Beyond Sunday Worship

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David’s Free Weekly Worship Leader Newsletter

Is it possible to be too excited? Because I may have just crossed the line. Today I wanted to introduce you to a BRAND NEW FEATURE here on the blog.

I know. So awesome. This is something completely unique and different. It’s not the same as subscribing to my posts via RSS or email. This is a weekly email featuring content found nowhere else on my blog. And it’s completely free.

If you’re familiar with my writings you know I’m passionate about discipling your worship team. Leading worship, being on a team, and encountering God are some of the coolest things on earth. Am I right or am I correct?

This newsletter will ship every Monday, including a devotional for you to use with your worship team. It will feature Bible study, discussion questions, prayer focuses, and other sweet features. It will also be a bit more personal, identifying with the joys and struggles of leading worship and leading a team. Simple, practical, and useful (I hope).

Totally free. Totally awesome. CLICK HERE to subscribe!

Thanks for being such a devoted reader. You, my friend, are even more awesome than this newsletter.

Anything you’d like to see in the newsletter? Let me know in the comments!

How To Dramatically Improve Your Rhythm Section Today

[This post is part of a series on Tips For Taking Your Worship Team To The Next Level. Check out the rest here.]

There is a constant friction within worship teams between the spiritual and the musical. There are some who place no value on musical improvement and focus solely on the “heart of worship”. There are others who are so heavily focused on musical precision and innovation that the heart is buried. What shall we do?

I think we should just be awesome like these guys 🙂

I’m of the opinion that we need both/and not either/or. It’s possible to be so musically excellent that the Person of Christ is no longer in focus. It’s also possible to be so musically awful that the entire worship service is a complete distraction. We need an excellence that draws attention to Christ and invites people to join in.

One of the most important dynamics of an effective worship team is a tight rhythm section. I’ve found that the more a rhythm section works together, the less distracting the music is. It’s then easier to worship without wondering if the drummer will miss his fill or the bass player actually play the bass line. When working with worship teams, rhythm section is the first dynamic I focus on.

So what can you do to improve?

[Read more…]

What Worship Leaders Can Learn From Rockstars

We all want to be rockstars.

Ever since we were little boys and girls, we had our superheroes.

Whether it was Mr. Rogers, Superman, Blues Clues, Bono, Green Day, or Michael Jordan, we all want to influence a lot of people and have a popular name.

It’s in our nature to crave attention, pursue praise, and love popularity. It’s the very reason we’ve made poor decisions in the past and done stupid things.

Chris Martin from Coldplay working his magic

 Being a worship leader doesn’t change that. We want to be the Chris Martin of worship.

Contrary to what you may think, there are some attributes we can learn from rockstars to improve our worship leading.

I’m not advocating you begin a lifelong journey into sex, drugs, & rock & roll. If that was the case, this blog would be finished 🙂 Let me explain.

Here are 5 things worship leaders can learn from rockstars:

[Read more…]

Tips For Taking Your Worship Team to the Next Level

I’m super excited about this new blog series for worship leaders. If you lead a worship team, you’re probably always wondering how you can take your team to the next level, but don’t know where to start. Sunday comes too quickly for you to get your head above water and catch a vision.

I’d love to help not just by giving you easy answers but by helping you think through what is best for your worship team and your local congregation. We’re not all called to look the same but we are called to excellence.

Improvement = 1 simple step at a time

There is not a “one-size-fits-all”, worship team mold we all should fit in. God moves in different ways and uses different methods to accomplish His sovereign purposes. My purpose here is to simply “stir the pot”, get you thinking, and help you figure out what would work best for your team.

As always, I love when you leave comments and I promise to read and respond to every one and help in any way I can. That’s the reason I do this!

As for the series, here’s what we covered:

Question: Are there other topics I should have addressed? Let me know in the comments!