Indian Food & Church

I love Indian food. There's an Indian restaurant here in town that has the best Indian food I've ever had, and I've had Indian on both sides of the planet.

However, most Indian restaurants I've been to have a lunch buffet, and I love buffets of all shapes and sizes. This one does not. For years I've told the owner he needs a buffet, but he staunchly maintains that Indian food is not good sitting around in a buffet tray and must be prepared fresh.

Two months ago a brand new Indian buffet opened in town. It's packed. You can't find a parking spot. I go there at noon and it's packed. I went there today at 1:30 and it's packed [on Memorial Day, no less!]

I went to the non-buffet Indian restaurant last week. Empty. My buddy Cliff asked the owner "how's business since the new place opened?"

"Terrible!" he replied. "Look at this place! It's usually filled at lunch and no one is here." He also reiterated how Indian food must be freshly prepared.

Well, I can see his point, but I do love buffets. I suppose a lot of people like buffets. And the new Indian buffet sure tastes fresh to me, especially when the place is packed and they're continually bringing out new food.

So I guess the non-buffet owner will go out of business, sticking true to his principles of freshly prepared Indian food. A shame, really - Greenville is big enough to support two Indian buffets.

Hey churches - what dumb things are you staunchly upholding that are obstacles to growth? I'm not talking doctrines of the faith here, but man-made rules that turn off visitors. If you can't think of any, try asking some people in your congregation that question and keep an open mind.

Postmodern Watch

In Dan Kimball's excellent book "The Emerging Church" we learn that one aspect of the post modern mind is that it accepts contradiction. 1 + 1 does not always have to equal 2, and that's okay.

I read something the other day that reminded me of this. MTV's popular live show TRL (Total Request Live" will no longer be entirely live - they'll tape the show two days a week. The show's name won't be changed, says spokeswoman Marnie Black. "We're not changing anything. The spirit of the show is going to be exactly the same."

So a live show, titled as such, will no longer be live. Sometimes. And that's okay.

Entertainment

Are you involved with the music of your church? Do you play an instrument, sing or lead worship?

Are people regularly becoming believers through the efforts of your church? Or are established believers connecting to God through your efforts?

Or are you entertaining a bunch of church people? Are you required to choose/play/sing certain songs to make certain people happy?

If you're merely entertaining a bunch of church people, why not merely entertain a bunch of non-church people and perhaps make more money while you're at it? Maybe you'd also get a chance to be a light in a dark world?

Preacher Dress-Up

Last week I heard about 2 different baby boomer pastors who dressed up in costume for their sermons. One dressed up in full football uniform and preached on Super Bowl Sunday. Another dressed up in combat fatigues and preached about spiritual warfare.

If that happened at my church, I think the congregation would collectively barf. What do you think?

Chris Sligh's Communion Song

American Idol contestant Chris Sligh has written "Communion Song." It's a really nice contemporary ballad.

Download a free MP3 and order and download sheet music.

Happy Birthday!

Where did the time go! My websites WorshipIdeas.com and HymnCharts.com both celebrate their 5 year anniversaries in 2007!

Read more about the WorshipIdeas.com anniversary.

Read more about the HymnCharts.com anniversary.

Search4Worship.com

I'm really geeking out and have created another website. I discovered Google has developed a new search technology that will fine tune searches depending on the flavor of the website.

I created search4worship.com to test this new technology. It's a website for worship leaders who are searching the Internet for worship resources. As searches continue, search4worship, using this new Google technology, will supposedly fine tune worship search results. Give it a spin!

Google Community Church

Some companies have people begging to work for them. I've just read "The Google Story." What an amazing company. Top programmers are leaving top tech companies like Microsoft because Google is such a fantastic place to work.

They say it's like working at a resort - the best chef [gourmet] in town works for Google and meals are free. Other unusual perks like free oil changes, fitness classes and dry cleaning make for a bunch of loyal, happy employees. And these happy employees have built one of the most remarkable companies ever to be on the face of the earth.

Why aren't most companies remarkable? Why aren't most churches remarkable?

Other companies are tired, old, visionless. Who wants a dead-end job? Who wants to be in a dead-end church?

Pastors, do you have people begging to work with your ministry, or is your staff quitting? Are volunteers not volunteering? When I visited Erwin McManus' Mosaic Church last year, I heard such stories... like an assistant pastor who quit his paying job and moved to LA to be an unpaid janitor [or maybe it was a parking lot attendant] at Mosaic simply because he wanted to be part of a church that was on the move.

Just as there are a few companies out there, like Google, that have a buzz and attract people, so there are a few churches out there who attract congregations and top staff talent.

And don't bother to blog "it's not about the numbers." That's an excuse for a lame ministry. I'm not talking about megachurches here, I'm talking about growth. Something that's healthy grows, whether it's gradually or in spurts. Look at the facts of your own ministry - if your church had 100 people attending last year this time and last week you had 175, chances are you're healthy.

Take the phenomena known as NewSpring Church in nearby Anderson as an example. I have a friend that goes there and he told me last week he never ceases to be amazed at how together the place is. The children's ministry... small groups... tech team... whoever's running that place knows what they're doing. People don't fall through the cracks. Maybe that's why NewSpring is one of the fastest growing churches in the country.

While not forgetting the spiritual element that only the Church can offer, let's take a few cues from successful businesses. What can you do to make your church the kind of place where people want to work and worship? And come back?

Check out my article about church marketing.

A Website for Worship Leaders

Check out a website I've designed for worship leaders - the WorshipHomepage.com. It has features like free emailing large files [MP3s and chord charts, for instance] to your praise team, free worship pics from flickr, the best worship resource links, culture news links and logins.

http://www.worshiphomepage.com

Christian Theme Park

Last week I visited the Holy Land Experience in Orlando. It's a Christian theme park that's been lampooned in the media - it even made an appearance of sorts on the Simpsons.

Actually it isn't bad at all. It's educational and I learned quite a bit. It's more like a glorified museum than a theme park. $35 gets you in. I saw what interested me in 3 hours:

1. Wilderness Tabernacle. You sit in a dark room and learn about the Old Testament Tabernacle, watching an actor dressed like a priest explain the details and rituals in a huge replica.

2. The Scriptorium. I love old stuff [I have a page from a 1618 KJV Bible framed on the wall] so I really liked this. It's an hour long guided tour through an elaborately decorated museum filled with actual old Bibles, as well as the history of how the Bible was preserved through the years. Most interesting was the "Martyr's Bible" with blood stains on it - some guy was killed for owning an English Bible translation. I didn't realize what a big, dangerous deal it was for Tyndale to translate the Bible into English [as explained by a quite realistic Disneyesque audio-animatronic version of Tyndale.]

3. Jerusalem Model. My favorite part of the Holy Land Experience was the miniature model of Jerusalem, based on the time when Jesus was crucified. It fills a large room. A tour guide stands near the side of the model and explains it... historical events, the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, etc. I can't believe what a small town Jerusalem was in those days - only a mile by 2/3's of a mile! I now have a mental picture of where everything happened and I'm looking forward to making my way through the Gospels again this year.

If you want an afternoon break from roller coasters and mouse ears while you're in Orlando [and don't have easily bored kids or teenagers] try the Holy Land Experience.

What's Up With Leadership?

Lately I've been hearing the worst stories about moronic elders/deacons completely screwing up churches. The underpaid, unappreciated staff who actually does the work of the church gets burned out under the nutty "leadership." Meanwhile, the congregation is left scratching their heads, wondering why the staff has quit and people stop coming to the church.

Yoo hoo, congregations and pastors: here's a wake up call. Lawyers, doctors and other people with money are not necessarily the best candidates for church leadership. Spirit-led people are the best candidates for church leadership!

The Walmart Effect 2

Last week MondayMorningInsight.com continued the thought of my article. Join in the discussion and read my additional comments.

The WalMart Effect

A quick update...

Back in June I wrote a blog called "The Next Big Thing" which described the new multi-site video church concept.

As of right now [late October 2006], only 4 months later, Andy Stanley's church network now has a partner church in Greenville that shows videos of his preaching.

The 7,000+ NewSpring Church in nearby Anderson is looking for property to build their first video venue here in Greenville.

A Greenville megachurch of over 5,000 is planning their first video venue.

Another Greenville megachurch of over 2,000 is in the exploratory stages of creating their first video venue.

Like I said in the first article, what will happen if [or when] Rick Warren plants a church in your town? Suddenly, I'll bet the battles over the color of your carpet, or whether you do enough hymns will matter that much in the face of fierce competition by a megachurch on the move.

Which church do you think your average visitor would rather go to: a church that allows off-pitch Aunt Sally to sing solos, or a mega church with standards? [By the way, you don't have to be a megachurch to have standards.]

In other words, churches, get over your dumb, ingrown habits and start getting serious about your mission. Or you're going to go out of business.

If all this is happening in little old Greenville, your town is next.

Time Capsule

I took a trip to the past last Sunday. Remember when Brooklyn Tab was all the rage? I think every choir in America had a copy of "He's Been Faithful" in the early 90's.

Funny, when something was "it," that something tends to stay "it," thinking that it's still "it." Brooklyn Tab is still doing what it did back then. Same lush orchestrations. Same quasi-jazz chords. Same template of quiet opening, with soloist, then a great big choir ending. It was wonderful and all, very touching, just like it was back in 1991. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Lots of suits and ties, so I felt kinda weird in my jeans. I would imagine a visitor off the street would feel weird, too. Now I remember why I like the fact that contemporary churches typically don't dress up.

My American Idol Experience

I just got back tonight from the American Idol tryouts in Birmingham. No, I'm too old to audition - I went with Seacoast worship leader Chris Sligh [he wrote the Communion Song you can download.]

What an experience! Chris had to be at the BJCC Coliseum by 5am, along with thousands of other contestants and friends. Crowds were estimated to be 8,000 to 12,000. After waiting in line for a few hours he finally entered the building and took his assigned seat. He didn't audition for over four more hours!

The entire bottom half of the Coliseum was filled with people. Section by section, contestants were lined up to take their turn. There were 14 booths, each with 2 judges who judged 4 contestants at a time. Each vocalist was asked to sing about 30 seconds of a song.

Even though Chris is a really great vocalist he's flunked the past two seasons of Idol auditions. He decided he needed some sort of quirky gimmick to get himself through so he grew out his naturally curly hair into an afro. Hilariously, that's what seems to have won this round for him - people told him all day that they "loved his hair." The judge complemented him on his "great look" [as well as his vocal talent] and predicted he'll make it all the way to Hollywood. The music biz is all about the image, folks!

Chris was handed the coveted yellow paper [signifying his triumph] and walked out as the crowd applauded. Judges are picky this year and few were chosen - guesses are not even 300 people were chosen for the next round, so it's quite an honor that Chris made it.

Here's how it works: anyone who makes it past the first round is either really great or really terrible. This round is basically meant to weed out the mediocre middle [although I watched the judges pass on a terrific young singer a la Paris Bennet... people in the crowd actually yelled out in protest "you should have kept her!!"]

In the next round Chris will have to audition before the show's executive producers [the big wig$ who own the show.] If he makes it through he'll then go before Simon, Paula and Randy. Then, hopefully, on to Hollywood where fame and fortune await.

Check out Chris's official website: ChrisSligh.com

Journey Church

>This week's WorshipIdeas is by Chris Surratt, campus pastor of Seacoast Greenville. He and I both love to visit other churches when we can - here's his account of Journey Church in Manhattan. Read his blog at:

http://chrissur.blogspot.com/

My family and I recently took a week of vacation and headed up to New York to do some major sight-seeing. Since we were going to be there over a weekend, we decided to do my favorite tourist activity - check out another church! Being a pastor for a living, I don't get the opportunity to see other churches very often, so it’s always a treat when I can. We decided to attend the Journey Church in the middle of Manhattan. I had been able to connect with their Executive Pastor, Kerrick Thomas, at our Multi-Site Conference in Charleston, and I really wanted to see what they were doing.

The Journey Church was launched in 2002 by Nelson Searcy, who had been on staff at Saddleback Church in CA. In 4 years, they have grown to over 2000 people and are launching their second site in Jersey City next month! All of this while meeting in a 7th floor ballroom on 31st street in Manhattan. It was the first church that I have been to that had a greeter on the elevator! We first stopped off on the 6th floor to drop our kids off for their kid’s church. The children’s volunteers were extremely friendly and walked us through the process of signing our kids in and finding their class. However, this was our first indication that their congregation is extremely young - there weren’t enough kids in my oldest daughter’s class, so they put her in with the little tots. She wasn't thrilled about that!

Our next stop was the auditorium on the next floor up. It was a very large, ornate ballroom that occasionally hosts boxing matches on Friday nights. The majority of the chairs were taped off, forcing us to find a seat towards the front. As more people entered the room, they would "un-tape" another row. This really helped the crowd dynamics, and filled up the normally empty front rows first.

The service started off with a very well done baptism highlights video that promo'd their upcoming beach baptism in a couple of weeks. The band then kicked into a cover of Tom Petty’s "Free Falling" that served the purpose of bringing the people in and getting them to their seats. When we first sat down, the seats were mostly empty. By the time the first song was over, the room was almost full. They then went into a few songs of rocking’ worship led by their worship arts pastor, Jason Hatley. I thought it was interesting that Jason led the entire set with an electric guitar.

Kerrick then came out and announced that because the message that morning was on getting out debt, they were going to give $1000 dollars to someone in that service to go towards their debt! Being that they are in the middle of the most expensive place to live in America, this announcement was well received. Nelson then came on stage and gave a good message on the basics of getting out of debt. He was able to use a personal example of how his family was able to crawl out of debt - after moving to Manhattan five years ago! At the end of the message, they brought out a guy who had just become a member and talked about the next opportunity for membership. This was a great idea for putting a face on a normally boring announcement. At the very end of the hour long service, they had a drawing on stage for the $1000 debt winner.

Over all, we really enjoyed our experience. They are obviously making a large dent in one of the highest un- churched areas in the country!

http://www.nyjourney.com

Postmodern Stations

A few weeks ago I talked about how Seacoast Church is doing the new postmodern stations thing [read "Postmodern Path" below.]

What's so new about Communion and prayer? Here's what: Seacoast's version is optional and interactive.

The modern service order is linear - announcements, music, offertory, sermon - insert whatever - all in a straight chronological line. Everyone is experiencing the same thing, together, simultaneously.

The postmodern mind is different. Think of a teenager listening to his iPod, doing homework and watching TRL [MTV's Total Request Live] all at the same time. This mindset can multitask, and in fact, would prefer to multitask. We live in an overstimulated age and a one-track mind can be boring.

While the Seacoast service is mainly linear, there is a portion that isn't. During this portion of the service, a person can choose to do one, none, some or all of the following:

1. Participate in congregational singing.
2. Move to a station to receive Communion.
3. Move to a station to make an offering.
4. Move to a station and pray with leadership.
5. Move to a station, say a prayer and light a candle as a symbol of that prayer.
6. Move to a station, write a prayer concern [sin, healing, etc.] on a piece of paper and nail it to a cross.

Here's how the current service order looks:

>5 minute countdown video.
>2 upbeat worship songs.
>welcome, announcements.
>sermon.
>3-4 songs or hymns, during which you may participate in any or all of the 6 options above.
>benediction

Church. It's not just for sitting anymore.

See pics of the Seacoast Greenville stations at my new Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worshipideas/sets/

Postmodern Path blog entry:
http://worshipideas.blogspot.com/2006/07/postmodern-path.html

Blended worship on a budget. HymnCharts.com is the best sheet music value on the Internet. Download a free contemporary hymn arrangement.

LifeChurch.tv

Want to visit a cutting edge church to recharge your creative batteries? How about Saddleback? Status quo. Mosaic? Overrated. Willow Creek? They had their heyday in the late 90's.

Surprisingly, I found the most innovative church I've *ever* visited not in a major metropolitan area like LA or Chicago, but in Oklahoma City, of all places. LifeChurch.tv is simply the most amazing church I've ever experienced.

With 9 campuses (one is virtual!) LifeChurch.tv has a combined weekly attendance of 17,000 people. It's one of these video church networks I've been talking about lately.

Greg Atkinson and I visited the South OKC campus first, then caught the second service at the main campus north of town. Each location has 6 service options.

Unlike other video churches that operate on a delay (perhaps playing the sermon on video or DVD,) LifeChurch simulcasts the services live to all their campuses. Each campus has its own band, worship leader and campus pastor. The music may vary, but when the sermon begins, what you see is what's happening at each campus.

LifeChurch really puts effort and $$ into their plants - I actually liked the auditorium of the south satellite better than the main location. The children's facilities are top-notch... Disneyesque, actually [see pics, link below.] The signage, decor, coffee and bookshop are all first rate.

What sets LifeChurch.tv apart, though, is the overwhelming sense that these people know what they're doing, and it's not in the typical 2nd rate church way.

Like most seeker churches, the emphasis here seems to be on the sermon. The music was wonderful and more participatory than similar seeker churches, but not really long enough to satisfy those with a worship bent. I heard some Starfield songs as well as a rocked-up version of Lakewood's "You Are Good."

The sermon [although I wonder if that word really can describe what's happening here] is where I connected. It was the most meaningful God experience I've had in a long, long time.

What made it so meaningful was a skillful, artful blend of a movie clip and pastor Craig Groeschel's talk. This week's theme was "At the Movies" and featured clips from the recent Johnny Cash flick that highlighted his tough childhood and his eventual turn to Christ [quite a solid testimony.]

Most pastors integrate a video by preaching a sermon point then announcing "watch this clip!" Here's what was genius about LifeChurch: I sometimes couldn't tell when the movie clip stopped and the preaching started - it was that seamless and professional.

Craig's sermon points were previously filmed at different locations... a cemetery... an old house... it wasn't just a talking head at a pulpit. He usually preaches live and is broadcast live, although this particular week the entire sermon was recorded.

One of my favorite moments of the service was a clip of Johnny and June making their way to an old country church and a choir could be heard in the background singing a hymn. The clip transitioned to Craig wrapping up his sermon, but you could still hear the audio of the choir, which slowly faded into silence. It was almost like watching a documentary. And unlike many seeker churches, I heard solid stuff - talk of sin, repentance and a need for Christ. The south location reported over 200 professions of faith last month.

Check out my pics from the trip, link below. But before I sign off, a few quick impressions:

1. Coordinating graphics are a subtle clue that a ministry has it together. Their fonts aren't cheesy. Colors match and are used throughout the ministry, everywhere from coffee shop signage to seat colors and decor. Notice the cool font used for lyrics [see pics, link below.]

2. I saw some very unique signage - words projected on the hallway walls [see pics, link below.]

3. The guy running the song lyrics was singing along.

4. The stage lighting was exciting and appropriate. I counted at least 10 robot lights.

5. A brilliant use of the Internet. The .tv Internet domain suffix is rarely used, so they probably have it all to themselves! An upcoming sermon series is at mysecret.tv, and is a takeoff of similar, popular website. I'll bet they register a new domain for every new sermon series!

6. Keep an ear out for new worship leader Stephen Cole - I'm sure you'll be hearing more about him in the future. He's the freshest, most engaging worship leader I've seen in some time - a great vocalist and guitar player. Stephen is the worship pastor at the main campus in Oklahoma City.

7. Instead of a keyboard pounding "Just As I Am," a movie score orchestration faded in as a backdrop to Craig's sermon wrap up (invitation.) The orchestration was probably taken from a commercial stock music library, but the effect was absolutely beautiful and added weight to what Craig was saying. Props to a church that can rock, but isn't afraid to use some classy music.

Visit their extraordinary website:

http://www.lifechurch.tv

See pics from my visit at my new Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worshipideas/sets/

Ever dream of a praise set that flows seamlessly from one song to another? Music is the glue that ties your praise songs together, but some classically trained keyboardists have trouble improvising. WorshipFlow.com can help, with simple keychanges and underscores. Download a free sample.

Postmodern Path

A few weeks ago I talked about a new phase of my life - I'm now working with the music team of Seacoast Church here in Greenville. You can read more about it at this blog.

At my first staff meeting, campus pastor Chris Surratt announced that the Seacoast campuses were going to make a big change - head pastor Greg Surratt wanted to implement prayer, Communion and offering stations into the worship.

I was so excited I nearly jumped out of my chair. After reading Dan Kimball's "The Emerging Church" a few years ago I became interested in this new wave of worship and thought it would meet a need in the Greenville area. A big rule in marketing is to find a need and meet it - and since no church that I know of in Greenville is doing the stations thing, why shouldn't we be the first?

Greg takes a few weeks off each summer, and last year he visited many of the leading postmodern ministries in the country. He felt that God was nudging him to help the people of Seacoast experience a richer, more involved time of worship.

It's rare that a pastor of a megachurch would be willing to rock the boat and try something so radically new, but I suspect that's why Seacoast is as successful as it is - they're not afraid of new things.

The first Sunday, Greg reported that the new format was a hit - he witnessed a shift from a few people participating to hundreds. Since the main campus is a week ahead of the rest of us, we saw the results the following Sunday. The beauty of the stations concept is that people can choose to actively participate (or not) by moving forward to take Communion, give their offering or have prayer, all options during the praise set. I'll describe these stations in more detail in the future.

Now that we're having Communion every week we're keeping an ear out for more Communion-ish worship songs. Chris Sligh, one of the talented worship leaders here in Greenville has written a fantastic Communion song. I don't know why this guy doesn't have a record deal yet - he wrote the music and lyrics, sings on the demo like a Nashville session singer and played the guitars on my track. It's my first collaboration with a Seacoast artist, and you can download a free mp3 and lead sheet here:

http://www.worshipideas.com/CommunionSong.html

Worship leader, visit WorshipMax.com and learn how your Internet connection can make your life easier. It's a paid website with over 100 practical articles about contemporary worship as well as weekly resource links and downloads.

Preparation Makes Perfect

This week's WorshipIdea original appeared in the 08.12.03 issue. Read the entire archive of past issues at the paid website WorshipMax.com:

http://www.worshipmax.com

As I've said before, it seems everyone and their brother is starting a contemporary worship service. Unfortunately, I've heard that many of these new services are failing. Often the reason is poor planning and execution.

Here are two key points to consider if you're involved with praise and worship:

1. Plan ahead. I can't believe it when I hear of churches that meet thirty minutes before the service and throw together a song set.

A well known worship leader states that he never plans his worship song set. Rather, he has a list of all the songs his congregation knows, and he keeps this list on his music stand during worship to jog his memory. Then he lets the Spirit move.

While there's nothing wrong with this free-flowing method, I'm sure a worship leader of his stature can attract the finest musicians in town. Frankly, you'd need top musicians to pull off a service like this - musicians who know the songs by heart or can sight-read a chart perfectly. Pretty unrealistic for you and me, unless you want to lead worship all by yourself - strumming your guitar or accompanying yourself on the keyboard.

Remember, the more you plan, the more people can be involved. Flying by the seat of your pants (or skirt) can often result in a musical train wreck. Multiple train wrecks tend to make people in the congregation think you don't know what you're doing. If the service isn't worth planning, maybe it isn't worth attending.

Planning ahead gives you time to work out your praise set like a puzzle, fitting songs together in a perfect flow. It also makes your rehearsals more efficient, which leads me to my next point:

2. Rehearse. I'm also surprised at the number of churches that don't have a rehearsal! Rehearsals give you time to prepare both musically and spiritually for the coming Sunday.

If you're doing the praise team thing with 3-6 vocalists, I recommend having a separate vocal and band rehearsal. Each group has their own problems, and I'd rather concentrate on one group at a time. Then, put the whole thing together during your pre-service run-through. If you have just a worship leader and a background vocalist or two, let them rehearse with the band.

Your musicians might balk at rehearsing. Rehearsals are a must if you want to succeed with a quality worship service, so don't back down. However, people need to know your reasoning if you expect them to give you their valuable time.

Try making a deal with your musicians. First tell them your strategy: that you believe rehearsing will only improve the music and bring about a better worship experience for the congregation. Careless goof-ups distract people from connecting with God, whereas smooth transitions help usher them into His presence. Ask them if they'll try rehearsing for a month. When they see the positive results - better blend and a tighter band - they'll be more apt to become committed team members.

Blended worship on a budget. HymnCharts.com is the best sheet music value on the Internet. Download a free contemporary hymn arrangement.