Hey... it's been a few weeks, I know. I didn't lead at MSC last week, and the week before, well... I had this 'Wide Open' event and time to blog was way down the priority list apparently :)
This week was interesting to say the least... I've been trying to really improve transitions inside our worship sets. This week I really tackled 'em head on and we went back and forth quite a bit, throwing bridges all over the place from one song into another. It was fun. Here's how the setlist looks on paper, then I'll unpack it a bit:
A Thousand Hallelujahs - (M. Roach)
I Will Always Love Your Name - (Paul Oakley)
Once Again - (Matt Redman)
feature tune: Imagine (Lennon) with modified lyrics :)
Hosanna (Paul Baloche, Brenton Brown)
Ok, so the first two tunes just kinda went back to back... we started 'I Will Always Love...' just on a droning E and I talked for a few seconds before we sang. That's a great oldie, by the way, for congregations. Really simple, but I forget how enjoyable it actually is to sing. As we ended that one, we launched immediately into a driving intro for 'Once Again' and then the bottom sorta fell out as the first verse started. After a few times through the bridge of 'Once Again' I encouraged the congregation to spend some a few moments w/ God in thanks for the gift of Jesus and the Cross. When we started singing again, we sang the bridge of 'Here I Am to Worship' several times while building instrumentally, then returned to another quiet 'Once Again' bridge. My hope is that all of that stuff really helped fuse together a moment in which we could all really dwell on the gravity of the gift that was the cross...
At the end of the service, during 'Hosanna,' we continued the bridge-swapping by inserting the 'Once Again' bridge after the second chorus... new key, new tempo, and with a four-on-the-floor feel this time... it was nice, I think, and tied that moment back into the end of the service a bit. After Pastor Keith's blessing, we launched into the actual bridge of 'Hosanna' and ended on a few choruses...
How was your weekend?
This post is also a part of Sunday Setlists
Showing posts with label Sunday service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday service. Show all posts
Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
worship confessional (11.02.08)
are you kidding me? November? wow.
That said, we had a great weekend at MSC, as I'm hoping you all did as well. Just got some hi-tech sound baffling installed this past week and it totally tweak us out up on stage--in a good way, mostly. We're in a multi-purpose type facility, so our stage is surrounded by painted drywall. Sound (sound = drums for the most part) just bounces all around us and what doesn't keep bouncing around leaps into the congregation. With the new paneling, everything sort of stops after it's played. it's weird. anyway, it definitely helps the room out.
So our setlist was:
All Because of Jesus - (Steve Fee)
Sweet Mercies - (David Ruis)
Holy Lord - (M. Roach)
feature tune: Give Us Clean Hands - (Charlie Hall)
Everlasting God - (Brenton Brown, Ken Riley)
The Fee tune is a great opener... high energy. I usually use my delay and wah on this one in the verses (on my acoustic) so that we kinda get the two electrics vibe going. fun stuff. Sweet Mercies is solid, too... our congregation still really lets go on this one. We came right out of the Fee tune into a driving intro for Sweet Mercies and then completely out as we started the first verse. Holy Lord came after that, a new tune of mine that I lead from the piano. Anyone else ever move from guitar to piano during your worship sets? The transition can be tricky, but I love leading from the piano from time to time. I actually just started doing that--during worship, that is--about a year and a half ago.
Give Us Clean Hands is another classic. Mark Schultz did a version that was on Absolute Modern Worship II a few years back... really cool percussion bed underneath and a full-out choir. I was able to assemble a cool percussion loop, but no choir. :) It was a fun tune, though, we did it during communion, then ended with Everlasting God... good stuff.
this post is also a part of Sunday Setlists
That said, we had a great weekend at MSC, as I'm hoping you all did as well. Just got some hi-tech sound baffling installed this past week and it totally tweak us out up on stage--in a good way, mostly. We're in a multi-purpose type facility, so our stage is surrounded by painted drywall. Sound (sound = drums for the most part) just bounces all around us and what doesn't keep bouncing around leaps into the congregation. With the new paneling, everything sort of stops after it's played. it's weird. anyway, it definitely helps the room out.
So our setlist was:
All Because of Jesus - (Steve Fee)
Sweet Mercies - (David Ruis)
Holy Lord - (M. Roach)
feature tune: Give Us Clean Hands - (Charlie Hall)
Everlasting God - (Brenton Brown, Ken Riley)
The Fee tune is a great opener... high energy. I usually use my delay and wah on this one in the verses (on my acoustic) so that we kinda get the two electrics vibe going. fun stuff. Sweet Mercies is solid, too... our congregation still really lets go on this one. We came right out of the Fee tune into a driving intro for Sweet Mercies and then completely out as we started the first verse. Holy Lord came after that, a new tune of mine that I lead from the piano. Anyone else ever move from guitar to piano during your worship sets? The transition can be tricky, but I love leading from the piano from time to time. I actually just started doing that--during worship, that is--about a year and a half ago.
Give Us Clean Hands is another classic. Mark Schultz did a version that was on Absolute Modern Worship II a few years back... really cool percussion bed underneath and a full-out choir. I was able to assemble a cool percussion loop, but no choir. :) It was a fun tune, though, we did it during communion, then ended with Everlasting God... good stuff.
this post is also a part of Sunday Setlists
Thursday, October 30, 2008
worship confessional (10.26.08)
hey all. I'm not even going to mention my lack of punctuality on the confessional front as I know you've all come to expect such behavior from me... crud, I just mentioned it. nevermind.
Let's switch things up and start with the setlist:
Transformed - (M. Roach, Matthew West)
Give It All Away - (Aaron Shust)
Here I Am, Lord - (Dan Schutte)
feature tune - Give Me Your Eyes (Brandon Heath)
How Can I Keep from Singing - (Tomlin & Co.)
yeah, so the first tune is a crazy upbeat tune I wrote with Matthew West a while ago... most of you have never heard it--it's one of those tunes that people in the congregation ask for a decent amount, which always communicates strength in terms of resonance. I'm excited to let the world hear that one on my next release. the shust tune is great, I've recommended it before and will again. there's an adlib-type bridge on the record we don't do, but the tag he adds to the chorus toward the end functions like a bridge in our version. very congregational. Here I am, Lord is an old hymn... we sang it a ton back when I was a kid in Catholic church actually. It's funny, I call it old, but it was actually written in 1981--so it's younger than I am. anyway, we totally twist that one up into a mid-tempo 6/8 groove and it actually works really well. this weekend's message was on missions so the Isaiah 6:8 reference fit perfectly. hmmm... now that I type that, I guess the time signature fits nicely, too. :)
the brandon heath tune was also a perfect fit thematically for our discussion, which was risk-taking mission. the lyrics to this tune are honest and poignant--great first line or two - Looked down from a broken sky traced out by the city lights | My world from a mile high... best seat in the house tonight. yeah, that's good stuff. anyway, I made kind of a break beat loop that we played with, handclaps and all, loop in the verses and real kit in the rest... it was a blast to play. I actually love making loops. I wish I had a way to give 'em to other churches so they could use 'em, too... I've done a ton of 'em. anyway, good weekend, hope you all had the same.
(this post is also a part of Sunday Setlists)
Let's switch things up and start with the setlist:
Transformed - (M. Roach, Matthew West)
Give It All Away - (Aaron Shust)
Here I Am, Lord - (Dan Schutte)
feature tune - Give Me Your Eyes (Brandon Heath)
How Can I Keep from Singing - (Tomlin & Co.)
yeah, so the first tune is a crazy upbeat tune I wrote with Matthew West a while ago... most of you have never heard it--it's one of those tunes that people in the congregation ask for a decent amount, which always communicates strength in terms of resonance. I'm excited to let the world hear that one on my next release. the shust tune is great, I've recommended it before and will again. there's an adlib-type bridge on the record we don't do, but the tag he adds to the chorus toward the end functions like a bridge in our version. very congregational. Here I am, Lord is an old hymn... we sang it a ton back when I was a kid in Catholic church actually. It's funny, I call it old, but it was actually written in 1981--so it's younger than I am. anyway, we totally twist that one up into a mid-tempo 6/8 groove and it actually works really well. this weekend's message was on missions so the Isaiah 6:8 reference fit perfectly. hmmm... now that I type that, I guess the time signature fits nicely, too. :)
the brandon heath tune was also a perfect fit thematically for our discussion, which was risk-taking mission. the lyrics to this tune are honest and poignant--great first line or two - Looked down from a broken sky traced out by the city lights | My world from a mile high... best seat in the house tonight. yeah, that's good stuff. anyway, I made kind of a break beat loop that we played with, handclaps and all, loop in the verses and real kit in the rest... it was a blast to play. I actually love making loops. I wish I had a way to give 'em to other churches so they could use 'em, too... I've done a ton of 'em. anyway, good weekend, hope you all had the same.
(this post is also a part of Sunday Setlists)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
worship confessional (5.18.08)
this past weekend was a crazy one... big weekend in the life of our church, honestly. The numbers came in a few weeks ago regarding the financial commitments for our building initiative Love. Loud. and while it was a lot of money--and represented significant sacrifices from many families in our congregation--it fell substantially short of the figure we needed in order to actually build.
We stood tall, though, and Pastor Mike delivered a powerful, compelling message that reminded us all why we're here... to worship our God without condition. That's what we did. We had started each service with a 3-song set, and after Mike's message we played a video and then launched another 3-song set to close the service. Some people were wrecked by the service as a whole, and I honestly think some people were over it once we hit the first song of the second set. Regardless, I have scarcely been more proud of my church... I'm excited to see--and eventually blog about--the eventual victory God has for this little slice of His church called MSC.
The songset for the weekend was:
Meet With Me - Lamont Hiebert
You Never Let Go - Matt & Beth Redman
We Fall Down - Chris Tomlin
__________
The Least I Can Do - M. Roach
Break Through - Tommy Walker
Everlasting God - Brenton Brown/Ken Riley
We stood tall, though, and Pastor Mike delivered a powerful, compelling message that reminded us all why we're here... to worship our God without condition. That's what we did. We had started each service with a 3-song set, and after Mike's message we played a video and then launched another 3-song set to close the service. Some people were wrecked by the service as a whole, and I honestly think some people were over it once we hit the first song of the second set. Regardless, I have scarcely been more proud of my church... I'm excited to see--and eventually blog about--the eventual victory God has for this little slice of His church called MSC.
The songset for the weekend was:
Meet With Me - Lamont Hiebert
You Never Let Go - Matt & Beth Redman
We Fall Down - Chris Tomlin
__________
The Least I Can Do - M. Roach
Break Through - Tommy Walker
Everlasting God - Brenton Brown/Ken Riley
Sunday, September 2, 2007
ups and downs...
We had kind of a schizophrenic worship set as it turned out this Sunday... little did I know it would work out the way it did.
It's truly amazing--and humbling, to say the least--to see how God works week after week in the midst of our services. I chose our worship setlist for this Sunday several weeks ago, and picked the tunes for my usual various and sundry reasons. When we did run-through today, I realized that I had sandwiched 'The Happy Song' (a hands-down MSC favorite) with 'As Long As I Have You' and 'It Is Well', two songs with a very distinct message of praising through trials... wow. So, as I kicked off the first service, I mentioned that we'd be doing some songs about being on the mountaintops and some songs about being in the valleys. Turns out, the entire message was really planting its feet on that very premise... crazy cool.
Now, just for clarification, yes, we do have a 'worship design team' that meets every week and goes through all of the thematic implications of every service with a fine-tooth comb. But with the summer and vacations and stuff, particularly the Associate Pastor that delivered the message this Sunday being out last week, this one wasn't really 'combed through' if you will. Amazing, once again, how God bridges gaps...
Hey, tell me about your weekend services, can't wait to hear...
Many blessings,
Mark
[phil 4.8]
It's truly amazing--and humbling, to say the least--to see how God works week after week in the midst of our services. I chose our worship setlist for this Sunday several weeks ago, and picked the tunes for my usual various and sundry reasons. When we did run-through today, I realized that I had sandwiched 'The Happy Song' (a hands-down MSC favorite) with 'As Long As I Have You' and 'It Is Well', two songs with a very distinct message of praising through trials... wow. So, as I kicked off the first service, I mentioned that we'd be doing some songs about being on the mountaintops and some songs about being in the valleys. Turns out, the entire message was really planting its feet on that very premise... crazy cool.
Now, just for clarification, yes, we do have a 'worship design team' that meets every week and goes through all of the thematic implications of every service with a fine-tooth comb. But with the summer and vacations and stuff, particularly the Associate Pastor that delivered the message this Sunday being out last week, this one wasn't really 'combed through' if you will. Amazing, once again, how God bridges gaps...
Hey, tell me about your weekend services, can't wait to hear...
Many blessings,
Mark
[phil 4.8]
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