In 2001 I was recruited to start a praise and worship band for the launch of a Lifeteen program at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Lenexa, KS. Back then, I had to listen to music on CD’s and make my own song sheets. We created song booklets for lyrics because we didn’t have programs like MediaShout to display lyrics on a projection screen. This forced us to plan our music at least a quarter at a time. I wrote and arranged service music like mass parts or psalms that fit this new style of contemporary music.
Technology has really changed and the ability to listen to Praise & Worship music on an iPod or to send out a link to your band of a YouTube video of a new song makes it so much easier to introduce new music. CCLI’s Song Select service makes lead sheets of popular songs easy to print and transpose to a comfortable key. These are just a couple of examples of things that make it easier for a worship leader to find music and be able to teach it to their band and congregation quickly and easily.
There’s a lot I and many of my friends in this industry have learned just by doing it and I want to start sharing those lessons, tips, tricks, and have conversations about what people are doing to make contemporary worship at their church better. I’d like to talk about gear and geek out about cool gadgets. I’d like to review new music and interview some of my favorite Christian recording artists like Chris Tomlin, Matt Maher, David Crowder Band, Matt Redman, Hillsong United. I’d like to share original music and make it available through free downloads. I’d like to have a place to list bios for myself and contributing writers to this online community.
I’m also looking for a job leading worship again even though I continue to serve as a musician and fill in youth music minister at Holy Trinity. I haven’t found many good places outside of Craigslist to find postings for this type of ministry. Maybe through this site people will be able to find jobs as worship leaders easier.
How can www.worshipmusicministry help you, your church or your band become better at leading worship?
Leave me a comment here on the blog or e-mail your ideas to ray@worshipmusicminsitry.com.