Contact Bill@Acappella.com about hosting a Praise & Harmony Workshop at your home church. Talk to others who have and learn about the long-term, practical benefits.

Photo by Kevin Bradfield – This shot was taken at a Praise & Harmony Workshop in Martinez, California last weekend. The Martinez Church has already booked a follow-up Workshop for 2013.  The focus of the workshop is to provide long term improvements in singing and worship.

I often wonder why so many churches reward, encourage and invest in preachers and youth ministers, while neglecting the gifted servants who plan and lead worship?  Compare the emphasis, pay, training and encouragement and you’ll find a serious disparity.

It’s a wonderful practice to witness how churches send their ministers to workshops, seminars and special on-the-job training to help them grow. This is common among all types of professionals, as physicians, attorneys and accountants (for example) are required to maintain regular education to remain current.

The Worship Leader Institute was launched to provide advanced training for the most gifted worship leaders who are not in the position to return to university for years of training. Candidates from churches are required to take a screening test to apply for this unique opportunity to be trained by the most outstanding instructors on an almost one-to-one ratio.  This week of study is an opportunity to invest in the future of your congregation.

True worship renewal is a church-wide effort. This is exactly why we hope you will challenge your church leaders to sponsor and send your most talented leader to benefit from this advanced instruction.  If we truly want to raise the level of our worship, we must be willing to invest in those who plan and lead worship.  Sadly, many churches do not invest in their song/worship leaders and leave them to be “on their own” for any advancement.  Please reverse the trend and rally around your best and brightest leaders by facilitating this opportunity for them to grow.

We are thankful to have seen fantastic results in churches around the nation by those who invested in this week of training at The Worship Leader Institute, which takes place this year in late July in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For more information on how to apply, please contact Bill@Acappella.com

How about joining us for a Praise & Harmony Workshop this month?
in middle Tennessee, west Texas or central California?

January 14, 15    Station Camp, Tennessee
January 18 – 22  Lubbock, Texas
January 28, 29   Martinez, California

“Come we that love the Lord and let our joys be known . . . “

No telling how many people have experienced choir in school, university, or have participated in band or another musical program.  These people comprise one group who would easily benefit by a visual representation of the arrangements being utilized in worship.  In fact, you’d be surprised by the number of people who can read music (more than they’ll admit), identifying the proper part as it goes up, down, drops out, etc. Without notation, people are left to ad lib and to “make a guess” as to how the song is supposed to sound.

There are many approaches to worship, and my favorite is to view the entire church as “the choir.”  After all, we comprise a “royal priesthood,” and the joy of singing is a blessing intended for the entire body of believers, not just a select few.

I welcome other points of view. What are your thoughts about projecting notation during congregational singing?