Sunday, October 5, 2008

Jesus' Kingdom; you want in?

10/05/08 Jesus' Kingdom Pt. 1: You Want In?

Personally, I feel we are so blessed. I know for a fact one of the hardest things to do, is pull off a blended (ugh!) service. Been there, done that, have multiple t-shirts.

But, I am learning that it is more difficult to add "new" to the "old". Rather than the other way around. Or is that just in churches I have been in?

I think because we are predominately a rock worship style church, we are able to blend in traditional and contemporary along with our rock. We also add appropriate secular music.

Particularly since we focus on the reaching skeptic and unchurched. They don't have any idea when we slip in a traditional song like "I Stand Amazed". It's just like any other song we sing. And when we add secular music, it is such a connecting piece with the unchurched.
About six weeks out, we are actually going to be doing a dramatic movement piece using Flobots "handlebars".

The other thing I noticed, the unchurched never starts a sentence with "Back at my old church...".

Worship Set 1
All We Need

Welcome & Greet / Announcements
BABY DEDICATION
Promo for: "Card Board Testimonies”

Worship Set 2
I Stand Amazed
Hungry

Creative Element
Drama - "Rich Young Ruler"
The stage set was designed for the drama we did today. Very simple, yet dramatic visually.
The stage design was fun and used 130 feet of material.

Message: Jesus' Kingdom Pt. 1: You Want In?

Worship Set 3
'Till I See You

Do you think it is easier to blend in the old with the new vs. the new with the old?

This is submitted as part of "Sunday Set List #11" blog carnival at Fred McKinnon's blog. Check it out and see what worship leaders are planning from all over.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The other thing I noticed, the unchurched never starts a sentence with "Back at my old church...".

Very, very true. I catch myself saying this sometimes.

HL McConnell said...

I agree, it's much easier to old vintage worship with new modern songs and modern hymns than it is do it the other way around. The word blended is a scary word. Love it when we rock it out. :)

Perky Gramma Teaches said...

"vintage worship"
like it...
adding to my vocab.

Anonymous said...

add old to the new, add old to the new, add old to the new.

that's 3 votes for adding old to new being easier than adding new to old. also I'm holding up BOTH my hands for each vote. :)

After wrestling with 'blended' services for years, we recently moved to 1 traditional format, and 2 contemporary. All these words are filled with meaning differently depending on where you are, but for me, planning the 'contemporary' service means I have greater freedom. I can pull from songs written 300 years ago, or last week. It becomes about the effectiveness of all the various worship 'tools' at our disposal. I love that.

thanks for posing the question!

Fred McKinnon said...

Hey,
thanks so much for being a part of Sunday Setlists every week. I noticed you have a violin player up there - that's awesome - how does that fit into the style?

For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
www.fredmckinnon.com
www.theworshipcommunity.com

inWorship said...

I stand amazed is a brilliant song. I love it.

the stage looks great, very inviting.

http://brentinworship.com/blog

Jake Gehret said...

i have experienced difficulties in both situations. i have led worship at a church whose primary corporate expressions were all between 40 and 150 years old; incorporating new songs/ideas or songs/ideas that predated 1850 was met with impassioned defenses of the church's tradition. On the other hand, i have led worship at a church that is not even 20 years old, yet trying to incorporate anything from the rich history of Christian worship brought about charges of cultural ignorance or dullness. Indeed, traditions can be quickly set and ought be met with artists' zealous pursuit of diversity and creativity within the body of Christ that His glory might be displayed in as many avenues as possible.

Perky Gramma Teaches said...

@kimbontrager so that's 6 votes. lol. tell how you really feel.
I've been trhough all those situations. Wouldn't want to go there again.
@fred: We are predominantly rock worship. She rocks it out well and is able to really fly. But, she plays all styles well. We actually utilize her a least two out of weeks a month.
Thanks for noticing. She is such a blessing to have on the team.
We have at least three - four people who play drums, guitar (acoutic and electric) and bass. We just added the keyboard this week. We only have one worship leader currently, but have a couple more training.
@brent (in worship)worship rocked this week. I cried through nearly every song. "I Stand Amazed" was simply poignant and such GREAT harmony.
@jake. So well said. Believe it or not, we have to fight the "designing from memory" syndrome often. We are only ten years old (only 4 years as a church). And "traditions" creep up ever so quickly.
Thanks all, I am learning so much from you all!