Tag Archive - music

Free video biographies on famous hymn writers

September 15, 2010 in Christian Living, for Churches

To serve the people who will come (or are thinking of coming) to Carols under the Bridge in 2010, Church by the Bridge is developing a website for the event. It’s progressing well (thanks to some gifted graphic and web designers who serve  along well, and I’ll share details of it soon.

Apart from sharing the essential information (where, when, what, how much), we are also keen to develop the site as a resource for people to learn more about Jesus, the Christmas story, and the history of the songs we sing at Christmas.

(There are greater stories to be told at Christmas than the ridiculous fantasy of Carol Koala. Why, as a society, are we so willing to teach our children such rubbish, when the actual story of Christmas is such eye-popping, awe-inspiring good news? I digress).

On the website we’ll be sharing some of the background to our favourite Christmas carols, and the faith of the carol writers. This effort was inspired by the 10 videos created by Mars Hill Church, documenting the lives of some of the best known hymn writers. They are a great resource for sharing with your church and community the work of God in some inspiring Christian men and women who continue to serve us to this very day. Here’s a taste, with the bio of Isaac Watts:

You can see all the videos at the Mars Hill website. We won’t have time to create videos like these, but I’m thankful to God for Mars Hill for creating them, and prayerful about the content we’ll be sharing on our website this year.

What other resources would you recommend for learning more about hymn writers?

16 tools to plan services and assist church musicians

July 12, 2010 in for Churches

Many people don’t understand the complexities of making a church service happen. If you just turn up, it probably looks pretty straightforward! However, a lot goes on behind the scenes before the Sunday (or at my church, Saturdays too) services. There’s a lot of components:

  • welcoming
  • service leading
  • singing
  • announcements
  • liturgy
  • prayers
  • Bible reading
  • sermon
  • communion
  • kids talk or kids church (if you have kids!)
  • sharing (e.g. open prayer, open praise)
  • supper/morning tea
  • pack-up

And I’m sure I’ve left element out too! Most of all, each of these elements requires people to carry them out. And there are lots of challenges here – people need to be trained, people need to be available, people need to be informed. Obviously, having a roster is only a small part of making sure that services are planned and run smoothly.

I’ve been considering ways to support the musicians at church, and more broadly to assist with the smooth running of services. With 5 services each week, there is a lot to stay on top of. I’ve done some research into tools that can assist with service planning and keeping musicians informed, and have listed them below. I’m keen to hear:

  • if there’s any I’ve left off the list,
  • if you have used any of these, and what your experience has been,
  • are there any that you would recommend or not recommend?
  • why?

OK, here we go with the list of 16:

  1. 1Christian.net
  2. Better Gatherings
  3. Elvanto
  4. Leitourgia (Mac only)
  5. MinistryBox
  6. Music Manager
  7. Planning Center
  8. Praise Tools
  9. Service Builder
  10. Score Chart
  11. Software for Worship
  12. songmanager
  13. Worship Assistant
  14. worshipplanning.com
  15. Worship Kitchen (now permanently closed)
  16. Worship LIVE!

Updates:

  1. LifeWay Worship
  2. SongBook by Gospel Software

(The title of some music-related resources leaves something to be desired. Hot Worship?!)

Free Christian music at Come&Live

June 15, 2010 in Christian Living, for Churches

Over 480,000 songs have been given away for free at Come&Live – legally. How does it work?

“Come&Live! is a 501(c)3 non-profit community dedicated to proclaiming the good news of Jesus. By joining hands with artists {musicianaries}, we provide them with guidance, direction and accountability to model a life of genuine faith. Our focus is in promoting the only true enduring treasure – loving others and living like JESUS. We choose to share music and profit as a humble example of radical generosity. We live simply to give generously, encouraging others to do the same. Our prayer is that God would use us to Give. Love. Share. and Revive.”

What a great initiative! Discover more about Come&Live and download music, and if you feel so inclined, support the cause by making a donation.

Here’s a short video that also explains what Come&Live is all about:

Give.Love.Share.Revive. from Come&Live! on Vimeo.

Hymns – remixed (free this week)

April 28, 2010 in Christian Living, for Churches, Pastors

I love a good remix. Earlier this week I purchased the Mash Up Mix – 90s, a collection of classic 90s tracks, remixed.

Whilst dance music is fun, hymns are in a league of their own and have been a great blessing to my Christian walk.

Page CXVI aims to make hymns accessible again. I discovered them last year when I downloaded their first album. My favourite track from this album is hands-down, ‘Come Thou Fount’. I’m always cut to the heart when I sing this line:

“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above”.

At the end of the song is this great line – a call to action:

“I am bound for the kingdom, won’t you come with me?”

The songs in the first album (free to download this week) are:

  • When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
  • Solid Rock
  • My Jesus I Love Thee
  • Joy
  • In Christ Alone
  • Come Thou Fount

The songs in the second album are:

  • How Great Thou Art
  • Praise to the Lord
  • My Jesus I am Resting, Resting
  • Rock of Ages
  • Abide With Me
  • Battle Hymn of the Republic
  • Doxology

The new album is available as a download or CD ($9.99 each), or both for $11.99. You can get them at the Page CXVI website.

Thanks Page CXVI for making hymns accessible to a new generation.

And finally – where do they get the name Page CXVI from? They explain:

The name comes from a reference to page 116 in our copy of The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void.

It starts, “In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.”
~ C.S. Lewis

5 (useful) links #17

September 1, 2009 in Links & Tips

Five websites and online resources to inspire, inform and enthuse.

  1. 20 simple productivity tools for bloggers. I’m a fan of TextExpander and Fluid.
  2. Bible events seen from Google Earth. “The images…use real satellite imagery to achieve the incredible effect.”
  3. Free album download. Phil Wickham offers his album ‘Singalong’ as a free download. h/t Hayley Neal.
  4. 20 non-preaching websites for better preaching. Most are US-specific, but not too hard to find a local equivalent where necessary.
  5. PhillipJensen.com. The Dean of St Andrew’s Cathedral gets his own website!