Community is something we all long for.

Building this atmosphere of loving community must begin with the leader. What can a worship pastor do to intentionally build community? The first thing we must do is model living in community ourselves. Here are some suggestions as you seek to shepherd your team into a loving community:

1)     Relationships must be a priority. Before community can be a core value for our team, it must be a core value of our own life. This is something that will trickle down and as it does, it will teach. For many musicians, this can be a challenge as they may be much more task oriented. It can feel like a “waste of time” to take precious time away from rehearsing and “doing” to simply be with people for a moment. Some simple ways to do this are to go to lunch, go hang out at Starbucks after rehearsal, to remember birthdays and to show interest in your team as individuals.

2)     Be aware that there is no substitute for spending time together. It is not “efficient” for sure, and spending time together will take precious hours from your day. It will take time you do not have. It might take a while, but I encourage you to just keep hanging in there and loving your team, inviting them into your life and taking the time to walk into theirs. Host a songwriting night and play together for fun. Invite a family on your team over for dinner or to watch a ballgame. Invite them to celebrate with you for birthdays. The opportunities are endless but there really is no substitute for spending time with one another.

3)     We must take the time to intentionally get to know our teams. Where have they come from? What are their dreams? What are silly things about them? What are their strengths? Weaknesses? What about their families? What is their story? Get to know their personalities and how to best communicate with them. Take the time to get to know their families and to love them as well. Know their names and a little about what is happening in their lives. Know where your team members work and what they do all day long. Know their sorrows and their pain as well as the highlights of their lives. See and celebrate them as individuals. Love them for who they are, not just for what they do to serve. 

4)     The role of “worship leader” is a spiritual role of pastoral leadership. We must be just as concerned about the spiritual growth of our team members as we are about their ability to learn new music and perform well. We must be willing to encourage, challenge and teach them as they grow in Christ and as worshipers. We can’t do this without knowing them, without spending time together and without caring about them as individuals. We cannot do this without taking time to build relationships.

5)     Encourage your team. If they feel appreciated and loved they are more likely to open up to one another, so take the time to say thank you, to send a note once in a while to acknowledge how they are serving, to pat them on the back and to keep before them the awesome reality that what they are doing has eternal significance. Brag on them publicly and to their families. Say thank you in front of others. Make sure that they know that they matter.

6)     Building spiritual community requires that leaders pray for their teams. Our teams need to know we pray for them specifically, by name. They also need to SEE and HEAR us pray for them. This can open the door for them to begin to pray for one another.

7)     This would seem to go without saying, but be there for your team. You are their pastor. Care for them. When they are in difficulty, offer help. When they have a tragedy, stay by their side. Assure them that you are praying for them through it all. Walk with them through the difficult realities of life in order to build relationships that weather the changes and storms of all of life’s seasons. Our team members need to know we care.

 I hope you’ll take some time to implement some of these as you lead your team this week. We are building relationships that are truly eternally significant! If you’re looking for some creative ideas for specific ways to help your group develop deeper relationships with one another, I’ll be covering that in my next article. So stay tuned for “Part 2”!

 Now, go call one of your musicians and invite them over for the game on Saturday, offer childcare so they can go out on a date with their spouse, or offer to treat them to a cup of java at Starbucks. Spend some time this week getting to know your team. You’ll be glad you did.

My wife started singing a song under her breath as she cleaned the kitchen.

My daughter Celeste, who had been singing a different song, soon began to sing the same song as Rita- again, this was unconscious on both their parts. They were no more aware of the singing than they were of breathing.

Sometimes Rita will say to me, “Guess what song is on my mind.”

Then she will sing some song that I wish I had never heard, some silly commercial or cheesy love song from the 80’s and… I can’t get that song out of my mind! I have to consciously replace it with another song and even then, when I least expect it, the cheesy song shows up in my brain (and sometimes on my lips) again.

Why?

Because God has given us music that comes with the gift of memory built-in.

So we can remember beer jingles and TV themes? No, so we can remember His Word and His goodness.

I think that music and memory is so engrained in us that we often take it for granted and we forget how powerful an influence it has on us. I want my mind and heart to be filled with the music of heaven, the sounds of the Kingdom of God.

Maybe that is one reason the scripture says “…be filled with the Spirit, singing and making melody in your heart- singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”
Spread the sounds of the Kingdom.

Godrest and Godspeed,
David Baroni

There is no “maybe” in communication. It either happens or it does not. We can’t hope we communicated. we can’t wonder if we communicated. We need to be clear and absolute in getting the details across.

As a leader, this is my weakness. Details. I am a passionate guy. I get creative and I go for it. This can be very difficult for my team if they are not understanding where we are going. If I’ve laid out a clear vision, then it is all about the process to get there.

Procedure is a necessary evil. There needs to be black and white in the details. When there is gray, it is not detail. Vision is often lofty. Vision can be very creative. Procedure however, works best with the administrative portion of the brain. Of course creativity can come in how to implement the process.

When I’ve communicated my vision, I want the team to stay focused. How do I keep them focused? I get focused first and then pass that along.

I have always appreciated and agreed with the statement, “I will never ask my team to do something I am not wiling to do myself”. Amen! If I haven’t done it, I can’t teach it. I have to be organized and focused. I have to understand how to properly manage my own life, before I can manage someone else. This is tough for me. I am the creative type with a little bit of administration mixed in. I’m learning.

How do we get organized? There are so many resources to “get your life in order”. I am not going to talk about how to do this. I am horribly under qualified and I am reading the latest books and using the newest software, just like you. 

So how does one communicate?

I choose to actively participate and engage in the lives of my team members.

I display to my team the passions and visions God has given me. Better yet, I show them.

I learn to live a clear and disciplined life that I can then pass on to my team.

If you are reading through all this and waiting for the “How to” section, I may have disappointed you. We are all different and we have to evaluate and implement based on who we are, who our team’s are and the resources we have at our disposal. That is different for everyone. Hopefully, some of these thoughts have encouraged you in this process.

Let the budgeting begin.  Ugly.  Every man for himself.  At least that is often the case at our ministry.

It is that time of year again and I am married to the money guy.  Wow, how did I get here?  I supervise all the tech, creative arts and worship of the church.  Talk about opposites.  The good news is my husband is being moved to the Membership position at church, (his true giftedness), so thank goodness this is his last year of budget oversight.

I say all that to say, how do you decide what gets first priority?  My thinking goes something like this:  If I just had another full time Video Editor oh the glorious things I could produce for God’s kingdom.  If I just had an administrative assistant, man what I could accomplish.  If I could hire a full time sound guy, my life would be worry free.  The staff possibilities are endless.

On the other hand, if I could buy the latest MAC Book Pro for my tech guys. They could take them home with them and be creative 24/7!  If I could just replace all the cameras in the auditorium at one time – the quality of projection would mystify the audience!  If I could send my volunteers and staff to the best conferences the quality of their worship leading and creativeness would go through the roof.

Reality check:  We live in a very economically challenged area of central Ohio.  We have an amazing facility that God blessed us with.  We have it full of great technology, a used video switcher from an old CNN studio; we run 5 cameras per service – quite a hodge-podge of old equipment, a sound board so fabulous we can barely run it correctly.  Our equipment keeps getting us through another year.  That is indeed a praise, because we couldn’t afford to replace most of it!

We live on the edge, we survive day to day.  We have always just assumed this is how God wants us to run - lean.  He brings over 2,000 people a week to us from this depressed community.  So I feel this is truly God’s ministry.  But, how can we be forward thinking when we barely get by?

That is exactly where we find ourselves.  How do you continue to be creative, update equipment, hire new staff?  If I had the choice would I hire more or buy more?  It actually would be a toss up.  More staff, lighter load, more stuff more efficient operation.

So my question is to each of you…Do you have the finances that require these hard decisions?  If you do which do you choose? 

Staff or Stuff?

Lori Biddle
Director of Magnification
Crossroads Community Church
Mansfield, Ohio  44906
www.loribiddle.com

Writers Mingling Before A Sojourn Songwriting Seminar

In the previous three articles we looked at reasons for establishing a songwriting community, ways to do that, and how to establish the community through regular workshops and fellowship.  But if your goal is to produce new worship music for your church fellowship, then your songwriting group hasn’t arrived until it’s doing that.  And it’s not going to do that in the most efficient manner until you provide clear direction and lay out a vision.

This can be as simple as saying “We need more songs about the cross” or “we need some good ‘Call to Worship’ songs and some songs of assurance.”  Then you need to communicate how writers should submit songs.  If you have a small church and only a couple writers, this might be an informal process.  Large churches will need to come up with specific procedure, which might look something like this:

• submit songs via mp3 and Word doc. to the group facilitator or submit in person with a CD and printed chord sheet
• songs will be turned in to worship pastor (or music review team, elder committee — whoever decides that sort of thing in your church) by x date.
• Songs selected will be announced by x date.  Worship pastor will provide critique to all who request it.

This is our basic process at Sojourn.  Over the last couple years we’ve tied our submission process into our CD project development.  This began with our Before the Throne album, a thematic worship CD where each song represented a particular part of our worship liturgy, from “Call to Worship” to “Benediction.”  Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper communicated this vision to me and to our Visual Arts director, Michael Winters, charging our visual artists to also produce one painting or photo for each liturgical element.

Michael and I then hosted a joint breakfast meeting for songwriters and visual artists, with an agenda created by Michael, myself and worship leader Lorie King to explain the concept of the project and open the door for collaborative ideas.

Writers Brainstorming Together

We gave the writers a six-week deadline for completion, during which time we started a private songwriter’s blog for peer review of songs and hosted one of our songwriting workshops.  Right after our deadline we gave Mike the fruits of our labor: 45 songs written by 21 writers. Fifteen of the songs were co-written by seven different collaborative teams.

After extensively reviewing the songs, Mike wrote to the songwriting group, “Where can I begin to describe how exciting this project has become? The work that you have accomplished as songwriters is terrific, and the songs you’ve turned in are really great …I’ve taken time to listen and read carefully each one, and I’ve sought advice from a number of others on the edits.”

He further explained that the songs selected for the recording were what he felt “accomplished the goal of the project: to create songs that clearly expressed the thematic ideas of the liturgy,” and ended by telling the writers that he’d gladly discuss their songs in detail with them on an individual basis.

We followed the same procedure to come up with songs for the project we’re recording right now — two CD’s of new worship music inspired by the hymns of Isaac Watts.  By the time of the song submission deadline, we’d come up with even more demos by more writers and collaborative teams than the year before — sixty songs.

So what would a songwriting group facilitator do after announcing a project like this?  Between then and the deadline, I do these things:

• encourage the writers and make myself available to anyone who wants criticism and direction.
• send weekly group email reminders of the deadline and answers to commonly asked questions.
• meet with writers who request it. Newer writers in particular often want to meet in person for critique, encouragement, and advice on things like how to record a demo or convert WAV files to mp3.

So basically, I try to be as approachable and available as I can.  Of course, I’m also writing on my own during these times, although more often I collaborate with some of the other writers.  Then when the deadline arrives, the writers send mp3 demos and chord sheets to me. I organize the material in alphabetical order (by the writers’ last names) and give it to Pastor Mike, who then decides which songs will be chosen. He seeks counsel from some of the other pastor-elders, musicians and people in the community as well.

Jamie Barnes Teaches Metaphor At Sojourn Seminar

And there you have it.  No system is perfect, so we’re always thinking of ways to improve the process and to serve our songwriters better.  We hosted a couple songwriting seminars in 2008, featuring professional songwriters and recording artists who are members of our congregation (Jamie Barnes and Dirt Poor Robins’ members Neil and Kate Robins).

Next February we are bringing in Keith and Kristyn Getty (”In Christ Alone,” “O Church, Arise”) to lead a special seminar.  Through efforts like this, the workshops and opportunities to participate in worship CDs, we try to provide songwriters with vision, education, community and mission.  I’m sure I haven’t answered every question you might have — and probably can’t.  But I’m glad to attempt it as well as to dialogue with any of you.  I’d love to hear what you’re doing with songwriting in your church, as well as things you’ve tried that didn’t work, or plans that you’re working on.  And God bless your songwriting efforts.

Read Part One Of Developing A Songwriting Community Through Your Church

Read Part Two

Read Part Three

There have been many words given over the last 20 years or so about a “New Sound” being released in the earth.

I believe those words are true and I believe that the sounds from heaven are even now filling the earth.

These sounds are heard with more than just the natural ear. These sounds are perceived by the spirit man. The sound of heaven is not a particular musical style, it is the sound inspired by the Holy Spirit and filled with the very Voice of God!

Imagination and creativity is stimulated by hearing these sounds. The sound of humility, power, love, joy and peace is being released today by the purpose of God. Are you listening?

The Shepherd is singing
Do you hear His Voice
The song of the Shepherd
Makes the sheep rejoice

We have wandered in the desert longing for the Living Water
Now the Shepherd sings His song calling us to Him
So we follow along
Singing His song
‘Til the Saviour like a Shepherd sings us home!

Godrest and Godspeed!

David Baroni 

Communication - activity by one organism that changes or has the potential to change the behavior of other organisms.

This is one of the definitions of Communication and how it looks in the world of biology. We all are organisms. The church often works very hard at being an organization, when in reality, it is truly and organism.

Everything we do or say, has an effect. People are swayed left or right, daily. Message are thrown at them through the internet, TV, radio, billboards, newspaper. Each time a thought is given, a person processes that thought. In some way, it becomes a part of who they are.

So how do we take a group of people, bombarded by life and focus them on one thing? You communicate your vision.

We have to let the team see what we see. Vision is all about intent and purpose. The passions God has placed in our hearts are lived out in everyday life. Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your heart is, there will your treasure be”. This is not about money. it is about passion and desire. Vision is born out of our passions and desires.  Everything we do communicates something about us. And where we place our time and resources, communicates where our heart is.

So, casting vision is all about sharing your heart and intent. We are all passionate people and we are looking for ways to serve and honor God. When a clear vision is given, an effect takes place and people are moved to serve and to lead.

One thing I can fail at is focus. Once you have vision, you have to continually focus and re-focus to keep vision in sight. I love what Craig Groeschel of Lifechurch.tv has said, “Vision leaks”. He is so right. I have gone home many times after meeting with my team, only to be disappointed when I see them completely forget what I had just laid out. Vision is not usually the problem, focus is. Discipline and detail can keep us on task.

So communication is all about not losing sight. How does this happen?

It happens when process and detail is laid out.

In the next article we will finish up this series as we talk about handling the details.

Community is a big word right now. Supposedly it’s the fresh new thing in churches as people long not to observe, but to participate; not to simply attend but to truly belong. We all know that this is in reality nothing new. It began long ago in Creation, when God the Father said “Let us make people in our image to be like ourselves.” (Genesis 1:26 NLT) 

Community is not an invention of man but rather a concept invented and modeled by The Trinity. As an artist, I find it interesting that God said “Let us make”. Many artists work alone….they create alone….they labor alone…..and yes, they may feel alone. But for us who are artists that serve the church, much of our creative efforts can be wonderfully collaborative, which has the potential to reap great benefits both for us and our churches. Happily, most of us are fortunate enough to work with teams that plan services, bring songs to life and lead our congregations into worship together.

Together is a powerful word don’t you think? When I hear that word it makes me feel happy. I love that I don’t work alone, but together, with a team. No matter the circumstances, I find it much more fulfilling to plan, create, rehearse and lead worship with my team than to do those same things by myself. While I am certainly able to do a lot of these things, it is a much more profoundly enjoyable experience to learn from one another, to have all of us bring something of beauty to the family meal of worship each weekend, and together to share that with our church family. I love the satisfaction of creating in community! I would go so far as to argue that we follow the model of the Trinity when we create together. Creation in community is a deeply spiritual act for us worship artists as it touches on our own connection with God as creators designed in His image. But our communion in worship is not only with God, it is also with one another as we sing and play. When we create and worship in community, it touches a chord within our hearts as we meet one of the deepest needs of the human heart – to know and be known. It gives us that relationship with others we so desperately need. In the Creation account, God also said “It is not good for man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:28 NLT) It’s obvious that it was God’s intent that we not “do” life alone. In fact, I believe it is God’s design for us to enrich one another, ultimately bringing joy and color to all of our lives as we both give and receive understanding and love as well as talents and abilities. Our worship teams are not filled with people who act as fellow musicians and vocalists only, our teams are filled with people are also our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who can become friends deeply committed to one another and to the holy purpose of helping others encounter the Living God.

There is another element to creating in community. As we join our voices, our instruments, our abilities and talents, as well as our hearts together and worship with one voice, we create a beautiful sound and sight that would be impossible to create on our own. When we create and lead together we celebrate the fullness of God’s own creative efforts showcased in mankind as multiple talents are displayed, a variety of experiences are shared, and we each bring our own unique “voice” to the gathering of worship. Just as each of our voices and instruments bring a different tone and dynamic, so do our lives and personalities. Our congregations are served more lovingly as we bring an offering that is richer than what we could create or implement alone. We each bring a gift - some sing, some plan, some play an instrument or run a sound board, some direct, some pray in intercession, some bring humor, and others bring thoughtful contemplation, some bring attention to the nitty gritty details and others bring the grace of joy and laughter. Together we create something more joyously and authentically worshipful than we ever would be able to do alone. And I am thoroughly convinced that God is honored.

I believe He smiles when He sees us leading worship together. Perhaps you are thinking: “Of course we lead worship together – we need a band and vocalists to lead worship.” I urge you to think much deeper than that, to the heart of the musicians and technicians you work with. Are you simply standing on the same stage together singing the same song or are you truly leading worship together? There is a very profound difference. One is easy and the other requires much more effort, especially of the leader. While I know you all have so much to do already, I urge you to seek out the best gifts your team has to offer, to learn their strengths and passions, to allow them to help you, to learn from them, to give them a chance to let their light and life shine. We will all benefit.

It doesn’t stop there. Creating in community goes beyond allowing others to use their abilities and heart for ministry. Creating in community requires that we first of all create community and invest in it and protect it at all costs. It must become a core value of our ministry team. Community, as I’m sure all of you have learned, is fragile. Trust and patience are required, as are huge doses of time and love and commitment. It doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen easily. It can also be easily destroyed and requires tender care. It requires that the leader put forth a huge initial effort and intentionally lead their team in this direction, all the while modeling it with their life. Perhaps most of all it requires priority – in rehearsals, in communication, and in how we choose to live life together as a team.

If we want to follow God’s model for community we must do more than simply show up and sing and play together. We must create together, learn together, and be committed to one another in loving relationship. Then we will lead in more than one way as we model worship, relationship, humility and service – together.

Jan Owen serves as the Minister of Worship Arts at The Brook, a church in Madison, Alabama.  You can read her blog here, and follow her on Twitter here.

Creating a Culture of Crucial means putting people first. Of course we should always be aware of positions and roles that need to be fulfilled, but we should never see people as a set of skills. People are PEOPLE!

Another way that we can create a culture where people are truly valued is to make every effort to combat the “Now is Normal” mentality.

Many of us who are worship leaders or pastors know that it’s very easy to slide into the status quo. We get into a place where there are plenty of musicians and singers on the team and we have our pick to choose from. On the outside it looks like we don’t need any more, because we have a jam-packed stage.

Whether you work with volunteer musicians, singers, children’s workers, parking lot attendants, youth workers, etc., we all face the temptation to kick it into cruise control and to see our present situation as the norm. We let it become the status quo. We should be careful to always be looking forward. We should be future minded, while leading intentionally in the present.

If a Baseball team wins the World Series one year and then never makes any line-up changes for the next 10 years, what are the odds that they’ll win in the tenth year? Probably slim to none. You see just because a team is great one year doesn’t mean they always will be. Players are traded, players retire, and players get injured. The World Series “now” won’t last forever. It can’t be “normal” for a team to win again. They have to be constantly recruiting new people.

Whatever you have NOW should not be normal. Even if you have the greatest team you’ve ever had, as a leader, you still need to be inviting people to join your ministry teams. Granted, in some situations, it’s good to have the same people minister together for the sake of unity and excellence. But, it’s also good to have a continuous attitude of invitation to your team. We should never have closed doors.

Even if that means creating alternate teams to minister in different venues, we should always be developing leaders. As a worship leader, I’m constantly on the lookout for people who I know would enjoy ministering with our worship team. That means they are people and ministry oriented and also decent at what they do.

Some of the greatest teams in Major League Baseball are successful because of the enormous talent pool they have to pull from in their minor league farm system. I’m not necessarily saying that we should create a worship band farm system, but I do think that being future minded is necessary to create a Culture of Crucial.

It’s crucial that we are always looking towards tomorrow, while living in today. Whatever your now is, at this very moment, make an effort to do your very best at never accepting it as the norm. Make your nows count, but make sure that you never make your nows normal. I’ve been in situations where we had an amazing team that in a matter of a few weeks disintegrated. What I’ve learned is that we should always be training and equipping someone to step into roles when needed. Kind of like a farm system.

People will be needed, valued, and crucial to the success of the church’s ministry when we continue to invite people to join us, even when we have a “full roster” - it’s absolutely necessary to create opportunites for people to use their talents for the Lord. Have a full roster for worship team? Here’s some suggestions on other ways to get people involved:

• Start a guitar group. Meet once a month and invite any and every guitar player to come and sit in. Hand out music a week earlier.
• Have a drum circle.
• Rotate singers and musicians into other areas of church ministry. Children’s ministry, Youth ministry, community outreach, etc.
• Start a community band. One that plays only outside the church.
• Start a songwriting community.

If at any time we just close down the inviting of people to participate in ministry, we’ll run into times when we don’t have anyone and we’ll be scrambling to fill positions. But, if we continue to invite people to ministry even when our “now” looks good, we’ll be ready when we need to plug people into those spaces.

Welcome to ReVue - Product Reviews from multiple people, each with their own take away, exclusively here at TheWorshipCommunity.Com.  Each reviewer submits their insights independently which reveals the diversity in how we interpret the recordings.  We hope you’ll add your own review in the comments section as well!

Hillsong London’s Latest Release:
“Hail To The King” - Released 10/28/2008

Available Now on iTunes

Highlights:

* The single “You Are Here (The Same Power)” is currently number 10 on the Christian Single download charts and debuted 10.22
* Song is based on truth from Ephesians 1:19-20
* First album in three years and third album.
* They meet at the Dominion Theater (where “We Will Rock You” rock opera has run continuously for 6 years)
* Host of volunteers 100+ gather after midnight Saturday night to load-in church and set up for three Sunday services then load back out
* Passionate about people being the church…the visible representation of the invisible God
* Church motto/mission “Because We Can,” is geared towards ending poverty…because we can.  They are mission oriented, “You Brought Me Home” is the bonus video on the DVD that helps illustrate this.
* Mission to have a “life group” that will meet at every tube stop in London….so you can literally take the tube to anywhere in London and find a life group to meet with.
* Toured with Matt Redman in Europe this summer
* Album has co-write with Israel Houghton “Rise”

Conner’s Take:
(Conner Byrd, Worship/Youth Pastor in Baton Rouge, LA)

Hillsong London’s new project, Hail to the King, delivers 13 tracks just under an hour. For me it was quite a refreshing change of pace because one of my “gripes” lately is the blurring line between Hillsong and Hillsong United (if you could call that a bad thing!) This was my first introduction to Hillsong London and there’s definitely a different approach musically and vocally here than their friends from down under.
The first thing I noticed was the sound: effects on the vocals, throw back synth pads, chimes, tinkerings, and more of a dance feel than rock feel to the uptempo songs. Not that there wasn’t some familiarity with the music but much more of a distinction than I anticipated.  The one thing lacking for me was a simple, acoustic driven worship tune like “None But Jesus” or “Came to the Rescue”. Everything else seems to be covered though with some truly stand out tracks from “Now” and “Rise” to “You are Here” (The Same Power) and “Look to the Cross”.  At times I miss the crowd of a live Praise and Worship CD, but honestly, I didn’t figure that out until half way through.
In the end, I believe they could have trimmed back to 10 or 11 tracks and had a killer CD.  However, I’m so glad they’re not exactly what I expected. I’m anxious now to see what Hillsong London will be doing with this project and with what’s ahead for them.

Joel’s Take:
(Joel Klampert, Worship Leader/Youth Pastor in Middleton, RI)

After the brilliant CD “Jesus Is” I was really looking forward to “Hail to the King”. Overall the CD is ok. There are a few fantastic stand out songs. The CD seemed very disjointed to me. Too much going on stylistically. Lyrically there are some good songs and a few that are very typical. I think the production on a few of the tracks was stifling the vocals. To have “You Brought Me Home” on my ipod would make owning this CD worth every penny. 3 out of 5 stars.

Mandy’s Take:
(Mandy Thompson, Worship Leader in Boston, MA)

This album adds another layer of pop tones to modern worship music, with a few creative surprises and blends thrown in the arrangements. Strong songs. Strong tones. Strong melodies. Most of the tracks are singable and accessible for a variety of churches and generations, which makes this collection an asset for worship leaders of all styles.

Mike’s Take:
(Mike Mahoney, Children’s and Worship Ministry in Bridgeport, CT)

I’ve been listening to quite a bit of Hillsong United lately, so this album was a lot more mellow than I was expecting.  Where’s Joel Houston when you need him?  First listen through I was pretty unimpressed, but once I started listening more, I began hearing some very good music here.  To me, the album has an overall late-eighties pop feel to it, which is not necessarily a bad thing. There are some very good worship music here.  Unfortunately, there is some pretty predictable, formulaic music here as well.  The record is quite intimate, and in a way that is quite satisfying.

The Songs:

1.  Now

• Conner:  Here’s that dance, club vibe I was talking about earlier, They’ve laid it upon the lyrical anthem calling a generation to rise now!
• Joel:  - I like this one. It has a classic PFR with distortion feel to it. Good pump up song. Only thing I didn’t like is the lead guitar with almost a breeders sound to it.
• Mandy:  An impacting and timely call for this generation: “let your voice be heard.”
• Mike:  There’s a rather odd opening to the song, but I like track in general.  I can certainly hear this one being done in a congregational setting.  Aside from the opening twenty seconds, this track has some of the best production of the faster songs - a nice mid-tempo song, complimenting the overall theme of the record.

2.  Hail to the King

• Conner: Very 80s sounding throw back with even a guitar riff of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. It comes off with a bit of cheese for me but there’s a a pay off with the bridge! It’s the redeeming quality for this track.
• Joel:  I did not like this song. It was like three different songs in one. Starts with a Weezer feel into an odd “swing low” solo with a Lynard Skynard vibe into something that resembles NKOB mixed with United. The main melody is very typical.
• Mandy:  A rocking song that any band would enjoy playing, and just about any congregation would enjoy singing. This is an energetic song of praise, with a surprise riff of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” thrown in.
• Mike:  The title track has a nice, energetic groove to it. This would be a great song for a youth service.

3.  I’m Not Ashamed

• Conner: I really dig this track! I love proclaiming the boldness found in the Gospel of Jesus and I think musically they nailed it as well!
• Joel:  Overall I like this song. Very cool riff and chord structure. I felt like production was a little off.
• Mandy:  Strong rock guitar riffs blended with driving drum beats. This song leads us into a declaration of devotion to God, great for youth/young adult ministries.
• Mike:  To be honest, I think this song deserves better lyrics than it has.  It has a nice groove to it, with a great guitar riff throughout, but the lyrics are kind of predictable and trite.

4.  Rise

• Conner: Instantly, from the opening riff this song grabs you! It’s one of those songs you’d listen to even if you weren’t looking for praise and worship music! Soaring guitars, driving bass and drums, and a catching melody that you just can’t help but sing along to!
• Joel:  Great song, but I think it falls into a new overused category of revolution songs. That aside I think it really works
• Mandy:  Produced in the signature Hillsong United style of guitar & melody, with a catchy melody, this track is a call for the church to be a revolution in this world.
• Mike:  This is another great, energetic song.  I love the message, too - Christ’s church will rise and lead the revolution!

5.  You Brought Me Home

• Conner:  I imagine this would be very difficult for a congregational singing, however despite that, I find it awkward. I either want it to get bigger or quieter dynamically.
• Joel:  Aside from a wicked high key this song is amazing. This one tugs at my heart and brings me into worship. Can’t wait to do it!
• Mandy:  Simple. Restful. Intimate. Accessible for many generations, with a powerful rising melody in the chorus.
• Mike:  This could be the best song on the record.  It does feel a bit rushed through the verses.   And honestly, I think it would be better served by a different singer, perhaps someone with more grit and power.  That said - A+ on message and mood.  We’ll be using this one, I think.

6.  You Are Here

• Conner: Such a beautiful and powerful song! Without even hearing it on the previous Hillsong CD, I wanted to burst out singing the first time I heard it!
• Joel:  Great song that really benefits from a large band. I love the dynamics in this one.
• Mandy:  Hillsong London brings in an engaging song from the beginning, with a surging chorus, and creative motif between verses.
• Mike:  A nice, melodious song, acknowledging that God is present wherever we are, found within us.

7.  At Your Feet

• Conner:  I absolutely love the groove of this song. Seriously, rarely do we have worship songs with such a lazy swing groove like this one. It’s really refreshing.
• Joel:  This one had a forced Dissonance that I could not get into at all. Sounded like Coldplay meets old Michael Knott and it didn’t blend well.
• Mandy:  This meditative song of repentance starts slow, but rises to an inspiring chorus and bridge.
• Mike:   didn’t really connect with this one.  Perhaps it was the change in beat and style from the first verse to the second, from piano ballad to sappy pop song.  A bit to gimmicky for my taste.  Nothing earth shaking in the lyrics.  To tell the truth, it reminds me of a later Beatles tune.

8.  I Receive

• Conner: I was curious if they’re would be a “U2-esque” song found here? Found it! Lyrically, “I receive Your love” doesn’t work too well for me, it’s not something I’ve said in response to my wife and it’s not something that comes as a natural response to Jesus for me either.
• Joel: Very simple and it works. Perfect for corporate worship. I like the airiness in this song, but way too much tambourine.
• Mandy:  The lyrics and melody reflect the heart of many in our world today - singing about security in ourselves coming from security in God’s love for us.
• Mike:  Some more sappy, typical worship ballading.  Catchy, but that’s about all.

9.  He Is Greater

• Conner: Umm…as Randy Jackson would say. “it was just alright for me.”
• Joel:  This song is ok. It has a good sound and lyrics, but It isn’t memorable for me.
• Mandy:  Acoustic start. Refreshing beginning. The melody brings us in and draws out a desire to climb further in the song. Strong bridge. Powerful for congregational singing. Simple song of truth – praise – declaration.
• Mike:  Other than the second verse being a little awkward, this is a very nice acoustic ballad.  It has a nice, gentle rhythm to it, a simple message, and an easy pace about it.  Anyone got the chords?

10.  Selah (Perfect Love)

• Conner: Beautiful, soaring, simple, smooth! It probably enhanced He is Greater for me. It provided some space to let those words ring out a bit and sink it.
• Joel:  What can I say other than I am a sucker for the instrumental break.
• Mandy:
• Mike:

11.  Look to the Cross

• Conner: What a stand out track! Stripped down instrumentation and this beautiful soulful female lead is so incredible! The line “I look to the cross, Lord, let me see Your love anew,” isn’t leaving me. The thought of looking to the cross and each time seeing His love in a brand new way is weighty.
• Joel:  Fantastic Song! I just wish they would have had another person sing it. The vocals being flat really bothered me.
• Mandy:  Led by a female voice. Meditative. Thoughtful. A prayer that God will give us peace. One of my favorite tracks on this album.
• Mike:  Finally! A female vocalist.  This is a great acoustic ballad, tender and sweet.  While laid back,  the song seems to soar on it’s own.  Could be my favorite ballad on the album.  I love the intimacy of this song.

12.  All To Show

• Conner:  keep skipping this track to get to The Call. Not enough of a difference here to keep me around for 4 minutes I’m afraid.
• Joel:  It took a few listens, but this is a very cool song. A different style overall and makes for a great listen.
• Mandy:  Very contemporary pop sound, in the style of U2, Radiohead, Coldplay, Timbaland, The lyrics challenge us to show off God’s blessing “in the life you gave to me.”
• Mike:  This has a very “Hillsong United” feel to it, with some cool bass lines, and a lot of dynamics.  One of my favorites.

13.  The Call

• Conner: Do I detect some Tears for Fears here?!? Great anthem and a great closer.
• Joel:  I’m not a fan of 80’s guitars, OOOO’s and Styx sounding keyboards. If you can listen past that the song has some real potential.
• Mandy:  Pop song of devotion in response to God’s call on our lives, with a creative use of the phrase “whoa” in each verse. May or may not fit congregational singing, but the chorus is strong.
• Mike:  This song is very similar to All to Show.  In fact, they are quite a bit alike, although this one is not as driving and agressive.  Standard, middle-of-the-road pop fare.