Breaking Out
Are You Willing?
Are you now or have you ever been in the position where you felt the desire and need to help move your church in a more contemporary style of worship? Have you ever come up against resistance while attempting to make a move that way? Are you frustrated in your attempts to do what God has called you to do? If you answered yes to any of these questions then I encourage you to look through this site for helpful hints and suggestions on how to help lead your church in the direction that God has given you. Our staff has over 30 years of experience in churches from traditional to contemporary. We have gone through the changes and have some helpful tools to help you in your ministries. We also have a questions and answer forum in our Message Board for you to discuss your frustrations with and share ideas with other worship leaders and ministers of music. Begin your free course titled Breaking Out!
Before we can look at the subject and tools to help your church move in the direction of becoming more relevant to today's Christian, you have to make a decision:
Are you willing to go the long haul to get your church headed and eventually become a more contemporary church? If not then I would suggest you find a place that is already doing what you were called to do. If you answer yes, then we can help you in your moving forward.
Traditional Church Background
Let's look a bit at the background of the traditional church. Most churches in America come from what has been labeled as a traditional approach to worship and music. Most of the music is from the late nineteenth century to the mid twentieth. Mostly comprised of hymns and southern gospel music. I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church that sang the hymns. Why? Because that was what was comfortable to the age group that founded the church. My parents are classic examples. It was what they grew up listening to. This is a good thing! Or it was for them during their lifetime and met their worship needs in the area of style of music.
Today's Church
What does the church of today look like? For the most part the one's mentioned above have not changed very much. There are several churches all over the country that are popping up who have decided to make the change from the start. They have chosen not to go the route of change from within. They began their churches with the style that is reaching people of their generation and younger. It is by far the easiest way to make change. However there are many worship leaders and music ministers who do not have the luxury of starting new churches. So what to do for those who are in older churches still doing what they did 40 years ago? Let's look at the questions below to navigate where you are and what info may be helpful to your situation.
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.