Immersion Worship

It’s always a bit sad when a conference comes to an end (unless it’s been a bad conference), especially so when it’s been particularly good. And that was certainly true for Day 4.

There was a single general session followed by two breakout sessions, with the conference wrapping things up with Delirious? at 2pm.

The morning’s general session, I think, was the best of all the general sessions. With Abe Laboriel, Paul Jackson Jr, and various friends of theirs leading the worship, it was incredibly engaging. Then a message from Rick Warren on spiritual growth in worship (delivered by video since he wasn’t present at the conference this week) really kicked my vision and desire to see my team and my ministry and my church grow in the right areas in to overdrive. I am stoked about some changes I want to make to the way we do worship and ‘worship team’ at The Summit.


Laboriel, Jackson, et al, tearing it up…

I had planned on going to the ‘Creativity & Balance in Songwriting’ workshop but I guess I missed the announcement because when I got there I found out that it was actually ‘Songwriting Critique’ with Adam Watts, Andy Dodds, and a couple of other guys. I stuck around for it and I’m glad I did, because I had a copy of a song I wrote with me on CD and I submitted it and had it critiqued. It was mostly positive and I got a couple of excellent suggestions from Adam Watts on some minor lyrical changes. Since Watts is practically a songwriting guru and pretty much anything he touches these days becomes audible gold, I really appreciated the feedback.

From that session I went directly to the ‘Vocal Artistry’ workshop with some dude who I don’t remember his name but knows what he’s talking about. Over the hour he shared some simple exercises to help cultivate freedom and strength in the vocals, and control breathing technique etc. It was entirely awesome and perhaps is the number one ‘practical’ thing that I bring away from the conference. The unnamed dude also had a complete CD and DVD set for complete training and exercise of the voice; one set for men and one for women. I picked up everything he had. It’s invaluable.

The schedule was running behind at this point so I just stayed on Campus. Alex was driving out this way from the IE, so I stuck around and ended up digging an impromptu meet with other bloggers and tweeters. Here’s the ‘Circle of Blogstars’; from right to left - Bobby Marchessault, Alex McLean, and Rich Kirkpatrick…



Also hanging out were Carlos Whittaker, Matt Olds, and Steve Eller. Great meeting all you guys.

Delirious? were the conference closers, and they rocked hard like they always do. I have to admit that, having known Delirious? as an entity for the last 14 years, and having seen them play countless times, it was kind of odd to not see Stew Smith behind the drum kit. The new guy is good, but he just doesn’t have the same visible fire and intensity that Stew had. Still, they were excellent and the new Kingdom of Comfort material sounded just awesome.



And then it was over. I went by the resource center and picked up armfuls of stuff to feed me and my team with, and so I’ll unpack some of it over a few posts in the coming weeks and give my reviews.

Generally I found this year’s conference to be better than last year’s in terms of gaining new perspectives and insights on all kinds of areas of worship ministry. I was taught and corrected. I was humbled and exposed. And I came away with a strengthened vision and a new excitement for what I do.

I’ll be back next year.

It was just a half-day for me today. Well, a little less than that actually. My wife had surgery on her hand this morning, so I didn’t roll on down to the conference until 4pm or so. Thanks to everyone who prayed for her, by the way. The doc says it all went well. I have gross mid-operation pictures of the open hand. It’s awesome. I’ll blog them later. You won’t want to miss that.

So I ended up rolling in late to Rich and Los’s workshop on using social media to lead your team. Los was mid-stream on Mogulus when I got there, and gleaned several good ideas from the last half of the session.

It was good to finally meet Los in the flesh. Since his blog is in the top 1500 most linked-to blogs in in the world, and he generally knows what he’s talking about when using social media effectively, I regard him as being amongst the authority when it comes to that stuff. Blogging royalty, if you will. Anyway, I hope to hang with him for a few more minutes before he takes off back to the ATL.

Impromptu and accidental dinner with a few good men and then it was on to Big Daddy Weave. Frankly, these guys are the white man’s Christian version of Hootie & The Blowfish. They were kicking. Really funky, tight sound, and they know how to put on a performance. They were great. I didn’t dig Kirk Franklin so much though; just not my style. I went to the resource center instead and picked up a few things - “The Way of a Worshipper” by Buddy Owens, “God Songs” by Paul Baloche, “Worship Band” resource pack by Jason Carson, and of course the obligatory conference t-shirt. We love merch in my house.

I’m particularly looking forward to tomorrow’s session on bringing contrast and balance to songwriting. It’s being taught by Adam Watts (amongst a couple of other people), and he’s an incredibly prolific songwriter who is producing audible gold right now. Can’t wait to learn from a master.

And of course tomorrow brings the last opportunity for tweeters and bloggers to get together. I think something is happening at lunch time, but keep your eye on twitter and the official conference blog for any more rumours or details.

It’ll be a good final conference day. See you tomorrow!

@EnglishGuy

Just a quick recap from today’s workshop sessions. I’m one of those ‘track hoppers’ who never follow a complete track but go to whatever sessions I think will be the most beneficial.

First up was ‘Preparing to Lead Worship‘ with Troy Kennedy. Lots of little gems from this, but a few the highlights were…
- Have a spirit that is pure, seasoned, and enriched
- Excellence is bringing the best sacrifice of praise I have right now
- The leader who is most prepared is the one most used by God

Second session was ‘Comedy in Worship‘ with Craig Hodgkins. Unusual topic, but incredible insightful.
- Good humor is ecumenical
- Use it appropriately; I can destroy the moment if used unwisely
- Adhere to the ‘Seven Discern-’ables’; Suitable, Applicable, Relatable, Unpredictable, Memorable, Achievable, and Disposable.

And the third session I attended was Debby Kerner Rettino’s ‘Training and Mentoring Worship Leaders‘. Another treasure trove of good insight.
- Be available; mentoring takes time and lots of it
- Develop trust; affirm the things that should be repeated
- Release them; recognize that they do not belong to you, they belong to God.

Unfortunately I will miss most of Wednesday as my wife is having surgery on her hand (please pray for her!). I hope to get back for the last session and any blogger/tweeter meet and greet that might happen.

If anyone is going to the two Social Media workshops at 1:30pm and 3:30pm, can you take notes and send them on to me?

Later,

@EnglishGuy

There’s something new going on this year. The conference has embraced social media. Brilliant. I’m sure a bunch of other bloggers are going to summarize the various ways of keeping up, but I’ll summarize here also. Here are the various conference Interwebs…

Twitter: Any Tweeters out there can join in the fun. Tag your tweets with ‘#PDWC08′. And follow people who are here (such as me, Rich, Steve, Bobby, and Eric).

Flickr: You can see photos that have been uploaded, or upload some yourself. Login with the username ‘worshipconference’ and the password ‘purpose’.

YouTube. Videos from the conference are posted here, and you can also upload your own. Login with the username ‘worshipconference’ and the password ‘purpose’.

Conference Blog: Rich and Carlos are mediating the blogging frenzy. Even if Bobby keep threatening to launch are subversive competition conference blog.

And of course you can always check back here also; I’ll be blogging my way through the conference.

That’s all for now from @EnglishGuy.

To say I have been anticipating this conference with high expectation would be an understatement. Last year’s conference was powerful for me and for my team’s ministry and I have higher expectation this year that God will speak to me. The fact that a good chunk of my team are here as well just adds to reasons why I’m glad to be here; this continues to unify my team, and that’s only a good thing.

The conference had an evening kick-off this year with a concert from Adam Watts, Meredith Andrews, and Leeland. Frankly they all rocked. Pretty much everything Adam does rocks anyway, and even though he only got a three song allowance on stage, he and his band were completely excellent.

I’d not heard Meredith Andrews before, but she certainly has a good sound. She leans a tad towards being country music, and so I didn’t completely dig it, but there was an incredible moment midway through her set where she stepped back from the mic and everyone just kept on singing. There’s something very moving about the sound of a few thousand singers and musicians all singing together. It was a very intense and sweet moment.

And then, of course, there is Leeland…



First the obvious observations. As a band, they rock. Utterly and completely. A phenomenally polished sound. Also, Leeland himself doesn’t look a day older than 15. I was thrown by his comment that the band needed gas money; I swear he’s not old enough to drive.

Less obviously, Leeland have something special going on with their music. I know a few people have taken a dislike to their newest material, but having experienced Leeland live, there is a natural thematic progression and expression to their songs when strung together. They are the complete live act. And absolutely freaking brilliant.

After the evening’s music had finished, I had the pleasure of hanging with Eric, Rich, Bobby, Mike, Jeremy, Erin, Ellie, and Steve for a bit. Great people, good time. Hope to hang with one/some/all of them again before the conference is over.

The conference has a more official blog this year than last year - Worship Conference Blog - so check it for more info.

And if you read this and are at the conference, drop me a line, let’s meet.

More later. English Guy, out.

I’m pumped for this year’s conference, especially because a large chunk of my team are coming with me this time.



Who else is going?

Today has been a bit more low key than the first two days, mostly because the general session seemed to have less of an expectant atmosphere to it, teaching wise, than Tuesday and Wednesday. However, it was still good. At the end of the first session, Kay Warren spoke for a bit and introduced the Global AIDS effort and promo’d the conference they are having in November, and also Phil Wickham played a pretty decent set. The highlight for me in the general session has to be hearing Paul Baloche and Doyle Dykes hitting some bluegrass style worship with guitar-making-genius Bob Taylor (of Taylor Guitars) on banjo. Not entirely my cup of tea, but it was still pretty excellent. And frankly, my Taylor guitar is a joy to play every time I pick it up.

Oh, and also really like these tribal guys from Rwanda…

Big shout out to Bobby over at My Worship Revolution for finding me and introducing himself to me this afternoon. It was excellent to meet him, and he took some video of me for some reason which I’m sure will appear over on his most excellent blog at some point. Check it out - My Worship Revolution. As much evil as there exists on the Internet, this is one of those examples where it’s used for good. Through blogging and reading each other’s thoughts, we created a great networking opportunity and took it. It’s amazing how different parts of Christs body can be connected in this way.

Also this afternoon I played two sets with The Christian Steffen Band over on one of the day stages. It went great and it was excellent to see some friends and family come and check us out - thanks guys - and also to anyone who stopped to listen or grabbed a CD or both, thanks. As fun as it is to rock out a bit and entertain, we do it for God’s glory and not ours, so we hope you were/are/become blessed a little bit by the music.

Now I’m absolutely wiped. It’s been a long three days. There are some concerts and stuff going on tonight that I may or may not stay for. I got rather sunburned today and could use a dip in formaldehyde or liquid nitrogen. Failing that, some aloe vera lotion would do. But in spite of feeling physically tired, I am pumped. PUMPED! And here’s where I draw my conclusion and write my final ‘Notes from Saddleback’.

Here’s the deal. God is alive. What do I mean? Well, aside from the obvious, I mean that God wants us to be about His life. What we do is serious. Very serious. What we do is a matter of life or death, literally. There are people out there who are facing an eternal death. We NEED to be about God’s work on this planet because there are people out there that don’t know that God is alive and loves them just as they are and wants a relationship with them. It’s our job to get the word (and the Word) out there and be His ambassadors.

God is raising up a generation of worshipers all over this globe that are going to be a part of massive revival in these days and times. The earth needs Jesus more than ever, and I for one want to be at the head of the line to get the work done. So, even though I’m physically tired, there is a new energy and vitality and enthusiasm for sharing God’s gift…His amazing, unending, perfect, beautiful gift…with those who don’t know it. I am pumped that He has chosen me to do this. I am pumped that he has equipped me to do this. I am pumped that He has ordained me to do this. He’s given me His Word, His creativity and artistry, and His life. What more do I need?

Rest will come later, when my body gives up and my physical heart stops beating. The Bible says those who wait on the Lord will have their strength renewed. So it’s time to wait. It’s time to get renewed. It’s time to rise. It’s time to be about His business.

Peace like a river,

James

I attended a breakout session yesterday that was presented by a couple of the leaders from Generation Unleashed. The topic was “Worship Leading Techniques II” and promised to be a honey pot of tips and tricks for the worship leader. It was really my only disappointment of the conference thus far. The reason for this was that all the techniques that were covered were, in my opinion, really basic and would fall in to what I would call the category of prerequisites to being a worship leader. It’s great to be reminded of these things, but when you’re at a conference that is comprised mainly of worship leaders, this was somewhat surprising.

The other thing that was disappointing was that the presenter wasn’t very good at presenting. Her script was rattled off at about a thousand miles per hour, and I missed certain Bible references etc. that I would liked to have noted.

But in the midst of this, she said one thing regarding the much-debated issue of stage presence. She said “You can not and should not force someone to be something that they are not.”

This is a line worth some serious consideration. While there is definite value in the display of joy and the visualization of our worship when we’re leading from a stage, at what point do you draw the line and say “this is more performance than authentic worship”? It’s important to realize that some people will never be the happy, jumpy, clappy, display-my-worship worship leaders that good stage presence often demands. Some people will peak at simply smiling and clapping. The issue then becomes one of ministry standards - does someone’s handicap in this area mean excluding them from a worship team? I don’t know.

This is great timing because I had a meeting with my worship team on Tuesday evening to cast a bit of a future vision and to thank them for all their hard work since we launched the church 5 months ago. One thing we’ll be doing is creating a ‘Game Tape’ of our services; filming our service then watching it back without volume to look specifically at the area of stage presence and begin setting and agreeing on some standards and expectations. Given that I “can not and should not force someone to be something that they are not”, my initial thoughts and perspective on this are changing.

Anyway, back to the conference. I’m not sure who’s lined up for this morning’s general sessions, so I’ll post more about it later. Also today is the day that Christian, Danny, Joey and I play on one of the day stages. If you’re at the conference, come and check us out on the stage in front of the Children’s Ministry Building at 2:30pm and 4:00pm.

Finally, a shout out to Scott and Kris from Austin, TX, who I met yesterday. They’re fellow church planters and it was good to get aligned and allied with those who are in the trenches and on the front lines alongside, together supporting each other through the challenges and trials that come with planting a church.

Here’s some pictures from today’s general sessions…

The Worship Center:

Generation Unleashed, the other Hillsong United. ‘Cept they’re not from down under. They’re from Oregon…er…up-over?:

Put your hands in the air like you just don’t care:

Aloha! The kind of interpretive dance I…er…shy away from:

And now add the mozzarella:

Now let’s see how it should be done. The guys and gals from Mosaic/Urban Poets:

Phil Jackson Jr., not on American Idol today:

Abe Laboriel, tearing it up on the bass:

Sheila E, tearing it up on the electronic congas:

Wow, what a day so far.

This morning’s first general session was with Erwin McManus from Mosaic. He brought some of his creative arts team with him, and together with Erwin, they communicated this idea of “Scribble” (Scribble that!); or to put it in language we all understand, God’s plan for us as the body of Christ and as individuals in Christ isn’t to live within the strictures of a line or a box that society paints for us, but rather a plan for greatness.

However, what happened this morning for me was far more impressive than the message. Those of you who know me and/or serve with me know that one of my pet peeves is interpretive dance. Most interpretive dance and dance ministry that I’ve been exposed to has been unbearably corny and ridiculously cheesy. Scratch that. Replace the word ‘most’ with the word ‘all’. As a result, I’ve avoided it like the plague.

This morning, the guys and girls from Mosaic caused me to change my mind on the matter. Interpretive dance is an excellent form of creative communication, IF (and it’s a huge IF) it’s done right. And this team did it right. Their dance was not just interpretive, it said something. It communicated. It had a storyline. It was good. No, it was excellent. And it provided a visual hook to what Erwin was talking about.

What made it great was the balance they brought to it. It wasn’t just dance. They had elements of a skit, some musical type song and dialogue (think West Side Story’s “Officer Krupky” scene outside the drug store), a whole load of comedy, and a lot of fun and excellence. It was engaging, and it was modern. Oh, and the dance wasn’t the prancey, flowery, grin and bear it dance. It was modern, cool, and enjoyable. It was dance without the mozzarella corn cob.

I’ve got to get up to Mosaic sometime soon on a Saturday night and see how they use these elements in a service.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, the second general session this morning was a musician’s dream. Abe Laboriel, Paul Jackson Jr, Sheila E, Kirk Whalum, and Tom Brooks, all on the stage together, having one big jam. These are some of the most incredible musicians around today. If I were to compose a superband of musicians I’d love to work with, this is pretty much the line up. Add Greg Alexander, Abe Laboriel Jr and/or Carter Beuford to that list and that’s pretty much it. Absolutely incredible. Musicianship like I’ve never seen before. There was one weird moment, though, when some guy named Morris was supposed to come up and sing and he was nowhere to be found. Eventually they found him, but then he was joined by Rick Muchow, David Pack, and an unknown lady dressed like the Ice Queen from Narnia (seriously, down to the white fur coat and turkish delight coloured hair). It was just a very weird moment for me.

A little while ago, I attended a session on using the Internet to get music out there. One thing I’d like to do someday is to sell some of my songs to other artists for them to record and perform, so this session was great info. And as much as I hate to say this, but I think I’m going have to make friends with MySpace if I stand a chance of ever doing that.

Tsssk. I hate being alone in my anti-MySpace principles. Grrr!

More later!