Category: National Worship Leader’s Conference

NWLC ’14 Kansas – Workshop Schedule (Alternate Layout)

On July 13th, I’ll be leading a team of 8 members from our Worship Ministry at Bethel Baptist Church down to Kansas City for the National Worship Leader Conference. We’ve attended this conference for the last several years, and I would highly recommend it! It really is a highlight of my year, and I’m looking forward to another great year in 2014!

There are so many great aspects about this conference – including the inspiring times of worship, the challenging speakers and the practical workshops! For the past several years, I’ve been putting together my own version of the workshop schedule, and handing it out to my team. The NWLC team has done a great job offering an app and online schedule, but this version just lays it out a little differently, making it easy to see at a glance when each workshop is offered throughout the conference. Last year, a few people saw it and asked about it, so I thought I would make it available for anyone else who would like to use it.  Feel free to download my version of the workshop schedule for your use. The information includes the most recent updates on 7/1. Hope you find it helpful, and maybe I’ll see you at the conference!

Click on file below to download workshop chart:
NWLC ’14 (Kansas) – Workshop Chart (Alternate layout)

If you’re going to the conference, be sure to let me know! I’d love to connect with other worship leaders!

Barry Westman
Twitter: @bkwestman
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/barrywestman

NWLC ’12 – Alternate Workshop Schedule and Registration Discount!

In a little less than a week, we’ll be taking a team of 6 people from our worship ministry here at Bethel Baptist Church down to Kansas City for the National Worship Leader Conference. I’ve been to this event for the last several years, and it really is a highlight of my year! I’m looking forward to another great year in 2012!

If you haven’t already registered, you can get a great discount from my friends over at All About Worship! When you register, use the code “AAW15” to get 15% off the registration price!

There are so many great aspects about this conference – including the inspiring times of worship, the challenging speakers and the practical workshops! For the past several years, I’ve been putting together my own version of the workshop schedule, and handing it out to my team. The one that’s included in the conference booklet is great, but this version just lays it out a little differently, making it easy to see at a glance when each workshop is offered throughout the conference. Last year, a few people saw it and asked about it. So, I thought I would make it available for anyone else who would like to use it.  Feel free to download my version of the workshop schedule for your use.

NWLC 12 – Workshop Schedule (Alternate layout) (includes changes sent out by Suzie on 7/10)

If you’re going to the conference, be sure to let me know! I’d love to connect with other worship leaders!

Barry Westman
@bkwestman
http://www.facebook.com/barrywestman

Find Your Own Voice and Sing a New Song

It’s been over a week now, since we returned from the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City.  What a great week it was! As I’ve had time to ponder some of the themes that we encountered during the week, there seemed to be a recurring message that popped up in several places, and I’ve even encountered it in new places since the retreat. The theme is this – find your own voice and sing a new song!

The theme of the conference was “Sing a New Song”, based on Psalm 96:1. The week was filled with amazing new songs, sung by some of today’s newest artists such as Jonathan Lee, Matt Papa, Starfield, and Tenth Avenue North; as well as new songs by some of our favorite worship leaders – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton and others.  I left with enough new songs to last me until next year (or at least until Christmas….)!

But, that wasn’t the only kind of new song that we heard about at the conference.  From Steve Berger, we heard about our new song that’s birthed through pain and suffering.  Using Psalm 40:1-3 as his text, Steve described his recent time in the pit after the tragic death of his son.   It’s easy to lose hope and give up on the thought of ever having a song of praise when you are going through a time in the pit, as David was describing in this Psalm.  But, Steve taught us that while we’re in the pit, we need to wait patiently, and realize that God has us there for a reason. God is still good, and He just has us there so He can conform us to be more like Him.

We just need to continue to lift our prayers and praises to him, not look to anyone or anything else for our salvation,  and realize that we will not stay in the pit forever.  You will not be there one second longer than you need to be.  Our hallelujah in the pit will lead to a new song of praise! Many will “see” our new song, as Psalm 40 says. Our new song is meant to be seen, not just heard. Our lifestyle may lead others to fear and put their trust in Him more than our songs. Our life should be a new song of praise!

We also heard about finding our own voice and singing a new song from Marcos Witt. Marcos is one of my favorite speakers, and this time was no exception! Using the story of the woman at the well from John 4, Marcos taught us what it means to be a proskuneo worshipper, willing to bow at the throne and be who we are.  Jesus said the Father is seeking true worshippers, and the word there for “worship” is proskuneo, or “to bow”, to lower your body, your attitude, humbling yourself in awe of the Lord.

We need to keep God on the throne in our lives, and let Him call the shots.  Marcos said when He’s on the throne, cool stuff can happen, and keeping His commands is no big deal.   He told some amazing stories of things God has asked him to lay down, or give up. Just like the elders in Revelation 4, we need to be willing to lay our crowns, or accomplishments, skill, down at the feet of Jesus.

The how of worship, this mountain or that mountain, isn’t so important. We try to copy the models of worship we hear and see. We try to be just like Chris Tomlin as we lead worship, or sound just like Matt Redman on his songs.  We can’t just instantly become as good as Lincoln Brewster is on the guitar via a one-time information download. It takes practice and skill to develop our own voice. We need to find our voice and stop trying to imitate others, and the only way we can do that is to be a proskuneo worshipper, willing to bow at the throne, to be who we are and sing a new song with our own voice.

There were so many other great speakers and ways to sing a new song; too many to describe here! But, the great part is that you can watch all of the main session speakers on your own online! The folks at Worship Leader magazine have provided video from the WorshipCast live streaming that was done during the conference. Just go to video on-demand section for the NWLC ’10 General Sessions to view all of these great speakers!!

You have to hear Louie Giglio tell his story of the “dead grandpa”, and hear Lisa Harper talk about her first experience twirling a banner! But, above all, find your own voice, and Sing A New Song!!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

Resources abound at the National Worship Leader Conference!

We had a wonderful time at the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City this past week! The All About Worship Team was there throughout the week, both as attendees and workshop leaders.  If you missed it, I’ll try to give you a quick recap and plenty of links to some great resources made available at the conference.

Conference attendees not only had the the chance to worship, learn, and build relationships, but also participate. Songwriters could bring in original songs and have a panel of experts give them feedback on their songs at the Song DISCovery Listening Panels. Singing in the conference choir was another great way to participate. There were about 80 people in the choir, under the direction of Stan Endicott. I had the privilege to sing in the choir this year, along with 10 others from our church.  Stan has such wonderful insights about worship, music and life. On Monday night, we sang with Keith and Kristyn Getty, and on Thursday evening we sang two of the Odes.  Stay tuned to the All About Worship Podcast for an upcoming  interview with the Gettys!

On Monday morning, before the actual conference began, I attended a pre-conference seminar on being a “Steward of Technology in the Service of Worship”. You can read more about that in an earlier blog post here.  It was a topic that I believe will become increasingly relevant as the use of technology in worship is skyrocketing! Ben Abu Saada did a great job as part of a panel discussion on this topic, as well!

One of the pre-conference leaders was D.J. Chaung, the network developer for Worship Leader Magazine. D.J. has put together an excellent website on this topic. TechSteward.net is an excellent resource for worship leaders who are interested in learning more about technology stewardship. All About Worship co-hosts Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada did an excellent job leading their workshop called “Leading Your Team Through Technology”.  It was filled with great tips and links.

But, besides the great workshops on a variety of topics, dealing both with the heart and the art, some of my best memories were the times of corporate worship and the speakers who challenged us from God’s Word.  To be led in worship by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Phil Wickham, Tenth Avenue North, Starfield, Pocket Full of Rocks, the list goes on… was truly an experience I will not forget.  Also, to hear 3,000 worship leaders singing at the top of their lungs (in tune!) was a sound that will not be forgotten.  All of the speakers did an excellent job, but I especially enjoyed hearing from from Louie Giglio, Marcos Witt, and Lisa Harper.

Michael Farren, from Pocket Full of Rocks, was one of the worship leaders. I actually was privileged to have a surprise lunch with Michael and Meredith Andrews during the conference! Twitter paid off once again, and 4 of the team from our church, along with a few others won a contest and were treated to lunch, thanks to Praise Charts.com! Here are a few pics:

If you weren’t able to be at the conference, or if you would just like to relive some of the main sessions, you can using the video on-demand feature of the Worship Stream site. The people at Worship Stream were busy all week live streaming the main sessions, but you can now go back and watch them again. Just go to the NWLC Worship Stream site to view all the speakers and even the worship set with Jonathan Lee!

Another really cool part of the conference was connecting with other worship leaders from around the country! I met so many people face-to-face who I had previously only known through Twitter.  There were several All About Worship listeners there this week, and it was great to meet some of you face to face!

I have to mention what a wonderful job Suzie Goodwin Stablein did organizing this event, along with her team at Worship Leader Magazine. It was a well-oiled machine! I’m already excited about next year’s conference! I hope you can make it as well.

If you attended the conference, why don’t you share some of your best memories, or some of the things you learned here in the comment section. We’d love to hear and learn from you!

Barry Westman
All About Worship

National Worship Leader Conference Preview

In less than a week, from July 19-22, the National Worship Leader Conference 2010 will be held in Leawood, KS. The NWLC10 is put on the  by the great folks at Worship Leader Magazine.  Check out the conference website to get all the details! All About Worship hosts Ben Abu Saada and Wisdom Moon have been invited to be part of the team of official bloggers for the conference.   Check out this site to see a complete list of all the official NWLC10 bloggers.

Conference attendees will be challenged by excellent speakers such as Louie Giglio, Marcos Witt, Scotty Smith and Dr. Quentin Schultze and more. Musical artists will include Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Israel Houghton, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Laura Story, Pocket Full of Rocks (a favorite from our All About Worship Retreat last May), Starfield, Tenth Avenue North, and others!!

Besides amazing times of worship, challenging speakers and worship concerts in the evening, there will also be several different workshop tracks covering a variety of topics, including Worship Leadership, Pastoral Leadership, Worship Songwriting & Technology, Worship Tech, Visual Arts & Technology, Vocal Team,  Worship Musicians, and others! Click here to find a list of all the workshops offered, and here to download an alternate version of the workshop schedule that I put together.

One of the tracks will focus on Stewarding Technology, and All About Worship hosts Ben Abu Saada and Wisdom Moon have been invited to teach a workshop called “Leading Your Team Through Technology”.  If you’re at the conference, be sure to stop by! I’m sure Ben and Wisdom would love to meet you!!  It will be taught on Thursday afternoon, July 22nd, at 1:45 and 3:30 p.m. Here’s the course description:

“In today’s culture it is critical that we, the local church, know how to utilize technology and social media in our ministries. Have you ever wondered how you could use social media and technology to help you lead your team? Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada, hosts of the All About Worship Podcast, will share with you how worship ministries big and small can utilize blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and podcasts. They’ll share resources and practical tips on different ways to communicate with your team without needing a big budget.”

Check back to this site to see more updates about the National Worship Leader Conference. Hope to see you there!!

Barry Westman

Sunday Recap – July 11, 2010

We had a great morning at Bethel today; very busy, but it was all good! We have had a youth group from a church in Costa Rica with us here at Bethel all this past week. They have worked with our youth group to do service projects around Janesville, as well as spend some quality time in fellowship and worship. It’s really been a great week! Their team was involved with our service this morning in both testimony and music.

I was leading in our Traditional Service this morning, so I wasn’t involved in the Cafe Connections service, but the team in there did a great job! It’s so cool to be able to have other worship leaders we can draw on. Thanks, Adam! We have been having a few technical glitches in the Cafe the past couple of weeks. When we show the feed from the sanctuary in the Cafe (video/audio), there’s a hum or buzz that comes with it. It’s not on the other channels, just that one. So, I’m thinking maybe it’s a grounding issue. It’s a brand new system, so there shouldn’t be any issues, right!?

You can watch the video from our services this morning here. This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog, where you can read other recaps from around the country. I’ll be off the next two Sundays as I take a group of 11 from our worship ministry down to Kansas City for the National Worship Leaders Cofnerence! I can’t wait! Maybe I’ll see you there!

Contemporary Services
“Today Is The Day” (Lincoln Brewster, Paul Baloche)

“Revelation Song” (Jennie Lee Riddle)
– This is one of our favorite songs from the past few years, and it was especially sweet today! As I mentioned earlier, we have had a team from Costa Rica with us all week, and one of the girls from their team sang with us today in the worship choir.  I asked her to sing a solo on one of the verses, and I had our choir learn the chorus of this song in Spanish.  At the end we sang the chorus with both Spanish and English together. It was so cool to hear the two languages used in worship! The whole Costa Rica team was there today, and I hope our arrangement of this song made it feel a bit like home. I was reminded how what we experienced today is just a taste of what heaven will be like – every tribe and tongue gathered around the throne singing “Holy, holy holy is the Lord God Almighty”!!

“How He Loves” (John Mark McMillan)
– We finally got around to using this song today! This is another one of my favorites right now, and I’ve been wanting to use it, and today seemed like the best time to introduce it with the choir here. During our rehearsal on Thursday, we watched the video that John Mark McMillan put out where he explains the background of the song.  As if the song itself isn’t powerful enough, the video really inspired the choir as we led it today.

“God of This City” (Bluetree)

Cafe Connections
“Famous One” (Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves)

“Nothing But the Blood” (Matt Redman)

“You Never Let Go” (Matt and Beth Redman)

“Shine” (Matt Redman)

Traditional Worship Service
“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name”
“Our Great Savior”
“Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah”
“Day By Day”
“He Giveth More Grace”

"Sunday Setlists" – 1st attempt

I’ve read of some worship leaders around the country sharing their setlists and worship recaps from Sunday worship online at the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival at FredMcKinnon.Com , so I thought I would give it a try and join in. You can find all of this week’s entries at:

http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/08/09/sunday-setlists-55/

So today, 8/9/09, was my first day back after 3 Sundays being gone. We were at the National Worship Leader’s Conference in Kansas City a few weeks ago, and then I had some vacation time, so it was good to be back!

We opened up the service with”Because of Your Love” (Paul Baloche), using Psalm 115:1 verse to intro it. We had VBS here at our church last week, and had over 215 kids here, with 29 salvations! So, this morning had a very celebratory feel to it as we began with praising God for what He has done.

We then sang “Matchless” (Aaron Shust), and introduced “Glory to God Forever” (Steve Fee & Vicky Beeching) for the first time. I wasn’t sure how this would go, but I started by just teaching people the melody on the chorus and bridge before actually singing the song. It seemed to work fine, and I think it helped people be able to sing the song more confidently the first time. It felt a bit awkward, taking the focus off of God for those moments and having a music lesson in the middle of worship, but I think ultimately it will help the church be able to worship better, so…

After the offering, we had a really neat special – one of our singers sang “I Will Rise” (Chris Tomlin) along with a cello player (1st time playing with us…), band, and I had a small “choir” sing on the bridge. There was a great response from the congregation, and I saw a lot of people worshipping, even though they were just listening. Cool!

Our pastor is in a series on the “One Another” commands in Scripture, so today was “Greet One Another”. I wasn’t sure where he would go with it, but it actually was very good. He some some ideas from the “Making Peace” book by Jim Van Yperen about the four levels of greeting (fellowship, basically). A great challenge to go beyond the superficial greetings/conversation we have with each other in the church and move to the deeper levels of expressive, vulnerable and transformational fellowship.

We’re also having a special focus on family this month of August, so for this month we’re doing something that we’ve never done – a Children’s message! Our Children’s pastor had all the kids come up and gave a family challenge to families in our church – to help us practice better fellowship and communication this week, he challenged us to go for a week without TV. (We’ll see how that goes…)

We ended the service with “Rising” (Paul Baloche).

Overall, it was a great morning. It was my first Sunday leading since the NWLC, and I felt so excited to be back. Many of the singers/band were also at the conference, and there was just a renewed energy, excitement about being there and worshipping God together.

To God be all the glory!!

1st Day at the National Worship Leader Conference

Well, we arrived safely in Kansas City last night after a long drive! Sue Whitson suggested this great BBQ place for dinner – Arthur Bryants. Very good!

Now this morning I’ve registered for a pre-conference seminar with Sally Morgenthaler, Scotty Smith and Lenny LeBlanc. I’m looking forward to that!

Following that we’re headed to a marathon conference choir rehearsal. 10 of us in our group are going to be involved with the conference choir. Tonight we sing with Tommy Walker. The official conference begins tonight with the opening concert.

Should be a great day!!

Getting Started

Well, I thought I would just make a place for some of my thoughts, and things I’ve learned. I’ve been involved with the worship ministry for the last 16 years, and I’ve been through a lot of changes in that time.

I’ll be attending the National Worship Leader’s Conference next week in Leawood, KS, so I thought I may use this site to share some of my notes from different sessions and workshops. We’re bringing a team of 12 people from our church to the conference. I’m really excited for the week and look forward to seeing what God has in store for us.