Lessons from a Magazine Store

We spent yesterday afternoon enjoying the sunshine in one of our favourite parts of Toronto - the Annex. For the uninitiated, the Annex is cool, vibrant, and artsy. It's the home of the Fringe theatre festival, Tafelmusick Baroque Orchestra, and rock mecca, Lee's Palace. And on any day, you can wander through countless bookstores, cafes, and tea shops to find interesting people and stimulating conversations.

One of our favourite stops is the magazine store near Bathurst. We usually stick to the music section, but yesterday, I looked to see if they had any Christian magazines - ideally, something related to Christian music. I found my titles hidden in the Literary section, and thus the lesson began.

Of the 14 titles that could be considered 'religious' or 'spiritual', only 3 contained any sort of Christian association. One was evangelical, one Catholic, and one was on sacred history, Christian and otherwise.

Now, I make no judgement on the lack of Christian content in this store. Obviously, the store owner is doing what any wise business person should do - choosing products that reflect the purchasing needs of their clientele.

But as a Christian musician working in Toronto, it does provide some insight into the community and its demographics.

Is there a need for the Gospel in the Annex? Of course - we all need the Gospel.

But the insight provided by the magazines allowed me to contemplate the following questions:

- How would the Gospel be received in this part of town?
- Would people object to the message? Be offended? Be intrigued? Not care?
- Could I use my creativity to present the Gospel in this community?
- How can I be a witness to Christ in a way that won't be seen as preachy or Bible- thumper-ish?
- Many of the other magazines in the store speak to a community that is intelligent, well-read, well-informed. How do I share the Gospel in a way that will not be seen as condescending, insulting, or cliche?

I don't have answers to these questions right now, but I do think it raises questions for all us in music ministry. If we are truly called to take the Gospel outside the walls of the church, first we need to learn about our community, and then we need to learn how we can share the Gospel in a way that will not be taken as manipulative or judgmental.

I'm not saying we change the message, but sometimes, we must be creative and open in the method.

The challenge begins...

Palm Sunday

It's times like this that I'm sooo Anglican!

Today, we kicked off Holy Week - my favourite week of the year. It's that week when we really feel like we're walking with Jesus - into Jerusalem, through the trial, at the cross, and finally, the wonder of Easter morning!

Our Palm Sunday service started outside with a few songs lead by djembe, tambourine, and shakers. Inside the church, we were joined by the handbells for the hymns. The highlight of the service was a dramatized reading of the Passion, punctuated by a few short songs. One of the songs we did was the spiritual, "Calvary." Gerald and I actually recorded this song on my first EP, "It is Well with my Soul." We used to sing it all the time, but we haven't sung it for years! It was awesome to jump in again and rediscover the song.

Because this is such a crazy week, we decided to have an extra rehearsal today, which lead to a long, but good, afternoon. With so much 'church stuff' going on this week, I really wanted to attend the service tonight. I just needed that quiet time to sit in the pew and prepare my head and heart for this week. I needed it for my own personal spiritual journey, but also to prepare myself for leading worship throughout the week.

I feel ready. Well, as ready as anyone can ever feel...

Book Review: "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" by John Maxwell

I've mentioned several times how much I love "Talent is Never Enough" by John Maxwell. When I saw he had a new book coming out, I knew I wanted it, and then I was super excited to find out I could get a copy for review!

"Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" speaks to the problem many of us feel on Facebook and other online social communities. Everyone is shouting out information, but ultimately, if you don't connect with someone, who cares?

As Christian musicians, we can sing loud, send out tweets, and stick Jesus fish on our car, but if we don't connect with people, are they really going to hear our message?

John did an interesting experiment with this book. He actually posted pieces of the book online while he was writing it, and invited people to send them his feedback. Not only did he quote individual stories throughout the book, but he literally thanked every person by name in the back of the book. Don't you think all those people feel a connection to the book? Brilliant!

The book is written to help people with connecting on 3 levels: one-on-one, small groups, and in front of an audience. Obviously, I'm reading this through the eyes of a performing musician and worship leader. I feel like this book continues the work I started with the Elijah Conference a few years ago. How do I go from simply performing to actually connecting with the audience and offering something of value to them?

John starts with the principles through which we can connect with others, and taking a "it's more skill than talent" approach, leads us through the steps we can follow to help increase our ability to connect with people in both grand and intimate situations. Each chapter has a great summary and application exercises. I would recommend this book to anyone in leadership, but especially to those of us in ministry. Our message is so important, and if all we're doing is shouting at people, they may miss the message altogether.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

On Eagle's Wings

This afternoon, I sang at the funeral of a friend's husband. Years ago when I walked through my own time of grief, this friend counseled me and inspired me to lean on my faith. To be able to be there now in her time of grief was a true blessing, and one more reason why it's good to be home.

I sang "On Eagle's Wings" - a song of hope and encouragement. It's a song I love to sing, but more and more, the singing has become the secondary goal. As I prepared for today, I thought about the lessons I've been learning from John Maxwell's "Everyone Communicates - Few Connect." As much as I want to sing beautifully, my main goal today was to truly connect with those gathered in the church - to give them this message of hope and encouragement - to let them know that, wherever they are in their faith, wherever they are in their grief, that God is with them, caring for them, loving them.

After all, we can always use a little extra hope.

I hope they felt it.

St. John's Double Header

As I mentioned a few days ago, Gerald and I were handling all the music today at St. John's. We decided to get to the church as early as we could so we could have a nice relaxing start to the service. As we were doing our sound check, I thought, "Isn't it funny that no one is setting up the screen?" Well, tech issues were in the air. The slides (which thankfully, I didn't have to prepare) were not working. The slides cover all the songs and all the prayers.

In moments like this, I'm so thankful that Gerald and I have a lot of theatre and improv experience - craziness just doesn't throw us. Instead of using the opening songs as a sing-along, we invited people to use them as songs of reflection. Our opening hymn wasn't in our current hymnal, so we made a last second switch to "Seek Ye First". We haven't done that song for at least a year, but it had the chords in the hymnal, so it was an easy choice. The offertory, "Amazing Love," was a trickier piece as it's also not in the hymnal. So, I fed the lyrics to the congregation, line by line. I invited those who know it to sing loud and help us lead, and wonderfully, it worked!

Communion became songs of reflection, and thankfully our last song, "How Great Thou Art," was in the hymnal. The response from the congregation was very positive, to both the music and our leadership. I think people respond well in an "we're all in this together" atmosphere.

This evening, we had Monika join us for the Gathering service. We opened with "Holy is the Lord," "Open the Eyes of my Heart," and "Worthy is the Lamb" (Hillsong). It was so beautiful to have Moni's harmonies with us! It always amazes me how we can choose songs, the clergy chooses the sermon, and God somehow ties it all together. By the time we closed with "They'll Know We are Christians by Our Love," we had all been blessed by a message of relationship and transformation.

I like the evening service. It's casual and challenging, and people always bring good treats to snack on!

I first met Tinker...

... in the same way most Stamps-Baxter students met Tinker - as a school greeter in the Nashville airport. His gentle manner and Southern charm welcomed and encouraged all of us as we found ourselves in the sometimes overwhelming atmosphere of shape-notes and convention singing.

When I started to work for the school, I learned that Tinker had a true servant's heart. No job was too small, too trivial, too menial. He was a silent worker, there when you needed him. And he never missed a chance to tell a good story or enjoy a good laugh.

But here's my favourite story about Tinker: My first year at Stamps-Baxter, the school held a bluegrass festival. Students were invited to join the band to sing or play a favourite song. Shaking in my sandals, I stepped up on stage with a copy of my own song, "I Call Out Your Name." I was thrilled to sing the song with a real band of real musicians. But the highlight came when I sat down in the audience. Tinker leaned over and asked if he could have a copy of my song. I was humbled and honoured that someone would like my song enough to take it home with him.

I don't know if he ever sang the song again, but that little bit of encouragement stayed with me.

This weekend, we lost Tinker. We lost an encourager, a gentle soul, a true servant.

Heaven gained a great bass singer.

We'll miss you, my friend.

"Making music with my friends..."

Only the Gaither fans in the crowd will recognize today's post title as a quote and not a cliche.

This week, Monique is in Ottawa enjoying Beaver Tails, so Gerald and I are in charge of musical leadership for 2 services this Sunday. Since we've been knocked out by colds over the past few weeks, I've spent the better part of this week planning all the music.

We're going to have a great Communion service in the morning with a healthy mix of hymns and praise songs. For the evening service, Monika is going to join us on vocals. She came over tonight for tea and rehearsal. We're doing lots of harmony over Gerald's guitar grooves - really looking forward to it!

Now that we're coming out from under our flu-ish cloud, it's nice to be getting stuff done. My new site is close to complete, and I've also signed up for a trial on Sonicbids to help with bookings. We still have an opening for Good Friday, if you need special music at your church that day.

Oh, and I'm reading "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" by John Maxwell. I got it through Thomas Nelson's book review program, and I just found that it's not going to be publicly released til the end of the month. I have it before anyone else! I am so in the loop! I don't know what that loop is, but I'm in it!

Out from Under my Cold!

Last weekend, I got knocked out by a terrible cold. I still sang both services Sunday morning, but spent the rest of the day and following few days sleeping, coughing, and trying not to be too cranky.

I'm still tired and coughing, but I finally felt productive today! Here are a few cool things:

- My new site is coming along wonderfully! Can't wait to launch in a week or so.

- My new SoGospelNews article is up. "Do You Have a Maintenance or Mission Ministry?" You can read the whole thing here.

- I was recently interviewed for SGM Radio, and you can read that interview here.

- Things have come together for the Tin Pan North Christian Songwriter Night! We've booked St. John's York Mills for our venue, and all our writers are in place. Now, to sell tickets!

- Monique is away March 21, so I've been choosing music for Gerald and I to play. We're doing both services, so it'll be a fun and busy day!

And if you're in or near Toronto, here's something to think about: Our praise team will be playing our Maundy Thursday service next month, which means we're free on Good Friday. If your church is within reasonable driving distance of Toronto and you'd like special music for your Good Friday service, please leave me a comment with your contact info, or contact me via Facebook.

Spring Sally Sites

This afternoon was so sunny and warm that I actually spent an hour outside gardening! Okay, I pulled the dead plants out of the snow and put them in the composter, but still - gardening!

I've had a wonderfully productive day of booking and catching up on my long To Do list. The highlights:

- Things are moving forward on the Tin Pan North Christian Songwriter Night (Friday, May 28, 7:00pm). The venue and artists are almost confirmed!

- The last weekend of June, our awesome Grammy nominated friend Sally Barris is coming up for a weekend of gigs and hanging out. We've already booked her for church on Sunday, June 27 and the Moonshine Cafe on Monday, June 28. I'll have more details in my newsletter and on my...

- New website! I'm getting a new website! We'll be launching it some time this month! Can't wait!

Lots of good stuff happening! Feels like spring to me!

Sing, Sing, Sing

Morning: Last baby music class of the session. Over 30 toddlers plus parents. I felt like a baby rock star.

Afternoon: Gerald and I rehearsed the songs for Sunday. Adding extra harmonies where we can.

Early Evening: Gerald, Monique, and I rehearsed the songs for Sunday. Lots of new songs for Lent.

Evening: I rehearsed with the Chorale for Sunday. Anthems and Mozart. Lots and lots of sight reading.

Night: Tired. Hungry. Happy to be making a living doing something I love!

Still waiting for my day off...

Gerald and I have decided that, with weekends being so busy, Monday is going to be our day off. I think we can definitely say we took the morning off, but not the rest of the day!

Deanna and I spent the afternoon working on our retreat music. We're still waiting for a format for the weekend, so that's slowing us down a little. But we do have the songs for the taize service, so we rehearsed those today. We'll lead the songs on guitar, and I think we'll use djembe on a few as well. Even though we're just singing in 2 parts, we've worked out upper and lower harmonies on most songs. Taize songs are usually sung with 6-8 repetitions, so we'll do a few rounds in unison, then a few with me on lower harmony, and then I'll jump back on lead so Deanna can end the song with a few rounds with a higher harmony. I think it'll add a nice dimension to the music.

I've been asked to sub in again with the Chorale at church this week. That means double rehearsals on Thursday, and double services on Sunday. Next Monday will definitely need to be a full day off!

Competing with the Gold Medal Game

This morning's service was awesome! It started with the craziness of a broken piano string that buzzed throughout the service like a snare drum, but not even that string could stop the beautiful energy of the Holy Spirit. Seriously - something was moving in that church, and it was powerful!

In the afternoon, I beat myself up for booking a concert on the closing night of the Olympics. What was I thinking??? I mean, I know we're good, but we can't compete with the gold medal hockey game!

We left home after the second period to drive to Faith Gospel Tabernacle in Brampton. We arrived just in time to hear the pastor cry out, "They tied??" As people arrived during our sound check, we got them to give us updates. All I can say is, "Yay, Canada!!!!"

Luckily, people left their homes after the game to come to church! Faith Gospel is a growing church that hosts monthly Gospel concerts. The evening opened with their passionate praise team leading the audience in a mix of Gospel hymns and praise songs. The other artist on the bill was Elvis Gospel impressionist, Vili V. We love Elvis's Gospel music, so all the songs were very familiar to us.

Gerald and I did a guitar set that mixed our originals with praise songs and hymns. We're trying to eliminate solos, so we did harmony on every song but one. As we started to sing the praise songs, we could feel the audience singing along with us. On "Blessed Be Your Name," we invited them to sing on the chorus, and they sang with gusto! We used the second verse of "Blessed Be Your Name" to transition into a testimony about our car accident. When we ended our set with "Just a Closer Walk with Thee," people didn't even wait for the invitation - they just burst into song, joining us on all three verses and choruses. Sometimes you just tap into something greater than yourself, and we felt that tonight. There was a lot of love in the room, and we really felt like we'd been welcomed into this awesome church's family.

"Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name!"

Rehearsal and rehearsal and rehearsal...

I love a good day of singing, but tonight, I'm just tired! Good tired, but tired.

I've been teaching some baby-music classes as part of an outreach program in Scarborough, so I started my day singing for babies and toddlers and Moms. Always a bright way to start your day.

In the afternoon, I moved to organizing charts for tonight's praise team rehearsal, upcoming gigs, and past gigs. Later in the afternoon, I decided I need a music secretary to prevent me from drowning in charts.

After a quick review of Sunday's music, Gerald and I joined Monique for an awesome Praise Team rehearsal. We love all the songs for this week, and the vibe was good. We're even throwing in a hint of bluegrass...

After a short break, I joined the Chorale for their rehearsal. Their alto lead was unable to make it tonight, so I subbed in. I can't remember the last time I did so much sight-reading! The first hour was hymns, anthems, and a motet. Challenging, but good. But in the second hour, we switched to Mozart's "Requiem," the focus of the Chorale's upcoming Palm Sunday concert. Sight-reading the alto line of Mozart, in Latin. Okay, the last time I did this much alto sight-reading was a million years ago when I sang in Ontario Youth Choir.

Definitely on the edge of my current skill set, but I feel I held my own. And if I didn't, everyone was too polite to tell me otherwise.

Church people are good that way.

Lute on a Saturday Night

It was so glorious to see the sun today! On a long walk with the puppies, Gerald remarked on how springlike it all felt, and he was right. Maybe that's why all my work today felt so easy.

My big project for the day was a full product inventory. I pulled out all my CDs, bags, angels, and other items that make their way across our product table. I counted what we have in stock, how many we've sold, and the approximate income we've generated through our sales. I won't get into the numbers, but it was very informative. It also feels good just to know where we are with things.

Tonight, we had dinner with Andrew and Wendy, whom I met at last fall's Imagine conference. After a wonderful meal, we pulled out the guitars and shared songs and stories. For the grand finale, Andrew brought out his lute and played a few instrumental tunes for us. Nothing better than sharing time with wonderful, creative people!

Taize at the Convent

Today was one of those crazy days with lots of driving and lots of appointments. I was 10 minutes late for my first appointment, which made me 10 minutes late for everything. That said, it was also an awesome day filled with great productivity, and I'm always happy for that.

In the afternoon, Gerald and I met with Dad about ways we can combine our creativity into some future ministry ventures. Things are still in the early planning stages, but I'm excited about the possibility of the three of us working together.

In April, my friend Deanna and I will be leading worship at the Peterborough AWARE conference. One of the things the committee has asked for is a Taize service. I've done some Taize choruses before, but never a full service. As a bit of a research trip, Deanna and I decided to attend the Taize service at St. John's Convent in North York.

The convent's chapel is lovely - clean and modern with a beautiful acoustic. The chairs are arranged in semicircles on either side of the sanctuary, so we were able to face each other in the service. The congregation consisted of the sisters and many visitors. The music was lead by piano and violin.

Taize choruses are very simple - usually just 2 lines long - and are sung with many repetitions. After the first 2 or 3 times, you're able to memorize the song, and after that, it takes on a meditative quality. You focus on the words and on the thought behind the song. You listen to the other voices, and in doing so, we became a real singing community. We would sing each chorus 6-8 times. Sometimes the piano would bring us to a close, and sometimes, the group would naturally find an ending.

The service contained about 7 choruses (sung throughout the service), a scripture reading, a time of silence, a time of annointing, a chanted prayer, and a sung Lord's prayer. Even in the music, there was a sense of stillness. I was reminded of the verse, "Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10 NIV)

After the service, Deanna and I went out to discuss the service and how we can use these tools in the women's conference. The conference will be a busy weekend, and I think a moment of stillness will be needed, just as I needed it today...

Good Church

I generally find church to be a good experience, but some days, for whatever reasons, it's better than others. Today was one of those days.

Before the service, we learned that a beloved member of our congregation passed away earlier this morning. He was one of those "salt of the earth" people. The loss is deep. Drew (our rector) decided we needed to adjust the plan for the service to include some moments of comfort. Gerald suggested our version of "Give Me Jesus" for the offertory. Monique had never heard our arrangement, but she caught on right away.

The whole service felt strong and moving. When we got to the offertory, we sang and play like a true trio. It felt like the right song at the right moment. During communion, we ended with Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace." For the final chorus of "My chains are gone," Gerald and Monique dropped out on instruments and we did a 3-part acapella vocal. Powerful!

Our team started in the craziness of Advent, but in the last two months, we've had a real chance to learn each other's strength's and gel as a team. It feels awesome, and I hope it ultimately means that we can provide amazing music that will help lead the people of St. John's in a vibrant time of worship on Sunday mornings.

In the afternoon, we grabbed Monique and Jason for lunch at Swatow in China Town, forgetting that today is the first day of Chinese New Year! There were celebrations up and down Spadina, and while we were eating, a dancing dragon came in our restaurant and danced around the tables. Just another reason why I love living in a multicultural city!

I saw Boni this afternoon and she gave me bags and bags of sheet music, song books, CDs, and Worship Leader magazines! I can't wait to spend an evening going through them. It's like I've been given free reign on a treasure chest!

Good church - good day!

Winterfolk

This afternoon, Gerald and I performed in the NSAI showcase at Winterfolk, and we had a great time! Our showcase featured 2 rounds, 3 performers each. The place was packed, and even though we found out about this at the last minute, we still had a good number of friends in the crowd.

Gerald lead the round with his country songs, and he sounded excellent. The middle seat was held by Bowmanville writer, Terry Maxwell. I was on the end, and I was swamped with sound issues! My guitar wouldn't work through the sound system at all, and after many embarassing attempts to plug in, change the battery, and countless other tricks, we abandoned the plug in and decided to mic the guitar. But, of course, there was only one mic, so Terry and I had to share a guitar mic, swinging the boom between us.

Despite it all, I think I did well. It was a secular restaurant/bar crowd, so I decided to sing songs that were fun and a little esoteric. I opened with "Wedding at Cana" which got some smiles, and followed with "Sing Me a Song," acapella with Gerald tapping the body of his guitar like a drum. Then, I decided to be fearless (or crazy, depending on your POV) and sing the brand new song I wrote yesterday. "Brighter Happy Day" is probably the closest thing I've written to a Gospel bluegrass song. It's lots of fun, with a good theological center, and it got lots of laughs and smiles.

The energy in the room was awesome! We spent the next few hours chatting with friends, listening to the acts that followed us, and eating Mexican food. I wish we could go see some of the other acts tomorrow, but our friend Chris McKhool is performing Monday, so I think we'll try and see him.

Book Review: "Fearless" by Max Lucado

I love free stuff of any kind, but free books send me to a new level of giddiness! I recently found out that Thomas Nelson will give free books to bloggers in exchange for reviews, so here's my first review!

"Fearless" by Max Lucado

I have a funny relationship with fear. There are times when I can walk into a den of lions and walk calmly through the madness to gain my prize on the other side. And then there are times when I'm shaking before I even walk through the door. When I saw that one of my favourite authors had a new book coming out on becoming fearless, I knew it would be a 'must read' for me.

The basic concept of "Fearless" is this: The voice of fear is loud and invasive. Let's find ways that we can shut out that voice, and start letting the voice of God guide our thoughts and actions.

I heard Max Lucado speak a few years ago at GMA Week, and I fell in love with his easy demeanor, effortless storytelling, and brilliant ability to simplify a complicated concept. All of these wonderful traits are woven into the pages of "Fearless." Max bases each chapter on different moments when Jesus commanded us to "fear not," and these Biblical illustrations serve as a platform for how we can approach our fears in the hear and now. Even though the book gives you solid theology and deals with heavy issues, it never feels preachy or intimidating. You feel like you're chatting with your brilliant, caring uncle over a nice cup of Earl Grey.

At the back of the book, there's a great discussion guide with chapter questions, further scripture reading, and practical exercises. There were certain chapters that really hit home with me, so I'll probably go back and do the study guide on those chapters. I think fearlessness, at least for most of us, is a journey and a process, and it's nice to have a few more tools in my arsenal for those tough days.

Happy Reading! Be Fearless!!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Proud to be a Canadian...and a songwriter!

I have music to write about, but while it's happening, I just have to say - I am so proud to be a Canadian tonight! I've just cried, smiled, and cheered my way through the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. How often do we get to see performance art on such a grand scale? With the glaring exception of one awkward duet, I thought the music tonight was incredible! And the dancers and visuals! So beautiful!

On our musical front: I really wanted to get Gerald into the Winterfolk festival this year, but things were so crazy when we moved back that I couldn't get his stuff together in time. 2 nights ago, I found out that one of the performers in the Winterfolk NSAI showcase had to back out. I jumped in with Gerald's name, and he was offered the spot! Yay! Then last night, we found out that another songwriter in the round had to drop out due to illness, so I was offered the spot.

Today, I was so inspired by our last minute bookings that I wrote a new song!

So, I wanted to get Gerald in, I wasn't able to do it this year, yet God opened the door for us! It never fails to amaze me...

If you're around the Danforth tomorrow, we'll be singing at the Willow restaurant at 2:00-2:45pm. Free admission!

Grace for the Grieving Heart

My latest article for SoGospelNews is now online. I really feel this is my most personal article to date (which is always a little scary!), so I'm open to any and all feedback.

You can read it here: Grace for the Grieving Heart