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December 2004 Table of Contents
Special Feature
Excerpts from The Ultimate Idea Book 2
By Phil Barfoot
 This month, Phil Barfoot's The Ultimate Idea Book for Music Ministy, Vol. 2 goes on sale at J&J Music. If you're at all familiar with the first volume, you know what an exhaustive compendium of information is included... and this one is twice the size of the first. In addition, both volumes of the book are now available both in printed form and convenient pdfs on CD-ROM. For more information about both volumes, contact your J&J music sales consultant.
In future issues of The Communicator, you'll find a quick sampling of the over 1100 ideas that are in Volume 2. In this article, to go along with our "future of the choir" theme, we've selected some of the ideas for using, expanding, and helping your choir lead in worship.
Service for Every Palate
Each weekend we hold five services. Saturday night, Sunday 8 & 11 are all "contemporary" with band, orchestra, choir and vocals. Sunday at 9:30 is "traditional" with choir, orchestra, organ, and praise team. Sunday night is an edgy Gen-X service with a small band. Each service is successful and each is true to its intended target audience. The great thing about it, though, is that even though we have traditional and contemporary services by name, we still cross over the style barriers in each. The choir and orchestra are just as at home in the contemporary services as the guitars and drums are in the traditional. We do a tremendous amount of diverse styles and our congregation, regardless of which service they attend, enjoy it all. Also, we've done a great amount of team-building in the Worship Ministry so that people who used to minister in only one style of service now find that they love the crossover and mixing of the styles. I encourage everyone to consider themselves a part of one big team, not just in a worship band or the choir. Notice I said mixing, not blending. When you blend, all the flavors lose their individual taste, but when you mix ingredients, each still retains its uniqueness while complimenting whatever ingredient it is mixed with. Example, if you take peanuts and almonds and put them in a blender, the result is neither almond or peanut butter, but nut paste. However, if you mix the two in a bowl of "mixed nuts" you still can taste the difference between the almond and the peanut.
We also have transformed our choir from a "traditional chorale" to a contemporary praise choir. In doing so we have attracted a much younger group of singers and quadrupled in size in the last twelve years. It all has to do with the diversity of the musical styles, the amount of material we sing (tons) and the high-energy performance approach we pursue. That too has helped us crossover from the traditional service to the contemporary service with the choir, orchestra, and even the organ.
-John R. Plastow/First Covenant Church/Sacramento, CA
One Big Choir!
In past days we did two identical "blended" services, using choir and orchestra in both. Eventually, we moved to one contemporary service, using only a Praise Team and Band and one blended service, utilizing choir and orchestra. Previously, our choir was split between the services with some singers doing both services. Once we put the entire choir together in one service, one dynamic wonderfully changed: our sound! The congregation sees our entire choir together at one time and now they also have a choice of worship styles. It was a great change and has been tremendously positive for us.
-Jet Jones/Walnut Ridge Baptist Church/Mansfield, TX
Balance is the Key!
We prefer to use the word "balanced" worship services in my Music Ministry. Through much prayer, guidance, and direction, I believe a balanced music program is key to any church for growth and health among its membership.
The older folks love the rich heritage of the hymns that they have had all their lives. (We’ve had young couples join our church because, as they say, "You still sing hymns.") At their age and season in life, they should not have this avenue of praise in their hearts and lives excluded from their worship experience, simply because there is a "new way." Also, our young people shouldn’t have to have one way, one type force-fed to them in the same way. Young people today are different. Back in my day, you could pretty much paint all of us with one paintbrush, but not today. You can no longer judge a book by its cover. Some of the best young people I know have long hair, tattoos, and piercing somewhere on their body, and they will proudly show you. Yikes! But they love the Lord, love His Word, even though they look different.
So for a balanced program, present all forms of music to your choir/music team, but do them well. Rehearse them, prepare them in plenty of time for the music to reach their hearts, so they can sing and lead in worship expressively and genuinely. If they are not prepared, they will be tentative at best (heads will be glued to the music, etc.).
In each service, offer hymns, worship choruses and multi-media. Have the choir sing both types, but do it well! For God’s glory! We have a pipe organ, Steinway grand piano, and full orchestra, but we also have a praise band, six worship teams that add to our worship experience and full and varied choir program. Variety is the spice of life. Any one thing will get boring.
Continue to teach new songs to your congregation. The Bible says, "Sing to the Lord a new song!" I know some of our people groan when I am introducing a new worship chorus, but we press on. You will always have those that don’t like anything. You will always have those who just endure. (It is a spiritual matter in them, most of whom have not met with God all week since attending their last worship service, but yet want "their way" in worship.) But then God will bring you those that say, "I’m 83 and love the new choruses because they bring me to worship God, because the words bless my heart so much. Yes, I love the hymns, but I love these new songs, too!"
Multi-media is a great way to enhance the texts of songs used as well. Everyone has a "computer geek" somewhere in their congregation that would love to be used to help you in worship. So ask, seek, and knock until you find them.
Just keep adding diversity to each worship service for God’s glory!
-Jim Van Matre/Dauphin Way Baptist Church/Mobile, AL
Prison Ministry Trip
We annually take our Adult Choir on a three-day prison ministry trip. We take it the last part of May, which is several weeks after any Easter season production we may do, and immediately before school is out and summer vacation begins. We leave on Friday afternoon and return on Sunday night. We give concerts in six different prisons, mostly in the Huntsville area of Texas where many of the state prisons are located. Although we sing mostly at men’s facilities, we also sing at women’s prisons. This has done an incredible job of developing the ministry mindset of what our choir does and has been a strong ministry to hundreds of inmates for which we have been privileged to sing. We also include our handbell choir and our adult vocal ensembles, as well as sharing testimonies and scriptures. I used to take youth choirs into the prison, but new regulations will not allow youth groups into adult facilities. This is one of the best things we have ever done to increase the spiritual sensitivity of our Sanctuary Choir.
-Chuck Bridwell/Columbus Avenue Baptist Church/Waco, TX
A "Family-Friendly" Schedule
Several years ago, we moved to a much more friendly schedule on Wednesday nights. We begin at 6:30 p.m. with our choir worship time, which involves some singing, a short Bible study that I lead, and a prayer time. We then start rehearsal around 7:00 p.m., which lasts until 8:00 p.m. We close with announcements, introduction of guests, and a birthday celebration. There is a printed "Choir Notes" that lists the order of rehearsal and page numbers, as well as other announcements and vital information. Everyone leaves at 8:00 p.m. when all the other church programs also dismiss. We have found that this is much more family-friendly and helps us to be a help to our choir participants. Moving to this schedule helped to really grow our choir in numbers as young parents felt free to become involved. (And, it solved our child care problem!)
We also have a feature each week called "Spotlight." I ask a member to take 2-3 minutes to share their story of how they got to West Acres, how they got involved in the Celebration Choir ministry and what it means to them. This is one of our favorite times in rehearsal. It helps us get to know one another and binds our hearts together as a group.
-Christopher R. Norris/West Acres Baptist Church/Evans, GA
"Open House"
Twice a year, we have a Music Ministry "Open House." We invite everyone in the church to play music with the orchestra or to sing with the choir without any obligation. Our goal is to give them the opportunity to experience being a part of this powerful ministry. We bring food, socialize, pamper them, and we let them have an opportunity to feel what it is like to sing in the choir loft with the orchestra. After this experience, they’re hooked!
-Scott C. Hodgin/Calvary Road Baptist Church/Alexandria, VA
Stay on Campus
We have had the best success with retreats on our church campus. We get childcare; which costs less than spending the night somewhere else and results in better participation. We have had meals catered and had our church kitchen staff prepare meals. Both have been good. We have grown from simply a choir retreat to a Music Ministry Conference that is for our choir, band and orchestra. We have introduced new music, had extended rehearsal times, offered classes on music-related topics, sessions on spiritual topics taught by our Pastors, had competitions between care groups, and had coffee houses and guest concerts. No two "retreats" are exactly alike.
-John Talley/Kingsland Baptist Church/Katy, TX
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