Church services for March 22, 2009

MARK IN YOUR DIARIES THE ROAD TRIP FOR BOTH TEAMS MAY 17 FROM 9am

New songs now on the list ' Sing To The Lord' (am) and 'There's a Saving One' (pm)

These church services are really getting a knock-on effect from new things happening at York St! I think each week brings new excitement and challenges for people attending the services. And as the worship team, you are on the front line - setting the scene and bringing people into the presence of God. Thank you from me. I consider each week that it is an absolute privelege to lead you.

The thing that seems to be more tricky for both services is the frequency of responses (altar calls) that the preacher is asking for. It really pinpoints the last song to be relevant. I thought that 'For the Cause' and "Blessed be Your Name"worked well, but also many other ones could have also been used. Like the night service, you can also 'bring down' the energy of the song. That worked well. The thing is, I think, to be ready to re-play a previous song if relevant, and to nail down the preacher to see what final point they are going to make! It's all very well to wait for the Spirit's leading, but it is difficult for the team!

And on the subject of altar calls, someone asked what the protocol was for serving worship team members if they felt that they needed to respond. I strongly believe that if God is calling you to respond that He will provide for your ministry. Don't worry about serving, go with the call of God. Just let someone know if you are able to, and I'm sure we could either do without your part or someone else can takeover. There was an instance many years ago that a worship leader during the altar call song put her mic down and went down to respond. I think that showed great responsibility in her leadership. You don't know how many people you might influence. Worship first, minister second.

10am service

1. To God Be the Glory

2. Mighty to Save

Welcome

BECS focus

Prayer

3. He Knows My Name

4. In Christ Alone

Reading

Sermon

5. For the Cause

What a worshipful service! The song choices worked well together in pairs. And lo and behold, the ceiling didn't fall in when we changed the service order! I think it was a nice change, what did you think? It's nice to open with a rousing hymn too!

Beautiful communion playing. This is always a highlight. And the mix of voices was much better than the top heaviness of last time. Well done for doing the harmonies! Thanks to the sound tech for mixing at the last moment latecomers! It worked well, I thought, the FOH.

Let me know your thoughts on the service.

6pm service

1. For All You've Done

2. Ever More

3. There's a Saving One

Welcome

BECS focus

Prayer

Communion

4. How Great is Our God

Sermon

5. Blessed Be Your Name

Sound chick extraordinaire, as well as your Bible stunt, the mix was nice! Could hear the sax and the lead on piano when needed. These are often lost.

This was quite a professional setup and run. Nice partnership between the piano and acoustic guitar, and awesome sax! All in all, the vocals worked really nicely, and lovely harmonies. It is nice to see people openly worshipping when on stage. This helped others, I think. Worship leader, nice arrangement of songs. I was talking to someone else about taking control of the band, and used you as an example. You really are setting the benchmark there. I think an A+ all in all for everyone. Let me know what you thought.

Thanks again for a great week. My prayer is that you are blessed as you have blessed others.

Church services for March 1 2009

All-in for all teams 22 March 2-4pm

Thanks for your involvement in Sunday's services. What a buzz (no pun intended) we have around the place! Can you feel it? It's an exciting time to be here! This week the sermon was on Zaccheus in a sermon series of "Stops and distrations along the way". It was about encountering Jesus.

10am service

1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

2. Be Glorified

3. Purify My Heart

Welcome/Mission Spot (with offering)

4. Take Me to the Cross

Prayer

Communion

5. I'm Forever Grateful

Reading/Sermon

6. Ruler of My Days

Close

The thing that stood out for me is the lightness that the band played. Particularly the bass, wow, very sensitive. Thanks. The song choice was also thoughtful, with the scriptures added. However, I think that we need more variety in tempi and have the first few songs more upbeat. We can have light and shade in all of the songs, and not only have them build the same way each time. The suggestion that you sing unison at the start of a song was a good one and worked well, I think. Great sound, particularly under painful circumstances (sound tech left church in an ambulance with back problems!) and thanks to the data operator who made sure everything was prepared before the day. It made things run a lot more smoothly.

6pm service

1. I Need You (new original song)

2. One Way

3. Look What You've Done

Welcome/Mission Spot (with offering)

4. The Heart of Worship

Prayer (with music)

Sermon

Communion

5. I Need You (reprise)

6. My Redeemer Lives

Close

Firstly the setup was great. What did you think you all being on the floor and not in full view of the congregation? Awesome mix (with another hurt soundie) and I heard that the foldback was nice too, kudos to you! I have heard only positive comments about the original song. I think that it works best as an item, and it fit well with the theme. Was the changing around of the song structure too much to remember? There were a couple of slip ups in trying to change what we normally do! But how beautiful was the music without words after "Heart of Worship" and into the prayer? We need to do that more, I think. Encouragement to the worship leader, get out of your comfort zone and look at a wide variety of songs. Start with the theme and work from there.

Keep on keeping on with your own personal worship because it will only work with you doing it first!

Thanks again