward mentors and leaders from generations past in church leadership. Why we need to understand how worship is about having our whole congregation singing to God. Why God needs to be the center of our worship planning. The danger of focusing so much on the production of our services over what God is doing. Why we have to make sure our ministries are focusing on what God is doing in our churches, not in others. Thoughts on having a "worship experience" on the weekend. The problem with chasing after a "wow moment" in our services. How a lot of the most popular worship artists are now packing more theological depth in their lyrics. Thoughts on how to connect modern worship styles with hymns. Why the melodies of our songs need to be accessible for our church. Having a right understanding of the difference between a song that's meant for the radio or for the local church. Understanding that the songs in our church likely won't be the best songs for another church.
In this episode I talk with Jordan Frye from Urban Rescue about:
The impact of worship on the life of the artist. How an encounter with God can wildly change our lives. The impact of a simple ask from a leader when Jordan was in Jr. High. The value of getting students involved in worship ministry. Here's a great article on that. How to grow in our songwriting and leading. Why we need to understand that we won't be the best songwriters when we start. The need to be plugged in to a local church. What God has been doing through their latest project. How we can stay authentic on the platform from week to week. The role the Holy Spirit plays in our worship leadership. Building a culture of respect in our teams. How to be open to God's leading for a spontaneous change in the service.
In this episode I talked with Darren Mulligan from We Are Messengers about:
How God changed his life and came to meet him. The influence that secular music had on Darren well before he became a Christian and before We Are Messengers. What God has been doing while they are on the Winter Jam tour. How Darren has observed that many people that come to Winter Jam are not Christians and how We Are Messengers has been impacting people and giving hope. The balance between worship music and radio music. The unfortunate division of both ad what that means both for the local worship leaders and the artist. Advice for the young worship leader on infusing evangelism in their worship service. The need for honesty in our words and our songwriting. How Darren stays close to God while doing ministry. The danger of having the act of reading our Bible becoming an idol in and of itself. Why we need to recognize that we are all connected with God in our services. The importance of not letting ourselves feel the pride of being platform leaders.
In this episode we talk about:
What getting vocal nodes did in Phil's life. How it affected his songwriting. The way God birthed songs through the experience. How to seek and find peace in God through trails. Why we need to understand who we are in Christ to really be able to do ministry for Him. What songwriting was like without being able to sing. How God healed Phil's voice. Why we have to trust God in the midst of both the valley and the mountaintop experiences in our lives. Tips for taking care of our vocal health.
How they started their band. The importance of education as a worship leader and musician. Here's a great article about that! Why we have to mentor other leaders. How Ben started a program at Judson University that brings students out on the road with Citizen Way. What's going on on the road now. The value of music education in the songwriting process. SATB harmony from the hymnal! How the miscarriage of their son affected his music and songwriting for their latest project.
In this myself and Patrick from Soul City Church talk about when everything at church goes wrong:
Patrick tells us about losing power to the entire building mid service. How our reliance on technology doesn't need to hold back what we can do on the weekend. The importance of having someone in the role of the technical director. The use of a music director in our services. How Jesus supersedes all of the technology involved in our services. The balance of using everything at our disposal but not losing sight of God in it. How to handle making mistakes when on stage and how to continue to lead. Some practical advice toward bringing on a musical director role. Even if it's a volunteer.
In this episode Miles and Adam talk with Zach Bolen about:
How the bands from Mars Hill Music has come together now to make Gospel Song Union. The heart behind coming together to provide music for the church. The importance of fighting against the celebrity culture of the church. The need to resource the smaller church worship leader and teams. Why we need to be ok with doing music differently than the recording. Here's an ask tcc episode about that too! What God has been doing through the ministry of the Mars Hill Music bands. Citizens and Saints' reach and what God has been doing through their music. The evolution of songwriting as we grow in our relationship with God. The sovereignty of God in the midst of difficulty in our lives.
In this episode myself and Cliff talk about vocal health! Here's what we chat about:
The danger of singing too much. Fear of having nodules or nodes. What exactly a nodule is and how we can avoid getting them. Some encouragement for those that think they may have them. The mechanics of singing. Why it is so important for us to get proper training for singing. How much of our vocal troubles could be the result of anxiety. Why we should pass on the leadership on the platform for the sake of our own vocal health. Some practical advice for taking care of our vocal chords. Caffeine and Dairy and their effect on our voice. Cliff's vocal training advice. How to head off a cold.
In this episode I talk with Audrey Assad about:
Here latest project, Inheritance. How she intentionally recorded this album of hymns without the addition of new choruses. The roll of hymns in the formation of our theology. How she worked with some charites for this project. Some stories about the depth of the lyrics in some of the hymns she has on this album. How modern worship can also be theologically deep as well as hymns. How we can get up on the platform weekly and lead in light of the difficulty that our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through throughout the world. Her healing from pornography addiction. How it is so difficult for church leaders to admit to addictions. Some encouragement for those that may have addictions that they are afraid to share with their church leadership. What she does to keep her vocal chords healthy. What she does to keep her spiritual life healthy. Advice for aspiring songwriters. The need for a daily habit. How to avoid burnout.
In this episode I talk with Jason Ingram about:
What's going on with One Sonic Society. Check out our interview with Stu G here! The balance between songwriting and worship leading. Moving from leading in a local church to writing for the global church. How Jason got involved in worship music. CCM vs church music. The evolution and balance of both. The need to select music for our church that resonates with our people. His involvement in Journey Church in Franklin. Advice for keeping a healthy relationship with God in the midst of the work of ministry. Advice for starting new in worship ministry. The danger of being a worship leader if we don't have a right understanding of why we are doing it. Some wisdom given from Paul Baloche about singing psalms and praying songs. Here's our episode with Paul. How to grow musically and challenge ourselves. What music Jason is listening to that's inspiring him.
In this episode we talk with Chris from Brothers McClurg about the heart of selecting music for our church. Some topics covered:
How every church will have it's own unique needs for worship. The desire to sound just like the recordings of bigger worship ministries and the struggle that can cause. The need for songs in our sets that cause thought for our congregation. How it is ok to do stripped down sets and music. Starting the service with something more contemplative than a big uptempo one. The art and craft of set building. The importance of understanding who will be at the service and what they'll need to sing. How to maintain our spiritual walk with God. Writing for our congregation or writing in emulation of others. The importance of relationship with your senior pastor. Encouragement for new worship leaders. The place of hymns in our sets. The need to connect our congregations to the truth of what they're singing.
In this episode I talk with Chris Cleveland from Stars Go Dim about:
The heart behind their latest project. How each member of the band are worship leaders. The balance between touring and doing local church ministry. Having feet in both local church worship ministry and the CCM world. The need to understand who we are leading in worship at our church. Serving our body by choosing the songs that they need to sing rather than copying other churches. The importance of lyrical integrity in the songs we choose. How to go about setting up volunteers in our ministries that we can trust to run without us there. The need to establish trust with our teams. Why we have to set our volunteers up for success in everything we do. What God has been doing through their touring.
In this episode I talk with Meredith Andrews about:
The importance of trials in our life for the sake of our growth. The songwriting process for her latest project. How God uses seasons of difficulty to grow us. The importance of focusing on God in the midst of difficulty in ministry. Why we have to make margin in our lives so that we can grow. How to take care of our voice. Ways to find time to connect with God during the busyness of ministry. Advice for new worship leaders.
In this episode I talk with Brett Younker about:
What's going on with Passion conference this year. The writing process for their latest single Remember. The importance of being open to feedback from others when we are writing. Why we have to make sure the God is the focus of our lives before we are worried about what we can write. Why we need to trust people that can speak into our lives. The nuts and bolts of how they did their conferences simultaneously in difference places. What's going on with the latest album. The end it movement and how those that attended the conference this year helped refugees in Syria. Steps to start at a small church in worship leadership.
In this Episode, Adam, Chris, and I talk to Chris Quilala about:
Jesus Culture Sacramento. Their latest album "Let it Echo." The songwriting process and how the songs on this album are being used in their church. Why they decided to have this project come out of their local church rather than their conferences. Staying close to God in the midst of pain. Local church worship ministry vs conferences and concerts. The work involved in building a local worship ministry. How we have to be sensitive to where everyone is in their life when we're leading them to worship. Their move from their previous church to now be leaders at their church. The importance of finding inspiration to help in our creativity. God's involvement in our creative process. How we need to set our pride down as worship leaders. How Chris went from being a drummer to a worship leader. The songwriting process for Jesus Culture. The gear he's currently using.
This was a fantastic convo! Here's what's we talked about:
Their rerelease of "Have You Heard" and how they went about making it fresh. You can grab it here. What it was like pioneering worship in the early days of Delirious? Encouragement for worship leaders and teams in how to help their church embrace new forms of music. The process of staying inspired as a musician. How our innovation mustn't be at the expense of connecting others with God. What recording looks like now compared to it's evolution over the past 20 years. What touring as a guitarist looks like for him. What his guitar rig looks like. The story behind his custom pedal "The Kilt." Advice for guitarists! The key to longevity as a worship leader/musician.
In this Episode Adam Dolhanyk, Chris Bellamy and myself talk with James Mead from Kutless about:
The process of writing this new album and the shift toward Kutless as a rock band. How Kutless got started. The balance of working with a team of musicians and writers. The need to be adaptable with the musicians and leaders you play with. The importance of humility in our teams. Their new guitar player Nathan Parrish. (Hey! He's a contributor, check out his stuff here) How to cover guitar parts when you don't have enough players. Some of their shows in Ukraine and why James will often say they were some of the best shows ever. The missionary heart of Kutless. A secret project! The guitar rig James uses. His Elliot Guitar called a tonemaster. His Greer amp lightspeed. His Tyler Amp.
In this episode Cliff Lampbert, Spence Parkerson, and myself answer a called in question about:
The relationship between leading the congregation in worship both on and off the platform. Taking the chance to connect with the congregation. The importance of spending time talking with church members. How we need to work toward helping our worship ministry team members get involved in other ministries. The value of being in a small group that isn't just worship ministry members. How to encourage new members of the worship team to not get stuck just hanging out with musicians. Why we as leaders need to lead the way in showing our team that leading worship is more than what's going on on the platform. How we should spend time going into a service every weekend. Not spending the whole time in the greenroom. Giving our team members some time on the stage to talk to the congregation.
In this episode I talk with Chris Rohman from Sanctus Real about:
How Sanctus Real started through getting involved in a student worship team. What's coming now that Matt is leaving the band. The process of finding a new singer for the band and how God has moved in the process. Chris's personal songwriting process. The importance of the daily songwriting habit. The mindset of songwriting as a profession. Advice for young worship leaders and writers. Practical ways to stay close to God on a daily basis.
In this episode Callie Garret, Ryan Loche, and Paul Zach talk about:
How it can be lonely to be the only creative on staff at church. How the Charlottesville Worship Collective came about. The importance of joint ownership of a local worship leader group. Why we need community with other artists and people that are going through the same things we are. How to actually find worship leaders local to you. Relationship being the most important part of getting with others. How to go about getting buy-in from the senior pastors in the area. Combining musical styles and sensibilities. Simple steps to start connecting with other leaders in the area. The value of cowriting songs.
In this episode I talked with Jon Guerra about:
How he and his wife ended up recording an entire album of Christmas music. Writing music with your spouse. What God has been doing with his previous project "Little Songs" The calling God has placed on Jon's life to minister to the inner life of those that listen to his music. The balance between songwriting for corporate worship and for private connection with God. The tremendous value of private times of worship. How our relationship with God is more important than the music we create. The habit of connecting with God. Coffee!! Encouragement for the new worship leader. The habit of songwriting.
In this episode Adam Dolhanyk, Miles Nelson, Chris Bellamy, and Ryan Loche talk about:
The process we use to select music in our churches. The method we go through to bring in a new song. The roll that hymns can play in our churches. Looking for participation as a gauge for wether a song is working. How to go about blending hymns with more modern choruses and how the demographic of our congregations should influence our choices. Why we need to not try to emulate everything we hear and see the big worship ministries doing. How we need to not rush to have a full stage of musicians and singers at the expense of the spiritual health of our team. The role of theology in our song selection. How we can have a full worship sound when we're playing only by ourselves. The use of pad loops in our worship. Here's our interview with Shalon Palmer about his loops. The art of mashing songs together and how we can go about practicing it. The use of social media in getting our congregation hearing new music. How we sometimes need to lead songs that we don't particularly love.
In this episode I talk with Aaron Ivey from Austin Stone Worship about:
How songwriting began at their church. How Aaron got involved in music and songwriting. Why worship music tends to be best birthed from a local worship context. How to foster an environment for songwriting. How to go about having a songwriting retreat. Why it's ok to write on a theme that has already been written about. How to go about having healthy co-writing. Why we should try to write every day. Why we need to invite feedback into our songwriting. The reasons for original music from every church. How to go about coordinating with your senior pastor as you create music in your church. Why the worship service should be worked around the sermon. The importance of faithfulness in our ministries.
In this episode, Fox and I go at it with a big debate that he and I have at our church.
He believes that the tech and worship teams need not mix. I believe that he's just wrong. Many of our contributors are somewhere in between. Why our heart for what we're doing matters. How we as leaders need to make sure that we are protecting our volunteers from burnout. Why we have to ensure our volunteers are in the right positions. How some of the people in Chris's ministry have moved from tech to the platform and back and forth and the fruit that has come from it. How the combo position is often a function of necessity. Why we should look toward serving where the need is at our church in the short term but be mindful of what God is doing in our lives for the long term. How we need to make sure we are raising people up who are passionate about their position in ministry.
In this Episode I talk with BJ Pridham from Planetshakers about:
The heart behind their youtube series "The Well." How a local church can begin to have a passionate worship ministry. The importance of being connected in the lifeblood of your church. The synergy that can come from the pastor and worship leader having a strong relationship. The story and heart behind their latest album "Let's Go." Advice on how to move into being a songwriter. How to foster a daily relationship with Christ. How to get into worship as a high school student. The importance of longevity in worship ministry. What a typical service at Planetshakers looks like.
Welcome to the very first episode of The Ask the Church Collective Podcast! You can submit your questions for future episodes via the phone number given on the podcast so we can play it back for everyone to hear!
Cliff Lambert, Christopher Bellamy, Laura Blankenship, Syndey Merrel, Ricky Ragone, Fox Watterson
In this episode we talk about:
How to effectively go about choosing the songs in our setlists at our church. The importance of separating our personal preferences when choosing songs. The use of a team in picking the music we do. Why the congregation has to connect with the music they're are singing. The role that a worship leader should play if they are not the person to actually pick the song they're leading. Why scripture must also play a roll in what we are singing. The importance of strong lyrical content. Why we have to be a part of our congregation. We have to live life with them to be able to understand what they need to sing. How many people in our church aren't listening to christian music throughout the week and why it is on us to help them sing their theology.
In this episode myself, Chris Bellamy, and Bryan Lopez got to talk with John Mark McMillan about:
What's going on in his life now. His latest live recording. His songwriting process, how he combines beautiful lyrics with strong theology. How we need to be open to what God's doing with our own songwriting process. The philosophy behind his songwriting. How God comes out of his music through having more God in his life rather than writing songs explicitly about God. How the art of songwriting is very much a habit and a practice. What inspires him in his songwriting. The balance between family life and touring. The artists and musicians that he feels most influenced by. The songs he's written that have been most influential for him. His sense of where worship and christian music is going. How his concerts involve pointing people to God but aren't necessarily considered a worship event. The concept of worship not being just a time for singalongs. The guitars he's been using lately. The double microphone seen in many of his recordings. The advent of the Rototom. How the live recording night went and what God did in it. Setting yourself up for a career in songwriting and discipling others.
In this episode I talk with Big Daddy Weave about:
The story behind their latest project Beautiful Offerings and what God has done with it. Stories behind the songs they have been writing. How God has used the difficulties of life to minister to others through music. The importance of understanding who we are in Christ. Advice on how to stay close to God in the midst of the busyness of ministry. Why we need to make sure to look after our own spiritual health. How to be receptive to what God is doing in our worship services. How to deal with mistakes when we're leading. The importance of vulnerability. The co-writing that went on for this project. Why we need to celebrate what God's doing in the lives of others as a way to overcome comparison. How we need to focus on scripture in our lives and let the songs we write flow from that. How God can use the difficulties of doing ministry to set us up for stronger ministry.
In this episode I talked with Tim Timmons about:
How God got him involved in worship ministry. How God has used his incurable cancer. The importance of having mentors in their life. His style of leading worship and how we need to be ourselves when we lead. Why our worship must be pointing people to Christ. Thoughts on what worship actually is. The balance between connecting with the crowd and connecting with God as we lead. Why we need to help our congregations understand why they are singing what they are singing. Why we need to actually give the why behind what we encourage our congregations to do. The story behind his latest project "Awake our Souls" and how we can find more joy in our lives. Beard advice!
In this episode Chris Bellamy talks with Phil Joel of Zealand Worship about:
His involvement with the Newsboys. How God has been moving him toward ministry with Deliberate People. How God moved through Acquire the Fire and how Phil stepped into leading worship. The heart behind Zeeland worship. The recording process for their new project. The equipment they used during recording. Their touring plans. The longevity of a worship leader and how a seasoned leader can bring a lot of wisdom to their church.
Wow guys, this episode has so much practical, spiritual, and musical help for us. You're going to love it! In this episode I talk with Paul Baloche about:
How you can get superior quality recordings from your closet at home. (seriously, give it a try). His latest efforts on periscope to offer some simple music theory and guitar help. The importance for knowing guitar theory in our worship leadership. Why we have to get beyond just learning shapes. The relationship between the various chords in a progression and how we can learn nashville numbering to write music and lead worship. How knowing these numbers and chord relationships allows us to effectively direct our teams. Using open tuning when leading by ourselves. How to avoid the "worship jukebox." The importance of keeping our songs in a range that is accessible for our congregations. The idea of serving the moment and the people that we are called to lead in. How Paul has applied his musical knowledge to his latest Christmas project. What God has done with both of Paul's Christmas projects. How to best set ourselves up for success as a worship leader. The importance of actually going into the place where we'll lead worship during the week by ourselves and minister to the Lord. The balance between wanting to become a better worship leader and staying humble in spending time with God. God's desire to spend time with us and the power that comes to our worship leading when we spend time with him. Paul's advice for new worship leaders as they begin to get involved in worship ministry. Those things that we can do to prepare our hearts for the difficulty that comes with doing effective ministry. Some simple steps to take to begin the discipleship process in our church. Longevity in worship ministry and how to listen for God's stirring to move us to another position. How Paul got involved in worship ministry in the first place. How our worship leading has transforming power on the people in our church. Weekend worship being an extension of a life lived in worship.
In this episode we talk about:
Her background and love for scripture. The practice of singing scripture and pulling from the great hymns in church history. Her experience at International House of Prayer. The importance of writing music that can minister to multiple generations. The balance between singing with chest and head voice and the effect it can have on our worship leading. The writing process for her latest project and how God is working through the music now. The faithfulness of God in our lives regardless of what we face. Her overall writing process. Who she has been working with to create music. Her desire to combine modern worship with gospel sensibilities. Who she is listening to both in worship and in secular music. The need for theology in our worship. What's next for her.
In this episode I talk with Josh Wilson about:
How he got involved in worship leading and song writing. The process of writing music and the need to be ok with writing some music that aren't that good. The importance of the context of who you are writing music for. The balance between entertaining and leading worship. The value of storytelling in music. Dealing with fear and anxiety in serving in worship. Encouragement for transparency in ministry. The need for accountability and watching over our spiritual health. Things to do to look toward accountability. The importance of memorizing scripture. How to continue on in seasons of dryness.
In this episode I talked with Aaron Shust about:
His latest project Doxology. The process of collecting songs and recording them for the church to hear. Some of the standout moments from the writing process. The importance of strong theology in the songs we write and lead in the church. Why we need to know what it is that we're singing. The roll music education played in preparing him to lead worship and write. (personal note: if you haven't hear Aaron play piano live, it's pretty incredible). What he's doing at the local church he and his family attend. Why it's important to not be on the platform at your church all the time. How worship can still happen regardless of the instruments (or lack thereof) on the platform. The tremendous value of discipleship in worship ministry. How to identify those people in your ministry to help become worship leaders. His thoughts on the heart requirements of those we allow on our platform. What's coming up for Aaron this year. How Aaron is learning to be more like Mary and less like Martha. Morning devotional time as well as involving God in the workday.
In this episode I talk with Mikey from 7eventh Time Down about:
The heart behind their latest project: God is on the Move. The evolution of their style and how it related to their growth in life. The balance of family and ministry. Seeing God through the life of our children. Advice for the young musician and worship leader. Making sure that everything we do is rooted in who we are in Christ (this is the theme for our conferences this year!) The importance of staying connected with God during the busyness of ministry. Some advice to continue the habit of reading our Bible. How leading worship is much more than just singing. The songwriting and recording process. Mikey's favorite song on the album, at the moment at least! The value in habit when it comes to songwriting as well as leading. Where you can see 7eventh time down this fall.
In this episode Fox and I talk with the crew from For All Seasons about:
How their music has been spreading through the world and how the TCC audience has really embraced their music. How For All Seasons came about. Getting started as a chapel worship team at Biola. Leading at Hume Lake summer camp. How their band evolved to be more than just a band. The importance of keeping God at the center of anything we're doing. The songwriting and song selection process for their latest project. The recording process. Encouragement for the new worship leader or those who want to step out to become a worship leader.
In this episode Miles and Adam talk with Cam Huxford from Ghost Ship about:
The close of Mars Hill and the effect it had on the team. How they helped plant a new church in the wake. The Northwest Collective album and the worship nights that are continuing to go on. How the team felt compelled to plant a church for the people that were at their campus when Mars Hill ended. How songwriting for your own church and context is so important. The story behind their new song Provide. (Here's a link to Ricky's review of the album) How everything we have is ultimately from God as our provider. How their latest album has come from daily devotional time and from being daily reminded by his love. Which songs on the album Cam recommends for use in the church. How God moves through people to build his church. Advice for worship leaders. The need for sacrificial living in the life of the church leaders. How all believers are called to love each other and reach others for Christ. Working with hymns and creating new arrangements out of them. Where to go to get resources for their latest album. Go here!
In this episode I talk with Elias Dummer from The City Harmonic about:
How their team came about. The importance of being the hands and feet of Christ in your local community. How worship leaders came together to lead together in Hamilton. The value in getting together with other Christians who do not believe exactly as we do. The heart behind their song "manifesto." How connecting with other worship leaders has to be rooted in a need in the community. The intersection of worship and mission. How Elias is involved in a church plant in Nashville. The balance of ancient-future worship. We go through the creative process of a service. How our body language has an effect on our worship participation. How to plan an entire worship service that has an intentional plan. The story behind their new project "We Are"
In this Episode Chris Bellamy talks with James Duke about:
Who he's currently playing with. The process of recording the latest project with John Mark McMillan. What the night of worship looked like at Abbey Road with Matt Redman. How he started playing guitar in church. How he came to be involved with Elevation worship. Plans for All the Bright Lights. What his current rig looks like. His top 5 pedals. His top 5 guitarists. Stories about his best and worst gigs. How he gave a bass to a young kid after an event.
In this episode, Adam Dolhanyk, Chris Bellamy, and myself talk with Tim Hughes about:
How Tim went from leading worship to planting a new church. The transition from being a lead worshiper to a lead pastor. How the lead pastor is also the lead worshiper. The importance of getting creatives and artists together and build community. His thoughts on the current state of worship. The ease in which we can get stuck in familiarity in songwriting. The church and the "overprofessionalization" of worship ministry. The importance of letting a local community express worship. The value of understanding the context in which we introduce music to our church. How to build a community of creativity in churches big or small. The other side of the story of Matt Redman's thoughts on Here I am to Worship His latest project "Pocket Full of Faith."
In this episode myself and three of our core team members (Chris, Brian, and Fox) talk about:
The balance between being a touring artist and a worship leader. The mindset that is required to do both. How both the local worship leader and the touring artist have to communicate Christ on the platform. The planning that has to be involved in getting together any worship set. How truly effective worship leaders aim to serve others. The more we lay down ourselves, the more effective our worship leadership becomes. How we have to set up times where people can really connect with God. How God does the promotion when we keep Him in focus. The importance of preparing musically to allow for the worship leading to come from a place of overflow. The impact we have when we aren’t promoting ourselves. How we have to be fully prepared to be able to engage the church in worship. What people need in worship vs what they want to hear in worship.
In this episode Chris and I talked with Matt Redman about:
The recording and songwriting process in Abbey Road. How God moved during the night of worship that became his latest project. How the title song came together just shortly before the worship night. The importance of having a flexible team. The team involved in the recording. The songwriting process leading up to this album. Advice for worship leaders who want to develop a collaborative songwriting culture. How Matt keeps himself inspired. Matt's sense on what songs will gain momentum in the church. Advice for worship leaders that are just starting out. The value of songwriting in the local church context. The importance of experience in the life of the worship leader. Mentorship and pouring into others. The interplay between scripture and songwriting.
n this episode I talk with Danen Kane about:
How Danen got started in music and worship. The transition from piano to learning guitar. His involvement with campus crusade. How he began as a songwriter. How most of his music comes from the life of a Christian rather than being corporate worship. How Danen keeps his relationship with God fresh. What the life of a full time recording artist looks like. The importance of having roots planted in a local community. The balance of being on the road and being home. Encouragement for the aspiring worship artist. The process he went through writing his latest project "Flesh and Soul" What it looks like to completely produce your own album.
In this episode I talked with Sam Evans from Planetshakers about:
The heart for their new outback worship album. The writing process for their new album. The feedback that they've been getting about their latest music. How Sam goes about keeping connected with God. The importance of having a home church. The necessity of keeping connected to God as we lead worship. The songwriting process for Planetshakers. The collaborative nature of the creative process. Some solid encouragement for the young worship leader. The need for a teachable spirit in our leadership. Modern sensibilities in worship. The importance of planning in the worship process while remaining flexible for what the spirit has. Tips for vocal health. Some testimony about what God is doing in their church.
In this episode we talk about:
The balance between the Old Testament God and Jesus. Their book "Transcending Mysteries." The value in understanding who the God of the Old Testament is in the life of the worship leader. The transition from leading worship to writing a book. The singer songwriter role in modern worship. Their love for hymns and the value hymns can have in our services. The process of creating a worship set that involves hymns. The importance of worship flow. Some practical worship planning advice. The value of using more than musicians in the worship service. The necessity of pouring into others. How their book has been impacting others. Why we need to look for new music as well as look toward old music.
In this episode I had the chance to talk to Joel Houston from Hillsong United about:
How he has cultivated his ability as a songwriter and lyricist. The importance of the Bible in his songwriting. What Joel's personal relationship with God looks like. What growing up in the church was like for him. The balance of family life and ministry. How church and family need not be separated from each other. What the team culture looks like for Hillsong United. The collaborative nature of the songwriting process. The importance of letting others operate in their strengths in their team. The writing process for their latest album, Empires. The process they went through to decide which songs would end up on the album. The evolution of the Hillsong United Sound. Some of the gear used during the album. How they used all analog equipment. How they didn't use any distortions or drives on the guitars. Whether Joel prefers pizza or doughnuts.
In this episode we talk about:
The heart behind the worship initiative. How it came out of a heart for biblical training for worship leaders. The process in which they chose the 100 songs they recorded and how they recorded them. The importance of discipleship in a worship ministry. The difference between the approval of man and of God in worship. The lifelong path toward excellence. The importance of scripture in the life of the worship leader both on and off the platform. How we have to have a healthy relationship with God to lead effectively. Why we have to get our satisfaction from God alone. Warning signs to look for in our lives to know when we are not close to God. The first three numbers of Shane's phone number. :)
In this episode Fox and I interview Derek Johnson. We talk about:
Derek's musical background. The value of learning music at a young age. How he began as a drummer and the effect it had on his musicianship. His involvement at a Vineyard church and how it influenced music in his life. How Derek got involved with Jesus Culture. The importance of serving as a local worship leader in the life of a songwriter. The balance of being a worship leader, recording artist, and a husband. His latest project. The impact of songwriting on the life of a worship leader.
In this episode Chris talked with Jon Micah Sumrall about:
His latest project "Faith and Family" and the heart behind why he titled it as such. The importance of both our faith and our family as children of God. The inclusion of some love songs that he hasn't been able to release on other projects before. How the sound of this project differs from a Kutless album. How they decided to not have any electric guitar on the album. The history of the piano that was used for the project. The lack of love songs in Christian music and how Jon hopes this project will give something to Christians wanting a faith-based love song. The inclusion of scripture in the worship songs on the album. The people involved on the album. A breakdown of Jon's guitar rig for the recording. A custom handbuild breedlove. Check out the process he went through to get his guitar over on his tumblr. How they didn't use much compression during the recording process. The breedlove blackmagic that he uses to perform live. How you can catch Jon as a solo artist while Kutless is out on tour.
In this episode Miles and I have a great conversation with Garrett and Sean of Worship Mob. We talk about:
The vision behind Worship Mob. The need for worship leaders to be poured into. The importance of allowing God to sing through us. The recording process for their new album. How God works when we release the burden of doing ministry to him. How the team members for the Worship Mob recordings meet and play together for the first time. The need for love and acceptance for artists and worship leaders. How we can burden ourselves in the work of ministry. Why we need to be daily connecting with God. How God is in us, we don't need to try to make Him show up in our worship experiences. How worship leaders have to spend time with God personally to be able to lead effectively on the weekends. How we need to speak from our heart as we lead. The weight of leading every week. How God wants to use us in spite of our difficulties. How to deal with insecurities in worship leading. The importance of vulnerability in leading. The freedom we have in Christ. The importance of loving your worship team and giving them the freedom to worship.
I had the chance to talk with Ellie Holcomb about:
How God worked through her to write music about Jesus. The value of scripture in the songwriting process. (we've got a great post here about theology in worship). The process of culling from 45 songs down to her latest project. Some of the scriptures that she has memorized. How the songs you write can speak truth into your own life years later. The process of writing with other songwriters. How God was faithful through spending time in personal devotion with Him. Her work with the organization Young Life. Advice for new songwriters.
In this episode we talk with Brian Campbell and Joel Muddamalle about the importance of theology in worship leadership as well as how Logos Bible software can help you better study the scriptures. We talk about:
How many worship leaders feel like they do not have enough time to study the Bible. The difference between studying the Bible as a connecting time with God and as preparing for a worship service. How we can get stuck in the cycle of simply producing services and forget to connect with the God who wants to be involved in the service. How we can lose sight of solid doctrine if we chase experience too much. How we can chase the experience so much that we lose the chance to learn solid doctrine and how logos Bible software helps with that. The value of context when reading scriptures such as psalms. The importance of the history of music in the church and the impact it can have on our services. How God needs to be working in our lives if we're to have effective worship ministry. Separating times of study and times of intimacy in God's word. The need for accountability.
Wow guys, this is one heck of an episode. Chris and I had the chance to talk worship with Don Moen. We talk about:
His organization Worship in Action. How worship is not merely what happens on the weekend and how worship leaders have gotten this wrong. How a healthy time of worship will lead to being the hands and feet of Christ to people in need. How worship as it is today isn't emphasized by Jesus. The importance of not getting caught up in the production of the weekend at the expense of meeting people where they are. How the people coming to church for the weekend desperately need to connect with God. The importance of finding moments in a service to connect people to God. The art of creating atmosphere for people to interact with God. The danger of letting a musical style be the goal of a church worship service. How a healthy worship leader will be able to connect across all generations. How to work with songs in different keys. Advice for worship leaders who want to see years of fruitful music ministry. How a time of testimony can also be part of worship. The danger of defining worship as just the musical portion of a church service. Practical advice for songwriting. The habit of writing and songwriting. How God is involved in the process. The importance of asking for and taking to heart feedback about your songs. Don's time at Integrity Music. How he would take the time to listen through the music submitted to the label. How he navigated new seasons in ministry and how he held close to God in the midst. His overseas worship leading time.
Listen in on a great round-table discussion from the core team of The Church Collective
In this episode I had a great conversation with Jonathan Lee of Centric Worship about:
How he and the team prepared for a songwriting retreat. The songwriting process when you get together with so many great songwriters. How they managed to put a recording together in a matter of weeks. How they caught the great moments of worship during the recording. The balance of doing songwriting and being a local worship leader. How churches all over the world tend to be doing through the same struggles. The importance of being the pastor of your family first and foremost. Discipleship in worship ministry. The value of having a once a month community night time for a worship team. The importance of delegating. The value in duplicating ourselves. How to create a culture in which your team members don't own specific songs in the set. The importance of having a mentor and how to go about finding one. The struggle for a worship leader to try to stay relevant.
In this episode Miles and I talked with Chad Gardner from King's Kaleidoscope about their latest project and worship ministry in general. Here are the highlights:
How they decided on which songs to leave off of their first full length album. Chad's desire to have an album with a lot of material on it. Be sure to check out Mile's review here. The importance of musical education for the worship leader. More can be heard from the last time we talked with him here. How Chad began as a DJ and the effect that had on the way he writes music. The blend of music with DJ elements being the influence on the band. Their transition out of Mars Hill church. How going to a liturgical church is feeding Chad's soul now. You can read one of our posts about liturgy here. The current state of worship and the value of liturgy. The detriment modern technology can have on finding times of silence. The necessity of a attractional church to change to keep up with current trends. The upcoming tours with Citizens and Saints. Check out their schedule here. The process of working toward getting back into playing music and touring. How Miles really wants to book them to come to his home church. How to keep healthy spiritually as you lead services. The importance of being genuinely connected to God during worship leading. Advice for leaders wanting to put together a team. The value in understanding what you're doing when you pick music and musicians.
In this episode, Miles talks to For All Seasons about:
What it's like joining a church for a weekend while they tour. Leading worship in the morning and then leading a concert at night. Leading, working, and living at Hume Lake Christian Camps Trusting God's leading after college at Biola. Recording the new worship album in Nashville. Touring and what's next for the band. For more information about the band check out forallseasonsmusic.com and follow them on Instagram: @fasmusic
Miles talks with Aaron about:
The idea of worship and justice. How Aaron got involved in worship ministry in Northern Ireland. The church landscape in Ireland. How worship is more than music. The art of taking simple truth and creating music from them. (Check out Jesus Healer) The power of coming together in corporate worship. The balance of loving God and loving your neighbor. The process of recording his latest album. Aaron explains how being a local worship leader influences his life. We're called to glorify God, serve the church, and honor each other. Aaron talks about the power of leading worship at places that don't normally have times for worship. How people can partner with Bluetree.
Miles talks with Zach about:
Their name change from Citizens to Citizens and Saints. Zach's resignation from Mars Hill. Their heart for Jesus to be seen through their music. The process for recording their new project. The details on the studio. A rundown of the tracks on their new album. Their plans for chord charts and resources. Their upcoming touring plans.
In this episode I talked with Chris and Jon about some practical worship guitar tips as well as hear the heart behind their upcoming guitar workshops. In this episode we talk about:
The value of connecting with other worship leaders. The story behind the start of these workshops. Jon's journey to becoming a worship leader. The influence of Carl Lentz and Hillsong on his life. The worship leader's network of Hampton Roads. Some practical advice for guitar tone and creating atmosphere. The tremendous value of training others.
In this episode we talk about:
The songwriting process at River City. The value in having one large team of players and leaders. The process they go through to decide which new songs get introduced at their church. The challenge of crafting songs and giving control to River City. How they help their songwriters create better music. How they introduce new songs to their church. How they filter their music theologically. The process for submitting music to CCLI.
Scott and I dig deep with Spence and Seth from Crosspointe in Valdosta, GA about their song Arise that has really started seeing traction in churches. Here's the rundown:
How they wrote Arise. The people involved in creating the song over the course of a year. How their pastor was involved in writing the song. How they introduced the song to their church. The recording process. The evolution of the song after it has been recorded. Advice for worship leaders wanting to record their team. The importance of connecting with the people of your church.
Brian Campbell and I give some great advice for integrating click tracks in your worship services.
I had a really great conversation with Chris Sligh about:
What it was like growing up in a family that was deeply involved in ministry. How he came to know God and really make his faith his own. His first job at a church doing youth worship and youth pastoring. How he was involved in multi-site work at seacoast church just as it was starting. Why he decided to try out for American Idol and how God was involved in the process. The difference between CCM and artist music in the christian music world. His prayer to God to be able to spend more time with his family and the profound way God answered. Moving from his artist career to full time worship ministry and how God met all his needs. What it's like doing worship ministry at a 7500 person church. Shoreline in Austin, Tx. How he started to change the worship style at his church. The choice to move away from paying musicians in worship ministry. What he does to keep close to God in ministry. The process of writing songs and keeping yourself filled with the Spirit. A breakdown of his 3 hour rehearsal time. The importance of speaking well of the ministry that has been done before you joined.
This week's episode features Aaron and Hope from Fellowship Creative: Miles and I chat with them about:
How Fellowship Creative ties in to Fellowship Church. Their process for getting people involved in worship ministry. What they do to get young people involved in leading worship. Their discipleship process for team members. Plus a bunch more just great practical worship leading insights!
In this episode I had a chance to chat with Spence Parkerson about his ministry and the heart behind his new book The Gospel Centered Worship Leader: Raising Up Worshipers Who Lead. It's been great to get to know Spence over this past year and if you haven't gotten his book yet, you really need to! Here are some highlights from our talk:
The importance of replicating ourselves as worship leaders. How he began writing his book. The value of scripture in the life of the worship leader. The danger of leading without having God involved. The heart behind his post Worship is War. The value of knowing the people you are ministering to in your congregation.
Miles, Casey, and myself had a great conversation with Toby and Matt from the band Emery and Bad Christian. In this episode we chat about: The heart behind their new venture: Bad Christian. Their book: Bad Christian, Great Savior and the process of writing it. Their podcast and what it's all about. How the new Emery album is coming. Miles and Casey make a plea for Emery to come to San Luis Obispo. Toby and Matt's involvement in worship leading and what they've learned so far. The difference between touring and worship leading. The value of listening to more than just worship music.
In this episode we talk about:
How Kings Kaleidoscope came together. Where they draw their musical inspiration from. Chad's experience in serving at the local church. Their new partnership with Bad Christian How their new EP was recorded in one night. The importance of strong theology in your songwriting. Chad's favorite song on the EP. Upcoming plans for a new album and tour. How they're transitioning from congregational writing to writing for a broader audience. The process of arranging the music for such a big team. The need to internalize the music you're leading. The pastoral role of the worship leader.
In this episode of the podcast we have interviews with Jadon Lavik and Crystal Lewis. If you're in southern california, you're going to want to head to An Easter Together. Be sure to check it out!
Here are some highlights from the convo with Jadon:
How he got involved in worship ministry. The influence Rick Muchow had on him. How he moved from being a touring artist to now pouring in to the local church. What a typical weekend service looks like for his church. His involvement in An Easter Together. How to go about doing a city wide worship service.
And here are notes from our interview with Crystal Lewis:
How she got involved in ministry. The influence her parents had on her musicianship. The value of training your kids in music. The new ministry she's doing with her daughter. The joy of leading worship with other worship leaders. The heart behind her blog. How to deal with burn out. How she keeps her voice healthy. Her thoughts on Phil Wickham's recent vocal fatigue. The balance of using your platform for the glory of God.
In this episode I talk with Dave Helmuth of adlib music about:
How Dave got involved in worship ministry. The value of being faithful daily to God. How he started coaching other worship leaders. The identity of the worship leader. We then talk with Josh White about how his upcoming conference at his church in Las Vegas. We talk about:
The heart behind offering this conference. A couple contributors on The Church Collective will be presenting! Fox and Matt! Josh talks about the sessions being planned.
In this episode I had the chance to chat with Kari Jobe about:
The process of bringing together so many worship leaders and musicians. The story behind the song "Forever" on her new album. Her definition of worship. How she prepares spiritually before leading worship. The value of having your team members lead devotionals The latest book that's she's reading: Hosting the Presence: Unveiling Heaven's Agenda Her warm up routine, she mentions using exercises from vocalcoach.com How she cools down and rests her voice. She mentions using: Traditional Medicinals Organic Throat How she knows when it's time to rest her voice. A question she often gets is how to foster spontaneous worship. She gives us a great way to work with our congregations in this area. The value of spontaneous worship and leaving margin in the service for people to worship. The influence Charlie Hall had on her in her growth as leading with margin. The value of Matt Redman's book: The Unquenchable Worshipper: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship (Worship Series) Here are some great quotes from the interview:
[Tweet "Our resurrected King has rendered you defeated @karijobe"]
[Tweet "People are hungry for an encounter of God more now than I've ever seen @karijobe"]
[Tweet "I think it's dangerous to lead worship by only the response of the people. @karijobe"]
[Tweet "It's a precious thing to lead people in worship @karijobe"]
I then had a great convo with my friend Brian Campbell who has recently launched a kickstarter to fund 3 EP's this year. We talk about:
Counting the cost of doing ministry (parable reference here). The heart behind writing three EP's this year. The process behind one of the EP's that will be in French.
We're also partnering with one of our contributors, Rob Carona, of Songsmith Creative to offer a free songwriting webinar this week. Be sure to sign up and join us for a great conversation!
Wow, what an honor it was to be able to chat with Wisdom from the All About Worship Podcast! If you haven't subscribed to his podcast, you really need to! In this episode we talk about:
How Wisdom got involved in worship ministry. The balance of doing a full time job while working on All About Worship. How All About Worship started. His role as a social media strategist. How to structure life to have time for ministry and family. The All About Worship Conference. A discount on the conference! Use promo code: collectivepodcast
This episode has your whole worship ministry covered. We start with an interview with Jeff McIntosh of Church Motion Graphics. We talk about:
How Jeff got involved in creating graphics for worship. The power of someone believing in you and pushing you forward in ministry. The value of technology in the worship service. His great new e-book The Worship Media Handbook. Great practical tips for the techs in ministry. We then finish up our interview with Cam Huxford of Mars Hill's Ghost Ship. We talk about:
How he brought his musical style to Seattle and found people who resonated with him. The balance between serving at a local church and at larger conferences. The process of recording their latest album. The value of Sabbath in our lives. How you can record a great album with simple equipment.
In this episode we talk about:
The launch of the downtown campus for Mars Hill. Their new campus that launched just over a year ago. How their new building was the first church in Seattle. How the new space was involved in the recording of their latest album. How Cam works as the worship leader at his campus and his relationship with the other worship leaders. The story behind the revelation of Jesus Christ. Dealing with anxiety Biblically. How it can be easy to fake it as a worship leader. Mars Hill's commitment to writing theologically rich songs. The power of music to bring people to salvation. How Ghost Ship's style came about.
This week's episode is awesome! Miles interviews Cam Huxford from Ghost Ship. We talk about:
How he got involved in worship leading. How he came to be a worship leader for Mars Hill and how Ghost Ship started. The value of serving in ministry rather than looking for a position. His calling to urban ministry. The rundown of who's involved in Ghost Ship.
I talk with Brian Campbell about how he got involved in worship ministry and just had a wonderful conversation. Some highlights:
The value of pouring in to young people. Being faithful with small things leads to big things in Christ. Focusing on putting others above yourself. How Brian got involved in touring ministry. How going to other churches is more about equipping the teams. The balance between discipleship and excellence. What's ahead for Brian and his band.
I had a great time talking with Shalon Palmer about his Padloops and ministry in general. We chat about: How he started making padloops. How worship leaders are using the padloops to enhance worship. How he's recently started going to school at Gateway. The value of getting an education as a worship leader.
In this episode I talked with Fox and Scott about what their churches did this past Christmas and what they're doing going in to the new year. We talk about: How to ramp in to Christmas throughout December. Service times for Christmas Eve special services. What our churches are doing to help plug in new visitors. New songs for the new year.
I talked with Nick Kaskel who plays with Brian Campbell about how God moved through their most recent tour. We also talk about: Nick's journey to becoming a touring musician. Practical tips to become a better worship guitarist. The value of taking guitar lessons. Nick's personal Testimony. What's coming up for Brian Campbell and his team. Beard tips! Also, Nick has a fantastic two year old who really wanted to be on the podcast too just in case you were wondering!
Here's part two of our interview with Zach and Adam of Citizens. In this episode we talk about: How the band came together. Balancing weekly worship leading with being a successful band. The band model of worship ministry at Mars Hill. Taking the time to write theologically sound songs. Head over to iTunes to subscribe to the podcast and we'd love to have you come join our facebook community.
We had such an awesome conversation with Zach and Adam from Mars Hill Music's Citizens. This will be the first part, look for the second half in next week's episode. In this episode Miles, Ben, and I talk with them about: Their heart for creating music for the local church. How they are using their new Christmas EP as an evangelistic tool. How to get out of the way and let God move. How to maintain a gorgeous beard. :) Be sure to read our review and interview about the Christmas EP.
In this Episode I had the chance to talk in person with Ben and Scott! We talk about: Scott's church in Santa Rosa. The transition to a drum cage. Integrating a dobrough in a worship set. The art of crafting your worship set using the musicians you have. Using youtube to find stripped down versions of worship songs.
I had the chance to talk with Ben and Carly about some of the cool stuff going on with the site and about Carly's posts about encouraging your worship team.
This is our first roundtable worship leader discussion! Eric, Carly, Jeremy, and myself talk about the nuances of an acoustic or unplugged worship set in each of our churches. We go in to specific details and recommendations if you're hoping to do the same at your church.
I talk with Caleb Ramey about how he manages to lead a high energy youth service during the week and a more conservative hymns based service on the weekend.
In this episode I chat with Jeremy McKee, an awesome musician and technical director. We talk about the roll of the keyboard in worship as well as how discipleship is at the core of recruiting volunteers to your tech ministry.
I had a fantastic conversation with Joe Vidot a worship leader serving at Bethel Church in Richland, WA. In this episode we talk about: The importance of humility for the worship leader and musician. How to foster a culture of discipleship in your worship ministry. What the week to week work looks like for a church with multiple campuses. The value of letting a church campus choose the songs that are resonating with the people in attendance. Joe's ministry The Tribe of Judah.
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Chris Burke, an awesome worship leader from Canada who had to make the tough choice to pass up a job opportunity because of theological differences. We talk about: The importance of the worship leader and pastor being on the same page theologically. Praying through taking a job as a worship leader. Being patient in the process. The danger of compromising your beliefs for the sake of taking a job. The process of finding a job How cool of a guy Chris Vacher is. Asking yourself the question, do I want my kids to sit under the teaching of the church I'm looking at? I then interview Rick Matthews from the pedal company Matthews Effects. We talk about: Where he's serving in worship ministry. How he got in to making guitar pedals. The importance of a tuner!
In this episode we had the chance to talk with the co-founders for Guitars for Glory. We're so excited to be partnering with them! As they're sending guitars, we'll be helping train up and deploy worship leaders as the needs arise. Be sure to head over to their site and see what they're up to! God's doing awesome things through their faithfulness in getting instruments in to the hand of those who need them!
In this episode I had the chance to talk with Deanna Joven from Worth Dying For and their new church in Los Angeles called Fearless. We talk about: How she came to know the Lord. What the Lord did in her life to prepare her for worship ministry. The importance of serving in whatever situation you're given. What's going on with their new church in LA I also talk with Seth about how his trip went to the BC Mission Boat Society. We talk about: Traveling with a guitar on your back. How to lead a service full of people from various church backgrounds. How can we pray for the ministry.
In this episode we chat with Zach Senn, a missionary heading to Cambodia to help Steps of Justice. We were able to send a baby Taylor with him that he will use to train up worship leaders and then leave with them so they can continue to praise God for years to come. We also talk with the leaders of "Love Shines Missions" in Honduras about how they can be blessed through getting a couple guitars. Thanks for helping us spread worship around the world!
In this episode we talk about what you need to do to become a worship leader and also give an update on our Kenya campaign. How to find a mentor What the Bible says about being a worship leader What worship is like in Kenya Please head over to iTunes and subscribe! We really appreciate you taking the time to listen!
In this episode I talk with Seth Gehrke about his mission trip to help BC Mission Boat. We were able to quickly pull together enough money to send a baby Taylor with him to gift to the ministry there. Be sure to keep connected on our site as we roll out updates
In this episode we talk about the importance of having multiple leaders for your worship ministry.
The mission's trip is underway! Brandon and I had a chance to sit down before he left and talk about what the team will be doing as well as what Brandon will be doing with the guitars we're sending with them!