Jamie Brown

He Giveth More Grace: New Arrangement

Several weeks ago, I saw that our September sermon series was going to focus on the generosity of God. As I was thinking what song of response would work one Sunday, the closing words of an old hymn came to my mind: “for out of his infinite riches in Jesus / He giveth, and giveth and giveth again”. I looked up the hymn, entitled “He Giveth More Grace” and was struck by the text:

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace

When we have exhausted our store of endurance
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision
Our God ever yearns His resources to share
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure
His power no boundary known unto men
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again

This hymn was written by Annie Johnson Flint. She was orphaned by the age of 6, and became so crippled by arthritis that she couldn’t walk. Her arthritis prevented her from becoming a pianist like she had hoped, so she became a poet, and when she couldn’t open her hands to type, she would use her knuckles on the typewriter. An amazing story.

What I love about this hymn is the way it presents God’s generous grace. It can never be exhausted. It can never even begin to be exhausted. It is utterly and completely boundless. This is the kind of good news our congregations need to hear. This is like water in a barren desert.

I didn’t know the original tune for this hymn, so I took that as an opportunity to write a simple melody and arrangement. We sang it this past Sunday at my church and judging from all the questions and emails I got about it, it struck a nerve with people and was a blessing.

I’m sharing the rough demo with you, as well as a chord chart, since my guess is that if your congregation doesn’t know this hymn, they might be affected by the truth it proclaims just like mine was.

Demo:

Chord chart

Leading Worship Without an Instrument: Tips from Kate Simmonds

Kate Simmonds is a worship leader and songwriter based in Sydney, Australia, where she and her husband Miles serve at Grace City Church. For many years, in the late 90’s and early 2000’s she was on the worship leading team along with Stuart Townend at the Church of Christ the King in Brighton, England, and also led worship at events throughout the UK, many of which became hallmark worship albums of that era.

A few months ago i asked Kate to share her wisdom/experience regarding leading worship without playing an instrument. What she offers below is some of the best, practical worship leading advice for those who don’t play instruments.

From Kate:

I’ve been leading worship for quite a few years now and have never led with an instrument on any of those occasions so it really doesn’t have to be a hindrance to you. It also doesn’t have to hinder you if you are playing with a different band each time, even though there are benefits to having a regular band and being able to develop a repertoire together.

Arranging

I will run an arrangement for a song with the band in rehearsal which I would call the ‘default arrangement’. This would probably be something like Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus. But the band understands that I may wish to deviate from that in response to the congregation and of course to what God is doing among us. That is easily done with hand signals and also just by speaking out, “let’s sing that verse again” and so on.

Signals

It’s important that you have a sight line to all the members of the band so they can see your signals (and also that they can hear you clearly in their monitors, so always check they can hear you in your soundcheck). The signals I use are a V shape with my fingers, pointing downward, for verse; a C shape for chorus, my hand held downward in a fist to signal the end of the song; a little mini C shape to signal a turnaround where you might repeat a line (e.g. “Nothing compares to the promise I have, nothing compares to the promise I have in you”). I have one odd signal for the bridge or Middle 8 which is that I discreetly point to my bellybutton (it’s my ‘middle’) but I’m really not sure how that one came about so feel free to make up your own one!

The important thing to develop in rehearsal is the band looking to you for a signal at the key moments when decisions need to be made, (e.g. are we repeating this chorus?) So you need to be clear and decisive with your signals (eg give them say a line before the section is going to end) and they need to look up and see them. This is a good thing to practise in rehearsal so you can all get used to it.

Call it out

If they’re not looking at you but you want to change from the default arrangement, then you just need to call it out clearly so both the congregation and the band know where you are going. I will often give spoken instructions as well as signal the band as I think it can be helpful for the congregation.

Leaving space for free singing/playing

The other thing you can practice in rehearsal is an ‘open section’ where you might want to leave room for the congregation to sing out freely to God. If I want to signal this I wiggle my fingers – again, feel free to make up your own signal! The thing I would do in my preparation is try and identify a key place in the worship where I think the congregation is most likely to respond in this way. Then, in rehearsal, I would tell the band that I might open the song up at this point and decide with the band a chord sequence so that everyone is playing the same thing. You might choose just to play between two chords, or you could have a longer sequence if you wish.

Bring the best out of your band

The final thing I would add is that you don’t have to be a star musician on an instrument yourself to bring the best out of your band. I usually have an idea in mind of the dynamics of the song, so even if I can’t execute it on an instrument myself, I know that others can, so I give them some clear guidelines of what I have in mind. I’ll give them clues such as “I’d like this to be majestic” or “let’s have a strong introduction then drop down a little in verse one, building to the chorus” or I might invite them to add some interest in verse 2.

You are the worship leader but that doesn’t mean that you have to have all the musical ideas. I always encourage the band I’m playing with that (while you’re the one making the decisions) as lead worshippers you’re all leading the people in worship together, it’s a team effort and their musical gifts are making a huge contribution to that.

Thanks, Kate, for the great advice!

Being Quick to Say “Thank You” and “I’m Sorry”

There are no greater phrases for someone who’s in ministry than “thank you” and “I’m sorry”.

You can’t say “thank you” enough. To the people around you, to the people who serve behind the scenes while you stand on a platform, to the people directing traffic in the church parking lot, to the lady in the nursery entertaining screaming babies, to the instrumentalist who played his part exceptionally well, to the singer who got her kids all dressed up for church and in Sunday school in enough time to make it on stage with you. Notice these things. Open your eyes. And say “thank you”.

And you shouldn’t be afraid to say “I’m sorry” either. To the technical volunteer who you might have been just a little flippant toward, or the projectionist who you threw for a loop, or the person who you forgot to email back, or the colleague you interrupted. Whatever. Maybe you’re totally justified. But the power of a genuine “I’m sorry” is worth it.

Commit to being the kind of person in ministry who’s quick to say “thank you” and quick to say “I’m sorry” and you will hardly ever regret it.

Nobody Likes Being Around a Grouch

This will not be the most profound worship leading blog post you’ve ever read in your entire life. But maybe you need to read it.

Are you a grouch on Sunday mornings?

And by “a grouch” I mean “someone who’s grouchy”.

Your team won’t want to be around you, or follow you, or keep serving alongside you, if you’re no fun. Smile more. Make some jokes. If something doesn’t go quite right, laugh it off.

Nobody likes being around a grouch. So don’t be grouchy. Then people will like being around you more.

Pre-Order My Church’s Advent EP

About a month ago I mentioned that we’re working on two upcoming projects due to be released this November. One is a worship album and the other is an Advent EP. I’m thrilled about them both and I can’t wait to share them with you so they can be a blessing to you and so you can have some new ideas/songs/inspiration for you and your ministry.

The Advent EP is entitled “For Our Salvation”. Here’s the little promo blurb:

This 6-song EP, featuring band, organ, children’s choir, and strings, presents the story of the longed-for Messiah through fresh arrangements of traditional carols, and two new compositions. These songs will help you cherish Jesus and stoke your expectation to see him, one day, face to face.

You can pre-order it here.