Leading Worship in the VineyardWhat’s so exciting about worship leading? Using the medium of the music we love, we have the privilege of leading people into the greatest adventure a human being can undertake – the journey to the heart of God. What’s so dangerous about worship leading? In a culture that idolises musicians and elevates emotions, we stand in front of people, behind a microphone, up on a stage, influencing people. Our own hearts sing louder than our musical instruments, and our true character touches people in ways we never before thought possible. We have put together a downlodable book entitled Leading Worship in the Vineyard, not just for Vineyard worship leaders but for worship leaders everywhere; this book provides insight to leading worship effectivly, that glories God and humbles ourselves. Click here to download the book. You can also download a guide to leading worship in a small group or house group by clicking here. It has been put together by the Wokingham Vineyard church who have kindly let us give it away for free. Worship Sets that WorkHere at Vineyard Records many of us are involved in leading worship at our local church, so we got Nathan (one of the regular contributors to songteach.co.uk) to put together 3 sets of songs that work together. We have added a PDF download of the chords and lyrics to each song plus you can listen to a clip of each track and also find out the album the songs came from. A worship set should have 'flow to it' - this can mean many things, but for me I focus on the thematic flow and then also on musical flow (i.e. both chords, moods and tempos of songs). The following three sets hopefully demonstrate this practically. Capo's are both wonderful tools for worship leaders but they can cause huge distraction of you spend ages changing it's position between songs creating stagnant pauses. Sometimes you can drop a song a semi-tone or tone or likewise raise it to avoid stopping between songs. Take time to try out some slightly different keys of songs. ==================== Set One - Overall theme: Ushering in God's Kingdom.One Day (D) from Winds of Worship: Holy One Day is a brilliantly simple call to worship that allows a gentle start (some mornings you just can't launch straight in at full volume. It takes the scriptural theme of one day all the earth shall worship. Awesome God has been one of our regular or staple songs for a long time now. It's focused and accessible with simple imagery. This song manages to both continue the grand theme of who God is, and yet still bring it to a personal level. Come Lord Come makes echo's the age-old cry of the church to see God's kingdom here on earth. Following this Shine reminds us of the role we can play in this with God's help. Refiner's Fire offers our hearts to the Lord as a conscious choice and as a pure offering. Musically speaking I transposed some of these songs as I lead in a male register and some were originally recorded with a female lead. I took Come Lord Come up a step (or tone) so that it flows well from Awesome God, and took the last two songs down a tone (played in D) to avoid using a capo at all in this set. ==================== Set Two - Overall theme: Our dependence on our ever-faithful GodCome Now Is The Time to Worship (D) from Be The Centre Download this Set - Capo Versions or Open Tuning pening with the classic call to worship song Come Now Is The Time - I think the song speaks for itself well enough. Forever You focuses us squarely on God faithfulness despite our circumstances in a simple, accessible and anthemic song. Followed by I Will Hold On takes this theme to a personal level, declaring our dependence on Him. In The Secret simply speaks of our desire to know God more, to move into a deeper relationship with Him. Finally Hungry switches to us offering ourselves completely to Him as He is the only one who satisfies. For the musical flow I have put Forever You in G (down one tone from the album version) so that it flows nicely form Come Now Is The Time in D. I have also dropped In the Secret down to F (down from G), to match I Will Hold On (both of which you could play open tuning or capo 3 using D chords). Also I playing it in F mellows it a bit as supposed to G which I personally prefer. Then I have kept Hungry in C then if you end on the F chord for In The Secret you can then switch to C very comfortably (unless you are playing the capo version of In The Secret, in which case you need to whip off your capo!). ==================== Set Three - Overall theme: Just focuses us squarely on God and our need to be more like Him.Bless His Name (B or Bb) from Love Divine Download this Set - Capo Versions or Open Tuning Bless His Name is a newer call to worship song - a solid and driven song which is good for shaking off the dust! Unfailing Love draws our attention to God's faithfulness in all circumstance, realisation of which might lead us to simply acknowledge His worthiness in Exalt The Lord. Musically, I will play the first two in B or Bb depending on the size of congregation and the setting. B (capo 4 in G) is good for larger congregations that are eager to get straight on with worshiping, whist Bb (capo 3) works better in smaller groups. The last three songs, I simply play open (no capo) and they are all in G - thematically Dwell or Surrender could swap around BUT I have put Dwell last as that way Exalt The Lord can flow straight into as they are both in the same time signature. ==================== |
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