Yes, I am recording a 4-song worship EP titled “Drink the Divine” and you can go to DrinktheDivine.com to learn more! This project has been long in the works and includes four original songs. I could sure use your help! Please check it out!

This is Tehilla Music’s first return back to music publishing as well. Stay tuned for more details.

Head on over to WorshipMythbusters.com to Episode 11 and enter the CD give away of Rita Springer’s new CD “The Play List” which has been having great reviews. Ever wonder if there are some fresh tunes for the women who lead worship? You will find some answers in this CD. Also, I give a tribute on mentorship. Happy Thanksgiving!

Worship leaders: you don’t need crazy-good luck to win!

Have you ever entered a contest to then discover that only one in a million will win? Proclaim Church Presentation Software is breaking all the rules with the Great Worship Resource Giveaway. To celebrate its coming launch into the church presentation market, Proclaim has partnered with today’s top worship resource companies to give away over $25,000 in prizes to more than 100 winners.

And because worship leaders belong to such a specific group, the chances of winning are huge!

“We put together a giveaway that will help worship leaders everywhere,” said New Media Executive Director Matt Peterson. “Proclaim is all about creating better worship services. Shouldn’t the giveaway do the same thing?”

The prizes all center around one thing—creating powerful worship services. Prizes include things like a new and professionally church created website, hosted free for a year, a year of expert video and audio podcasting, $100s in gift cards for worship music, subscriptions to the top worship planning site, membership to top worship media sites, downloadable music lessons, an acoustic guitar, tickets to some of the premier worship leader and music conference, and much more!

To enter watch the video at http://proclaimonline.com and at the end there is a list of ways to enter the giveaway. There are several one-time ways to enter and a couple ways to enter every day!

Go check out Worship Mythbusters where they will debunk damaging thinking that gets in the way of our worship services and public worship.

This is posted on www.richkirkpatrick.com

CNNMoney.com recently did a series of articles based on research by payscale.com and found that 67% of those that lead worship or direct music in local churches for a vocation say the job is stressful. The research says this job is in the top 15 MOST stressful. Uhmm, this is obvious to those of us who lead worship, but to have research debunk the myth of the glamor of being a music guy/gal in a church might be helpful in fixing some things.

In the article we mentions how weddings and funeral musical work is stressful, but they really do not go to the underlying reasons I believe the majority of people in this vocation incur stress. Notice that senior pastors, youth directors and other ministry personnel are not on this list. While all ministry is stressful, something unique to this activity is in play. I say this with deep respect for those in other roles.

I fundamentally believe there is pandemic implosion of the worship leader role and vocation—even for the volunteer or bi-vocational worship leader. History shows this current pattern to be true (nothing new about worship wars for instance). Each week I talk with very talented people in this line of work and the same story is replayed over and over again. Every conference I attend, phone call or IM I field or observations I listen to by others has led me to consider a wide-scale threat. Glamorous you say?

Here are some unique mythbusting nuggets to consider:

• When there is conflict in a local church, the music becomes a rallying point for battle. Ever heard of the term “worship wars” in your setting? Well, guess who lives in the middle of that.
• Everyone has an opinion about the music and experience in a worship service, with the one who is leading the activity often being the only non-voting member in the discussion.
• Everything this person does is in public and executed through other people: choirs, worship bands, tech teams, etc.
• Leadership of churches often devalue the scale and scope of work to execute the quality and impact they expect.
• The skills needed include: creative and artistic genius, project management, musical talent, stage presence, theological facility, leadership, administration, ability to work independently, ability to be micromanaged and you have to look the part (whatever that means).
• In the push to be relevant to culture, the worship leader is only as relevant as the latest thing on one hand or if you have opposite views he/she must reject the latest thing. You can’t win either way.
• Spiritual warfare is heated in the activity of our public worship settings. So, obviously in that sense these folks are targets.

I have some ideas on specific solutions to help the local church win and the worship leader survive and perhaps even thrive. However, before I do that in another post (or series of posts) I am interested in your view of my summary and what the research shows.

All About Worship Podcast: “Manly Worship” Round Table LIVE Tuesday

This Tuesday, September 29 at 9pm CST, the All About Worship podcast will be hosting it’s first “Round Table” discussion with three worship leaders/songwriters with hosts Ben Abu Saada and Wisdom Moon.  The topic at hand is “Manly Worship”.  What is “Manly Worship”?  Is there a need for worship songwriters to focus more attention on music that ministers more to men?  Is there a trend in worship music within churches that connects more with the heart of women vs men?  Or is this issue moot and the hearts of men need to be challenged in this area?  You can be a part of the discussion live with our special guests:

Mandy Thompson. Songwriter/Worship Leader, Mandy Thompson, will be joining us. Visit  www.MandyThompson.com to learn more about her ministry.  Mandy will be joining us live from her home in New England.  By the way…Mandy created those KILLER podcast intros for us!

Troy Kennedy. Songwriter/Worship Pastor from Kansas City will be joining us.  Troy hastaught classes on worship leading ministry in conferences around the nation including the recent National Worship Leader Conference 2009.  Log on to www.NewWorship.com or visit his blog to learn more about Troy.

Fred McKinnon. Songwriter/Worship Leader from St. Simmons Island, GA will be joining the roundtable discussion.  With the “Sunday Setlists” and TheWorshipCommunity, Fred has become an influential member of the online worship community.  Visit www.FredMcKinnon.com and www.TheWorshipCommunity.com to learn more about Fred.

The fun begins Tuesday, September 29 at 10pm Eastern/9pm CST.  Join us on Talkshoe by phone or via internet below or here.

I am excited about going to Kansas City area and attending the National Worship Leaders Conference this year and seeing some of my blogging, twitter and worship leading friends there!  I will be hanging out there with Ben, Wisdom and Fred and hopefully you, too.

The event is being hosted by TheWorshipCommunity.Com, AllAboutWorship.Com, and PlanningCenterOnline.Com.  Because they are printing free T-Shirts to the first 50 attendees and hope to have some food, they need you to RSVP if you’re attending - ASAP.

When: Tuesday, July 21, 9:30PM
(immediately after the Tuesday PM session at the National Worship Leader Conference)
Where:
Grace Church
8500 W. 159th St
Overland Park, KS 66223