Maundy Thursday

Tonight I will be part of a team leading worship for a Maundy Thursday service. The emphasis will be on the shedding of blood; communion. I can't wait. Really.

There's another point of emphasis we could have pursued. It was on the Thursday of Passover that Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Have you pondered the magnitude of that act lately? 


The One who left the glory, not of an earthly palace, but of heaven... the One who not only left there but reigned (and reigns!) there... the One who was with part of the party at creation when feet went from imagination to implementation... the One who, according to Colossians, is holding our feet onto our bodies... That One, knelt at the feet of fishermen and a tax collector, at the feet of those striving to be faithful and one waiting to commit betrayal.

That One. Jesus.

He came to seek and to serve.

He washes our feet in ways we'll never see, never know, never imagine.

And then He asks us to do the same.

"You ought to wash each other's feet."

I don't know about you, but I find that the times I have literally washed someone's feet to remind me that it isn't beneath me to serve anyone, anytime, in any way. Not that I always get it right. It's why I need to be reminded.

So as you consider this day how you will remember what Jesus has done for us, I encourage you to think about what you might do for others.

Worship Pastor? How will you serve your teams? Your Pastor? Your congregation? 

Worship leader? How will you serve your Worship Pastor? Your Pastor? Your fellow worshipers?

Worshiper? How will you serve?

It's simply doing what Jesus commanded.

Oh yeah, that's what the word Maundy means, command. Seems a good time to remember.

All About Worship

For about 4 years I've been listening to the podcast from Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada called All About Worship. The content is toward contemporary worship models (they record a well known artists most episodes) and leans toward songwriters. It's been a refreshing practice for me. This latest interview is with Kristyn Getty, a young lady my family thinks the world of! Among my other favorites have the conversations with Kristyn's husband Keith, Stuart Townend, Bob Kauflin, Paul Baloche, and a bunch of folks I might not have heard of otherwise.

Well I'm excited to take today's blog post to redirect your attention to the AAW website where I've just been "published" as writer of a devotional thought. I was very excited about the piece when I wrote it. And rather than include it here, I'll just ask you to click on this link to read.

If you're much into the contemporary worship scene at all and aren't familiar with AAW podcast/website, I hope you'll find them a source of encouragement!

Strength Determiner?

I've been pondering something for a few weeks. Maybe you can help me discern its truth?

If you've read much of my blog, you know I prefer the positive side of things, encouragement, hope, etc. But today I want to offer a word of caution.

I think the church may be largely impotent in our culture because of how impotent the object of our worship is.

Let me try again.

I think maybe we are failing miserably at bringing God's Kingdom to earth because Sunday mornings reflect so little of His Kingdom.

Upsetting?

I'm increasingly convinced that marriages are failing, life is not cherished, and addictions are prevailing inside the church because what we really worship on Sundays is, in the spiritual realm, pitiful.

I wonder if you're steaming mad, mildly curious or just confused.

Perhaps this will help.

Idols are powerless hunks of wood.

North American Idols are powerless human creations.

The most prevalent idol--or object of our worship--in the US church is the worshiper.

And if any sociological observation can be easily demonstrated over the last half century in the US, it is that we are powerless to change ourselves.

The incredible irony is that the One true and living God, Jesus Christ, is the source of unfathomable power. He restores marriages, He teaches us to sanctify life--all life, He breaks addictions. He can--and did--bring God's Kingdom from heaven to earth.

While I am increasingly fearful that this is an accurate description of the churches I see around the country, I'm not as sure how to break the idol of self in churches so comfortably nestled in our consumeristic culture.

Except perhaps, that we return our attention to one of God's top ten list: "You must not have any other God but me." (Exodus 20:3) 

As worship leaders, we can keep pointing people to God. That means pointing them away from music, from technology, from worship leaders, from ourselves.

What about you? Agree with my concern? Have any suggestions to offer?

Saturdays are for...

This one is easy.

Family. Family. Family.

Take care of your home. Run errands. Be together.

If you're single, connect with your family of origin. Or connect with friends. Or get adopted into a family. 

Well, okay, you and I probably have to be prepared to spend some time fixing whatever church stuff isn't unfolding like we'd planned.

If you've been leading worship for any time at all, you know that regardless of how well prayed over, planned and prepared everyone is through the week, stuff happens. Life happens. People get sick. They get called in to work. They have a death in the family. Etc. 

Also, find time to be in prayer for Sunday. Maybe you go to the church alone and prayer-walk the room. Maybe the family sits in the parking lot and prays. Maybe you meet some friends to spend some time praying that the platform becomes a platform for transforming truth. 

So Saturday is the day to be flexible. To trust that God knew about the things that were going to have to be changed at the last minute--trust in the work we have done all week long--and then hold our plans loosely.

Just one more thing about Saturdays.

Family. Family. Family.

Give your spouse and/or children attention. Do something out of the ordinary. Take a walk. Play some Rook. Laugh. Unpack (debrief) the week prior. Talk through the week upcoming. Pray. 

And enjoy these gifts from God just as you enjoyed His gift of Sabbath the day before.

That's a pretty fair description of my Saturdays, I think. Seldom the same, but always the same. How about you?

Fridays are for...

Rest.

Sabbath.

Non-Sunday thru Thursday stuff.

I stink at taking time off. Really. It's one of the things I'm worst at. Honestly, I'm bad at several things, but I am terrible at taking a day off.

And I'm convinced the reasons I'm horrible about doing it are the very reasons God is so insistent about us all taking it.

Sabbath is not just mentioned once or twice tucked away in the minutia of the Torah--Old Testament law. It appears 154 times in the NIV translation. Lest we think it is a "before Jesus" concept, there are 58 references in the New Testament, including Jesus' teaching that Sabbath is a gift for mankind: Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man..." (Mark 2:27)

For me, the lack of ability to receive the gift of Sabbath reveals how far I still have to go in allowing my pride to be sacrificed with Christ (Gal 2:20). To be blunt, I tend to believe that if I take a day off, the world will not function the way it needs to. As if I'm the reason for the world operating ideally--my world, my family's world, my work world, my church world, etc. 

But it isn't my world, is it? I am invited and empowered to be part of building the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of Rod.

And so I battle week to week, month to month, year to year, to take a day off.

Not because I deserve it, but because I don't.

Not because I am not needed, but because I must remember that God is needed.

Not because I can't get everything done on the other six days, but because without a day of Sabbath I am less likely to get it all done, regardless of how much I work.

Maybe your Sabbath will be Monday or Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. I honestly don't think it matters what day we receive the gift of Sabbath from God, but I do think the teaching of scripture is as clear here as with other parts of the Christ-follower's journey: we're better off when we receive God's gifts.

OK. Your turn. Agree? Push back? Argue? GO!

Thursdays are for...

Hope this is helping you think through ways to make the most of your time each day of the week.

Before I talk about Thursdays I need to let you know that Friday was my day off. My Sabbath. I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Because Friday was off, Thursday was spent doing three big things:
1) Evaluating and cleaning up from Wednesday night and resetting those spaces for Sunday.
2) Finalizing any lingering details for Sunday. People. Bulletin. Etc.
3) Looking again at the calendar (like on Monday) to see what was coming next week, and depending on what might be, doing some advance work.

Thursdays tended to require/provide a little more "alone time" due to the intensity of Wednesday night. I love to be with people, but I also enjoy time to think, ponder, and do some administrative tasks. 

You're up. What makes your Thursdays most effective?

Wednesdays are for...

Continuing the work-week-rhythm conversation, what did I do on Wednesdays?

First, I'd get to the office later. Most of the time I'd be at church until 9 or 10 on Wednesday nights, so in order to be at my best for an evening with people, I would try to wait until at least 10 am to start my work day.

I also learned to find a time between arriving and starting the evening of activities to leave the building. That helped me be fresh and energized to lead the rehearsals.

Well, I am most comfortable working on things up close, not far away, so my Wednesdays are typically spent getting ready for Wednesday nights. 

Rehearsal plans for whatever rehearsals I had. (depending on the church I was serving that'd be choir, orchestra, praise band, vocal team, etc.)
     Sometimes those rehearsals would involve playing song samples from a CD, something from itunes, or video, so getting those things ready
Room prep for rehearsals
Think about how to do a devotional connected to the music and/or prayer time
Sometimes a handout for the choir, depending on the season
Contact a person or two to invite them or check on them (if they are already part of a group)
Revisit the plan for Sunday and make sure non-musical elements were getting addressed

Your turn. How do you make the most of Wednesdays?

Tuesdays are for...

As I mentioned yesterday (Monday), I don't do this as much to offer solutions as to begin conversations. This whole idea was prompted when a friend talked with me about experimenting to find the best rhythm in a new ministry setting.

So on Tuesdays I would typically...
--attend staff meeting
--have a lunch meeting
--prepare a weekly e-mail to those in worship ministry
--start planning Wednesday night's rehearsal(s)
--lots of correspondence

Your turn. What are Tuesdays best for in your weekly work rhythm?

Super short post

Christianity is not only about what happens TO us. It is also about what happens IN us. It is then, very much, about what WE happen TO.

How does this impact

Evangelism?

Forgiveness?

Enemy-love?

We are not the sum of what happens to us. That has been crucified with Christ. Christ is in us. He wants to ACTIVELY seek and save the lost, forgive those who don’t deserve it, and He wants to love and pray for our enemies.

What Key?

This is a really important question, right?

We sure want to make sure, for example, that all of the instrumentalists are playing in the same key. That makes it important.

But there are a couple of other things I've learned through the years that I wonder if all of y'all consider too.

First, keys have personality. Seriously.

B major is way brighter and happier than it's cousin, Bb major. Bb tends to be sort of warm and serious. In general, the more sharps, the brighter. The more flats, the darker. So if the text/feel of a song is to supposed to be energetic and happy, it probably ought to be in sharps, not flats. Conversely, if it is to be peaceful and tender, it probably ought to have a couple of flats or more. So to take a song up a half-step or down a half-step might make it easier for a guitar player, trumpet player or singer, but it also has implications for how the song communicates the text.

Second, the range of a song--which is determined by its key--can affect how engaged the congregation is. I hear of more and more worship teams who choose a key based on who is leading it. That is a significant consideration, to be sure. But if we choose keys based on how good one person sounds leading rather than how well dozens or hundreds (or thousands!) of people can sing, we've mixed up the priority of gathering as a faith community for worship.

Most people won't sing above an E (top of the treble clef), at least not often. So if there is a song that spend much time that high or higher, you are choosing to leave out people in your congregation. More people can sing lower, of course, but it is awfully difficult to sing loudly in the lower part of our voice. So if you want people to be able to sing loudly, don't choose a key that is low enough to be led well but not high enough to be sung out by the congregation.

If that doesn't make sense, let me know. I'd love to be able to say it better.

And if you disagree, great! I'd love to read your thoughts!

Mondays are for...

I'd like to try this again.  A combination of circumstances meant that I only got the Monday of this series posted. So to remind us, here's the one from a week ago. Tomorrow, creatively enough, will be about Tuesdays. 

So... most of us, I think, develop a work rhythm.

We have things we do as soon as we get in the office, things we do right before we leave, recurring meetings, rehearsals, etc.

I'd imagine we also have things we do each day of the week. My hope is that one weekday is, for you, a Sabbath. More about that later.

But this week I'd like to share a few of the things that were regularly a part of my schedule. I don't do this as much to offer solutions as to begin conversations. This whole idea was prompted when one of my good friends talked about struggling to find his best rhythm in a new ministry setting.

So on Mondays I would typically do these things:
--clean up from Sunday
--informally evaluate how things went the day before
--look over what is needed to make the coming Sunday happen
     (sometimes prompting quite a list)
--spend time with my calendar, determining what needed to happen to make the week happen
--long term planning

How about you? What are the essentials of your Monday?

Good to Great?

I've just finished--this morning--the business book by Jim Collins (my cover says 3 million copies have been sold, so I suppose many of you may have read it as well) entitled Good to Great.

It was an interesting book for a guy from Churchworld to read. Certainly not my first business book, but it was perhaps one of the most enlightening. I learned a good bit about business, had some leadership lessons confirmed, and had a couple of specific insights about leading a worship ministry.

I was introduced to this first thought by my friend George Yates, who gave abundant credit to Collins: "Good is the enemy of great."

Ponder that when it comes to our Sunday morning gatherings. If it is good, and we feel good about it being good, we will seldom be compelled to make it great. On the other hand, if we relentlessly pursue greatness, good will be a nice place to stop along the way. (I blogged about this a bit in my series "Should Worship Be Great" back in October.)

And here's where leadership comes in: the leader has to continually cast vision, model doing things "greatly," and create a culture where greatness is the goal. Like I wrote about in the above mentioned series, we don't do this because it is a business model, but because it is a Biblical model.

I do find it very just interesting that I was confronted by it in a business model more than in the churches I've been around.

A second helpful concept was what Collins and his team call the Flywheel effect. Bottom line, moving the same direction for a long time develops and increases momentum. In our church culture, where we seem to be re-inventing our core beliefs or our purpose statement or our mission every few years, it makes it terribly difficult to build momentum. Be careful, though, momentum in the wrong direction is just as hard to break as is momentum in the right one. My takeaway: we need greater stability in staffing, in common understanding of our purpose, and in everyone pushing the same direction. We need less attachment to the systems than the core values.

Example? Love God. Love others. Those are core values. But carpet color, musical style, and committee structure are supposed to be the means toward fulfilling our values, not the values themselves. That seems particularly relevant to the church in our day.

I highlighted very, very little in this book. That surprised me. I typically find things to quote/reference in whatever I'm reading. This is one of those passages: "Yes, turning good into great takes energy, but the building of momentum adds more energy back into the pool than it takes out. Conversely, perpetuating mediocrity is an inherently depressing process and drains much more energy out of the pool than it puts back in." 

I was also challenged by learning about the Level 5 leader, the Hedgehog Concept, and very deeply challenged by A Culture of Discipline. If you have an interest in business (especially leadership) I would encourage you to check out the book.

And if you would like some help moving your worship ministry from good to great, I would be honored to come partner with you in whatever way would serve your church best! My cell is 502.229.0114 and my email is RodEEllis@aol.com.

What do we lead?

When you think of yourself as a worship leader, what do you lead?

Music? (Song Leader)

Worship? (Worship Leader)

People? (Church Leader)

This distinction has been clamoring for attention in the back of my mind for a while. It hints at an older blog post, but goes a step further.

I'm VERY curious to read your observations.

I am usually asked to lead music for events. Revivals. Services. Meetings. And it seems right, doesn't it? I am a musical guy trained pretty thoroughly in music--a BA in Vocal Performance from Georgetown College and a Masters in Church Music from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I've been taught music theory, had singing lessons, even a pretty intense level of study of hymns.

Sometimes I've been invited to lead worship. Those tend to be the invitations from folks more up on terminology. And there seems to be a difference. The training I have as a student of the Bible and theology come through. I generally feel more freedom to pray, lead others to pray, introduce songs with scripture, etc. Again, it seems right. I chose to be trained in a way that goes far beyond making music.

But the more I think about what I do, and the more comfortable I get in the stride of doing it, the more I'm convinced of the importance of leading people. Not music, unless it is leading people to make music. Not worship, unless I am encouraging people to worship. People. My job is to lead people.

I yearn to lead the People of God into the Presence of God to celebration the Provision of God through the Person of God in Christ Jesus.

This drives the way I choose music, prepare music, and pay attention to the folks in the room.

The people.

That's the kind of leadership I yearn to offer.

How about you? Does that resonate with you other worship leaders?

One Creative Process 16, Final thoughts

I sent all 15 of the previous blog posts, the entire series, to the members of the creative team I served with at Memorial Baptist. I was deeply encouraged by how they responded. I've been gone more than 3 years, and due to financial challenges the church has not been able to bring in another worship pastor. 

As you might imagine, the results of that could have been devastating. I served with those folks for 7 years. The worship ministry, like the congregation, changed significantly during that season. 

And the thing my (former) team asked me to share?

They were equipped to go on. As one of those dear friends wrote, "There is no way we could have continued the culture of worship our people desired if we had not served as a team. The reason the next Sunday after your final Sunday as our worship leader felt no different as far as style was because you never made the worship ministry about you. We were still worshipping the same God who you pointed us to and helped us connect with weekly and we were able to step out on the platform with confidence in our ability to lead worship because you had trained and prepared us for that moment. MBC still benefits from your team approach today."

As touched as I am by the kind words of my friends, one of the things that most compelled me to share this entire concept with you is that a church still worships effectively, even without a staff person to lead. My conviction became our conviction, and is now the church's conviction.

I often joked that one of my goals was to work myself out of a job, to equip so many others to do what I did that I wasn't necessary. I suppose that in some ways, mission accomplished!

Lest this cause those of you who are worship pastors concern, I think the church would love to have me back. There were dozens of unfulfilled visions I had for the community, the church, and the worship ministry that could have kept me gainfully employed. And through which we could have expanded God's kingdom. 

In fact, the development of a team is exactly what freed me up to seek hard after God so He could impart new possibilities to me! 

So are you ready? Then do it! Start a team, even if it is only 3 of you. And allow the Creator to pour vision into you for your city, your church, your worship ministry!


If you'd like help walking through this process, that's why I've created Worship Coach consulting. I want to serve hundreds of churches. Not to impose a former model from a former church, but to help reveal the best next model for your church. Shoot me an email (RodEEllis@aol.com) or give me a call (502.229.0114).

One Creative Process 15, ROAD TRIPS!

After the team was in tact and getting our feet under us, we attended the Worship Arts Conference at Willow Creek, near Chicago. It was a powerful time. Seriously, it rocked my world; our world. We enjoyed every aspect of the event.

But the van ride home was the most helpful part.

It was over those 6-7 hours that we processed what we'd seen. It's where we figured out how to apply what we saw to where we "lived and moved and had our being."

And sometime between that conference and time to sign up for the next one, I started thinking about alternatives. There weren't any conferences that were affordable and available to us--that I could find anyway--and so I came up with one of my very favorite ideas ever!

Why not create our own conference? I knew my friend and mentor Dave Bullock would have much to speak into us from his (then) position at Elmbrook Church in Wisconsin. And between Frankfort, KY and the Milwaukee area, there were lots of great churches. So I started researching online. I just looked at a map, thought about people and churches I knew, then started looking for churches I didn't yet know. I visited dozens and dozens of web sites. I'd go to their "worship" and "what to expect" pages. If it looked like they were doing the kinds of things we were doing but were further along, I'd send an email to the worship pastor and see if we could take them out for a meal.

So we did it. I had tour t-shirts made up. I planned a couple of team-building fun events (Dave & Busters, Community Theater performances, Art Museums, movie, baseball game, etc.) to help us have a good time. I planned some of our meeting time to come up with questions we'd want to ask. I created a notebook so we could each take notes from our unique perspectives. I made hotel reservations--or we stayed in the homes of family and friends.

As much as I LOVED the Willow Arts Conference, this road trip was better for our team. We talked with some of the finest leaders, thinkers, and Christ-followers in the nation. They didn't think of themselves that way, but we were inspired, encouraged, energized, and equipped by our 5 days on the road.

So we did it again the next year--6 churches in 5 days. And it was even better.

I'm sure this isn't for everyone, and I'm not sure I'd want to do it every year, but it is an idea I highly commend to you to filter through your place, your personality and your team. Then do something with them. Maybe it is a 2 day trip. Maybe a weekend. Maybe you just go to two places on one Saturday. And perhaps there are only 2 or 3 of you who go. It doesn't matter. But getting outside of  your context will almost certainly give you better perspective on your context.

In case you're wondering, here are the churches we visited:
in 2007:

• Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio
• Fairhaven Church in Dayton, Ohio
• Chapel Rock Church in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Harvest Bible Church in Chicago, Illinois
• Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin

and in 2008:

• Grace Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee
• NewSpring Church in Anderson, South Carolina
• Mosaic Church in Easley, South Carolina
• Beach Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
• North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia

The creativity of these places fueled the creativity in our place. I think doing something similar may fuel the creativity in your soul, in your ministry, and in your church. If you'd like to hire a Worship Coach to help with this process (not to be a travel agent, though) I have a pretty good idea where you could find one!