en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/620274 Comments by Hans http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/05/sunday-worship-05-16-2010/#IDComment75845457 Very spirit led worship, team. I liked the scriptural leading and meshing from song to song--flow and blend was excellent. Excellent piano-work Bethanie! What you were doing matched the ebb and flow of the emotion in the songs--really liked it. Mon, 17 May 2010 16:51:03 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/05/sunday-worship-05-16-2010/#IDComment75845457 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/05/praise-night-05-14-2010/#IDComment75845203 Great job to all that were involved and were leading! I'm very encouraged (and actually surprised) that we have so many up and rising leaders that have this amazing heart for the Lord. Mon, 17 May 2010 16:48:26 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/05/praise-night-05-14-2010/#IDComment75845203 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/sunday-worship-04-11-2010/#IDComment67786785 I'd agree about the enunciation thing, and maybe it was because your allergies were pretty bad this Sunday it seemed. As I tell the sound guys, you have to realize that if you were standing in the congregation, you can understand what's being sung because you know the song already. You need to make sure when you're singing that someone who doesn't know the song at all is able to understand what is being sung--and the sound guys can help make that happen, but like I always say, we can only do as good as our source material allows. Loved the arrangement and the feel of The Saving One. That box thing sounds really good Jason. Kelsi, good job on your first time up. I know it might have been a bit unexpected, but you handled yourself well. Hope it wasn't too nerve wracking! Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:56:37 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/sunday-worship-04-11-2010/#IDComment67786785 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66093367 I feel like the lamest one up front, being tied to my keyboard. I must find a key-tar.... I know that you personally may understand this, but it's a point worth bringing up because I've heard from others too about the supposed lack of hymns. Let's take a step back. We made passing at this point a few weeks ago, with the background of the congregational reading James led that was a hymn entitled "Phos Hilaron". "Hymn" as a noun is a praise or worship song, and "hymn" as a verb means to praise and worship. A traditional hymn that one would think about (like Great Is Thy Faithfulness, or It Is Well, or Come Thou Fount, etc) can actually be defined in more specific terms. It has a certain kind of overall song structure (AABA, ABAB, etc), where each line has a certain number of measures, and the lyrics are formed with a certain number of syllables per line, etc. There are other elements as well that I'm not learned enough to know, but these are the main things that make a traditional hymn what it is, and also very good for corporate worship because of how easy it is to follow. One of the songs we chose this Sunday was "The Power Of The Cross", by Keith and Kristyn Getty, and Stuart Townend. If you look at the structure of the song, the way the lyrics are written, and the melodic form of each line, it is not an accident that they are so similar structurally and full of rich content similar to the old traditional hymns--and this is not an accident. The Gettys are very intentional about creating new songs that mimic the traditional hymns of old. If you get down to the details of what traditional hymn structure is, "The Power Of The Cross" will fill all of those requirements of a traditional hymn. We planned the combination of intentional choices of songs and scripture to strengthen the connection between song and Word. With that, we do the best we can and we pray that God will be glorified in it. There can't be a way to make sure on every single Sunday, every last person's personal needs and preferences for worship are met, but we do take note to make sure there are familiar songs throughout that everyone can use to worship God--so look at song selection as an average. This is why your feedback is important to us, because we serve *you*. However, arranging and planning worship so that it can be *inclusive* of everyone is not an average--it is required, and it's in our job description as worship leaders. But what would trouble me is if someone dwells on the fact that a traditional hymn by Isaac Watts isn't sung, or a particular traditional Easter hymn wasn't sung, or that there was no "hymn" at all, because that makes me question if we are effectively filling our role as worship leaders, but also question if the people are understanding the purpose of the worship service, the songs that are sung, and how it connects with the Gospel message and connecting worship with their life. I am not, however, discounting the power of traditional hymns. Rather, I am trying to show that there is much more out there to use as tools for worship than just songs written pre-1900. Sure, there are contemporary songs that really don't go well once you pull the words apart from the music. But did you know there are bad hymns too? I encourage everyone to look over the songs we sing. Become familiar with them. Use this site, or ask a worship team member for the title and/or lyrics. Ask for the lead sheets after worship service (I know one or two that regularly come up and ask us for the set afterwards!). Trust me, we don't do much with the paper except use it as scratch or recycle it. Study the lyrics, the melodies, the rhythm--I think you will find that overall, the worship leaders do not pick songs that are watered down or "theology lite". We probably can't stand the fluff and sugar songs even more than the average listener. We definitely welcome more discussion on this topic. This is not a right or wrong type of thing, but can also easily descend into a my preference/your preference discussion, so let's be careful of that. Mon, 5 Apr 2010 20:06:44 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66093367 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66075491 I suppose now we'll start going back and forth in some sort of infinite loop thanking each other... Well, no we won't. Instead, we'll just thank God! Mon, 5 Apr 2010 17:32:01 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66075491 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66065717 Amazing worship for an amazing God! Many thanks for the team for practicing hard. Dr. Green, thanks for the message, and making an excellent transition in the second worship set between our songs. The flow of that was excellent! I think we all need work on holding long notes... maybe we were all tired, haha. Just keep that in mind, notes don't hold themselves--we need the support and actual concentration to keep it in tune. Most of our flubs either on entrances, transitions, or chords I'm willing to just pass over as not having enough prep time in the morning and therefore causing a lack of confidence in what our plan was. Bethanie, I'm getting comments from all over--vocally, you've improved a lot in a relatively short amount of time...keep doing whatever it is you're doing! You and I have the same problem...keeping those long notes in tune. Don't "check out" of your brain when you're singing a long note. Last thing that sticks out in my head: Hosanna for the first 2 minutes were amazing. Actually, don't get me wrong, the whole song was awesome, but the first 2 minutes were dead-on-nuts. We got a bit messy after that, and all that stuff that comes with not being able to prepare quite enough, but the Spirit was certainly moving us all to worship! One electric is not enough...it must be two from now on ;-) Mon, 5 Apr 2010 16:04:24 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/04/easter-sunday-worship-04-04-2010/#IDComment66065717 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-02-28-2010/#IDComment59587603 Thanks Keith, encouragement is always appreciated too! Wed, 3 Mar 2010 17:21:00 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-02-28-2010/#IDComment59587603 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2010/02/apologetics-workshop-videos-part-12/#IDComment59411009 I'll try to get them for you. Tue, 2 Mar 2010 20:35:22 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2010/02/apologetics-workshop-videos-part-12/#IDComment59411009 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-02-21-2010/#IDComment58207204 Well, I thought it was actually an excellent way to integrate and flow into the next element. Actually, I didn't know it was planned, but when Bruce did it last week--and now you--I think we should continue that. It allows for a much better transition. Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:13:40 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-02-21-2010/#IDComment58207204 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-14/#IDComment57457834 You too? It's on my regular playlist now...I think it came up like 5 times yesterday while I was flying, heh... Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:11:40 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-14/#IDComment57457834 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment56980187 We fixed the problem. The second video matrix was scaling all output to 1366x768...??? Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:06:05 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment56980187 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment56136020 Super dynamic.... Wed, 10 Feb 2010 06:46:02 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment56136020 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment55881310 Don't forget Janice, this was her first time working the board herself and she mixed you guys very well. I suggested some changes, but the sound work was really all her doing. Mon, 8 Feb 2010 18:46:51 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment55881310 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment55876595 Despite the projector issues interrupting the opening song, I can come up with no words at the moment to describe the worship this Sunday yet...will write something after I'm done chopping up the recordings. A word about the projector problems, since so many were asking: The projectors got stuck in a loop trying to "set up the image". It normally does this when we change input devices or resolutions, and in this case it was switching between Dr. Green's macbook and the easyworship computer. Normally this does not cause issues, and we had it running just fine during practice, but right after we tested the macbook connection and service was about to start, the projectors decided to continuously try to auto-adjust the image from the easyworship computer. We did not change the output of the easyworship computer from when it was working just fine previously, before we connected and switched to the macbook, so the switch back triggered something. It was fixed with a factory reset of the projector. The root cause of this is probably the projector itself and the image processing hardware/software in it, unfortunately. We did not change the output of the easyworship computer--all we did was do a factory reset on the projector to stop it from constantly auto-adjusting the image. The team and A/V trustees are working together and looking into how to prevent this from interrupting worship again... Regardless of what happened, the team adjusted well as soon as they realized what happened and still led an excellent time of worship. God be praised! Mon, 8 Feb 2010 18:06:11 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2010/02/sunday-worship-2010-02-07/#IDComment55876595 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/12/the-old-is-leaving-the-new-is-coming/#IDComment50724047 - This year, I was blessed and excited to see so many others grab hold of the vision that the leaders set out before them. I praise God for the many people who stepped out, seemingly from nowhere, and served in such a joyful way that it showed itself so well through songs and instruments. It is a huge blessing for leaders to be able to see the people they lead and serve on board with them and supporting them in the direction that God is taking everyone. In particular, the drama team, which was once a daunting task to me--because I didn't really know anything about it, or have a vision for it--now is a joy to watch them get together and succeed in ministering to the church. Big thanks to Jason, who saw the vision and, I'm sure with much prayer and thought, put together a team that can create, produce, and perform their own originals for the congregation to the Glory of God! - 2 things to improve: We need to start educating the congregation and the young people of our church in worshiping God through music, arts, and life or otherwise. Worship is a part of life--every part of it. Right now we are not intentionally transmitting that culture. We need to give assistance to the other groups at our church that need help with the arts--like mentoring the worship leaders in Ambassadors, providing music and drama perhaps for the YTF/KS/Echos fellowships when needed. - God has grown my understanding of worship by challenging me to make sure my heart is in the right place, and my motives are clear, especially while I am challenging others to grow in their abilities and gifts. God has also challenged me with the other members of the team around me, and showing me my own shortcomings and weaknesses, but also giving me a desire to strengthen those areas. Thu, 7 Jan 2010 00:05:32 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/12/the-old-is-leaving-the-new-is-coming/#IDComment50724047 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/12/sunday-worship-2009-12-06/#IDComment48616501 Randy, love the e-bow action. In regards to my comment in a later post, another good example of good rhythmic arpeggiated chords that add to the rhythm and melody of the song is at beginning of Sing To the King where you drive the rhythm with the muted picking + delay. You Alone - excellent vocal blend! love it. A general comment on vocals + harmonies - use the different intensities and airiness that you have available in your voice to match and back up the lead melody, and not overpower it. Get strong and intense with the lead, but if the lead backs down, make sure you follow in the quality of your voice as well as the volume. That said, Bethanie and Peggy - great job interplaying the harmonies and melodies in each song, esp. in Sing To the King. It's definitely a hard transition between the verses and choruses, holding the intensity out. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:27:48 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/12/sunday-worship-2009-12-06/#IDComment48616501 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-22/#IDComment48614826 I don't think I was here for this Sunday, but I definitely dig the dual acoustic guitar sound. We should do that more often! Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:10:03 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-22/#IDComment48614826 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-15/#IDComment48612881 Great togetherness on the vocals. Entrances and endings were right on! All the leaders have been expanding their encouragement of a right attitude of worship lately. It's encouraging to see how far that's developed in such a short amount of time. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:50:09 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-15/#IDComment48612881 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-08/#IDComment48592634 What you ladies said reminds me of my final semester of undergrad....4 final projects all due on the same Friday. And all I could think about was wanting to get to IV large group to be part of leading worship with my brothers and sisters. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:54:26 +0000 http://www.ccuc-wam.net/2009/11/sunday-worship-2009-11-08/#IDComment48592634 http://wam.ccuc.net/2009/12/sunday-worship-2009-12-13/#IDComment48586340 A quick comment just individually listening to each recorded track. More later... Randy, I like the sound of your setup a lot better when you're doing rhythmic picking or strumming that has distinct arpeggiated notes or a distinct rhythm w/ delay FX, like what you did in One Thing, and during parts of the section right before the chorus (O how constant...) in O Praise Him, or at the second verse of You Are God Alone (really like what you did there). Not to say that the "droning" and "distorted" sustained sound is bad, but I think as electric players you guys might think you are expected to do that distortion/sustained sound more often than "lead" electric guitar lines that contribute more to the melody, harmony, and rhythm. What I think I'm trying to say is that ear fatigue happens more with the distortion/droning sound that contributes to the ambient sound than arpeggiated or melodic picking that contributes to the rhythm or melody. I know that my ears immediately perked up when you started playing the arpeggiated picking lines. Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:12:03 +0000 http://wam.ccuc.net/2009/12/sunday-worship-2009-12-13/#IDComment48586340