Vineyard Western Region Resource





FEATURED ARTICLE \| January 19, 2008 The Journey of a Worship Leader Terry Butler Around the age of four while on the swing-set in my backyard, I remember singing away and having tears come to my eyes. If anyone had been around, I’d have been embarrassed. Instead, I felt warm inside and peaceful. On the swings is where I spent my alone time thinking and singing. This particular evening I began to realize that I was singing to God. Looking back on it, I can see that He was already pursuing me at age four and was calling my heart to His. And He hasn’t stopped. For worship leaders there is great value in looking back at the journey God has taken us on. For one thing, it reminds us that God carries out His plan for our lives in unexpected, unusual, serious and humorous ways. For me, learning how to lead people in worship has been an incredible, awesome, and hard ride! If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to share a little about my journey. Maybe you’ll see some similarities in your story and mine. Continue reading..... FEATURED WORSHIP CD \| November 28, 2007 Kim Gentes of Worshipmusic.com reviews the latest Vineyard Music USA Playlist release, "Stand In Awe". Playlist: Stand In Awe Jeremy Riddle, Sheri Carr, Jan L'Ecuyer, Steve Jones, Charlie Hines (2007) Does anyone remember what a worship CD is? The last several years, it seemed like the "Christian Music" industry had missed the point. Endless collections, remixed cover songs and CCM bands trying to detour into worship leading (but quickly moving back to performance model when the "worship thing" dried up) showed a clear misunderstanding of the foundations of what worship and praise was all about. If you have felt (like me) disappointed by several popular CDs in the last few years, welcome you back to what a worship project should be- "Playlist: Stand In Awe" from Vineyard Music. One of the original vanguards of resourcing the church in worship, Vineyard has stayed true to its roots with great songs, while making continued strides in progressive musical production and sound with its arrangements and musicianship. The essence of a great worship song is its ability to resonate with the heart-cry of the worshiper. The "Stand In Awe" project is a wonderful set of worship songs that resonate clearly with followers of Christ. From the opening song, Vineyard brings some of its best young voices singing its best new songs, presented with its best studio production values. Normally known for its great live recordings, Vineyard Music has its second studio production (following up from last year's "Sweetly Broken") that marks a new era of excellence for them under producer Casey Corum. Add to Casey's great production some outstanding vocals by Jeremy Riddle, Steve Jones and Charlie Hines and stellar guitar work by veteran Glenn Pearce, the mix on this CD glistens under any audiophile's microscope. Read the rest of the review at KimGentes.com FEATURED GROUP EXERCISE \| August 3, 2007 Terry Butler offers a great group exercise and study on truly living the Christian life of worship. Terry shares an excellent small group study and discussion for worship teams. Titled, "Now To Live The Life", this discussion uses Matt Redman's song of the same title as a centerpiece on the discussion and study of something that is so important to emphasize to our worship leaders and teams: That Worship is more than singing songs on Sunday morning. Download the PDF of "Now To Live The Life" here FEATURED ARTICLE \| June 16, 2007 Matt Frise from the St. Croix Vineyard shares his ideas on transforming physical spaces for worship from a recent contribution to Inside Worship magazine. Have you eve intentionally transformed a physical space for worship? Evidenced in the building of Europe's great cathedrals, each taking a community several generations to build, the Church has historically placed a high value on creating sacred spaces for worship. This desire for sacred space in which to meet with God's transcends every historic period and culture, and many beautiful examples of architecture exist worldwide as a result of this deep, human drive. In the modern Western context, many of us have turned away from building the community cathedrals of old, and have turned inward toward ourselves and our own families, sacrificing costly amounts of time, resources, and care to create places of sanctuary within our homes and offices. Whether by choice or by necessity, for reasons practical (maximizing the use of a costly space) or ideological (choosing to invest in people over a building), many church communities now meet in spaces that are transitional, temporary, and multi-purpose. The challenge is to create worship spaces that humanize; that reinforce the worship team's declarations of God's faithfulness, His permanence, and His steadfast love in the face of worship environments that are often industrial, alienating, impersonal, and impermanent. Some of the following ideas and suggestions may help your worship community in addressing environmental obstacles to worship, making it easier for many to encounter God in your community's worship space. To read the rest of the article and Matt's eight suggestions: Click here to download the entire article in PDF format. Comment on this article \| \| Copyright © 2007 Vineyard Music USA \| All Rights Reserved \| Used by permission	Previous Articles & Downloads The Journey of a Worship Leader Terry Butler \| January 2008 (Read) CD Review: Stand In Awe Kim Gentes \| November 2007 Now To Live The Life - Group Exercise Terry Butler \| August 2007 (Download PDF) How To Humanize A Worship Space Matt Frise \| March 2007 (Download PDF) 11 Things You Didn't Know About Your Worship Team Terry Butler \| May 2007 (Read) How To Worship When You're Wounded Rich Warren \| 2006 (Read) John Wimber’s Legacy of Worship Larry Myers \| 1998 (Read) Stumbling Blocks or Treasures of the Heart Rick Kamrath \| 1996 (Read) Charts/Music Simple Christmas Carols that work Worship band chord arrangments by Dan Wilt (Download/View PDF) Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Blogs For Worship Leaders Leadership Resources Vineyard Music USA VMUSA/Inside Worship Vineyard Western Region Grace Is The Point \| David Hudson Worship.com Blog Experiencing Worship.com Worship Guitar Guy Passion/268 Generation CCLI Worship Resources JustWorship.com Worship Together Vineyard Music Worship Leader eResource Worship Leader Blogs Chris Tomlin Matt Redman Tim Hughes David Crowder Band Brian Doerksen Dan Wilt Joey Zapara Have an blog or resource you would like to list on Vineyardwestern.com? Write to worship@vineyardwestern.com.