Intro- Ben Harrell (El Ben)

[El Ben]

Hey folks,

I am Ben Harrell, otherwise known as El Ben the Terrible, El Ben the Brave, and El Ben the Incredibly Horrible Driver. I'm 22 years old, recently graduated from bible college (the Master's School of Ministryhttp://www.msomonline.org ), and currently involved in full-time ministry, whatever that means. I'm currently the student ministries pastor/worship leader at Christian Renewal Church, Saint Simons Island and I've recently started playing and leading a little at Elevate Young Adults ministry.

As far as it goes with music in the context of arts, I've loved it since being a kid. I've been jamming out to eighties hair metal, nineties grunge, and even the occasional country song since I was old enough to talk and music has always been a part of my life. I've been involved in instrumental and vocal performance for the past fifteen years ranging in variety from orchestral performance to lead vocals for a rock band I was briefly in during High School.

As far as it goes with music in the context of ministry, I lead worship (quite horribly) for the first time when I was about seventeen. Things picked up in bible college, where I met my best friend, Clint Barley, who is probably one of the most incredible worship leaders I know. He gave me some pointers, and now I can lead worship without people wincing, which is a great feeling.

My philosophy on leading worship is simple. I have no lengthy 12-point message on the theology of worship or a comparison of modern-day worship to the Tabernacle. Here's my thoughts. It's not about how correctly I worship, how creatively I worship, or (dare I say) even how much that I connect with God. It's all about serving His people. As a worship leader, I exist to serve the people I lead, and regardless of how I feel, or what I want to do, my job is to get them connected with the Holy Spirit, and if I have to sing Kumbaya M'Lord to do that, then so be it. To me, it's all about creating an atmosphere where people connect with God, because trust me, God can do more in someone's life than me, you, Matt Redman, Darlene Zschech, or Israel Houghton could ever hope to.

As far as genres go, I like to do a lot of varied stuff. A typical worship set for me is a blend of gospel, modern, and prophetic/new wave worship.

Things I DO Like (when it comes to worship):

1.) A band that knows each other. There's nothing like the pure liquid satisfaction of a drummer and bass player who play the same beat pattern or a lead guitar who knows exactly the right place to put that big U2-ish swell.

2.) Having a drummer. CRCSSI is the only place I've ever been in music ministry where I haven't had to beg, borrow, or steal a drummer. Honestly, is it that hard to find one?

3.) Those moments when the music fades-down to a barely-audible tinkling and the voices of the people fill the room. (The old Benny Hinn crusade tune "Hallelujah" is a great one for this.)

4.) Opening my eyes to see that people are feeling the exact same thing I am.

5.) Experiencing the presence of God moving through someone else on the team besides me. (i.e.: when other people lead)

6.) Being able to turn around to two of my student leaders (who are also on the worship team) and being able to say "Go." and watching as they lead people into an intense moment of worship.


Things I Do Not Like (when it comes to worship):

1.) Theologically splitting hairs. We've got enough divisions in the Body without Joe Blow or Susie Q. trying to prove how much they know by arguing moot points.

2.) The awkward times when worship leaders talk between songs. It's just not my thing. Some people dig it, but I don't talk a lot in worship. I figure that's the preacher's job.

3.) The lack of FLOW. Chopiness is the Devil. I hate it when bands will finish a song and then just STOP, then move on to the next song. Even if the song is in a different key, add a transitional chord for crying out loud! For me, I like things to flow together nicely.

4.) People who completely leave God out of the equation of worship. There's a big difference between playing an incredibly-layered worship set and playing something that people can worship with. I've been places with incredible music, but lousy worship

5.) Those services (we all have them) where it's no one's fault, there's no spiritual reason, and no logistical reason for the unadluterated suckage that's going on, but the suckage continues to flow.

6.) The lack of depth. To me, worship should be a platform, not only for connection to the Holy Spirit, but for the edification of the body via the gifts of the Spirit. Worship, to me, should be a time where the Holy Spirit is free to do whatever He would like to do, no matter how uncomfortable or strange it may seem


Well, there we go. That's my rant. Stick a fork in me. I am done.

[twc_admin]

Welcome, bro - glad you made it .. I see you can post now!

[Sunray]

Hello, El Ben,

I sure relate to what you posted. It's so good when we flow into one of those times (# 3 Likes) when you can really hear the congregation not just singing but worshipping. Some less mature worship leaders get nervous when things get quiet, but we need that sweet time to hear the Lord's voice in our hearts

On the dislikes, #3 yeah, lack of flow without good transitions really makes it harder for people to really enter in. And #4, I don't care how great the music is , we want the spirit of worship. Someimes we can truly worship with excellent band arrangements - sometimes they get in the way. And #6 is so true. Worship is for God, not just us, and when we truly worship freely, it should lead us into His presence and the supernatural move of God through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

By the way, nice to see a young worship leader with the responsibility of leading worship in a church. It's not the age, but the calling and anointing. My wife led worship for years, and we're no kids. She cut back a few years ago and just does special services now after 20 years leading in two different churches. Last year when a 20-year-old young lady - trained at a Bible school that we are close to - was recommended for worship leader at our church, we had misgivings at first - till her first service when we experienced her wonderful heart for worship, and we're thrilled to have her - she will be taking us to new places in worship.

Be blessed and a blessing. Ray

[chipshot0701]

El Ben,
I need your input a little more. What is a great way of transitioning between songs. Give me the greatest way for us. We do three songs at the begining of ther service. Right now we say good morning. and wait for response. If I don't get one a yell it out again. Louder the second time.
then we play song one. then we read a psalm or say a short prayer that leads into the meaning of the next song. Then we pause and play song number three. sometimes we say something inbetween song two and three.
But I admire your input and look forward to hearing your great ideas for Gods worship sake.
peace and love
El Miquel aka Mike

[El Ben]

El Ben,
I need your input a little more. What is a great way of transitioning between songs. Give me the greatest way for us. We do three songs at the begining of ther service. Right now we say good morning. and wait for response. If I don't get one a yell it out again. Louder the second time.
then we play song one. then we read a psalm or say a short prayer that leads into the meaning of the next song. Then we pause and play song number three. sometimes we say something inbetween song two and three.
But I admire your input and look forward to hearing your great ideas for Gods worship sake.
peace and love
El Miquel aka Mike

I do a three song set at my church as well, Mike, so I kind of have a grip on the difficulty you face. In your situation, I have to say that your transitions really depend on the focus of your set. If you're doing a fast set (2 fast, 1 slow), then your transitions are gonna be moderately different than a slow set (1 fast, 2 slow). Here are my recommendations:

1.) If I'm doing a fast set, I'm usually focusing on getting the people to a place where they can celebrate who Jesus is and what he's done, so my transitions are usually pad/electric guitar/drums driven. Let's take for instance two songs that I do ALL the time: You are Good-Israel Houghton (in C) and To Deserve-Jonathan Stockstill (also in C). First of all, I picked songs that were in the same key because...well, they just make it easier to flow from one to the next. Now, traditionally, You Are Good is in E, but since Israel's voice is incredibly high, I bump it down two full keys. Never be afraid to change a song's key to suit your voice.

Now, when I end You Are Good and the song resolves back down to C (the root chord), I do an extended crash-out (where all the instruments really power out that last chord, then fade away). From there, the keyboard (playing a "pad" or layered-string-type sound) holds the C chord (or C2, because I almost never play a straight major chord) while lead electric guitar plays the very U2-ish intro to the song To Deserve (check it out at http://www.myspace.com/worshipandfirepraiseteam [it's a myspace artist page. just click on the song To Deserve in the media player app there]). From there, the transition pretty much takes care of itself. You're already into your next song and you don't even need to stop and introduce it.


2.) A slow set is the most transition-friendly. Some people are freaked out by slow songs. I love them. As far as transitions go, let's assume you're on your second song, doing something like Breathe-Marie Barnett (in G) and want to end the worship set in a nice, soft, very slow rendition of The Old Rugged Cross (in A) [which brings me to the brink of tears nearly every time, so I have to use it sparingly]. After you're through with the bridge or wherever it is that you end the song and you resolve back to G, have your piano/keyboard player (or if you play guitar and are skilled enough to finger the chord) play (from G) the chord D/E (which is the basic fourth chord over the fifth chord transitional chord that will take you to the key of A regardless of where you are). From there, just start at the chorus singing very softly with either a nice finger-picked acoustic or a soft piano/strings combo sound on a keyboard.


Transitions are all about atmosphere, my friend. Remember. Everything you do...EVERYTHING...creates an atmosphere. The key to creating an atmosphere favorable to worship is to put yourself in the shoes of the congregation that you are leading. What do they need? What "gets them there?" As a worship leader, it doesn't matter if I had a great time in worship. If the congregation is simply standing there with arms crossed looking at their watches, then what was the point? If they don't connect with God, what's the point?

Transitions are simply a tool of leadership. To quote Maxwell, "Everything rises or falls on leadership." The more tools you have in your pocket, the better equipped you are to lead. I hope this advice helped.

Just as a general help to others, I'm going to repost this reply as a new thread. You can reply there.

[Michael G]

Hi Ben! It is nice to meet you. God bless you and your ministry.

[El Ben]

Thanks a ton, Mike.

Same to you.

[Michael G]

"blinks" as he watches El Ben make five posts in the amount of time it takes me to read one.

[El Ben]

I'm telling you, dude, it's the "El." Just plain old "Ben" can't do it. Greater is the "El" in front of me than the just plain me alone.

[The Tone Guru]

I love El Ben like a sister.

He's my hero.