Author: Jamie Brown

Projecting Excellence – Obeying Copyright Laws

Since this blog started in July, we’ve looked at a number of ways we can serve our congregations more effectively by making sure our projected lyrics are projected with excellence. So far we’ve covered line breaks, font size, keeping things in context, avoiding little mistakes, where to put the song title, not using all caps, and alignment.

One important topic we haven’t covered yet is what to do with the copyright information (i.e. author, copyright date, publishing company, etc.). This may not seem like the most exciting topic in the world – but it’s important that in everything we do, including trying to obey copyright laws, we’re seeking to honor God. There are rules to follow here, and choosing to ignore them or continue to be ignorant of them is a problem.

Step one: Get a CCLI license. Every church should have its own license, which costs a small annual fee, allowing it the freedom to duplicate song lyrics and music, project lyrics, record services, and more.  It is against federal law to copy song lyrics or music in any form without permission. This license is the easiest way to get that permission.

Step two: Before projecting lyrics to a song, find out the (1) song title, (2) author’s name, (3) year of copyright, (4) copyright notice (i.e. company), and (5) your church’s CCLI license number.

Here’s an example of how it should look from the CCLI website:
“Hallelujah.” Words and music by John Doe. © 2000 Good Music Co. CCLI License # 0000.

It’s not very difficult or complex.

Step three: Put all of that information on the bottom of the first slide of the song. It’s not necessary to put it on every single slide, and I’ve found that having it on the last slide means that the congregation begins to think that whenever the copyright information appears it means the song is almost over.

Here’s how it looks on our slide for the first verse of Stuart Townend’s song “Beautiful Savior”.


And a close-up.


On our slides, the font size for the lyrics is 38. The font size for the copyright information is 12, and centered in its own text box. This way it’s readable, fits on one line (most of the time), can be moved to a different slide if needed, and isn’t distracting.

You can read more about this in the FAQ section of CCLI’s website. Click here.  

Being Led as You Lead

Whenever the worship team prays before a service, one of my prayers for us is that we would be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. He leads us in our planning and rehearsing, but we never want to walk into a service with everything completely settled. As we’re leading the congregation in singing, we need to be listening for the Holy Spirit’s prompting and guiding. If this means going with everything as we planned and rehearsed, that’s great. But if this means making some sort of change, whether it’s major or minor, skipping something, highlighting something, lingering at a certain point, or some other unplanned direction, we need to be ready.

I’ve found that the Holy Spirit will very rarely lead me or the pastor leading a service to make a drastic change on the fly. He may do that this coming Sunday – but usually if we’re praying for his guidance, and seeking to be faithful to the word of God in our planning, for the lack of a better term, “we will be close” once Sunday morning rolls around.

This past Sunday morning, January 10th, our opening three songs were “Jesus Saves” by Tim Hughes, “You Alone Can Rescue” by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin, and “Jesus Paid All” by Elvina Hall and John Grape, with a new bridge written by Kristian Stanfill.

I felt led to choose these songs since the sermon was going to be on Romans 4:1-8, highlighting how there are no works we can do to make ourselves righteous before God. We are made righteous through Jesus Christ.

As we came to the end of “You Alone Can Rescue” I sensed the Holy Spirit prompting me to linger for a while before moving on to the next song. As the song drew to a close, I caught the piano player’s eye and motioned for him to keep playing. Then, responding to what I felt I was being led to do, I just sang out a few simple statements of thanks to God for what he has done for us in Christ.

“Oh thank you, Lord.”
“We were dead in our sin.”
“We were lost on our own.”
“You raised us to life.”
“You paid the debt we could not pay.”
“It’s the only way we can approach your throne.”
“You’ve made us sons and daughters of yourself.”
 “Thank you for saving me – all for your glory, Lord.”

Then we moved on to “Jesus Paid it All”.

It wasn’t a major change to the direction of the service. All I did was sing a few simple truths, drawing a bit from Ephesians 2, highlighting what we had just sung, and transitioning to the next song. Here’s how it sounded:

I don’t do this every week. I actually don’t do it all that often. But yesterday morning, after praying and asking for God’s help to be sensitive to his Spirit, it seemed that he was leading me to not rush into the next song.

This kind of thing can help people be more aware of God’s presence, reminded of the truth, and affected by his Spirit’s active work. In your specific church and context, he will use you in a specific way. It might not be appropriate for you to sing a spontaneous song, or you might not be comfortable with that. It doesn’t have to look or sound a certain way, or resemble how it worked at a conference you attended. Just be ready and be faithful.

If I were to do this every single week, it could become predictable and might be manufactured. If I rambled or did it in a distracting/forced way, it could have the opposite effect. I’ve made some mistakes when seeking to be responsive to the Holy Spirit during a service, and I’m sure I’ll make more.

So this weekend when I lead the congregation in singing, I’ll again pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and I encourage you to as well. He won’t do the same thing two weekends in a row, so I’m excited to see what has in store.

How to Handle the Tambourine Lady

I met her when I was 15 years old and living in Panama City, Florida. My dad was pastoring a small Episcopal church, and my family had been there for about a year and a half.

I had been leading at our youth ministry’s weekly services, a couple of songs for the Sunday morning service, and songs at other events ocassionally.

This particular event was one of a series of summertime mid-week services held in the chapel, with an extended time of singing at the beginning, followed by a teaching. I had just started Paul Baloche’s new (at that time) song “Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord”, when she came in the back door with her tambourine swinging.

I was really young and had not been leading worship for very long. I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t believe this was happening – and from the looks on the faces of the people in the congregation – they couldn’t either.

The tambourine is one of those instruments that either has to be played really well, or hidden deep inside a closet where no one would ever think to look. You know what I mean.

In this instance, it was not being played well. Honestly, it was being played horrendously poorly. That’s probably too kind of a definition. It wasn’t being played at all. It was being used as a weapon of mass distraction. That’s more like it. A bit cheesy but accurate.

No one had taught me what to do in this situation. None of the conferences I had attended had offered seminars on “what to do with the tambourine lady”. The worship leading books had all conveniently left this chapter out. And YouTube didn’t even exist yet, so I couldn’t log on and watch Paul Baloche’s instructional video on the topic.

So I would like to offer some tips on what do when you’re leading worship and all of the sudden a woman walks into the back of the room with her own personal tambourine. I call them the “AAA’s”.

Assess
Do a quick damage assessment of the congregation. What percentage seems to be distracted and disturbed? Has everyone noticed? Do they not even care? Are they about to stage a tambourine revolt and kick her out of the room? The extent of the damage will affect your next move.

Adjust
If the tambourine “playing” seems to have distracted every single person in the room, you might want to think about skipping your fast songs and singing some slow songs. Really slow songs. Odds are (you hope – and pray) that the slow tempo will mean no more tambourine. Or you may just need to keep going on as you had planned.

In all seriousness, when a disruption like this happens, just relax, pray a quick prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and then make the decision that you feel is best. You may very well need to adjust your leading somehow.

Approach (and ask)
Seek the tambourine lady out after the service at all costs. If you can’t find her, call her. If you can’t call her, email her. If you can’t email her, drive to her house. If she doesn’t have a house, put an ad in the local paper. Somehow you have to talk with this person – with your pastor, ideally.

What you want to do is approach her, thank her for her desire to worship God with the tambourine, and ask her if she would like to come to an audition.

If she says no, then you can ask if she would refrain from playing during a service since the other musicians who are up front all rehearse together.

If she says yes, I would be surprised, but you’d need to set up a time to meet with her and audition her, and then be honest with her. (See my post on how to be honest with unskilled musicians who audition for worship teams.)

You may never meet the tambourine lady, but I have heard that she has a habit of showing up at most churches at one point or another.

If you do have the privilege of meeting her, please tell her I said hi.

Good Old Bulletin Bloopers

I was going through some old documents on my computer today and came across this list of bulletin bloopers that I used to read on our church’s Alpha course. Sure, you may have received them in an email forward about fifteen times over the last couple of years, but for me they never get old. Enjoy:

The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.

Our next song is “Angels We Have Heard Get High.”

The Associate Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday “I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.

Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.

Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

The Lutheran men’s group will meet at 6 pm. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.

Remember in prayer the many that are sick of our community.

Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say “hell” to someone who doesn’t care much about you.

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

“Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.”

“The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”

The sermon this morning: “Jesus Walks on the Water.”
The sermon tonight: “Searching for Jesus.”

Sermon Outline:
I. Delineate your fear
II. Disown your fear
III. Displace your rear

Don’t miss this Saturday’s exhibit by Christian Martian Arts.

If you would like to make a donation, fill out a form, enclose a check, and drip in the collection basket.

Helpers are needed! Please sign up on the information sheep.

A new loudspeaker system has been installed in the church. It was given by one of our members in honor of his wife.

The maintenance of the church graveyard is becoming increasingly costly. It would be a great help if parishioners would do their best to tend their own graves.

Would the congregation kindly remember that the box marked ‘For the Sick’ is for financial contributions only.

Bilingual Chicken Dinner this Sunday at Noon.

Happy Easter!

Christmas 2009 has come and gone. Now worship leaders can sit back and relax.

Right?

Wrong.

Guess what? Easter 2010 is three months away.

April 4th, 2010. It will be here sooner than you think.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, is Wednesday, February 17th. Palm Sunday is March 28th. Then Maundy Thursday on April 1st (the night Jesus was betrayed), and Good Friday on April 2nd.

You can’t relax just yet.

Now is the time to start planning for Easter. How can you communicate the glory of the Risen Savior most effectively? How can you improve on last year? What went well last year and what didn’t? How could you serve visitors better? How can you handle the increased crowds more smoothly?

Think through the big things. Think through the small things. You have a three-month head start to make sure that this year your church’s Easter services are intentionally planned, prayed over, thought through, and Christ-centered.

Don’t let Easter sneak up on you this year. Resist the urge to do the exact same thing you did last year. Get the ball rolling now and you’ll be grateful you did once March rolls around.

Now to take my Christmas tree down.

Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and happy Easter.