The All Day St. John's York Mills Day

What an awesome day of music and worship!

Gerald and I led the worship team at both services today. This morning, we were joined by Brian on percussion, Ambrose on base, and his new bride, Cleo, on vocals. We had a fantastic rehearsal on Thursday, which meant we could walk in this morning, nice and relaxed and ready to make music.

We had a good mix of our favourites - "How Great Thou Art," "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" - and a new song - "All Who are Thirsty." We did my song, "Living Manna", during communion, and for the first time, we had all the vocalists singing lead on it. Usually I take a solo on the vocals, with just a bit of harmony. It was awesome to hear everyone singing my melody. I couldn't stop grinning the whole time.

Tonight, we had Brian back for percussion, and our friend Susan joined the team for the first time. Her gifts on piano and vocals are wonderful, and we quickly gelled as a team. We kept the songs uptempo with "Your Grace is Enough", "Indescribable," and "Beautiful One."

I've been reading "Captured by Grace" by Dr. David Jeremiah, and the chapter I just finished was on Romans 5. As I prepared for tonight's service, a few verses kept ringing through my head:

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope.

"Glory in our sufferings..." I couldn't stop thinking about that. I thought of all the people in our congregation who are suffering right now, from illness, grief, unemployment, and just tough situations. As our worship progressed tonight, I read these verses in between songs, and in a way that only God can move things, it fit right into Drew's message.

I'm really happy with today. We welcomed 2 new people to our team, had a great time making music, and recognized, once again, that we're a small part of something wonderful.

We all need days like this...

I'm feeling so encouraged these days!

In the past week, I've received some tremendous compliments and feedback on our music. I've heard a story of someone using one of our songs in a challenging situation. I've confirmed 4 bookings in 3 days. I was part of an amazing rehearsal on Thursday night. New doors are opening daily.

So often, we make music and pursue bookings and keep sowing seeds, wondering if anything is taking root.

That's why times like this are so valuable. They feed the moment, and the season to come.

Feeling grateful tonight, for so many blessings...

We're going to Break Forth!

We are so excited tonight!

A few weeks ago, Dad gave us a brochure for a worship conference in Alberta called Break Forth. We've attended a lot of workshops, but this one just looks awesome!

Tonight, Gerald and I registered! In January, we'll head out to Alberta for 3 days of songwriting workshops, worship leading seminars, connecting with other musicians, and awesome concerts.

We're also hoping to book a few concerts for ourselves while we're there.

The poster is below. Let me know if you'll be attending! If not, I'll be blogging every night (of course!).

I'm a Guest Blogger

I meant to post this earlier, but Nashville worship leader and songwriter, Eric Wyse, recently used one of my posts (with permission) as a guest blog post!

You can read it here.

Thanks, Eric!

Communion Trio

Today I had Holy Communion in three different churches, which I think is a personal record.

We started the day at St. John's West, where Gerald and I led the music for a Remembrance themed service. We sang songs of peace, like "The Strangest Dream" and "Let There Be Peace on Earth." To celebrate the theme of sacrificial service, we sang Gerald's song, "Somebody's Angel." We also introduced our new childrens dismissal song, "Let the Children Come Unto Me." So encouraging to see everyone singing along with us!

In the early evening, we played on the worship team at St. John's York Mills for the Gathering service. This service is usually prayer, music, and a dialogue sermon, but for tonight, we gathered around the table and had an intimate Communion. Just beautiful.

Then, I went to St. Clements to attend their evening service called Surface. Described as an 'emerging' worship experience, Surface combines scripture, poetry, prayer, and secular songs of inspiration to create an unique worship experience. We also had Communion in the round, which was lovely and powerful. Gerald and I will be leading the music for this service in a few weeks - looking forward to it!

Cafe Church

St. John's Weston has decided that the final Sunday of every month will be Something Different Sunday, and today, we were part of that something.

Instead of hosting a traditional Anglican service of Holy Communion, St. John's hosted their first Cafe Church. Tables, chair, coffee, and sweets were set up on the parish hall. A small altar, complete with candles, was set up at one end, and we lead music from the stage. (The photo above shows our view from the stage.)

Gerald and I have played cafe worship services before, so we're really comfortable with the setting. They still kept the full Anglican service, complete with liturgy and Scripture readings. The priest, Michelle, wore robes, as did the lay minister. The contrast between the formality of the "Anglicanisms" and the casualness of the cafe setting was striking and lovely.

Instead of a sermon, Michelle encouraged each table to write their own prayer. During the prayers of the people, someone from each table stood and read their prayer for the group. It was so powerful, and when Michelle wrapped it up by praying "these are the prayers of your faithful people," it really was the prayers of the faithful people!

For the congregational music, we used Taize choruses, and Gerald and I did our own songs before the service and during Communion. We had 2 songs chosen for Communion, but they had such a crowd that we had to pull out a few more and did 4 in total. It always helps to have a few songs memorized and a few extra charts in the back of your binder!

What a great time of community! In the evening, we played at our St. John's with the worship team, for another great time of casual worship and discussion.

Kind of happy we only had one trick-or-treater - a night of relaxing and eating candy is a nice way to end a busy weekend!

The Sound of Music on Oprah!

I was glued to my tv this evening as I watched the cast of "The Sound of Music" reunite to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the landmark film.

As I watched it, I was flooded with memories of watching the film, singing the songs, reading Maria Von Trapp's autobiography that started it all...

I'm such a fan, and I could write for days about my love of the film and its music, but let me share these two wonderful memories that rose to the top today:

For our first date, Gerald took me to Stratford to see Christopher Plummer in "King Lear." Later, when we drove by the theatre, we saw a limo pull up, and out stepped Julie Andrews! Long story short (and if you ever want to hear this story in person, this is my favourite story to tell in play-by-play detail!), I stalked her in the gift shop until I got up the nerve to speak to her! I thanked her for how much her music had influenced me, she graciously said "Thank you, thank you very much," and I walked away with tears streaming down my face.

A few years later, I was cast in Disney's "The Pacifier" in the role of Maria. (The film contains a rather over-the-top rendition of the musical.) I spent 2 days in a high end studio singing Maria's songs, 10 days in rehearsal with award winning directors, and 4 days on set, singing and dancing out scenes from the musical. Most of our work ended up on the cutting room floor, but it was truly a wonderful experience.


To celebrate today's memories, here's a photo from the set of "The Pacifier":

"The Lonely Goatherd"

This scene was hilarious, but ended up on the cutting room floor.
And yes, that's a wig!

"Fill us up, and send us out..."

...is the bridge of one of my new favourite songs, "God of Justice" by Tim Hughes.

I feel like today was a "send us out" kind of day.

We reached out to both ends of the country and down to two different states - sending songs, planning tours, and sharing creative ideas.

I continue to marvel at technology, and the way we can use it to share our ministry and build our relationships.

I feel blessed and humbled by such a productive day.

I'm excited about what tomorrow may bring ...

Learning from my Dad

My Dad just wrote a new blog post of old material.

In 2007, my Dad retired from a full-time career of preaching and pastoring. But in 1964, he was a newly ordained deacon, ready to take on the challenges of ministry. For his recent blog post, Dad shared part of his sermon from that ordination service.


Two things struck me while reading his sermon:

#1. His voice is still the same! His style of writing, turns of phrase, even the way I can imagine him reading his words have hardly changed at all.

#2. His philosophies are still the same. My Dad is open to new ideas, and I know his thoughts have been shaped by his experiences, but his basic thoughts about ministry that are reflected in that sermon are the same ones I've heard him preach over the years: humility in service, the need for prayer, and the importance of each individual's personal ministry.

As I read this sermon (written before my Dad had even met my Mom!), I reflected on how Dad's philosophy of ministry has affected my life and, subsequently, my ministry.

I'm honest with myself about my faults, knowing that is it through this honesty that I can battle ego and pride. I'm also honoured that God would call me into ministry, so I strive to bring my best to it every day.

I have many memories of Dad standing in front of our congregation and saying, "Each person here has a ministry. Not just the clergy, but you. What is your personal ministry?"

Even before receiving my 'calling,' I knew that my role wasn't simply to sing in the choir, but how could I, as a choir member, use that position to minister to our congregation?

And to bring it full circle, now that I'm in leadership, how can I help other people discover their personal ministries?

I know Dad learned a lot about himself as he re-read that sermon, but I didn't know that I'd learn so much about myself too.

To read Dad's blog post, please visit here.

Permission to Write Badly

Early in our Sunday morning services, the children are brought up to the front and then sent out to attend Sunday school until they return to join us for Communion. And every Sunday, the piano or organ improvises a hymn tune while the children leave.

One Sunday I thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could sing a song for the children while they're walking out? Something that would let them know they're special, and remind us of the importance of caring for our children in the church?"

So I mulled it over, had a little inspiration, and wrote a very simple 4-line lyric.

Then came the melody. There would be no chorus, no bridge, so all the melodic interest had to be packed into those simple 4 lines. It needed to be simple enough for the congregation to sing, but interesting enough to make it an enjoyable sing.

The challenge began!

I had one idea that kind of stuck in my head, and I finished it, but I wasn't happy with it. It wasn't beautiful enough. It was the kind of melody that, in our house, we call a "na-na" melody.

I sang it for Gerald who confirmed my suspicions. But then I had to go back to square one - how do I create an interesting melody for 4 lines?

So, I gave myself permission to write a bad melody.

For two days, I sang the lyric in hundreds of ways, and none of it was pretty. I changed keys and time signatures in the middle of lines. I sang one note melodies and 2 octave melodies. I sang weird rhythms and atonal intervals.

And then, it came!

The beautiful, singable, 4 line melody I was looking for.

I sang it several times to allow it to settle into place. The phrasing felt very natural. There was a good flow, good prosody.

I sang it for Gerald, and his smile on the first line let me know I had found my melody.

Sometimes, as artists, we need to allow ourselves to make art that is messy, or weird, or just plain bad so we can discover the art that is truly beautiful, and that says what we need it to say.

Happy creative discovery, everyone!

Keith Getty Inspiration!

I just watched a great interview with Keith Getty (of "In Christ Alone" fame). He and Nashville worship leader, Eric Wyse, were interviewed by the director of Lifeway Worship about songwriting, music planning, and art in worship.

The whole thing is quite brilliant, but here are a few of my favourite moments:

- Keith talked about a creative approach to Sunday worship, and the importance of making each Sunday the best is can be. Best quote of the interview: Imagine each "Sunday's your next Carnegie Hall."

- Keith wasn't afraid to speak about the beauty and mystery of Art. Both Keith and Eric talked about the wonderful, varied, and sometimes messy processes that occur in the writing of a song.

- Keith reminded us that the definition of "hymn" vs "song" is relative. I know this from my own experience of living in two countries. Many pieces that we'd consider Gospel songs here in Toronto are standard hymns in the South.

- Eric talked about the importance of encouraging the creativity and unique musical voice of each congregation.

- The interviewer brought up the point that many hymn-writers of the past were also pastors, but this doesn't seem to be the trend anymore. I've never given this any thought, but I am reading a book about John Newton who, of course, was both. Thoughts were discussed, but it would be interesting to discuss this with a group of pastors. Maybe lyric writing seems too daunting? Too difficult? Maybe it's seen as a distraction from preaching? I don't know, but it's an interesting question.

To see the whole video, please visit here.

New online stuff...

If you're looking for a few more ways to drift around the internet on this rainy afternoon, check out these new online treats:

- I've added a Hymns poll to the Home page of www.AllisonLynn.com Come visit and give your thoughts on your favourite hymns.

- My Dad has just written a great blog post about Harvest. You can read it here.

- I've created a facebook album from our visit to Calvary Church this summer. You can visit it here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As we celebrate Thanksgiving today, I can't help but reflect on this past year and all it has brought:

- our move home to Toronto
- our recovery from our car accident, both physically and emotionally
- our new position on the music staff at St. John's York Mills
- finishing "Hymns in the Key of Grace"
- recording Gerald's demos
- travels to Illinois, NYC, and Nashville
- countless new friends, new experiences, and new memories!

And as I relax today, my mind drifts into the dreams and plans for the next few months:

- the launch of our new duo, Infinitely More
- the launch of our new Christmas music site
- sending Gerald's demos to publishers and artists
- planning our East Coast tour for next summer
- our fireside concert in January
- new songs and new musical experiments!

Today, I'm so thankful for my family, our friends, our puppies, our church, our ministry, and our health. I'm so grateful that Gerald and I have been called into making music together. We have faced many challenges this past year, but we never forget that we are BLESSED beyond measure!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Music in the Garden - CANCELED!!!!!!!

Dear friends,

We're very sorry to announce that we will be canceling our Music in the Garden - Infinitely More Launch Concert this Saturday.

Since last week, we have been plagued by illness - colds, bad sinuses, and a terrible flu. If we were doing a concert at a church or other venue, we would make it work. But hosting a concert in your own backyard requires an enormous amount of work, and with all this sickness, we just haven't had time to prepare music, the backyard, or ourselves.

Our deepest apologies for any inconvenience this cancellation may cause!

That said, Infinitely More is still moving forward! This month, we will launch our new website with an Online Site Party! We're appearing at several churches over the next few months, and we're already taking bookings for Christmas services, parties, and other events.

Also, we're planning a Fireside Concert for the winter!

To follow all our events, please check in regularly with us on Allison's site, this blog, and Facebook.

Thank you for all your prayers and support for this event, and for our music! Please feel free to contact us with any questions!

Blessings,
Allison + Gerald
Infinitely More

Gerald's Song Online!

Lisa Mowry, our amazing demo singer (and friend), has posted the demo for Gerald's song "Fifteen Minutes of Shame" on her website!

Lisa recorded the song while we were in Nashville last month, and on her site, she called Gerald "one of my very favourite songwriters"!

Visit her site to hear "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", and turn up your speakers - the song will begin automatically:

http://lisamowrymusic.com/

Double Church Day

Actually, it was a double St. John's day!

This morning, we played at St. John's West for a service of Baptism and Holy Communion. A wonderful couple in the church just adopted a baby girl from Vietnam. I find baptisms emotional any time, but this one was especially beautiful. The family chose the hymns, and they reflected the love and support they want for their child's life in Christ.

In the late afternoon/early evening, we joined the worship team to play for the Gathering at St. John's York Mills. We sang great songs like "Indescribable" and "Your Grace is Enough." Rehearsal went really well, but when we got into the service, something else took over. I'd like to think it was us, but I know it wasn't.

When those moments hit, how can you not believe in something greater than yourself?

Pastors & Musicians - The Great Debate

A few months ago, our bishop thought it would be a great idea to connect clergy and church musicians for a time of sharing, debating, and, hopefully, learning.

Today, ministers and musicians from the York-Scarborough Anglican diocese gathered for panels, discussions, and a little music making.

Many large issues came up:

• What is the role of music in worship?
• What is the relationship between clergy and organist/music director?
• In worship, is the lyric or the melody more important?
• Entertainment vs worship.
• The changing role of the church choir.
• How do we teach new music and new musical directions to our congregations?
• How can we see everyone in our congregation as a 'musician'?
• Vocal worship vs instrumental worship.
• Should worship meet culture, reflect culture, or lead culture?

Overall, the day was really good and, I think, crucial, to what we're all trying to do. Clergy generally have some way to connect with other clergy through regular pastoral gatherings, but church musicians tend to get isolated. With our touring ministry, I tend to forget how lucky Gerald and I are to meet and play with so many different church musicians.

My one disappointment in the day was the lack of contemporary praise and worship music. The Anglican church in Toronto has started to embrace a wide variety of musical styles - classical, world, African, jazz, Gospel, Celtic, etc. But praise and worship music is taking the world by storm, and it's a critical part of worship at our church. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but sometimes, we need to recognize that what's 'church' for us, may not be 'church' for other people.

We're forming a duo!!!

So, I've been hinting at new things on this blog and on facebook, so here's the big news... (insert drum roll here!)....

Gerald and I are forming a duo!

We started singing together long before we ever started dating, and we've been performing together on a regular basis for several years. As of October 2nd, we'll now be operating as:

Infinitely More

We're so excited about this new musical adventure! Infinitely More will mix new songs with fresh arrangements of classic Gospel songs. We want to serve churches of all denominations, and bring the Gospel into unexpected and unconventional venues.

We're inspired by Esphesians 3:20 which states,"Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine." (God's Word Translation)

We're building a new site, and we have plans for a new CD in 2011.

And we're kicking it off with a concert!

Please join us on Saturday, October 2nd to celebrate this new endeavor!

Pastors and clergy, please contact me directly for a very special invitation.

Learning to Sync...

I've just learned how I can sync my blog with my site!

You can now read my blog at this address, or by visiting my site and clicking the Blog tab.

Yay! I'm so in love with Bandzoogle - not to do a commercial, but if you're interested in designing your own site, I completely and utterly recommend Bandzoogle. Contact me with any questions or for a free 60-day trial link. (Couldn't avoid it - that does sound like a commercial! I should get paid for this...)

The Quran, The Pastor, and My Choice

Let me start with a footnote: I'm not a political person, and this is not a political post. I vote, but I'm not associated with any political party, and you'll never hear any political talking points from me, either from the stage, my site, or this blog. Okay, here's what's on my mind tonight...


"I love Jesus, but sometimes, Christians drive me nuts."

That was my facebook status two days ago.

I wrote it just after Gerald told me about the pastor in Florida who wants to mark the 9th anniversary of 9/11 by burning Qurans.

This story has flooded the news and consumed my thoughts. I've thought about how I would feel if a group was marking a special event by burning Bibles. I've thought about how this man's actions affect the reputation of churches everywhere. I've thought about the troops and the dangers it may bring their way.

I started writing a blog post just after that, and I've been working on it for days. At first, I ranted and raved. I thought, "I'll show them! I have freedom of speech too!"

Every time I'd have a conversation about this pastor and what he's doing, someone would bring up the classic question, "What would Jesus do?"

And that got me thinking: "What if I turned this question not just on the church in Florida, but also on myself?"

And maybe not exactly, "What would Jesus do," but "What would Jesus ask me to do?"

Wow. That changes everything.

In "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," Stephen Covey shows that after any incident, we as humans have a moment where we can decide to either react or act.

Last night, as I continued to edit my blog post, I realized that I was reacting.

What if Jesus was asking me to act instead?

So, that's what I've decided to do. I'm still mad, and horrified, and generally upset over the situation in Florida, but that anger is affecting no one but myself (and possibly my patient husband who gets to witness my rants.)


Instead, here's how I'm choosing to act over the next few days:

- PRAY - I'm praying for the pastor and for his congregation. I'm praying that their hearts are turned away from this hateful act. I'm praying for the Muslim community that is so hurt by this act, and I'm praying for safety in areas where this event may lead to more conflict.

- READ - I've just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea," which is a real-life example of how education can bring peace and healing. I highly, highly recommend you read it too!

- LEARN - We are all a little too ignorant about the different racial and religious groups that live in our own towns and cities. How can we ever love our neighbours when we don't know anything about them? This week, I'm going to take time to learn a little more about the Islamic community in my city.

- LOVE - If we do nothing more than love someone this week, imagine the difference that could make in our world. This week, I'm going to find a moment when I'd usually be tempted into gossip or sarcasm, and try to react in love.

- ENCOURAGE - I'm going to encourage you to choose action over reaction this week. I encourage you to be loving to those who are different than you, and to pray for peace and generosity in our world.


What is Jesus asking you to do this week?