Greg Atkinson

I’ll admit it: I’m a conference junky. From speaking at several conferences to going as an attendee, I get to experience a lot of conferences. Today I leave to speak at the MinistryCOM National Conference in Phoenix.

I want to make sure you’re aware of the A2 Conference which takes place Oct. 25-27. This looks like one of the most innovative and practical conferences I’ve seen in a while. I’m thrilled to see that Craig Groeschel, founding and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv is going to be there! LifeChurch.tv, in my opinion, is the fastest growing and most innovative church in the country, yet many of you may have never heard of them. LifeChurch.tv is only 10 years old, yet see over 17,000 people in 30 weekly worship experiences at 7 locations. Why have so many not heard of this amazing church? I’m not sure why, but they really fly low under the radar. This is the first conference I’ve ever seen announce that Craig is one of the featured speakers.

Want to find out more about LifeChurch.tv? I blogged about them twice. Once on their open source resource and once after my 2nd time visiting there. I’ll move on from LifeChurch.tv and Craig Groeschel. FYI – Matthew Barnett from The Dream Center will be speaking, too!
This blog is to tell you about the A2 Conference, which is being held at Willow Creek. Notice I said, “held”. On the conference website, they have a statement which I’ll type in for you: “A2 is a conference sponsored by the Willow Creek Association, but it’s not about Willow Creek Community Church…A2 is focused on five innovative church ministries, and showcasing them in a format that helps every church understand deeper issues and transferable principles.”

Check it out and if you can, GO!

One of my favorite new songs is Vineyard’s new song “Sweetly Broken”. Want to give it a listen? It is the song that plays when you go to my Myspace page. WorshipMusic.com just picked “Sweetly Broken – A Modern Worship Resource Suite” as the 2006 Resource of the Year.

What is a “modern resource suite” you ask? I’m glad you asked. It’s genius. It is the way I believe companies should offer all their songs. First of all it’s digital. I just wrote a new article entitled “Noise” where I mentioned a book I’m reading from the Berklee School of Music entitled “The Future of Music”. I can sum it all up in one word: Digital. One quote from the book: “The record industry is terminally ill. The music industry is vibrant and healthly.” BONUS: Want to take an online class from Berklee on the future of music? Click HERE.

Wisely, Vineyard is offering digital downloads of each song resource, so there is no reason (or cost) to wait for items to be shipped to you. You can immediately listen and view online samples of every resource. Check them out in any format (audio, video, print and presentation files).

Please Note: Shortly after completing the check-out process you will receive an email with instructions for downloading your “Sweetly Broken” resource. You will not be prompted to download the product during the checkout process.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
Of special notice for readers of this blog is the MPEG video, which has already been created for you. Want to do the song LIVE with the video? Just by the MPEG video click track listed above under Video Resource, which comes with lyrics or without lyrics.

Today I was a part of a cool thing at Prestonwood Baptist here in Dallas.

Todd Bell, Worship Pastor at Prestonwood, arranged a special luncheon from 11am to 1pm for me to speak to his worship and tech team leaders. I did a very brief highlight of the “Multi-sensory Worship” class that I did at Saddleback, but my main time was spent on one of my favorite classes to teach: “Resources for Media Ministry”. This is a class where I look at all of the amazing resources from tons of companies that are available to the Church. We had a great time of fellowship and discussion and I look forward to going back to do a few more seminars in the near future.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS:
What I just did at Saddleback and at Prestonwood is a very cool thing that I’m glad to see starting around the country. I, at both churches, was the first in a series of periodic worship and tech team get-togethers, where they will eat together and experience a presentation/seminar during the luncheon. Both churches are going to continue to do something like this from time to time, maybe bi-monthly.

All church staffs and team members, regardless of church size, should be constantly growing, stretched and strengthening/sharpening their skill sets. I’m glad to see churches like Saddleback and Prestonwood lead the way in a model that I think is healthy for all growing churches (or churches that want to grow). Forgive my shameless plug, BUT, if you’d like to start something like this at your church and are looking for someone to come and speak to your staff, give me a shout at gatkinson.msw@gmail.com.