Greg Atkinson

Each year I talk with worship leader friends around the country and find out what they are jamming to this time of  year as they prepare to lead worship in December. Of course, Chris Tomlin’s album “Glory in the Highest” is great. At my church last year we did some songs from that as well as some Christmas originals from North Point.

This year there’s new Christmas music from David Crowder Band and Matthew West, but what I stumbled across through an app on my iPad called Discovr Music is Jadon Lavik’s new Christmas album. I love it and I think you will to. This is my recommendation for you to consider checking out this holiday season. Let this album and his arrangements inspire you to take your December worship in a fresh, new direction. Happy holidays!

LifeChurch.tv (through their OPEN Network) has done it again! Known for years for offering free resources to the Church, now they are helping you with your church’s Facebook page through a series of training videos.

With training videos on how to do events, extras and configurations, fan updates, insights/metrics, moderation, notes, photos, videos and wall updates – they have you and your Facebook team (which can be made up totally of volunteers) covered on how to create, manage and lead an effective and attractive Facebook page for your church.

Check out their resources and videos HERE. Now you have no excuse for not having a great Facebook presence!

The following is a guest post from Don Chapman of HymnCharts.com. Check out his Easter resources HERE. Here’s what Don had to say about using hymns in a contemporary praise set:

For churches with a steady diet of contemporary worship there are two times a year when we’re almost expected to do hymns – Christmas and Easter.

A pastor I know in a very contemporary church dreads the Christmas season for that very reason – his distorted electric guitar driven praise band pulls their hair out during the month of December. Hymns and carols aren’t very guitar friendly.

Because I like to arrange music I’ve solved this problem for myself by contemporizing hymns and making them a little easier for a praise band to play, and my website HymnCharts.com grew out of this.

Try it yourself – take a hymn and see if by making a few simple tweaks you can make it fit better in your praise set. Here are my five tips for making a hymn more contemporary:

1. Change the key. Many hymns are in awkward, flat, anti-guitar keys like F, Eb and Bb. Sure, a capo is handy in these situations, but hymns are usually too high for modern congregations anyway. Just transpose it down a half step.

2. Smooth out the chord structure. Classically based hymns can change chords on almost every beat. If possible, in my hymn arrangements I try to have no more than 2 chords per measure – and 1 per measure is best.

3. Substitute minor chords when possible. Play around with the song – the right minor chord substituted for a major chord can give the hymn a contemporary twist.

4. Avoid the 5th. Western harmony is built on the V to I cadence but pop songs often go from IV to I. It doesn’t work all the time with hymns, but see if you can substitute a IV chord for a V chord here and there. (If you’re in the key of D, the IV is a G chord and the V is an A chord.)

5. Add a drum loop. A quick, easy way to add a contemporary sound to a hymn is to play with subtle drum loop. I use Spectrasonic’s Stylus to quickly create my loops in Sonar audio software (or any recording software that will play VST instruments) render it as a WAV and play along with it as you would any stereo track or click track. Other websites offer premade downloadable drum loops in various tempos (Google drum loops.)

Visit the front page of HymnCharts.com and you’ll find an MP3 player in the middle of the page. Listen to “Are You Washed In the Blood,” “Christ Arose” and “Jesus Paid It All” for examples of how it’s possible to turn a song older than your grandma into something totally usable in a modern praise set.

If you read my blog via email or RSS, you may not have noticed several things – such as the new blog design and some of the new sponsors recently added to my blog homepage. Sponsors such as HymnCharts and their Easter resources and my newest sponsor: Interactive Worship Live.

I’ve known Phillip Edwards for several years and remember when he called me and several Church leaders together in Dallas to show us his new resource and give us all an up-close-and-personal demo.

At my current home church in Georgia (where I play keys with the praise band when I’m in town), we use IWL each week and love it. I asked our worship pastor, Michael Wells, to share his thoughts on this resource for our church. Here are Michael’s thoughts:

I have been an Interactive Worship Live user for some time and would highly recommend it. There are three areas that IWL has made us more effective in.

First, because you can isolate studio quality musicians, our musicians can clearly hear things like strumming patterns or vocal inflections which has improved their skill level and learning speed.

Second, you don’t have to worry when a musician has to cancel last minute. If our bass player calls in late Saturday night sick I can unmute the bass player channel and sleep well.

Last, IWL fills out the sound by adding instruments not on our team. I may have an electric guitar but I do not have five and many artist tracks today will have multiple layers of instruments.

All three of these areas have made use a more skillful team.

*** I agree with Michael and have personally witnessed this great worship resource in action. We’ve had weeks where the drummer was out and we just plugged in the drummer track on IWL. We had a week when the bass player was out and we did the same thing. I also resonate with the third point Michael made of filling out our sound. We have a basic band, but love having the added percussion sounds added in and it’s always good to add a couple more electric guitars to fill out our sound.

Have you heard of IWL? Why don’t you check them out HERE at their website? If you use IWL at your church, please comment and share with us why you like it/use it and if it’s ever saved the day.

As you know, I (Greg) consult with and secret shop for churches across the country. My friend, Will Mancini does the same thing with his company. Recently he wrote a great blog post on why he thinks this service for churches is vital and I loved it. I thought I’d share it with you here today:

Every month for the last decade, the Auxano team has conducted ministry observations during weekend services. They call it the Guest Perspective Evaluation. Here is why they keep this strategic component in Auxano’s toolbox. Okay, each reality by itself may not be mind blowing, but when you put them all together, the case is staggering and couldn’t be more compelling.

#1  You will have more guests in one year than you think. Our “information gathering” in churches doesn’t even capture the majority of guests. Auxano research shows that five to eight percent of your worshipping community will self-identify as guests. Therefore the number of guests in one year is:

[(Ave. weekly worship attendance) x (.05) x (52)]

#2 Many of your guests are going through situations that make them more responsive to God. These are the folks that are most likely to be moving, changing jobs, getting divorced, having kids, etc.

#3  Your guests are assessing very quickly whether or not they are coming back. This happens much faster than we think. For example, read The 11-Minute Difference.

#4  Your guests represent step one of accomplishing the Great Commission- these are the people coming to you! How much does your church spend on foreign missions? Compare that to how much we invest into the fish that swim to the boat before we cast a net.

#5  A guest who is attending may represent years of prayer, service, and invitation by a church member. My mom and I attended church without my father for 12 years. The first time my Dad came to church with us, imagine how I felt about the church and the hospitality of the people. All I could think was “Don’t screw up!”

#6  Studies show that guests will talk about their initial experiences 8-15 times with other people. Serve guests well and multiply your message.

#7  A welcoming ministry is a great “shallow end of the pool” to get people involved in service for the first time.Yes, you have plenty of intimidating places to serve like worship, small groups, and children’s ministry. So why not leverage an easy place to start?

#8  Building a great ministry to guests nourishes a culture of hospitality because of the concrete reminders to the entire congregation that guests matter.

#9 Investment in a welcoming ministry is an investment into every other ministry your church offers. I ask churches to dream about what ministry they might start. I then tell them to get it done by first having great guest services. Do you want an amazing prison ministry? Maybe the next Chuck Colson is visiting next week.

#10 We are commanded in Scripture to be hospitable. The Greek word philoxenia literally means to “love strangers” and is used in Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2.

***The following was a guest post from Will Mancini. You can visit Will at www.willmancini.com/

I shared this on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, but I realized that many of you may have missed it or may not follow me on Facebook. Let’s fix that right now. If you’re not following me on Twitter, you can HERE. If you’re not friends with me on Facebook, find me HERE. Check out the creativity and innovation in this video from North Point Church!

Yesterday, my friend Rob Thomas of Igniter Video posted this video on Facebook. I checked it out and was blown away. This moves me on so many levels. From the old, old story told in new, relevant, contemporary ways to the creativity, innovation and hard work that went into creating something like this. I’m absolutely amazed and encourage you to purchase it HERE and use it at your church this Christmas season. You can check it out below:

Catalyst just posted this great article by my friend, Carlos Whittaker. You know I love talking innovation. See what Carlos has to say here:

ThinkSimpleNow.com has a VERY important post for people in ALL areas of life. Not just “creative teams” and such. If entire organizations begin to develop habits of innovation their end product is that much more effective. And for my organization, that product is eternal relationships with a living God.

I have taken their seven habits and graded myself on them.

1. Persistence - “Invention is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” -Thomas A. Edison
I would say that this has always been a huge struggle for me. I have ALWAYS been a big picture guy. This is where my former time at Sandals Church has had a MAJOR impact on my life. It was J-rocka ,Nathan, Matt, and I for a LOOOOOOOONG time – and a countless number of volunteers giving their time to make ideas happen with little man power. At Sandals, ideas were more like .005% of the innovation. And without a team stronger than myself here, I fail miserably.

2. Remove Self-Limiting Inhibitions - Remember, innovation is more about psychology than intellect.
I think I am batting pretty high here. Again. Sandals. Meeting in a “borrowed space” for the last 9 years will do that for you. How can we make Pastor Matt do this…in a gym?

3. Take Risks, Make Mistakes - “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
An hourly choice for me. Maybe even more often. When people have told you that you will not accomplish something because of A, B, or C, you have an automatic reaction to try and bunt, be semi-successful, just make contact. Every decision I make has to be the best decision for the person walking in on Sunday morning. And not everyone agrees with those decisions. So I can’t be afraid to take risks. Many times at Buckhead Church we did this. It could have bombed. But we did it anyways.

4. Escape - Our environment can and does effect how we feel.
On the money. Although I had an AMAZING facility at Buckhead Church, I found that when I walked out onto the streets of Piedmont Ave. and Lenox Rd. I was suddenly surrounded by the very people I was trying to be creative for. And so I walked. I walked all the time. I walked to Starbucks, to the MARTA Station – wherever my feet would take me. I’ve even had a creative meeting on a MARTA train just so our team could be in the hustle of the world we are trying to reach.

5. Writing Things Down - Many innovators and creative people keep a journal to jot down ideas and thoughts.
Nails. Go buy a moleskine. Then go buy this. If someone on our team doesn’t write something down while we are talking about it, I can pretty much bank on it not getting done or barely getting done. Write down everything that comes to mind. If anything, it makes you more consistent.

6. Find Patterns & Create Combinations - Ideas come from other ideas.
Doing OK. The blogging world has given us a great opportunity for this. When I started the idea of a worship confessional it was with this in mind – people sharing their sets, videos, ideas, and hiccups together. Blogging is just one step in this viral communication world we are living in. Find patterns and ideas that are working and rip them off. It’s ok.

7. Curiosity - Practice seeing things differently.
Horrible. I get a solid D here. Why? Because even being part of what I consider to be 2 of the most innovative churches in America, Sandals Church and Buckhead Church, I find myself creating nothing more than the next traditional service. If we do not question everything, then it remains the same thing. And I ALWAYS want to be part of a church that is moving forward. Not standing still. So I surround myself with curious people who don’t settle. This is essential.

I know this community is spilling over with creative people. What areas are you exceeding in and which ones could you work on?

Carlos Whittaker is the former Service Programming Director Genius for Buckhead Church – a satellite campus of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. His blog - ragamuffinsoul.com – is (approximately) the most popular blog in the world. And he’s recently started the premier creative coaching network.

We’re chatting with Steve Lacy, founder and president of StreamingChurch.TV.

Q- Steve, what exactly is StreamingChurch.TV and how did it get started?

StreamingChurch.tv provides the ability for churches to broadcast their services live on the internet.  StreamingChurch.tv actually grew out of our original ministry product, MyFlock.com.  MyFlock.com began as a social networking tool within a church body created to connect church members with each other.  MyFlock.com was introduced 5 years before Facebook or MySpace, although with a slightly different purpose.  While Facebook was designed to keep you connected with friends you already have, MyFlock’s purpose is to foster new relationships within the church body by providing profile matching tools and other tools designed to connect you with other members within your church.  To accomplish this goal, we created several interactivity tools designed to get members interacting with each other.  When we launched StreamingChurch.tv, we leveraged some of these interactivity tools (chat room, private messaging, interactive maps, etc.) into the StreamingChurch.tv platform.

Q- What makes you guys different from other companies providing streaming services to churches?

Interactivity.  Rather than providing just a live video feed online, we try to replicate the interactive experience a guest would have when attending the service at your physical facility.  For example when visiting a new church in person, you’ll most likely be greeted by someone as you approach the service.  You’ll find a similar experience with an online greeter when attending a StreamingChurch.tv service online.

You’ll be logged into the chat room as you arrive and the system will automatically announce your arrival and there’s a good chance an online greeter from the church will give you a “virtual handshake” and welcome you to the service.  The system is designed to provide both the guest and the church volunteers/members the ability to connect while attending the service.  My church’s web pastor likes to point out that the online church service is a safe place where you can actually “talk in church” and have it add to the experience and ministry opportunities.  Obviously guests can interact as much or as little as they wish online.  Some arrive to the online service and just say “hi” and then retreat to just watch the service, while others actively engage.

We also provide tools that allow attenders to bring their identity and social network to the service.  For example, they can login using the Facebook Connect option and their Facebook profile pic appears in the chat and “who’s attending” area.  The online invitation tools also automatically provide the opportunity to invite their Facebook friends as well as “tweet” the service to their followers via an automated Twitter integration.

Another key distinction of our service is the ability for ministries and churches to seamlessly integrate their StreamingChurch.tv’s “online campus” into their existing church website so that it appears as a natural part (or extension) of their existing church web site.

Q- How long have you been helping churches?

We got started with MyFlock.com in 2001 and have been serving thousands of ministries for almost 10 years now.  In the summer of 2008, my home church (AliveChurch.com) launched a multi-site campus where we began broadcasting our services live to a remote facility.  As my church leadership looked at it, we saw that they could create an online web campus that everyone could attend with very little additional effort.  That was the beginning of StreamingChurch.tv.  Our developers were able to quickly leverage several of the interactivity tools into StreamingChurch.tv and we began offering the service to other ministries in late 2008.

Q- Do you believe every church should stream their services live?

Absolutely!  Many churches don’t realize how little additional effort is required to broadcast their services.  Most ministries already video tape or record their services now for viewing at a later time.  That means most ministries already have the infrastructure in place necessary to broadcast; cameras, computers and an internet connection.  To broadcast live, you just need to connect these parts together, connect with a streaming provider and you’re broadcasting online.

Another key reason to broadcast live is that it’s an integral ingredient to your church growth.  Attending services online is the easiest, lowest barrier way for new people to experience your church and determine if it’s a fit for them.  Also once you start broadcasting, you’ve now equipped your members with a great low intimidation tool to invite their friends to church.  Members can say “yeah, check out my church this weekend.  We broadcast our services online at mychurchwebsite.com”.

My home church has quadrupled our regular attendance (to over 1000 attenders a weekend) in less than 2 years since we began broadcasting live.

Q – What’s the biggest challenge for churches desiring to stream?

There really aren’t any big challenges to streaming your services live.  Although I believe there are challenges to effectively creating a vibrant online ministry that leads to church growth (both online and in-person).  Pastors and church leaders need to treat their online broadcast as another campus (rather than just a video presence online).  This means investing their vision, thoughts and energy into some of the same things they invest in their physical campus.  Do I have a skilled greeter at the front doors?  What about my online campus?  Does my church look inviting to a first time visitor?  What about my online campus?  Are there lay leaders in place to minister to attenders?  Who’s in place for those needing private prayer in the online campus?

Getting your members and lay leadership involved online with your web campus is essential for the care and feeding of those first time visitors checking out your church online.  If the experience isn’t good online, chances are they will not bother giving your ministry a chance in person.  We’ve found at my home church that the majority of those that become new members at our church (AliveChurch.com), first attended a service online.

Q- What the future look like for the “streaming” age and technology in general for churches?

Wow.  I believe that the future is really bright for streaming and technology in general for ministries.  The church has been leveraging technology in ministry dating back to the time when the Romans first built roads to connect their cities.  This equipped those of that day a technology that led to an explosion of spreading the gospel.  As time has progressed, so has the technology of the day.

Think of some of the technology over the ages and it’s incredible affect on evangelism; the Gutenberg press, television, the internet… Wow!  What’s next?  As you know, technology is accelerating and its capability for ministry is growing exponentially.  I believe the internet and broadcasting your services live is still in the early phases of it’s maturity.  As television viewing continues to wane and consuming your media via the internet continues to increase, I believe the church is in a unique position to reach the world for Christ using streaming technology.

The following is an article from my friends at WorshipFilms.com that I thought would be of interest and benefit for you. Enjoy!

Today’s digitized videos come in an array of file formats.  Let’s take a look at the most popular ones, and briefly discuss their differences..AVI files.  AVI stands for audio/video interleaved.  This file format is the most popular computer video format, and it is defined by Microsoft.  The file sizes tend to be large compared to some of the other formats.  These files will play in most of the popular media players.  Generally, they are used to edit video or when a high resolution version of the video is needed.

.MPG, .M1V, .M2V files.  MPG (or MPEG) stands for Moving Picture Experts Group.  This file type utilizes standards that have been, and are being, developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group.  They are a common file type and are generally much smaller in size than .AVI files.

.MPG most commonly denotes a file with MPEG-1 compression.  The most common resolution for this file type is 352×240, but other resolutions may be used (most of the MPEG-1 files produced by WorshipFilms are 800×600).  .M1V usually denotes a video with MPEG-1 compression that does not contain any audio.  MPEG-1 files will play in almost any media player.  They are generally used when limiting the file size is the main objective.

One confusing element is that .MPG can also denote a file that utilizes MPEG-2 compression.  These files are generally higher in resolution (most commonly 720×480), and are often used in the creation of DVDs.  .M2V generally denotes a video with MPEG-2 compression that does not contain any audio.  The file size of MPEG-2 files is generally larger than MPEG-1 files.  MPEG-2 files will only play in media players that have a MPEG-2 video codec installed.

.MOV, .QT files.  These files extensions denote a Quicktime media file.  Apple Computer developed this file type for the creation and viewing of media content.  Generally, most media players will play a Quicktime file that is version 2.0 or earlier, but later versions require player software that is proprietary to Apple.  File sizes are generally comparable or slightly larger when compared to MPEG-1 files (depending on compression settings).

.WMV files.  WMV stands for Windows Media Video, and refers to a video codec set developed by Microsoft.  In earlier versions, Microsoft utilized a form of MPEG-4 technology in developing this codec, but later versions has relied more on Microsoft’s own technology.  It is a widely used file format on the internet because of its relatively small file size, and is now used in other media players beyond Windows Media Player.

.ASF files.  ASF is short for Advanced Streaming Format.  It is a very compressed format that contains streaming audio, video, slide shows, and synchronized events.  It provides a continuous stream of data, so that even lengthy videos begin playing almost immediately.  It is not necessary for the entire file to download first.  This is a popular internet file format, especially for online seminars or other lengthy subjects.

.RM files (also .RA or .RAM).  A .RM file is a Real Media file, which (of course) is played in Real Media Player.  These files are generally intended to be used as streaming files, and cannot be played in other media players.

.MP4 files (or .M4V).  MP4, or MPEG-4 is a format developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group that allows you to combine multiple media streams into one file.  Initially, the MPEG-4 format looked a lot like the Apple Quicktime format, but has since been significantly changed and improved upon.  It is an end-user format that is used most often for streaming applications and mobile devices (PDA’s, cell phones, etc.).  The great appeal of this format is its general quality level in relation to its small file size.

Hopefully, this will serve as a basic reference for you on video file formats, and help you to more quickly identify file types in the future.