Worship Team Handbook

In this handbook it talks about our purpose, our goals, and what is the real difference between a band and a worship team. Some of the standards and expectations we are suppose to have are christian maturity, Skillful artistry, responsible behavior, and inspiring expressions. This handbook also says that we have to be inclusive not exculsive in worship. Our worship team is strongest when we all have a strong faith in God. We should not exclude people from our band we should be open to others. Bands are about ownership while worship band is about fellowship. Worship can also be contemporary and traditional. It is not closed off.

I really enjoyed this handbook and I thought it was interesting to see the differences between a regular band and a worship team. It was interesting to read the different dynamics between the two groups. Both are so different from one another and I never realized that. Overall I really enjoyed this handbook and I will definetly be applying it to myself on the worship team!

Why we aren't singing?

In this video we learned that most people now a days aren't singing like they use to in church. In the video a man says that he thinks its the culture now a days. Maybe in today's times worshiping and singing isn't the social norm. He also goes on to say that some people don't know the new songs we perform and we need to introduce those songs and teach them better to the congregation. He also says that it is our job to worship and give back to god and one of the best ways to do that is through singing and worshiping. Another reason why people aren't singing anymore is that they are more difficult. These new songs are musically hard but sound amazing are sometimes misunderstood by the congregation. There are so many people of different ages and backgrounds its hard to completely convey our message of love for Christ if the music is too difficult. Much of the churches have copied a performance almost like a concert style so the audience feels like they shouldn't sing along. All churches are different but we must encourage the congregation to sing and worship along not for us but for God.

I really agreed with this video because a lot of people aren't singing in chapel or church anymore. But we need to come to worship God, it's not for ourselves. We as worship leaders bring a universal language to church to help convey God's love for us and we need to make sure our message gets across. We don't want to excuse God from the equation. We must encourage people to sing and worship in any and every setting especially in chapel and church. I really enjoyed this video and it gave me a new perspective on chapel music.

Are you Living in your Element

In this video, Dan Wilt talked about how we really need to use our gifts during worship everyday. Whether it be during a performance or outside of the performance like in our everyday life. God has given us these gifts for a reason and we should use them for his glory. Giving everything to him is what we should do with our gifts not just let them waste away. God wants us to use our gifts and not just to let them slip away.

I really liked this video because it talked about how we should use our gifts that God has given us. Sometimes we don't take advantage of our gifts that God has given us but we really should use them. God gave us all really unique gifts and we really need to use them especially through worship. Worship is the place to use those gifts and be in our own element. We must be grounded in our faith and give our all to him. This video really inspired me and Im so glad i got to watch it!

Matthew West Singer-Songwriter Project

Matthew Joseph West is an American contemporary Christian musician / singer-songwriter who has released five studio albums. He was born in April of 1977 in Downers Grove, Illinois and mostly wrote and performed his first songs at his father’s church. West started as an independent musician and then was later signed to Universal South Records in the early 2000’s. West has not only worked with mainstream christian artists such as: Point of Grace, Mandisa, Natalie Grant, and Casting Crowns but in the secular world he has worked with country acts such as: Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Vince Gill.
He’s very favored for his songwriting style and how he gets his ideas to write those songs. West asks his fans to send in their life stories so that he can read through them and write songs that could help them through whatever hardships they are going through along with others who hear his songs and are going through the same situations. Because of this promotion his songs have become very popular not only in the Christian community but along with the secular community as well. He gives off a very raw and emotional feel to his songs with almost folk musicality which helps connect people to the lyrics more than the music in the song.
Matthew West is personally one of my favorite christian artists because of how real his songs are and how easy they are to relate too. I want to write songs and affect others lives the same way he does through a message that God is always there for you no matter what you are going through. Just letting people know that they’re not alone is one of the strongest messages out there. His album “Story of Your Life” really resonates with me and has helped me grow in my faith with Christ. Matthew West has not only affected my life for the better but so many around the word as well. He truly is an inspiration in the Christian community and continually proves himself as being one of the best singer-songwriters and musicians in the non-secular world.

Are you Insulting God?

In this article the writer talks about different types of songs that can be misinterpurted. Sometimes when we listen to music or perform people misinterpert the meanings. This leads us to question if what we are performing is really "for" god. God doesnt "need" us to worship him, it's more of an experience for us to grow and get closer to him. We must be humble when worshiping or else is it really "for" god?

I really enjoyed this article because it was really different than any other article i've read before. I dont know if i necessarily agree with everything this article said but it really made me think differently about worship. I never really thought too into the word "for" before but this article really made me see it. Being humble is something that is valued in worship. Overall I really like this article because it taught me to be more humble about worship.

Get off the Platform

This article talks about the hidden motives of our hearts. It says that even though we are worship leaders we tend to work for our own desires. Even though we are leading worship for God we tend to try and put us on a petastile. Also the author talks about that the platform we want so much to get on is un-needed in God's eyes. We need to focus on God and not ourselves.

I really enjoyed this article because it talked about the human aspect of worship leaders. As worship leaders we are not perfect and I really liked how he touched on that. Also I loved how he talked about how sometimes we are selfish and only think about ourselves when we should be focusing on God and not our desires. We want to gain a platform when instead we need to get off the platform and be humble about our worship and give it up to God. Overall this article was really interesting and I really enjoyed it!

If Worship was an NBA Game?

This video is a joke about the comparison of worship with the NBA. They compare a worship team to a sport and has great satire. They talk about the audience and how they enjoy the performance but also talk about the performance of the team. Overall that was what the video was about and it was very entertaining.

Chapter 29

In this chapter, Krauter talks about being comfortable in our own skin in ministry. When it comes to ministry there are times where we have to talk about topics we don't necessarily want to talk about but we have too. Going beyond our comfort zone is sometimes very beneficial and can help others achieve all that God wants for them. Also when we ourselves go outside of our comfort zone we learn new things and become more comfortable with different things that we never thought we would be comfortable with before. Change is sometimes hard, not just for people in worship but for anyone. But we need to learn how to adapt and go out of our own "little bubbles."

I really enjoyed this chapter because it talked about change and how it effects us in worship situations. Sometimes when a member changes or someone leaves the band it can cause major rifts in the team but we need to learn to adapt. When something like this happen we are out of our comfort zone but thats not necessarily a bad thing. Change helps us learn, and thats what I really took from this chapter. Overall this chapter was really interesting because it really made me listen to the message of change and learning about going outside of my comfort zone.

Chapter 26

In this chapter, Krauter talked about being spiritually prepared to lead others not only through worship but through life. Krauter talked about his own personal experiences with preparing himself to lead by reading scripture. By reading these scriptures he prepared his heart to serve the Lord and without it, he would have fallen into failure. By looking to God and his words for guidence we wont fail.

I really liked this chapter because it talked about the influence of scripture on our leadership. Being apart of leadership at Valley I found this to be even more interesting. It really helped me learn about the value of scripture and how we can apply it to our lives. Overall this chapter was really insightful.

Chapter 27

In this chapter, Krauter talks about being mentally, musically, and physically prepared to lead in worship. God had a plan for salvation since before time began so it should be simple for us to plan our thoughts through worship. Tom also talks about how natural leading for the Lord can be and somewhat comes naturally. But even though it comes that easy we must still take the extra effort to plan and secure our leadership within worship or outside of worship. God wants us to plan and prepare in advance, seeking to be led by His Spirit.

I found this chapter to be really interesting because it talked about planning/ preparing ourselves mentally, musically, and physically. When we take that extra effort we get spectacular results and helps us represent God better through our worship. Overall this chapter was very insightful and really interesting.

Chapter 15

In this chapter, Krauter really talked about accepting ourselves and dealing with our own personal issues. He really goes into detail about his own life and how he dealt with his own problems and hardships and how he got over them. He used a multitude of verses to help his argument and really emphasized not running away from our problems but to face them instead.

I really enjoyed this chapter and the overall message of facing our inner demons. It's something everyone can relate too and Krauter gave a lot of good advice to help us in the future. Overall this chapter was very impactful and I really took a lot from it!

Chapter 14

In this chapter, Krauter talked about how we should care for the congregation aka the student body. Bringing love and care into the place where we worship effects not only the envirnoment but the people in it as well. When people feel like we care for them they will understand and pay more attention to our message. Overall caring for others especially in a worship sense really brings out the best of God's Grace and our worship.

I really enjoyed this chapter because it talked about caring for others and I really enjoyed how Krauter talked about emotions and putting them into worship. I love caring for others so thats why i enjoyed Krauter's use of different types of emotions into worship. Overall I really learned alot from this chapter and really enjoyed it!

Chapter 13

In this chapter Krauter talks about keeping up with our priorities. When we are worship leaders we need to look to God and our relationship with him as top priority. Family is also something we must look to as something important in our lives. If we forget about family and our close friends then haven't we forgotten so much. It might not seem like it pays off to hang out with your family but it is very important and pays off in the long run.

I really enjoyed this chapter because of its focus on family values. Keeping these values as a priority is very important not only to me but should be important to everyone. Overall I really enjoyed this chapter because of its interesting insight into krauter's mind and how we should live our lives as not only worship leaders but as people.

Chapter 12

In this chapter, Kratuer talks about how we need to use the gifts God has given to us. If we dont use the gifts given to us then are we really appreciating them. Also using the Spirit to guide us through our life helps us in a way we don't even understand. There is no question that we have each been given at least one gift and we were designed to use it! Try to excel with your gifts and help lead others because that is what God has intended us to do.

I really enjoyed reading this chapter because it talked about using our gifts for God's glory. Not a lot of leaders know that we must use our gifts to help others. Some don't even believe that they have gifts themselves! Knowing what our gifts are and that we should use them for others is essential to being a worship leader. Overall I really liked reading this chapter because of its different and insightful message.

Chapter 11

In this chapter Krauter talks about how being a role model is essential when being a worship leader. When being a worship leader, people look up to us and look to us for guidance. When being that face of spirituality we then become a role model to others. It is not a choice but being a role model is something we need to remind ourselves of when acting in our everyday lives. We shouldn't do anything bad that could tarnish our role model view through the eyes of others. This is the message that Krauter wanted to tell us

I really enjoyed this chapter because it talked about being a role model and what that entails. When we are worship leaders people look up to us and it is good to know that we must look out for our own actions because they could have repercussions. Overall I really enjoyed this chapter and its topic.

Chapter 10

In this chapter Krauter's topic was on Self-Discipline. He really emphasizes that spritual discipline is not fun but it is nesessary. As worship leaders we should discipline ourselves through prayer, reading the gospel, musical time, and any time we have preparing us to lead. But not only do worship leaders have to have self discipline, everyone should have self control. It it even a fruit of the spirit! Working together and having self-discipline makes us better leaders.

I really enjoyed this chapter because in my opinion I think that self discipline is very important. Although it might not be fun we have to understand that it is essential when being a leader. People look up to us and we must be able to control our actions because we dont want to come across the wrong way. Overall this chapter was very interesting and can be easily applied to our lives!

Chapter 9

In this chapter, Krauter tells a story about people in a church and how their church was growing so much and becoming very well known. But when the churched hired a worship leader named Kenneth they started to notice some actions he was taking that wasn't very God like. Later Kenneth realized his actions and resigned from the church and the church then hired Cindy as the new full time worship leader. The pastor at this church then wanted to hire a younger musician to bring in a younger generation to the church and he wanted Cindy to mentor him. When she tried mentoring him he wouldn't listen to her and thought that his ways were best. Krauter is trying to tell us even if we are put in a position of authority we should not just not listen to others ideas. This was the message that Krauter was trying to tell us, do not be arrogant because there is always much to learn especially in a church setting.

I really liked this chapter because it was more of a story instead of just a straightforward message. I liked how he then talked about the overview of the whole situation and what we should take away from this story. He really explained well and really was talking to not only the younger generation of worship leaders but also the older generations as well. Across the board I think this was my favorite chapter in the book thus far!

Chapter 8

In this chapter, Tom Krauter talks about growing our Spiritual maturity. He talks about this idea of loving the Lord through music. By growing in this love we must grow in our maturity of faith! He cites verses such as 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:6-9, which talks about gaining leadership through biblical qualifications and growing through our faith. Tom Krauters explainations of becoming an effective worship leader through this chapter was very evident and interesting.

I really enjoyed this chapter because i found it very informative and important to grow spiritually in maturity. Without that we would not be able to expierence new things in our faith and grow from different expierences. Overall this chapter was very interesting and informative, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!