Franklin Covenant Church
Franklin, NC
What a day. First, the list:
We Declare That the Kingdom of God Is Here (D)
Message of the Cross (G)
I Will Hope in the Lord (D)
Hungry (D)
As the Deer (D)
Early service:
We typically have a scripture reading, prayer, then kick off praise and worship. Today we read Ephesians 1 through Ephesian 2:10, with some responses and declarations from the congregation. As soon as that finished, we kicked off We Declare with force. I Will Hope is an original that our drummer's daughter wrote. The youth usually engage with that one. I asked one of the other vocalists to sing As the Deer. Beautiful voice. She did a great job. We kicked into a D D/G groove and held it.
Then, I had asked the pastor earlier in the week to please come up and read John 7, where Jesus tells of the living water springing from our bellies, and any other scripture he felt went with it. He read that, then began reading various scriptures that were in his sermon notes, while we continued to play.
We interspersed his reading with some ad lib singing/playing. In the early service, it's only me on piano, the guitar player, and one other vocalist. She began singing something...I thought it was a song she knew that she was fitting into the groove. She was just making it up on the fly and it was good stuff. Poetically and thematically, it flowed together incredibly.
The guitar player and I were having a similar thought process....okay, I know I should know this song...I'll recognize it when she hits the chorus...
We stopped playing after about 45 minutes, the pastor shared for about five, then we played some more while people responded. The message that emerged was mostly about letting go of control and jumping into the fullness of God.
Second service:
We didn't think we could do it again, and cautioned against trying, not wanting to be religious. So, instead of copying the first service, we never stopped playing for 90 minutes. My wrists still ache. The guitar player's fingers appear to be permanently grooved.
Lots of response to it. The drummer abandoned us to exhort the congregation before the pastor even came up to begin reading/sharing. He stayed down to pray for people. It's been a long time since we did that sort of thing.
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday August 16, 2009
Franklin Covenant Church
Franklin, NC
We had baptisms today. About a dozen or so celebrated their commitment to following the Lord. From about six years old up to 50(?)-ish...40s??? Anyhow, it was a great time.
Here's the setlist:
The Arky, Arky Song (C)
Arise, Shine (C)
God of Wonders (G)
Sing Unto the Lord a Brand New Song (Em)
All We Need (G)
Yes, you read that right...the Arky, Arky Song. Our service has everyone in it--birth to, well, older folks. Week in and week out, we expect the kids to plug into "adult" worship. I thought it'd be cool to get the adults to plug into "children's" worship. Plus, the first two songs both have roots in Isaiah 60, so I wanted to suggest the concept that we're singing the same praise to the same God, just with a different genre.
Sing Unto the Lord is one of those anonymous songs that we picked up along the way. We rocked it out more than usual today and slid into an unrehearsed, unannounced jam. I didn't intend to do anything like that, it just sort of happened. We came out of it flawlessly, better than if we had rehearsed it.
I flubbed All We Need, going straight into the bridge, instead of singing the chorus twice, LIKE WE ALWAYS DO. Plus, I sang it faster than we had rehearsed, which was a minor issue during rehearsal, so that made it look like a passive/aggressive move on my part, rather than the simple brain fart that it was.
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Update: I forgot to mention that Charlie Hall is playing a free concert here in Franklin, NC this Wednesday, August 19, at the Great Smokey Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. There aren't many within driving distance, but there's a plug for any youth leaders who want to bring a busload over to hear him.
Franklin, NC
We had baptisms today. About a dozen or so celebrated their commitment to following the Lord. From about six years old up to 50(?)-ish...40s??? Anyhow, it was a great time.
Here's the setlist:
The Arky, Arky Song (C)
Arise, Shine (C)
God of Wonders (G)
Sing Unto the Lord a Brand New Song (Em)
All We Need (G)
Yes, you read that right...the Arky, Arky Song. Our service has everyone in it--birth to, well, older folks. Week in and week out, we expect the kids to plug into "adult" worship. I thought it'd be cool to get the adults to plug into "children's" worship. Plus, the first two songs both have roots in Isaiah 60, so I wanted to suggest the concept that we're singing the same praise to the same God, just with a different genre.
Sing Unto the Lord is one of those anonymous songs that we picked up along the way. We rocked it out more than usual today and slid into an unrehearsed, unannounced jam. I didn't intend to do anything like that, it just sort of happened. We came out of it flawlessly, better than if we had rehearsed it.
I flubbed All We Need, going straight into the bridge, instead of singing the chorus twice, LIKE WE ALWAYS DO. Plus, I sang it faster than we had rehearsed, which was a minor issue during rehearsal, so that made it look like a passive/aggressive move on my part, rather than the simple brain fart that it was.
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Update: I forgot to mention that Charlie Hall is playing a free concert here in Franklin, NC this Wednesday, August 19, at the Great Smokey Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. There aren't many within driving distance, but there's a plug for any youth leaders who want to bring a busload over to hear him.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
August 9, 2009
Franklin Covenant Church
Franklin, NC
Setlist:
Rejoice and Be Glad (D) (original)
Here Is Our King (A)
Mighty to Save (A)
Never Let Go (A)
I wanted to modulate Never Let Go, move from A to B, but two key vocalists were out at rehearsal, so we kept it in A. We usually do it in B, but we planned on jamming after Mighty to Save, then slide into Never Let Go, so we needed to stay in A. We did an A C/A D/A groove before and after Never Let Go. It was a lot of fun, and the congregation seemed to really get going.
The drummer changed up the groove from what we had practiced, which is always fun, so it had more of a honky tonk groove, which lit up the guitar player and me (piano). The vocalists were ad libbing a mixture of Mighty to Save and Never Let Go themes, so it was structured chaos all around.
The early service, we added Holy and Anointed One and dropped Never Let Go and Here Is Our King. We only go with guitar, piano, and 3-4 vocalists in the first service, so trying to drive some songs becomes terribly monotonous without drums and bass. We had an dear, dear old missionary friend speak. He and his family live in the Middle East, ministering to the Arab world. They've been at it for decades. It was great to hear what's going on in their world. They had to slip out after the first service, so the second group missed them. Too bad.
Check out other setlists from around the world at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Franklin, NC
Setlist:
Rejoice and Be Glad (D) (original)
Here Is Our King (A)
Mighty to Save (A)
Never Let Go (A)
I wanted to modulate Never Let Go, move from A to B, but two key vocalists were out at rehearsal, so we kept it in A. We usually do it in B, but we planned on jamming after Mighty to Save, then slide into Never Let Go, so we needed to stay in A. We did an A C/A D/A groove before and after Never Let Go. It was a lot of fun, and the congregation seemed to really get going.
The drummer changed up the groove from what we had practiced, which is always fun, so it had more of a honky tonk groove, which lit up the guitar player and me (piano). The vocalists were ad libbing a mixture of Mighty to Save and Never Let Go themes, so it was structured chaos all around.
The early service, we added Holy and Anointed One and dropped Never Let Go and Here Is Our King. We only go with guitar, piano, and 3-4 vocalists in the first service, so trying to drive some songs becomes terribly monotonous without drums and bass. We had an dear, dear old missionary friend speak. He and his family live in the Middle East, ministering to the Arab world. They've been at it for decades. It was great to hear what's going on in their world. They had to slip out after the first service, so the second group missed them. Too bad.
Check out other setlists from around the world at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sunday August 2, 2009
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Our setlist this week:
Forever (G)
You Are so Good to Me (G)
You're Worthy of My Praise (G)
Once Again (E)
Thank You for Saving Me (E)
No drummer this week, so I tried to pick songs that we can drive with guitar or piano without sounding monotonous. Between welcome and kicking off the praise and worship, a call came in that a guy in our fellowship just had a stroke and was taken to the hospital, so it was a bit awkward jumping right into worship. We, of course, stopped and prayed for our brother, then the pastor spoke for about 45 seconds, pointing out that the God we were about to sing about is in control of our friend.
We were short two backup vocalists. One was out of town and the other was feeling sick this morning. We lingered on Thank You for Saving Me on the "Great is the LORD" line. Great moment there. The guitar player was strumming up high, staying on an E chord of some sort, the bass player was following the chord progression, and the vocalists were all ad libbing a variety of tasty harmonies.
The past few weeks, the vocalists, in particular, have been stepping out of the box. I love it, encourage it, and we've been practicing the moments where that's most likely to occur.
The pastor spoke on Psalm 3. I love the song Thou Art a Shield for Me, but refrained from singing that at the end. No ending music, but some people were coming up for ministry afterward, so I went up and played for about 15-20 minutes on piano while they received prayer and counsel.
A day of contrast. Between services, I was berated for not remembering to take up the offering (hint: I never "remember" and am not likely to ever "remember") and for singing songs that are too high and too new. The guy said "We need to sing some of those older songs once in awhile, like we did a couple of weeks back." I usually don't say much when I'm accosted by people doling out free advice on worship leading, but I was grumpy, so I responded with "You're right, that's why we did those songs a couple of weeks ago." Duh.
The contrast? The pastor came up after worship and said, "I think that's the best list I've ever heard." High praise, coming from the best worship leader I've known and worked with.
Our setlist this week:
Forever (G)
You Are so Good to Me (G)
You're Worthy of My Praise (G)
Once Again (E)
Thank You for Saving Me (E)
No drummer this week, so I tried to pick songs that we can drive with guitar or piano without sounding monotonous. Between welcome and kicking off the praise and worship, a call came in that a guy in our fellowship just had a stroke and was taken to the hospital, so it was a bit awkward jumping right into worship. We, of course, stopped and prayed for our brother, then the pastor spoke for about 45 seconds, pointing out that the God we were about to sing about is in control of our friend.
We were short two backup vocalists. One was out of town and the other was feeling sick this morning. We lingered on Thank You for Saving Me on the "Great is the LORD" line. Great moment there. The guitar player was strumming up high, staying on an E chord of some sort, the bass player was following the chord progression, and the vocalists were all ad libbing a variety of tasty harmonies.
The past few weeks, the vocalists, in particular, have been stepping out of the box. I love it, encourage it, and we've been practicing the moments where that's most likely to occur.
The pastor spoke on Psalm 3. I love the song Thou Art a Shield for Me, but refrained from singing that at the end. No ending music, but some people were coming up for ministry afterward, so I went up and played for about 15-20 minutes on piano while they received prayer and counsel.
A day of contrast. Between services, I was berated for not remembering to take up the offering (hint: I never "remember" and am not likely to ever "remember") and for singing songs that are too high and too new. The guy said "We need to sing some of those older songs once in awhile, like we did a couple of weeks back." I usually don't say much when I'm accosted by people doling out free advice on worship leading, but I was grumpy, so I responded with "You're right, that's why we did those songs a couple of weeks ago." Duh.
The contrast? The pastor came up after worship and said, "I think that's the best list I've ever heard." High praise, coming from the best worship leader I've known and worked with.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
July 26, 2009
Franklin Covenant Church
Franklin, NC
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Today's list:
Stand Up (F)
Ev'ry Move I Make/Lord, I Lift Your Name on High (G/A)
Here Is Our King (A)
Unfailing Love (G)
I Belong (G) (original)
We jumped to Lift Your Name, just the chorus, then bounced back to Ev'ry Move, modulated to A, since we were doing Here Is Our King next. At the end of the setlist, we did part of Here Is Our King again. We debuted it last week, and the congregation was really into it.
Franklin, NC
Check out other setlists over at Fred McKinnon's blog.
Today's list:
Stand Up (F)
Ev'ry Move I Make/Lord, I Lift Your Name on High (G/A)
Here Is Our King (A)
Unfailing Love (G)
I Belong (G) (original)
We jumped to Lift Your Name, just the chorus, then bounced back to Ev'ry Move, modulated to A, since we were doing Here Is Our King next. At the end of the setlist, we did part of Here Is Our King again. We debuted it last week, and the congregation was really into it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Sunday July 19, 2009
Check out other setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog.
I haven't been posting weekly, as I am beyond busy with work. My internet time is almost zero, and what little I'm on is devoted to checking e-mail, weather, and news headlines. Anyhow, this week was sweet. We have a new singer on board, and the vocals have been particularly good the past couple of weeks. The blend we have is excellent. I typically like to have less vocals, but we've been running with one lead, and five backup. It's coming together in a powerful way.
This week's list:
Holy Is the Lord (G) (Tomlin's)
Reign In Us (G)
Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (C)
The Stand (A)
Here Is Our King (A)
I asked the pastor to come up and read Psalm 24 at the end of Mountains Tremble, then we went into a mellow groove rolling between C and F. The backup vocalists came out strong, ad libbing, and one of them really sang out, so I fell in line with what she was doing, echoing. The presence of the Lord was heavy in the place. At the end of The Stand, we went right into Here Is Our King. That was the debut for our fellowship. It went over well. Of course, the youth were familiar and liked it.
I haven't been posting weekly, as I am beyond busy with work. My internet time is almost zero, and what little I'm on is devoted to checking e-mail, weather, and news headlines. Anyhow, this week was sweet. We have a new singer on board, and the vocals have been particularly good the past couple of weeks. The blend we have is excellent. I typically like to have less vocals, but we've been running with one lead, and five backup. It's coming together in a powerful way.
This week's list:
Holy Is the Lord (G) (Tomlin's)
Reign In Us (G)
Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (C)
The Stand (A)
Here Is Our King (A)
I asked the pastor to come up and read Psalm 24 at the end of Mountains Tremble, then we went into a mellow groove rolling between C and F. The backup vocalists came out strong, ad libbing, and one of them really sang out, so I fell in line with what she was doing, echoing. The presence of the Lord was heavy in the place. At the end of The Stand, we went right into Here Is Our King. That was the debut for our fellowship. It went over well. Of course, the youth were familiar and liked it.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Sunday July 5, 2009
Franklin Covenant Church
Franklin, NC
Check out other setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog.
It's been a few weeks since I've posted and participated on the Sunday Setlist. Work has been crazy, and I barely have time for anything extra. Anyhow, here's our list from this morning:
Marvelous Light (B)
One Thing Have I Desired of the Lord (Em)
You Are Amzaing (E) (original material)
Those Who Trust (Em)
Worthy Is the Lamb (C)
Those Who Trust isn't the hippie version from Waterdeep. We picked it up from a close friend of our pastor years ago. It's a great tune. Very pretty.
Franklin, NC
Check out other setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog.
It's been a few weeks since I've posted and participated on the Sunday Setlist. Work has been crazy, and I barely have time for anything extra. Anyhow, here's our list from this morning:
Marvelous Light (B)
One Thing Have I Desired of the Lord (Em)
You Are Amzaing (E) (original material)
Those Who Trust (Em)
Worthy Is the Lamb (C)
Those Who Trust isn't the hippie version from Waterdeep. We picked it up from a close friend of our pastor years ago. It's a great tune. Very pretty.
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