Infuse and Ignite News Blog

Song Writing (a non expert point of view)

infuseandignite — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 05:09:26 +0000

So when I was about 13 or 14 I got my first guitar. I had been a brass band boy all my life and all my musical education up to that point, like many people my age, had been through wonderful, faithful people in the Salvation Army. Getting that guitar opened a whole new world of music for me…. and just before you go there no this is NOT a blog about Brass vs Guitar, Traditional vs Contemporary, Strings vs Valves etc…… the world of music that getting my own guitar opened for me was my own music.
Now I do not profess to have any formal music training of any kind but I love to write songs. For me writing songs allows me to sing about something between God and I. It helps me commit to memory poignant thoughts from a sermon or scripture verses or truths about God. Most of the songs I write no one else will ever hear because they are in m head for a few minutes and then they are gone. A personal worship time between God and I.
So with the Infuse and Ignite Worship Resources team asking for people to send in songs for consideration for the 2011 recording there are some things that as songwriters we can think about and that could be helpful for you as you share an offering of your own worship with others.
1. Listen to music. That might see like a gimme but really listen. Since writing songs I have listened for different things in music. How a melody flows, what word are they singing in the focal point of the line, what chord changes are used, are there any interesting time signature or rhythms used. All of these things can help make your song writing better.

2. Find someone to listen to your work and give you feedback. My wife listened to many versions of my songs before they were ready to record. You can do the same thing with lyrics. Try and find someone with a sound theological knowledge and run your lyrics.

3. Listen to whoever is preaching or leading worship in your church. This is the teaching time where you learn more about go. I believe worship song writers write songs out of our experience of God. The pre chorus for ‘My Heart’s Desire’ sung by Ashlee Sheppard on the Infuse and Ignite album was written during a sermon.

‘There will be a cost in a life lived to serve a world that’s lost, to show real love.’

This thought that stuck with me from a sermon didn’t have a melody for quite a while but in God’s time the other thoughts and sections of the song came together.

4. Write or record your ideas. Get yourself a book or a Dictaphone or use your voice memo feature on your phone to keep your ideas. Don’t let them slip away because you may not get them back. And you might find that you have a couple of different ideas at different times that eventually come together t make a song.

5. Use your songs at your church. This is a pretty nerve wracking thing to do but I hope that in your church like in mine that you have a loving supportive family who can encourage your gift and also help you make it better. Your community needs to be the first ones blessed with your gifts
Hopefully that is a helpful starting point for you and can get you going. Writing songs for the church to sing is a privilege. Songwriters help others communicate with God. So pray about what god wants you to write. Labour over your song, give every talent and ability you have as a worship offering to God.
If you have any other song writing tips please post them in the comments section.
Simon Gough

Worship Elective at G.A.C (Gospell Arts Camp)

infuseandignite — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 00:54:42 +0000

Several of the Infuse and Ignite team were at G.A.C this year. Nate Brown lead worship sessions and the Worship elective this year. Campers Jenna Newton and Chris Smartt have put together their thougts from a week spent in the Worship Elective.

GAC – wow, what a week! Combine God-filled experiences with awesome friends and you’ve got the perfect camp! There were many amazing times at camp, as you could probably imagine, but one of the most important things for us was worship.
When contemplating what we could write for this blog regarding worship at GAC, we realised first and foremost that for us, worship is an experience. When we worship, we feel removed from our environment, and completely focused upon God. Being a part of the worship elective at GAC almost gave an extra opportunity to worship God during the day. While we did spend time learning music, and learning how to lead people in worship, we found ourselves being drawn into this praise environment during our elective sessions. We’re so thankful to Nate Brown that the worship elective gave us this time to focus upon God.

One of the best reminders that we got from the worship elective at GAC was the fact that the style of music really doesn’t matter, as long as people are connecting with God. Music itself is not always necessary, but it does help to create an environment where people feel comfortable to worship, and allows them to be removed from external distractions. Whether it be brass bands though, contemporary ensembles, or even heavy metal in some cases, the music only exists as a means to create a praise atmosphere. A lot of people get caught up on the style of music, but it is so important to remember why we worship, not what music we worship to! One of the important challenges we got out of this was the need to be able to be flexible in worship within our own churches, and be conscious of the congregation and their worship style, as well as the worship resources we have available to use. Making use of what God has placed within our hands (whether it be a lot or a little) in order to worship him is not only a challenge, but also necessary if you are wanting to lead people in worship.

Another amazing experience from being part of the worship elective was actually being able to lead the rest of the camp in worship. Being part of a worship team is a passion of both of ours, and we feel that God uses people within a worship team to allow others to connect with Him. It was just such an uplifting experience to feel the spirit during worship, but also see how he was moving through the other campers. For us, being able to see God’s spirit moving through the room as a result of worship really encourages us and helps our worship experience to be so much greater. It’s almost as if we see glimpses of God working through the people in the congregation, which is an amazing experience
I suppose though, what we really took out of worship was a reminder that it is such an important part of our Christian walk. Our God deserves such praise, thanks and adoration and through worship we are able to show just how much we love and appreciate all he has done and is continuing to do for us.

Creative Ministries

infuseandignite — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:12:18 +0000

Check out this month’s issue of Creative Ministries to read about the Infuse and Ignite Training Day and Launch and see some cool photos!

Leading Worship and a Small Church

infuseandignite — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:45:53 +0000

At the Infuse and Ignite training day this year John Humbley and Simon Gregory ran a discussion and forum session on leading worship in a smaller church. They discussed the challenges that a smaller congregation faces specifically in regards to musical worship times. In this session people mentioned that they wanted to share ideas with others and an avenue to tell others of the successes and helpful things that they had done.

Well here it is! We want to open this blog up as a space that people can share ideas and resources and help each other to serve the churches and communities that we are all in. Please leave comments with things that have worked for you, resources that you have used or ways that you have found make doing this type of ministry effective in a small church.

Keep coming back and sharing your experiences, via comments, here for others to read. The more comments, suggestions and resources we leave the more we can help others who are working to grow God’s people through the wonderful gift he has left u in Music.

God Bless

The Infuse and Ignite Team

Megan Couchman – National Worship Leaders Conference U.S.A Reflections

infuseandignite — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 02:17:35 +0000

Megan Couchman is a Training officer at the School for Officer Training in Sydney. She had a fantastic opportunity earlier this year to learn from and worship with some of the most influential worhsip leaders in the world. Here are some of her reflctions and some fantastic resouces for you to use.

Megan Couchman

Have you ever wondered what your purpose is?

I had the privilege to attend the National Worship Leaders Conference which was held at the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, USA.

What led me to go to this conference?
Earlier in the year I attended a Leadership class at the School for Officer Training and I was challenged in that class to answer the question, “What is my clear purpose.” I was encouraged to define it and then put the necessary steps in place to achieve that purpose.
I was really moved by the question and I found myself seeking God and asking him to show me what His ‘clear purpose’ is for me.

I love to worship and I have always enjoyed leading others in worship. In the weeks after the class I realised that my passion and purpose is to worship and lead and resource others in worship. That’s what gets me excited and fired up. I felt a sense of freedom in actually knowing this to be my purpose.

I searched on the internet and the first site I found was the website for the National Worship Leaders Conference and here’s what I read. I knew instantly that I had to be there:-

The National Worship Leader Conference is the latest evolution in the suite of tools provided by Worship Leader (Magazine). It has grown out of our purpose and desire to serve the Church as a whole. It is an outgrowth of the core principles and calling of Worship Leader magazine. The Conference adds depth and greater accessibility to the published products of Worship Leader.

At the conference you will be able to witness, meet and interact with an incredibly diverse group of pastors, worship leaders and teachers from within the Church across the nation and around the world and participate with them in the current worship conversation. Learn directly from their lives and experiences. Share with them for a few days the passions, struggles and unique blessings upon their lives as leaders in the present day Church. Share their ideas, insights and their music as they, like you, bring worship offerings to God, whether through music, service or teaching.

Worship Leader magazine, our flagship publication, was founded as a journal 20 years ago, by Dr. Charles Fromm, and began publishing in its present day magazine format in 1990. The staff, writers, and columnists each work diligently to serve our readership of over 40,000 subscribers for this purpose:

Believing that God is the Audience of our worship, we provide a trusted gathering place in our changing world, a point of excellence where the global worship community can connect, communicate, sharpen their skills and be offered a platform to author multi-media devotional arts that direct the Church toward the one true worship leader – Jesus Christ. (http://www.nationalworshipleaderconference.com/about)

What did I do at the Conference?
I took the incredibly long flight to Kansas City and arrived at the Church of the Resurrection where the conference was be held. There was around about 2,500 delegates and I was one of 2 people who travelled from Down Under to be there.

The first night we worshiped like never before and I had the great privilege to be lead in worship by my favourite song writers, Keith and Kristyn Getty. They are young musicians who are committed to writing modern hymns with timeless truths that everyone can sing.

Each day began with an amazing worship time and a speaker. The worship leaders included Matt Papa, Billy and Cindy Foote, Shannon Wexelberg, and Pocket Full of Rocks. The line up of speakers included Steve Berger, Marcos Witt, Dr. Quentin Schultze, Louie Giglio, Lisa Harper and Scotty Smith.

During the day there were Workshops on all kinds of subjects ranging from ‘Strategies for Implementing Experiential Worship’ to ‘Songwriting’ with Keith and Kristyn Getty or Chris Tomlin to ‘Creating Flow in Worship.’ These were the highlights for me.

Each night we would join together in worship again with worship leaders and bands such as:-
• Phil Wickham
• Keith & Kristyn Getty
• Matt Redman
• Tenth Avenue North
• One Sonic Society
• Lenny LeBlanc
• Chris Tomlin
• Laura Story
• Jonathan Lee
• Israel Houghton
• Starfield
• Scott & Vonda Dyer

New friends
I met some great people at the conference and have extended my list of friends on Facebook. It was great being able to go to the other side of the world and network with other worshipers and worship leaders.

Imagine, if you can, 2,500 worship leaders joining in worship every day. It sounded amazing and I felt as though I had stepped into heaven!

What did I learn?
I think that the main thing I came to realise is that the worship leaders and writers today are collaborating to write the best worship songs they can. Instead of an artist writing their own words and music, they are coming together in small groups and studying the scriptures and praying and seeking God’s heart for what he wants them to write for the universal church. I was encouraged by this because instead of it being about the ‘artist’, it is so much more about God and what he is wanting to speak to the church through the songs. I believe that as a result worship is going to a new level and God is really breaking through in people lives through the worship songs.

The second thing I saw was that even though there were so many popular worship artists at the conference they all led worship with the focus being entirely on God. As worshipers we were constantly being encouraged to focus on Jesus, not the lead worshiper.

I have learnt that I have not ‘made it’ with my worship leading. God is doing a new thing in me which means that I have to rely on him to show me what he wants me to do for him. I am learning to have total reliance and dependence on him as I prepare and lead others in worship. It’s not about me and it’s not about what I like and don’t like, it’s about serving the people I am leading and ushering them to Jesus.

Greatest Moment
If I was to pick one moment that topped everything I experienced at the conference it would be singing, ‘Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone’, led by Chris Tomlin. During the night Chris Tomlin was leading, I remember thinking to myself, “I wonder if he will do Amazing Grace/My chains are gone, or if that song has had its day?” Then we sang it and I was just in awe again at the truth of the words as well as the fact that everyone can sing that song and experience God’s grace.

I thought back to the times when I’d witnessed the participants of William Booth House singing this song and then to the moment I was in with 4,000 other worshipers singing the very same words. I was overwhelmed as I sang the words

My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
My God, my Saviour has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace

Tears flowed down my face as I realised anew the amazing grace of my God and my Saviour and how he paid such an amazing price for me to be able to experience true freedom. I was so thankful, so blessed, so privileged.

Helpful Resources:

Worship Leader Magazine http://www.worshipleader.com

Worship Leader Magazine Mission Is:
Believing that God is the Audience of our worship, we provide a trusted gathering place in our changing world, a point of excellence where the global worship community can connect, communicate, sharpen their skills and be offered a platform to author multi-media devotional arts that direct the Church toward the one true worship leader—Jesus Christ.

Song DISCovery http://www.songdiscovery.com
Song DISCovery exists as a resource to bring you some of the best new music for worship. Our mission is to equip Worship Leaders with a broad and diverse selection of worship songs and resources that they can quickly integrate and use in their worship settings—the following Sunday and for years to come. CDs are released regularly, the latest being Volume 87. Each CD contains brand new music from up and coming worship artists and bands. If you are like me and you love being one of the first to hear and use new music then you will love this fantastic resource.

Worship Training Day – Registration Forms

infuseandignite — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:47:42 +0000

Registration Forms are now available! With these you can register for both Activities on September 4th, the Training Day and the Album Launch, which will be a great day. Both events will take place at the Wesley Centre.

There are two versions,

One for printing, filling out and mailing back to us –
InI Worship Training Day PRINT COPY

Or the online registration. Just save this to your computer, fill out the form on the 3rd page, save your selections and e-mail it back to:
registration@infuseandignite.com
InI Training Day Online Rego_distributed

Hope to hear from you soon!

Recording, videos and more…

infuseandignite — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 08:59:50 +0000

We have been fortunate to have Mat Beltran, vocalist from the christian band “Gethsemane”, in to record some of the songs written for the Infuse and Ignite album. Here is a link to the Gethsemane page on Myspace Music which you might be interested in, but we are pleased to share some of the words Mat shared in the band’s blog recently.

Check out Gethsemane here:
www.myspace.com/gethsemanemusic

We have spent today putting some final touches on the recording, and putting together some of the training videos which will be available as part of the resource pack, and we’ve got some more information about the Worship Training Day.

Worship Training Day

September 4th, 10am
The Wesley Conference Centre
220 Pitt Street, Sydney.

Training Day: $40 (includes the resource pack, worth $35)

Album Launch concert

4th September, 7:00pm
The Wesley Conference Centre
220, Pitt Street, Sydney

Album Launch: $10

Infuse and Ignite Album

Double CD Album: $25

Registration forms will be available from our website soon!

September 4th – Worship Training Day.

infuseandignite — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:55:54 +0000

Are you interested or involved in leading worship at your Corps or Church?? Maybe you want to get the most out of worship, and you are curious about worship. If you fit one of these two descriptions, or are somewhere in between, then the Infuse and Ignite Worship Training Day on September 4th will be a great time of growth for you.

The topics discussed during the day will include:

THEOLOGY IN WORSHIP
Understanding the biblical basis for worship is crucial when leading others to a new revelation of God. As lead
worshippers our job is to help others enter into God’s presence while also educating them in a broad but personal understanding of worship. Michelle Kay-Browning looks at the theological basis for worship, providing practical suggestions for translating this into our everyday lives.

LEADERSHIP AND MENTORING
Leadership within the church is not just about giving direction. It is about caring for and growing those you work with and empowering them to develop their own potential. Miriam Gluyas speaks on the principles of Leadership and Mentoring and give practical advice for applying this to your worship team.

WORSHIP FOR YOUTH
How do we effectively plan and lead worship for the technologically minded iPhone and Facebook generation?
Worship can play a huge role in the Christian development of our youth and it is important that we learn to meet their unique needs. Youth Pastor Nathaniel Brown will talk through what does and doesn’t work when leading worship for younger congregations.

MASTERING MEDIA TO IGNITE WORSHIP
Technology is becoming more a part of our everyday lives and therefore holds appeal for an increasing number of people as they enter into worship. Can technology be integrated successfully into our church worship times?
Franc Lipovic will discuss all things technical and how you can use technology to enhance worship in your church.
Sound, lighting, powerpoint and other forms of technology will be considered during this session.

BUILDING AND PASTORING YOUR TEAM
Karen Lattouf looks at what constitutes a healthy team and the challenges that accompany bringing together a
group of individuals for a common purpose. This workshop will focus on the elements and personalities that can make up a worship team and how to care for and pastor them as a leader.

WORSHIP TEAMS IN A SMALL CHURCH
A forum style session with people who are working with or have been involved in music ministry in small churches. Bring your questions and concerns in order to discuss strategies for managing difficulties.

SONG WRITING
Graeme Press and some of the songwriters from the Infuse and Ignite project will lead a discussion on writing songs for worship and what makes a song successful. We will also discuss how to use your songs in your church services.

BUILDING HEALTHY LEADERSHIP/WORSHIP TEAM RELATIONSHIPS
The success of your worship team depends much on support from your church leadership. Knowing how to work with different personality types and leadership styles is imperative to a positive relationship between worship team and church leadership teams. Karen Lattouf looks at how to build and maintain healthy, positive
relationships with officers and church leaders.

WORSHIP PLANNING + PROGRAMMING
Graeme Press draws from his vast experience with congregations of all shapes and sizes to share hints and tips
on how to effectively plan for worship. How do we get the balance right between “contemporary” and “traditional” worship styles? Graeme will talk through the use of different styles of music in worship as well as ways to effectively introduce new songs. This workshop will address resources and strategies for working towards blended worship in congregations.

SPIRIT FILLED WORSHIP
Michelle Kay-Browning looks at how we can be sensitive as lead worshippers and worship team members to the Holy Spirit’s leading during worship times. She will address worship in different settings and how to prepare your team to be versatile and “go with the flow” during these times.

Keep an eye on http://salvos.org.au/infuseandignite for registration forms, they’ll be up soon!!

Hello world!

infuseandignite — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:08:01 +0000

Welcome to the Infuse and Ignite news blog!

We hope you find this useful for keeping up with all the latest information and updates relating to the Infuse and Ignite Project.

Don’t forget to visit our website at
http://salvos.org.au/infuseandignite