Come People of the Risen King – Getty & Townend

This Life I Live – Morrow

In Christ Alone – Townend

O Church Arise – Getty & Townend

Right click here to download MP3 –> singing from the heart (2011.04.28 Music Training Night)

It’s true. Music ministry always goes wrong. Even on the best Sunday, there’s always stuff that could’ve gone better. And reality is: you’re leading the team that never gets it right. Week after week, you work hard, but things don’t go according to plan. It’s hard when you finally sit on the couch late on a Sunday night – you’re absolutely exhausted from a long day of serving at church – and after all that, it didn’t even go well. So many things that were out of your control became spanners in the wheel. It can be very discouraging, and when unchecked leads to all sorts of sinful responses.

But is getting music ministry to ‘go well’ on Sunday really the goal? Stop and think about it – what are you really working towards? What’s the ‘end goal’?

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”   (Colossians 3:16)

“Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples.”  (Psalm 96:2-3)

Having a ‘perfect music’ Sunday is not the goal. The goal is getting the church family to sing the word of God together - THAT’S the goal. The goal is helping Christians to grow in their relationship with Jesus and with each other as they declare the praises of God together – all for the nations to overhear. THAT’s the goal.

And that’s important to remember – because everything doesn’t have to go perfectly for the church family to sing about Jesus together. If a Sunday service is full of technical difficulties and musical stuff-ups, but the church family were still helped to sing the truth of God’s word together – then you’ve still achieved your goal. It doesn’t have to go perfectly for that to happen. On the flip-side, if everything does go perfectly – great sound, great musical performance – but the congregation don’t join in on the singing – then you haven’t achieved your goal. It’s not about whether the band and the singers play well together – it’s all about whether you’ve helped the church family sing about Jesus together, in a way that will help them to grow in their relationship with him, and in a way that non-believers will ‘overhear’. That’s what music ministry is about!

That’s why it doesn’t really matter if you have a full band or not – and, in fact, why it’s sometimes better not to have a full band. Singing in church is not about enjoying a good band and good singers – it’s about getting everyone to sing together. Whatever music line-up will most help the church family to sing together – that’s the one you should go with, regardless of what trend you’d prefer to lean towards. Music ministry is about helping the church family sing about Jesus – and that must be the main and only focus, or we may as well chuck in the towel and give up.

Don’t hear me wrong – if there are ways that you can work to improve things – whether it’s the way you lead, or a way you can help the team – then you should most definitely work hard to make that happen. But you need to understand that, even then, it’s not always going to turn out the way you pictured in your mind.

One important application of thinking this way is the importance of not idolising having a ‘perfect music ministry’. Tim Keller has a nifty saying about idolising ministry – “If I’m justified by faith, I’m alive in Christ no matter what happens; but if I’m justified by preaching, I die every Sunday.” The same is true of music ministry: if you make having a ‘good music ministry’ your idol, then you’re tying a noose around your own neck – there’s no possible way you can control all of the variables to ensure everything will go well during church! It’s impossible! Every time something goes wrong you’ll feel more and more discouraged and disheartened, until you’re crushed and don’t want to be a part of it anymore. You probably won’t even live up to your own expectations, let alone others living up to them. But the good news is that that’s not what music ministry is all about.

When music ministry does go well, and the church family sings together heartily, it’s something to be celebrated – and at those times you should always go out of your way to encourage people for their helpful service. In fact, even when things don’t go well, you should still be doing what you can to encourage those who were doing the right thing, and be gracious to those who may have let the team down a bit.

But you can’t afford to be surprised or upset by things not going well. Work hard to do a good job, but don’t be discouraged when things are less than ideal. Because the goal is not having perfect music – the goal is getting the church family to sing together.

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD;

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;

let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

For the LORD is a great God,

and a great King above all gods.”           (Psalm 95:1-3)

At my most cynical moments, I sometimes wonder why in the world I bother being involved in music ministry. It can be a great source of joy and encouragement, but it can also be a great source of contention and frustration. There is often discouragement involved because music ministry is an area of personal preference where most people feel at unusual liberty to express their selfish desires, often with little theological reflection or self-assessment. Seldom will you meet someone who has a musical preference at church who will hesitate to tell you about it, and ask you to change the way things are run so as to more suit their preferences. It can be very hard to wear, and difficult to know how to respond to – often because it’s not a black-and-white issue, but a decision-making process that requires wisdom and experience to know how to do well. It would be foolish to always make the changes that people suggest to you, but it would also be foolish to never take recommendations on board, and assume that the way you’re doing things now is the best way to serve the church family and the non-believers we want to be joining us in our gatherings.

There are already a couple of good resources available for helping you deal with people in the church family expressing their opinions to you about singing at church, and I’d encourage you to make the most of both of them:

1) Rob Smith’s article “Pleasing People All The Time and Other Myths” in Matthias Media’s “Church Musician’s Handbook” is very helpful (available here in soft-copy only, around $8 from the Matthias Media website). It’s good because it explores all of the different of dynamics of relationships, expectations, and sinfulness involved in music ministry, and how we can turn from selfishness to serving the church by keeping the main thing the main thing.

2)  My talk on Colossians 3:15-16 called “Singing From the Heart” also explores the potential sinfulness behind people’s willingness to express their opinions about church music, and looks at where that comes from, and how to deal with it well (available here on the SCPC website)

That said, I think the most important requirement for receiving feedback – both positive and negative – is humility.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:3-5)

The way you are to think of yourself is:

-  Not more highly than you ought

-  With sober judgment, remembering that you are but a sinner saved by faith in Jesus

-  As a unique member of the body of Christ, alongside other members who are different to you, but share in common being saved by faith in Jesus

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The church is a messed up bunch of sinners who’ve been graciously saved by the gift of faith in Jesus, and gathered together as his people. We come from all sorts of backgrounds and are all unique – both in our sinfulness and in our godliness. Often opinions about music come from all sorts of ulterior motives that may not be obvious, and often are not the right basis for changing the way things are done.

This means that, when you receive positive feedback, you shouldn’t let it get to your head and think too highly of yourself, but remember that you are a sinner saved by faith in Jesus – that’s the only measure. It means that, when you receive negative feedback, you do not need to be disheartened and assume that you are not doing a good job, but remember that both you and the person giving you feedback are a sinner saved by faith in Jesus – that’s the only measure. Remember that the person encouraging you is a unique member of the body, and for every person who thinks it’s going well there are probably plenty who would disagree! Your role will be to respond graciously and humbly to the person you are talking to, and to then prayerfully use your wisdom to assess the issue at hand.

As with all decision making, the best way to make a wise decision will be to discuss it with the pastor. As overseer of the church family, and as someone who may be aware of the dynamics involved with those who make suggestions for changes, he will have a unique insight into the situation that will be invaluable.

Having said all that, one of the other applications of thinking of ourselves “in accordance with the measure of faith” in Jesus is that, when we go for long stretches without receiving much feedback at all – whether positive or negative – it doesn’t necessarily mean that things are or aren’t going well. You can take heart in the fact that the measure of who you are is not how well the music ministry is going – but that you have faith in Jesus. And from that safe, firm, and unchanging ground, you will always be safe to assess how the music ministry is going, and use your wisdom to know which feedback you take on board, and which feedback you don’t.

In the 15 or so years that I’ve been involved in music ministry, I’ve almost never come accross a chart for a church song that’s been adequate. There is some hidden law that Christian chart-writers have to write charts in a way that will be confusing and frustrating for the people using them in church! Of course I might be overly cynical about charts – but the point is, it’s 99% certain that you will have 1 of 2 choices when you get the music team to play a new song:

1)  Find an existing chart and manipulate it to be suitable; or

2)  Write a new chart yourself

the important things on a chart

A good chart will:

-  Be short (no longer than 2 pages)

-  Be clear (easy to follow, not confusing, simple)

-  Be minimal (not too much information – just enough for everyone to play along)

-  Be in the right key (melody not higher than a high D, not lower than a low A)

-  Not include written piano parts (you don’t want the treble clef/bass clef divide – it makes charts too long and encourages piano players to play the bass in their left hand – you don’t want that to happen since there’s already a bass in the band, and the written bass lines are usually terrible anyway)

-  Not be missing anything (so you don’t have to tell the band things about the song that aren’t on the chart)

-  Show lyrical cues (not necessarily all the song words under the chords, but just enough so that if you get lost you can find your place again)

-  Include all the lyrics at the end (you want the band to be able to see/read the song words – both to reflect on at home, and to sing along on a Sunday if/when they’re able)

Song Select

When you need a new chart the best place to start is CCLI Song Select. If a church teaches new songs on even a semi-regular basis, subscribing to Song Select each year is a very good idea – it’s an online library of tens of thousands of Christian charts – it’s very useful. Almost every popular Christian song will be on there – it’ll be rare that Song Select doesn’t have the song you’re after. It’s also good because you can change the key before you hit print. The ANNOYING thing about Song Select is that they have tens of thousands of charts – and not one of them has an introduction written on the chart! I don’t know whose decision it was to include no song intros – but it means that, for every Song Select chart you print up you’ll need to either hand-write an intro at the top of the first page (that’s what i usually do) or indicate elsewhere on the chart which part will be the intro (which is confusing, since you want the intro to be at the start of the chart).

Song Select will be your first point of call when looking for a new chart. For each song it offers ‘Chord Sheets’ (just chords and lyrics), ‘Lead Sheets’ (basic chords/melody and lyrics) and ‘Hymn Sheets’ (extensive piano/organ/choir orchestration – we don’t subscribe to this bit). What you want is the ‘Lead Sheets’ (although sometimes ‘Chord Sheets’ can be handy for singers who want to practice playing and singing at the same time, or if the song’s really simple).

Once you’ve found the chart you need to put it in the right key. Try the default key first – try practicing it and singing it through yourself. The general rule is:

-  You don’t want the melody to go lower than a low A, and you don’t want too much of the melody to be just above a low A

-  You don’t want the melody to go higher than a high D, and you don’t want too much of the melody to be just below a high D.

-  You want the song to be in the best key for the congregation to sing it comfortably. Too high makes everyone unhappy – especially blokes. Too low makes everything bland. Go for the middle – this is a rare situation where ‘taking the middle ground’ is the right thing to do.

It can be a little tricky getting used to picking the right key – but if in doubt try singing it through with a couple of singers in a few different keys and make the decision together. If you prepare a chart and distribute it to the team and later realise the key isn’t working – that’s ok. Just prepare a new chart in the better key and re-distribute.

A lot of recent songs use a ‘building’ technique where the melody is in a low octave for the first verse or two, and then it’s the same melody but an octave higher for the later verses. This technique may sound good on CD, but does not work with congregational singing. Pick a key so that the melody will always be in the same octave for every verse, and that will be comfortable for the congregation to sing.

If the chart is not on Song Select, or if the arrangement on Song Select is different to what you want, you’ll need to hand-write the chart yourself. (SCPC has not invested in any chart-writing programs like Sibelius since we don’t have anyone who knows how to use it. It could be a good option for the future – but only if someone knows how to utilise it).

Writing/Preparing a Chart

What follows are the essential ingredients of a good chart, whether you’re adding bits onto a Song Select chart, or whether you’re writing your own. Remember, they key is: you want to be able to give the chart and the mp3 to the band and not have to communicate any extra information to them during rehearsal. Get it all onto the chart, but keep it clear and simple.

The first and vital step in chart writing is to decide on the arrangement first. Don’t start writing or preparing an existing chart until you’ve worked out how the song will work best congregationally – work out the order that everything will happen. Remember that the way songs occur on CDs and live-stadium-rock-albums will rarely work for regular church on a Sunday. This is especially the case when Bridge sections and Chorus sections can be repeated 4 or more times in a row – that will rarely work in our setting! So first of all: work out the arrangement. Often this is best worked out by playing the song through on your own, and if possible running it through with the band at a mid-week practice (with just a chord sheet). Here are some handy arrangement questions:

-  How many verses/choruses/bridges?

-  What instruments will play when?

-  Will the whole band start together, or just part of the band?

-  When will the drop-out/s be?

-  Is there a drums-only verse or acapella verse?

-  Will this song work best as piano and vocals only (no drums/band)?

Once you’ve got the arrangement sorted, it’s time to start writing the chart…

-  Always use a black felt-tip pen – anything else doesn’t photocopy well.

-  Make it as neat as possible (don’t hesitate to start again if it gets messy, and keep liquid paper nearby).

-  Number each page down the bottom, and include the song title on every page

-  Write the treble clef, the key signature (sharps/flats) and the time signature at the start of the first line, but don’t repeat them anywhere else (unless there’s a key signature or time signature change).

-  Make sure sections are clearly marked (Intro, V for Verse, CH for Chorus, Pre-CH for Pre-Chorus, Bridge, Outro, CHa and CHb for a slightly differing choruses, etc).

-  Use thick double-bar lines at the start/end of every new section, and even thicker double-bar lines at the end of the song.

-  You will almost always need to use repeat bars, often with 1st and 2nd time bars.

-  If necessary use Codas.

-  If possible make sure the Intro is the first thing on the chart – if it’s a Song Select chart try and squeeze it in up the top.

-  You do not need the melody on the chart – it’s ok if it’s there, but if it’s not there you don’t need to write it in. Chord slashes are fine. We don’t want any other instruments playing the melody, and the singers will learn the melody off the recording.

-  Use single capital letters for Major chords (‘E’ for ‘E Major’), use single capital letters with “mi” for Minor chords (‘Emi’ for ‘E Minor’).

-  At the bottom of the chart, write in how to play unusual chords on the guitar (eg. ‘Gsus2’) and also write what notes are in the chord for piano players (eg. ‘Gsus2’ = G, D, A).

-  Write rhythmic figures as chord slashes with tails, write semibreves/whole notes and minims/half notes as diamonds so they’re not confused with actual notes.

-  Write dynamics into the chart (eg. ‘Soft’, ‘Loud’, < for crescendos/builds, > for decrescendos/shhhh etc)

-  Write instructions for each instrument (Eg. ‘All in’, ‘Piano only’, ‘Acapella’, ‘Bass in’, ‘Drums out’, ‘Acoustic only’, etc)

-  If necessary write TAB parts for guitarists, or a separate ‘Capo chart’.

-  When photocopying make sure you use the darkest possible copy option

If in doubt have a look at some existing charts for ideas, or consult a relevant music theory book. A good option is Jon Fitzgerald’s ‘Popular Music Theory & Musicianship’, which is the text book for the Bachelor of Contemporary Music at SCU, and usually on sale in the bookshop at SCU.

There’s many ways to approach preparing a music program. For most churches it’ll be a task done at the last minute, by 1 person, and with little or no consideration for how the songs will fit in with the preaching program. Obviously that’s not ideal. At SCPC we’ve been blessed with Pastors who not only value highly our time singing together as a church family, but who also care deeply about the integration of songs into the service in a way that complements the preaching program. Everyone’s fully on board with the truth that good congregational songs help the preached word to ‘sink in’ every Sunday. You’ll be doing the church family a great service by being a music ministry leader who makes the most of that opportunity, for every Sunday service, and for every Friday night Youth service, every week. When the deadline to get everything finished is drawing close it’ll be tempting to not put in the time and effort it takes to best match the songs with the preaching program – it can take a lot of time, especially if you’re not overly familiar with the lyrical content of each song in the SCPC library. But in the end it’ll be well worth it, and literally hundreds of people will benefit – spiritually benefit, in their relationship with Christ – on a weekly basis, because of your well-thought-out decisions. There’s a far better way to prepare a music program than preparing a program that ‘fills the gaps’ and includes all your favourite songs. Make it your ambition and prayer to choose the songs that will most help the preached word to ‘sink in’ and help the church family to respond with whole hearts. Make it your goal to prepare a music program that will best help the church family grow in their relationship with Jesus.

Here are some tips:

-  Spend a decent amount of time reading through the preacher/s Big Ideas and Key Verses with a pen and paper handy. If you’ve got time then read through the whole passages. Good stuff will come to your mind as you’re doing it – make sure scribble all your initial thoughts and ideas down – it’ll come in real handy. If you think of a good potential item (whether Christian or secular) that will set the talk up well write that down too.

-  Make sure you’ve got both an up-to-date ‘Song Sorter’ and ‘Full SCPC Music Library’ list somewhere you can refer to them quickly and easily (if either of these aren’t up-to-date, it’ll be worth spending the time getting it up-to-date before you start), as well as a Bible, and the preachers notes for the term.

-  Create a blank template with the dates and passages on it, so you can start writing/typing songs into it (eg. Sunday 20th March with space to write all the songs under it, then Sunday 27th March with space under it, etc). You’ll need to include things like ‘kids song’ every week, ‘PM song’ every week, and ‘Lord’s Supper CD’ or Lord’s Supper Item’ where appropriate. You’ll also need to be certain about how many weeks you need to choose music for – you don’t want to hand out a program to the team that will end before you’re going to hand the next one out (so make sure you include school holidays, easter services, christmas services, etc). I personally find it most easy to do all this on paper first, since i end up scribbling so much out and changing it round before i get to the final version.

-  Start filling in the template with the preacher’s suggestions first, which are usually for the song to be sung after the talk. The preacher will almost always have the best ideas for which songs best match their sermons. But if you’ve read their Big Idea and reckon another song will be better after the talk, give them a call and talk it through. There’ll be plenty of room in the service for both songs.

-  The song after the talk is the one that you want to most closely match the sermon. It really helps both the preached word ‘sink in’, and helps us to respond to what we’ve heard. If there are weeks where the preacher hasn’t suggested a post-talk song, choose this song first. It doesn’t matter so much what the musical vibe is (whether it’s upbeat or slow and reflective). The lyrics matching the talk is the main thing (and hopefully the music is appropriate for the lyrics anyway!). For example ‘the Glories of Calvary’ is a great up-beat service-starter, but it’s worked well many times as a post-talk song when it’s been a talk focused on what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

-  The next most important song will be the song before the talk. By then hopefully most people in the congregation will be getting ‘in the zone’ – they will have heard the kids talk at morning, or the set-up piece at night, they will be getting familiar with the Big Idea and the Key Questions – this 4th song will be able to continue that process of setting up the sermon. If nothing comes to mind a reflective/prayerful song like ‘Ears to Hear’ can be great too.

-  Do the kids songs next. These will mostly be suggested by the preacher too. Unfortunately there aren’t relevant kids songs for every theme, so sometimes you’ll just have to choose something up-beat and about Jesus – that’s ok. Kid’s love a Super-Saviour mosh, and it does help them in their relationship with Jesus.

-  Next up it’s time to plan your items and your new songs. When teaching a new song it’s generally good to have the song as an ITEM one week (it’ll be recorded and put up on the website hopefully soon after for everyone to continue hearing/learning/enjoying), TEACH it the next week, and use it AFTER THE TALK the following week (but it doesn’t have to happen that way – having the item and then teaching it later in the same service works too). You might decide the new song works better than what’s been suggested by the preacher – that’s ok, but you might want to talk it through with them first just to check. You’ll have to take into consideration how early in the term you think the band will be ready to play/teach the song together, and when it’ll be best to have the new song as the post-talk song. It gets a bit tricky juggling it all around! But don’t bash your head against a wall, just stick at it and you’ll come up with a plan that works. Obviously if you’re adding a new kids song you won’t be able to have it as an item – just TEACH it one week, sing it again the next week, and make sure it gets repeated once or twice more in the next couple of months.

-  If other songs have come to mind when you were reading through the Big Ideas/Key Verses then start to write these ones on to the template too (if you haven’t already). Use your judgement to think about where they’ll best fit in the service, and if in doubt check their suggested placing in the song sorter.

-  Once you’ve done as much as you can from the stuff that comes to mind reading the Big Ideas/Key Verses, it’s time to start using the song sorter. It’s a helpful guide for where songs will best fit into the service. But remember it’s only a guide, and not a straight-jacket. If you think a song will work better at a different part of the service, go for it. You might want to move the song around in the song sorter permanently. If possible choose songs that at least have a couple of lines or a verse that has something to do with the talk – but often that won’t be possible.

-  Get a Pastor or the Ministry Coordinator to check your Draft program. Once it’s all finished type it up into the Music Program Template (Ministry Coordinator has this if you don’t) and email it to the Ministry Coordinator. Usually the newsletter to the team will be printed on the other side, so don’t get it printed up until they’re both ready to go.

Each term it’d be good for you to take the opportunity to write a newsletter to the music and sound teams. There’s very little time to communicate with the teams on a week-to-week basis, and for that reason it can be hard to keep the team mindful of the reason they’re doing the ministry – let alone helping them grow in their understanding of why/how to do it. Nothing will substitute face-to-face teaching and training in music ministry – that’ll always be the best way to help them (and you!) grow. But the term newsletter is an opportunity to write something to the teams that will encourage them to keep on keeping on, and to do it for the right motivation. Distributing it to the sound team as well as the music team communicates to them that they’re an important part of the ministry, and will prove to be an encouragement to them too.

It’s really up to you what to write – but remember that it’s all about Jesus. There are usually issues that will present themselves over time that you’ll want to address – but remember to bring it all back to the cross. Everything you say needs to be said under the shadow of the cross, or it’ll just be legalistic and ineffective. For example if several people on the music team have been slack in their attendance – and seem to have forgotten that important part of the music ministry paper – then it might be good to write something about he importance of responding to the access we have to God through Jesus’ blood by not giving up meeting together (based on Hebrews 10:19-25), and how the music team are role models and key encouragers to the congregation since they’re out the front every week. If the team seem to be getting half-hearted in their singing, you might want to encourage them to make sure they’re always indulging in their own personal Bible reading and prayer, since wholehearted singing will only come from a heart that’s ruled by the peace of Christ (based on Colossians 3:15-16). Sometimes you might’ve read something in the Bible or written by someone else that was so helpful you’ll want to relay it to the team – either in your own words, or by just including the whole passage/article. Obviously if you’re always reading this sort of material yourself – and keeping your eyes open for stuff that could be potentially helpful to the team – then it’ll be a lot easier for you when it comes time to write the newsletter. You might want to keep a list on your computer of ‘newsletter ideas’ which you can always easily add to.

Remember to write in a way that makes people actually want to read it. You can expect much more of the music/sound teams than you can of the congregation – but still, remember that you want to make it something reasonably easy and helpful for them to read.

Another thing to keep in mind is that it’ll be a good thing to get a Pastor to write the newsletter to the team at least once or twice a year. It’ll be a good opportunity for the Pastor to say what they’d like to say to the team, as the main Pastor/Teacher of the church family and ministry teams.

Usually the newsletter will get printed on the back of the term song program, so that each term there’s only one bit of paper you’ll need to distribute to the team (other than music/lyrics).

Other ideas are:

-  CD reviews

-  Book reviews (something on music ministry or worship etc)

-  Song reviews

-  Bible study on new song/s

-  an article from someone else that you’ve found helpful (eg. Bob Kauflin, Keith Getty, Justin Taylor, Andy Judd, Craig Schwarze (and many more) are a handful of guys who post regular articles about music ministry on the web. Google and pilfer away!

-  Short Bible study

-  a sheer letter of encouragement from you to the team on how they’ve been encouraging you (it doesn’t always have to be a challenging newsletter)

-  Testimonies from people (from the team? from the congregation?) about how the singing in church helps them in their relationship with Jesus

-  Testimonies from people (team? congregation?) about how listening to Christian music during the week helps them to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus

-  and so on….

Remember: keep it simple. Make it something that people will actually want to read, and be encouraged by it.

Each term it’d be good for you to prepare a blurb about music ministry so that the church family can read about what the music ministry team have been up to. It’s an opportunity to keep the church family informed of what’s going on with the ministry, and even to help them grow in their (biblical) understanding of our time singing together in church. Remember that, although your head’s probably full of what’s going on for your ministry team, the vast majority of the congregation have absolutely no idea. It’s a good opportunity.

Probably the best way to approach writing your bit will be to consider what it’s like for you read blurbs about other ministries. Do you read them? Why/why not? Are they boring? Are there any photos? Do you get to know a bit more about people at church?

If you want people to read your page, it’ll need to be:

-  simple

-  entertaining

-  personal (so they’re getting to know you or team members better)

-  lots of photos

Resist the urge to write a thesis on music ministry – hardly anyone will read it. Some good ideas are:

-  Interviews with team members (one or several)

-  Reports of team events (eg. music training weekend, Twist conference, singing in Fiji etc)

-  CD reviews

-  A blurb about one of the new songs – maybe a bit about the composer, or the story behind the song

-  A step-by-step of how to use the ‘Music Resources’ page on the website

-  Testimonies from people (from the team? from the congregation?) about how the singing in church helps them in their relationship with Jesus

-  Testimonies from people (team? congregation?) about how listening to Christian music during the week helps them to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus

-  and so on….

Remember: keep it simple. Make it a page that people will actually want to read, and be encouraged by it.

what’s going on?

When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we’re remembering together what Jesus has done for us on the cross – that his body was broken for us, that his blood was poured out for us. We’re ‘feeding’ on his sacrifice, and proclaiming it until he returns. That means that Lord’s Supper is all about:

1)  Remembering and ‘feeding on’ Jesus’ sacrifice (by faith);

2)  Proclaiming what Jesus has done (to ourselves and to each other); and

3)  Remembering and proclaiming that Jesus will be returning soon (Jesus’ return is an often over-looked aspect of the Lord’s Supper).

what’s the go with songs during the Lord’s Supper?

There’s a couple of reasons we listen to songs during the Lord’s Supper. The main reason is that songs can help us to DO the above 3 things: a song about Jesus death will help us remember Jesus’ death – to put our faith in him – to remember his impending return – and to proclaim him to each other. The other reason is just that it takes time to distribute the bread and the juice, and it’s good to fill that silence with something that will help us to reflect on what’s going on.

what’s the criteria for Lord’s Supper songs?

Basically you want to choose something that focuses on one (or more) of the 3 things above, and that’s musically appropriate. A heavy-rockin’ song about the cross probably isn’t going to help people reflect. A great song about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit) that doesn’t focus on one of the above 3 things isn’t going to be helpful for what’s going on either. For example ‘Sons of God’ isn’t musically appropriate (too heavy) and it isn’t thematically appropriate either, since it’s about adoption, and not the cross or Jesus’ return. ‘Father’s World’ by Garage Hymnal is a biblical and cool song, but it’s not about the cross or Jesus’ return either. Same deal with ‘Blessed be Your Name’. A song like ‘Holy Father’ (for the cross) or ‘Soon’ (for Jesus’ return) will be much better. Try to avoid using a song just because you like it – make sure it’s because it’ll complement what’s happening with the Lord’s Supper (and if possible ALSO ties in with the talk).

Whether or not you do the song as an item or from the CD will be your call – obviously you’ll have to weigh up whether you’re able to find (or write) a chart for the song and rehearse musicians for it. It’ll depend on how many other items you’ve planned for the term. You can alway plan to use the CD and then decide to play it as an item later if you change your mind – you’ll just need to communicate it to everyone. Make sure you include your plan on the program (Eg: ‘Lord’s Supper CD: Soon’ or ‘Lord’s Supper ITEM: Soon’).

You’ll need to type up the song words for the Ministry Coordinator and give them a copy of the recording so they can listen to it as they copy it onto the Powerpoint display.

Burn a copy of the CD with no other songs on it to give to the sound team the morning of the Lord’s Supper. Giving them a CD with other songs on it just increases the likelihood for error at a key moment in the service. Make sure the PM sound guy knows what to do too. You can make a decision about whether the song gets added to the before/after-church music playlist too – most of the time it’ll be a good thing to add it and keep hearing it.

One other thing worth considering is: What’s the plan if the bread/juice are distributed and we’ve only listened to half the song? Does the sound team fade it out early, or do we listen to the whole song before we eat/drink? Obviously if the song’s being performed they’ll finish the song. But if it’s a CD I personally think it’s very distracting to fade a song out halfway, and that it’s taking away the opportunity for the song to help the congregation reflect on the cross/Jesus’ return. On the other hand if it’s been a long sermon then parents might be needing to go pick up the kids. Whatever you decide, make sure you have a talk with the Pastor, the Sound Team, and the Data Projector dude (who’ll be controlling the song words on the screen) before the service so that you’re all on the same page.

why items?

Having musical items in church – songs that are performed by a handful of musicians while the congregation sits, listens, and follows the worlds along on the screen – is a good idea for a bunch of reasons:

-  It helps people connect with the ‘Big Idea’

-  It helps people to reflect on the song words in a different way than when they’re actually singing the words

-  It’s a way of ‘musically serving’ the congregation without their active participation

-  It helps people to learn and become familiar with a song they’ll be singing together at a later point (usually the following week or later in the same service)

-  It mixes church services up a bit

-  It gives the musicians/singers involved an opportunity to serve in a unique way that will be enjoyable and memorable for them and their family/friends

-  It creates an opportunity to use good Christian songs that won’t actually work as congregationals

-  It gives an opportunity to incorporate secular/non-Christian songs that help us reflect on life in God’s world (which is appealing to both Christians and non-Christians)

criteria for choosing musical items for church

1)  Will this song help us to connect with or reflect on the ‘Big Idea?’

2)  Will this song be musically appropriate (is it in an appropriate style? will the musicians/singers be able to learn it?)

3)  Do you have the time to prepare the chart/lyrics and get it rehearsed?

4)  Does the Pastor agree that this song as an item is a good idea?

making items happen

The time for choosing musical items is when you’re preparing the term music program. Make sure each new congregational song being introduced is performed as an item before it’s taught congregationally. Other than that, it’s up to you. When you’re reading through the Big Ideas and the Key Questions for the term ahead, take some time to think through songs you know – both Christian and non-Christian – and see if anything good comes to mind. Run your ideas by the Pastor – if it’s all good then whack it on the program. Feel free to welcome suggestions from others too.

Here’s what you’ll need to do once items are chosen:

1)  Find or write a chart

2)  Type up the lyrics

3)  Decide who will be involved in the item (don’t always use the same people, and don’t always do it yourself), ask them if they’re keen, and distribute the music/lyrics/mp3 in advance

4)  Organise a rehearsal during the week leading up to the item (you’ll usually need to be there whether you’re in the item or not)

5)  Send an email to the sound team notifying them that the item is happening