Category: Uncategorized

Sunday Recap – August 14, 2011

Contemporary Services

We had a great morning today at Bethel! It was Worship Choir Sunday, and following our services today we had a Worship Ministry Picnic at a local park.  It was a great day!  Things are going pretty smoothly with adding in click tracks/loops using our new Ableton Live software.  “All My Fountains” went much better this time; the click helped immensely to navigate through all those long pauses.  The whole band did a great job on all their parts/solos and sticking with the click, and the choir/congregation are getting the clapping part! People are really getting to know “Always”, so they were really singing out on that one. We haven’t done “Overcome” for a while now, so it was great to pull that one out again.  What a powerful song! I let the congregation sit until the Bridge, and they were so ready to stand up and declare “We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony”! When we got back to the chorus, praise erupted!  I did feel like I should have kept that one going for a while longer at the end, but I just closed it down. I’ll have to remember that for next time. You can watch the video of this service and see the Planning Center details.

Cafe Connection Service

Zack led the team in the Cafe today, along with Jake on the bass, Chris on percussion and Georgine on vocals.  It was a full house in the Cafe, with the early morning summer rush winding down.  We are having some technical issues with our camera feed, though, both in the Cafe and online. We’ve got some nasty purple bars across the screen. I’ve identified the issue and am dealing with it, but it’s very frustrating for now! You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

Traditional Service

  • “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation”
  • “The Church’s One Foundation”
  • “My Savior’s Love”
  • “The Love of God”
  • “My Jesus, I Love Thee”
  • “O, How I Love Jesus”
We started a new series today about “loving others as God loves us”.  The team did a great job! Four of the pastors went on a retreat this weekend, so we were pretty tired at this early hour! But, it was a blast! We had a guys getaway with four-wheeling, shooting some targets, a campfire and of course food! You can watch the video for this service and also see the Planning Center details.
This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community, where worship leaders share their setlists with other worship leaders in the world.

Sunday Recap – August 7, 2011

Contemporary Services

Our service order today was quite different than normal, mainly because we had a special speaker who spoke for about ten extra minutes, plus communion, so we didn’t have a lot of songs today; but the team did a great job! Our rehearsal schedule was thrown off this week, too, because we had VBS, so we didn’t get to practice until Saturday afternoon.  Because of all that, things felt a bit frazzled today.  This was the last day in our series “How Can We Know the Bible is True”, and our guest speaker, Jay Seegert, with Creation Education Center, did a wonderful job of finishing it off with a very interesting message on the internal and scientific accuracy of the Bible.
This was also our second week using Ableton Live intro for our click tracks/loops. Things went quite a bit smoother in that area, too! The team really did a good job of playing with the click, and Ableton made things run so smoothly! Each we use clicks, things seem to get easier, and people feel more confident.   “God is With Us Now” is a nice, fast opener from the new Gateway album. Eric sang the opening of “God You Reign”, and Zack nailed the guitar solo! Brenda did wonderful on her two solos today on “At the Cross” and “Grace Flows Down”. We didn’t use a track on “At The Cross”, mainly because we often change the arrangement of a song during communion, based on how long it’s taking, so it would have been hard to stick with the loop.  During “Grace Flows Down”, I had Larry, our sound guy, fade out the loop in the house at a certain point, then I could easily stop the track and finish the song live w/o the click.  Do you guys have a better solution for doing things like that?  You can see the Planning Center details and watch the video of this service.

Cafe Connection Service

Yes, only two songs in here today! Again, with our guest speaker and communion, our regular schedule was all thrown off.  Zack led the team in here today, with Jake on bass and Brenda and Mari on vocals. You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

Traditional Service

  • “I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
  • “Beneath the Cross of Jesus”
  • “The Old Rugged Cross”
Great job on these songs today, team! You can see the Planning Center details and watch the video for this service.
This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community, a weekly event where worship leaders share setlists and service recaps.

Sunday Recap – July 31, 2011

Contemporary Services

Today we had some extra challenges, but the team rose to them and did a great job! This was the first time I’ve used my new MacBook Pro with Ableton Live and click tracks on every song! A lot of firsts today!  We’ve tried click tracks a few times before, but with a very basic program on my old PC. Ableton Live was one of the first programs I knew I wanted to get when I made the big switch to Mac. Before, I didn’t have an easy way to play just a click without a loop, and I couldn’t adjust the loops at all. I don’t know if it’s just all in my head or not, but I thought I could hear the click so much better today. I also loved how I can change the tempo of the loop, if needed.  I also was able to easily setup a click track for each of our songs, even the ones without a loop in Ableton.  It was a challenge, since many of us are not used to playing with a click.  But, it was the best we’ve done yet with tracks, and it is getting easier!
I do have to figure out something else for pushing the buttons, though. I had my Mac up by my keyboard today, and even though it was very simple, just pushing #1-5 and the space bar, it was still distracting for me and those watching.  I actually got some great ideas about this topic from a blog post earlier in the week – “Who Pushes Your Buttons?”. None of these songs were brand new this morning, but we’ve only done “Your Great Name” one time; what a great song! You can see the Planning Center details for this service and also watch the video.

Cafe Connection Service

Zack led the team in the Cafe today, along with Chris on percussion, Jake on bass/mandolin/ukelele and Georgine on vocals. I was so excited to see Zack had chosen “10,000 Reasons”! We heard Matt Redman perform this song last week when we were at the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City. It’s a great song, and one that really fit the Cafe service perfectly! Jake did a great job on the mandolin solo in the middle, and Chris nailed the drum part on the cajon. Loved it! You can see the Planning Center details for this service, and I’ve also included a short video excerpt of the team doing “10,000 Reasons” in rehearsal.

Traditional Service

  • “Praise Him! Praise Him!”
  • “To God Be The Glory”
  • “O To Be Like Thee”
  • “Be Thou My Vision”
  • “I Would Be Like Jesus”
  • “Since Jesus Came Into My Heart”
This morning’s Traditional Service was full of some of my favorites, and the team did a great job! It was a little unusual, just because our stage was set for the start of our VBS tonight, so we had a lifeguard chair, kiddie pools and beach balls all over our stage! You can see the Planning Center details for this service and watch the video.
This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community, where worship leaders from around the country share setlists and recap worship services. I hoep you all had a wonderful morning of worship as well!

Who pushes your buttons..?

This may or may not be what you think it is…

We recently started using click tracks and loops with our worship team, and let me say so far it’s been an “adventure”! I just switched to Mac from PC, though, and purchased Ableton Live. I’ve tried it out a few times, and saw it on display at a workshop recently. Looks like it will make things much easier!

But, my question – who is the one in your team who starts the click track from the computer. Is it you as the worship leader? The drummer? Someone else?

I’d love to get this poll out there and hear your responses!

Who pushes your buttons!?

I’d also love to hear how you incorporate click tracks/loops in worship! Do you use just a click (not linked to any specific arrangement), loops or both?

Thanks!
Barry

Sunday Recap – July 24, 2011

Contemporary Services

The team that led the worship this morning did a great job, and I wasn’t involved one bit! I attended the National Worship Leader Conference all this past week in Kansas City, along with 7 others from our church. It was a wonderful week (but that’s for another blog post…)  It was a smaller team, with keyboard, drums, bass and three singers, but each person did a tremendous job, and pulled together to present a very solid offering of worship this morning! None of the songs were new, all familiar to our church, which was a nice change of pace. You can watch the video of this service and also see the Planning Center details.

Cafe Connection 

I led in this service this morning, since all the other worship leaders in here were at the conference this past week.  Again, it was a small team – just Jake on the bass/guitar and I was on keys. It was nice to lead, though, especially after being energized and refreshed all week at the conference. You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

Traditional Service

  • God, Our Father, We Adore Thee
  • Immortal, Invisible
  • I Must Tell Jesus
  • In The Garden
  • I Believe in A Hill Called Mt. Calvary
  • Trusting Jesus
Randy led the team today, and they did a great job!  You can watch the video and see the Planning Center details for this service.
Thanks to all the teams who worked so hard to prepare this week’s music while I was gone! Great job! This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community.

Sunday Recap – July 17, 2011

Contemporary Services

  • “All My Fountains” (Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Christy Nockels, Nathan Nockels)
  • “Glorified” (Jared Anderson)
  • “Forever Reign” (Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan)
  • “Everyday” (Joel Houston)

Well, this was the week! We’ve been building up to this week for quite a while, talking about it, preparing for it, anticipating it, and it went great! This was the day we did “All My Fountains” for the first time! Do you ever use anticipation as a tool to build momentum and energy? Everyone practicing something, looking forward to it, getting excited about it? That’s what happened with this song. I’ve known for about a month that we were going to do this song on this day. The guitars worked out which key it would work in (non Tomlin-sphere) (we ended up doing it in the key of B), we practiced the clapping, worked out the harmonies, and more. Zack and Marv did great on the guitar parts! The whole band did awesome, and the singers nailed the vocals and clapping! I didn’t play keyboard on this one hardly at all, which was a nice change.  I’d post a video, but I’m here in Kansas City at the National Worship Leader Conference this week, so every second is planned out. I’ll have to se if I can find some time to edit the video and get it up here this week sometime. The rest of the songs were familiar.

Cafe Connection Service

  • “Now That You’re Near” (Marty Sampson)
  • “Glorified” (Jared Anderson)
  • “Forever Reign” (Jason Ingram, Reuben Morgan)
  • “Everyday” (Joel Houston)
I led the team in the Cafe today, with Zack on percussion, Jake on bass/ukelele and Sue on vocals.  It was a lot of fun! I love playing in the Cafe! (Except I really need to get a second keyboard so I don’t have to haul it between the Cafe and sanctuary for each service!)

Traditional Service

  • “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”
  • “The Solid Rock”
  • “At The Cross”
  • “O That Will Be Glory”
Rob led the team in here today, and I always love how creative he is with the transitions! It adds an extra punch! The team did great, from what I heard.
Sorry for the shorter post this week without links, videos, etc.   I’m looking forward to a great week here at the conference, and I’m sure I’m blog more about it throughout the week.
This post is part of the Sunday Setlists blog carnival at The Worship Community.

Sunday Recap – July 10, 2011

Contemporary Services

Our children’s pastor, Jamie Lane, spoke today about falling in love again with the Bible. He did a great job with a great message!  The Worship Choir sang today along with with the worship team, which always adds some extra energy. The whole team did a fantastic job today!
“Here For You” was a great way to start our service, and really set the tone for worship.  People are getting very familiar with “Always” now, so it was great to hear people singing out strong today!
We introduced “Your Great Name” today, a new song by Michael Neale and Krissy Nordhoff.  What a powerful, worship-inspiring song! Even at the first hearing for many, people were fully engaged in worship today during it.  We started with Sheri on the solo (Zack was doing some really neat things on the electric guitar at the start, too!), then I joined her on the chorus for a duet. The rest of the group came in on the 2nd verse, and it built to the end. There’s a few versions of this song out there, but by far my favorite was the one one “Shine Out – Live from the People’s Church”.  You can watch this song from our service today below.
You can also see the Planning Center details for this service, and also watch the video of the entire service.

Cafe Connection Service

Marv led the team this week in the Cafe, and from what I heard, everything went great.  We even added a new tech guy today – Chris! Thanks for helping out! You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

Traditional Service

  • “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee”
  • “Our Great Savior”
  • “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling”
  • “O Jesus, I Have Promised”
  • “Speak, O Lord” (Keith and Kristyn Getty)
  • “More About Jesus”
The team did a great job in this service today! You can see the Planning Center details and watch the video.
This post is part of the Sunday Setlists blog carnival at The Worship Community, where you can read other recaps of worship services around the country and beyond. Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear some highlights from your service!

Sunday Recap – June 26, 2011

Thanks for taking the time to read this recap from our services here at Bethel Baptist Church in Janesville, WI this morning!  We had a great morning of worship here today! This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival at The Worship Community.

Contemporary Services

We continued our series “Fact or Fiction: How Do We Know the Bible Is True?” with a message on “The Unity of the Bible” by Pastor  Tim.  We had some pretty familiar songs on the list today, which was nice for the team, and the congregation as they were able to sing out strong! You can watch the video of this service, and see the Planning Center details.

“Love the Lord” (Lincoln Brewster)

“Holy Is the Lord” (Chris Tomlin)

“Your Name” (Paul Baloche and Glenn Packiam)

“Hope of the Nations” (Brian Doerksen)
  – It’s been a long time since we’ve pulled this one out, but it tied in nicely with the close of the service. We missed the rock organ sound today on this one especially, since we were down a couple players this morning. But, the team did a great job on this one!

Cafe Connection Service

I led the team in the Cafe this morning, which was just Chris on percussion, Georgine (and Larry from the back) on vocals, and I led from the keyboard.  Whenever I lead in the Cafe, I try to keep the same songs as the Contemporary if possible, just to make it easier for the team.  It’s not always possible with such a different groups of instruments, but today it was, so the songs for this service were the same as the Contemporary. You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

Traditional Service

Randy led the team this morning in this service since I was leading in the Cafe. You can watch the video for this service, and see the Planning Center details.

“Come, Christians Join to Sing”
“My Hope Is In the Lord”
“I Love to Tell the Story”
“Open My Eyes That I May See”
“Trust and Obey”

“All My Fountains” Video

I just found a video of one of my favorite songs right now – “All My Fountains”, one of the new songs from Passion’s “Here For You” CD.  We haven’t done it yet here at Bethel, but I’m working it out now to be done soon.  Looks like from the video we’ll need at least 2 acoustics, maybe more. There’s so much going on!

First, here’s the music video from Passion:

I love how the drummer starts out on the cajon, and then during the breakdown, runs back to the full set and finished the song there!  It’s pretty obvious that there’s using some kind of a track, since there’s so many layers of sound.  I found a click track that goes along with this song at Praise Charts, so we’ll probably start with that and see how it works.

Another video that may help is the New Song Cafe video, where Tomlin and others explain how they play each part.   I’m also trying to decide which key we’ll do it in. I normally have to lower any Tomlin song about a 4th or 5th.  I’m thinking A or G could work.

Have any of you tried this one? I’d love to hear your stories!

Sunday Recap – Father’s Day, June 19th, 2011

Father’s Day at Bethel! Our special festivities for Dads included a special countdown video with some great quotes about Dads; Barry Dean, a father of 8, sing “I Want To Be Just Like You” (Phillips, Craig & Dean) with the band; and of course handing out some goodies to Dads as they left. This post is part of the Sunday Setlists blog carnival at The Worship Community.

Contemporary Service

For the second week in a row, we had a new drummer play with the team today. Mark did a great job! We were also missing the bass guitar and electric guitar today, so we really had a whole different sound today.  You can watch the video of our service, and see the Planning Center details.

“Our God Saves” (Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown)

“Only A God Like You” (Tommy Walker)

“Glory To God Forever” (Vicky Beeching, Steve Fee)

“I Want To Be Just Like You” (Phillips, Craig and Dean)
– We did this song as a special for Father’s Day today. Barry Dean took the lead on this one, and Marv and I threw in some PCD style background vocals on it as well. It was fun!

“You, You Are God” (Walker Beach)

Cafe Connection

Marv led the team today in the Cafe, along with his wife Susie on vocals, and Chris on percussion. It was a smaller team here this morning, too, but they still sounded great! You can see the Planning Center details for this service.

“Our God Saves” (Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown)

“Always” (Kristian Stanfill)

“Mighty To Save” (Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan)

“Victory” (Cody Carnes)

Traditional Service

We had a full team in this service this morning with 4 singers, piano and keyboard.  Barry also sang his special in this service, but just with piano. You can see the video and also the Planning Center details.

“Come, Thou Almighty King”

“God of Grace and God Of Glory”

“Rise Up, O Church of God”

“Wonderful Words of Life”

“I Am Thine, O Lord”