We are attempting an experiment. For years we have run our structure of vocal team/bridge team (worship choir) one way, now we are going to try something new to make it more Organic:

How we did it in the past.

Every prospective vocalist came through a Get to Know You audition. If they “qualified,” they began singing on our Bridge Team singing every other weekend for six months. If they proved faithful, were interested, and had completed a six month tour of duty, the bridge team member could complete a more formal audition for our vocal team. They would sing a solo on stage (full lights, etc.) while Missy our Vocal Coach and I watched vocal presentation, stage presence, and then interviewed them on how their personal worship time looked.

The Problem.

1. If someone joined bridge a month after the last vocal team audition, it would be almost a year before an audition was calendered in which they could participate because of the six month requirement.
2. It is a very “nervy” situation since it is an all or nothing proposition on the audition.
3. It doesn’t seem to fit the way the rest of our ministry feels. We have an anti-performance vibe and the audition seems very performance oriented.

The Solution.

We are going to stop the formal audition process for vocal teams and approach things more organically. We will still continue the Get to Know You initial audition for Bridge Team (worship choir) and that will be our point of entry. If we think we have someone on Bridge Team who can sing well, has been faithful for a season, and has a worshiper’s heart, we’ll start asking them to come a little early on some Wednesday nights and sing some solos working alongside Missy our vocal coach. If someone approaches us about interest for vocal teams, we’ll begin to do the same. When they are ready, comfortable on stage visually and vocally, and through organic relationships we figure out where they are in their personal worship, we’ll ask them to sub in on a Vocal Team. After watching that process a couple of times, we’ll do our twice a year reassign. If they are ready we’ll let them join a team for a six month or year tour while someone on an existing vocal team takes a six month rotation on bridge team only (something we already do to beat the “spotlight syndrome” out of people).

This feels more “NorthWood” than the rigidity of the past structure. Funny, usually as organizations get bigger they get more bureaucratic. We are going the opposite way. We will be way more organic with our 80 something vox roster than we were when we had 40. We’ll report back on if this works or if it is a colossal failure.

A little off topic but not really.  Check the article out here.  Our glocal impact strategy even affects our worship ministry as we seek to foster indigenous artists in Vietnam through sending our people over on ethnomusicology projects (recording and preserving Vietnamese folk music, more posting on this soon).    Our worship arts ministry is also bringing over Vietnamese painters to give them Western exposure and to foster further dialogue.

Tired of your to do list (on paper or even vitalist) beating you down??? Check out these tips.

We all tend to look at our task list of the urgent and necessary and spend most of our time working on checking off the list. That is a fatal mistake if your church or ministry is growing or if you want it to. It is working “in” the ministry. We need to be spending more of our time working “on” the ministry.

But how do we do this? Concentrate on enlisting and building people (trench #1) and developing or tweaking processes and systems (trench #2). There are seasons I concentrate almost entirely on working “on” the ministry by streamlining our time in “in” areas for a period of time. For example, I save time on the “in” of worship design by repeating an appropriate service from a time gone by one week or doing songs we know well and using the chart making/rehearsing time for the “on” not “in” stuff. Here are some practical ways to do this: (more…)

If I had a hidden slush fund, one week I’d make 2,000 T-shirts and pass them out during our worship times.  Why? To reinforce to the people who attend NorthWood that they are not showing up to be entertained.  Rather, they are part of the worship team singing for an audience of one, God…we just stand up a little higher than they do so they can see the cues.

My brother Robby Fowler, a graphics designer who does tons of cool stuff including some North Point stuff, is ALWAYS on me to buy a Mac. He’s like a hyena on a limping zebra…he won’t let up. Anywhoo, I called him today to demand that he go to a see John Butler as he is appearing near him soon. He said he would if I would download the new PC version of Safari and run it exclusively for two weeks. DEAL! We’ll let you know. (I think this is a sucker tactic to get me to totally jump into the Mac world, btw I did this post in Safari…can you tell? hahaha).

[Okay, I already cheated. I cannot make Safari display the Visual Mode instead of Code when writing a wordpress post even though it is selected in the user preference page. Weird. But I'll keep trying. ]

Last night, the worshiptrench boyz went to see the John Butler Trio live at House of Blues. One word-unbelievable, though they remain little known, they shan’t for long.

I have seen a zillion shows and the was by far one of the best drum sounds I have ever heard live. Michael Barker is trained and dangerous. His kit tuning was impeccable. The FOH engineer’s sounds he got off of the kit I have only heard matched by the FOH mixer of Antonio Sanchez of the Pat Metheny Group. Please check the remaining US tour and see them if they are coming to your town and you are open to viewing “secular” (I don’t like the bifurcation but oh well you’ll at least get it) music.

Now to the networking point. After the show I gracefully approached the FOH engineer and asked if he had a card. Since he was an Aussie and not a US resident, he asked me, “What for?” I told him that he had generated one of the best live drum sounds I’d ever heard and that we were a “kind of weird church that believes you should make the world a better place to live (gospel transforms both the individual and society–read Kuyper)” and wanted to know if he would ever come in and do a clinic with our techs/and dial in our drum sound in the new room. He said, “Mates, if I am in the states and you can get me there, I’d be glad to.” Just goes to show it never hurts to ask and always be looking to extend your network of people who can be in your ministry toolbox. You should be writing down a web of your networks. We have one we’re starting that looks like a huge spider web and investigating a new program that I’ll let you know soon if it is worth it. I’ll get him here…now just to see if I can get Michael Baker in tandem for a drum clinic/tuning session. I now have a “people bridge” to him as well.

Okay, I worked really hard on the second message on I Timothy this week…a lot of sweat equity went into it to be accurate to the text yet having some element of creativity (test me on it here). I get home that night and Paul Watson had sent me this link (hopefully the link will stay active for a while). I was totally impressed and instantly thought, “Wow, what a cool way to thank a volunteer for some extra effort.)

Here is the main link to set up your own message at the end of the video. Every volunteer would get a kick out of it…okay, at least your machismo ones. Thanks Paul.

Some really nice stage design work from the guys at Browns Bridge here. Even cooler is their newer look. . . here (shabam!)  [via www.betterthanblank.org]

Also and icy cool blog for some nice summer reading… http://ragamuffinsoul.com/ 

We chose our drums backwards…
0. We had a budget.
1. We picked incredible mics (Shure 52 on kick, 98’s on toms, 81 on HH, 57 on   snare, KSM 27’s on overheads,).
2.  We hand picked our cymbals (Ziljdan Custom A’s and a K’s)
3.  We got a smokin’ snare from one of drummers.
3.  We saw how much money we had left and bought the kit.

Our drummers are tuning wizards and as long as the shells were maple mid-level or better they could get them sounding good. A bad cymbal sounds like a bad cymbal no matter what you do to it.  We have a really good drum sound.  Yes, in the future we might upgrade the kit but not in a rush as our sound is great.

We shield our kit,  though in our new room I would hope that we won’t have to.

This one isn’t on us but it is funny. Watch the video here. Maybe the transpose button should have flashed?

1. God is the initiator of our worship, therefore it the Holy Spirit who is inviting us to worship God and not us inviting God. I don’t have to “get God to show up.”

John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.…seeks=active tense.(cf. Isaiah, John on Patmos, etc.)

2. I am walking out covered under the atonement of Jesus and therefore can come boldly, no matter how big a screw up I was the past week.

Eph 2:16 and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Heb 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

3. The need for me to gain approval from others for bridging them into the presence of God, performing well, or doing a “great service” is equally as futile and short-lived as chasing the wind. (more…)

We love the greatness of Firefox around here. Here is a post that gives some great Firefox extensions. Lifehacker deems them as blogging tools but they work well for anyone surfing the web for creative ideas and “metaphor hunting.”