Monthly Archives: October 2008

Welcome to the second installment of our “Why Do Worship Leaders Do That?” series, examining the top ten pet peeves that people hold against worship leaders around the world.  This top ten list is taken from informal blog polling by ragamuffinsoul.com, tabulated into the top ten by churchrelevance.com. See intro to this series for links to those articles See last week’s installment: “Why do worship leaders ask me to do things like raise my hands, make some noise, etc?” This week, I’m again joined by Sojourn worship leader Lorie King to discuss issue #2: “Why do worship leaders: engage in …« Read Entire Post

In today’s churches, the guitar is coming to dominate the landscape in the same way that the piano and organ once did. It’s important that as church musicians we give great care and thought to our guitar playing – everything from chord voicings to tones – so that the instrument is a servant of the congregation, not the star and not the distraction. Each week on Sojournmusic.com, Pastor Mike Cosper will post a guitarist’s feature, which will range from articles to links, online lessons and interviews:   Jim Campilongo On the Lost Art Of Melodic Guitar Playing by Mike Cosper; …« Read Entire Post

Sojourn will host an informal workshop for songwriters, focusing on how to write worship songs for children’s worship, this Saturday, November 1 at 1 pm.  Although this workshop was primarily conceived for songwriters who are members of Sojourn Community Church (Louisville) for songs to be used in our Sojourn Kids ministry, all songwriters are welcome, as are those from other churches involved in music ministry or children’s ministry, and any other interested parties. Chandi Plummer, who works with Sojourn Kids Director Jared Kennedy and is primarily responsible for children’s music at Sojourn, will be there to lead the discussion.  Chandi is a …« Read Entire Post

Last week on sojournmusic.com we gave you the first inside peek at the production of our next worship CD, from the mix room in producer Neil Robins’ studio.  This week, a little more: I recorded the first video below in the mix room as well, using my little Flip Mino palm-sized recorder (so the sound is rough).  You’ll see Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper on bass guitar and David Weir on lead guitar, practicing their parts for “Refuge,” written by Neil and his wife Kate (together, they are the rock duo “Dirt Poor Robins”).    Neil gives tips from the …« Read Entire Post

This blog post is part of the church worship music set list Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com.  Photos by Dan Canales, from the evening services. 1. Eyes on the Prize, by legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger.  We did this one as the opener today, just as we did it as the opener of our set at Louisville’s downtown entertainment district Fourth Street Live last year (which was recorded for an episode on WBKI-TV, Louisville’s affiliate for The CW network):   Watch more MySpace videos on AOL Video 2. King of Glory, written by Chris Tomlin.  This great modern worship song, …« Read Entire Post

Joy To the World Lyrics by Isaac Watts, Music by Jamie Barnes F#m E/G# A D A/C# Bm Joy to the World, the Lord is come! D A/C# Bm Let earth receive her King; A E/G# Let every heart prepare Him room, D A/C# Bm And Heaven and nature sing, A E/G# Let Heaven and nature sing, ( F#m – E/G# – A D- A/C# -E/Ab ) Joy to the World, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy. Bridge – ( A – …« Read Entire Post

I’ve been getting requests for Advent Songs chord sheets, like the chord sheets posted for Before the Throne and our other worship CDs.  Have no fear.  Thanks to Worship Arts Pastoral Assistant Jamie Barnes, I have all but two of the chord sheets from this album and will post them later today.  Then I’ll post a link to the chord sheets under the track list in the Advent Songs section here at sojournmusic.com — the same place where you can also take us up on our offer to download the entire album for whatever price you want to pay, or …« Read Entire Post

The season of Advent, which marks the beginning of the Christian Year, will be here soon.  Worship planners, pastors and ministers of music will shortly begin to plan for Advent church services if they’ve not already done so.   At Sojourn as in countless church families, we begin our worship service with a “Call To Worship” See our brief definitions of the elements in our liturgical order at Sojourn Church The following is a sample Call to Worship for the season of Advent, adapted from The Worship Sourcebook.  If used during corporate worship, its recommended that the congregation read the underlined portions aloud with …« Read Entire Post

As announced last Friday, today is the first in a series of ten weekly posts, which will come to you each Friday, to examine the ten most common questions and complaints that people have about worship leaders.  I’m joined by Lorie King, who has led worship at Sojourn since early in the first year of our existence (Sojourn was birthed in 2000).  She’s also led worship in many other churches and settings from the U.S. east coast to the west, as well as Brazil, Cyprus and other countries, and has a Master’s in Worship from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  So, here …« Read Entire Post

This video comes to us from yesterday’s session of the LEAD conference in St. Louis, Missouri, posted on Youtube by Shane Montgomery, Lead Pastor of The River Community Church.  He’s featuring the video on his blog as well.  The blog also contains additional thoughts and information from LEAD, his personal story, and much more. The video above captures Sojourn leading worship with a song we often do in our worship services here in Louisville: a modern arrangement of the classic hymn “Solid Rock (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less)”. Here are Edward Mote’s lyrics, written in 1834 (the hymn …« Read Entire Post

We’re just over a month away from the season of the Christian Year known as Advent, which means many worship planners are beginning to structure upcoming Advent worship services. What Is Advent Season? Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas in the Christian Church Year calendar.  The word advent means “coming,” and in this sense refers to Christ’s coming to earth. We look back to his first coming, as a baby in a manger, and look forward to His return on clouds of glory to reign as King. Advent is both a time of repentance and longing, and a …« Read Entire Post

This season of Advent is just a month away – the season when we wait with anticipation and longing for Christmas morning, the birth of the promised Messiah.  Our most recently completed CD, Advent Songs, is a collection of eight classic and original songs about this Messiah, from the lament and longing of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” to the fulfillment that Christmas morning brings with “What Child is This?” The physical CD sells for $10 in our online store.  But now, we’re offering a special price for the digital download version — in fact, we’re letting you set the price.  Pay …« Read Entire Post

Behind The Scenes In The Studio With Sojourn Music Sojourn is recording our full-scale follow-up to 2007′s Before the Throne.  As RSS subscribers and other regular sojournmusic.com viewers know, this will be the first of two CDs of original worship music based on the hymns of Isaac Watts.  While our second CD will have an Americana vibe, this first one will feature an aggressive indie pop sound. So … wanna go into producer Neil Robins’ mix room, take a look around, and hear a little bit of what’s ahead?  I recently stopped in on an instrumentalist recording session.  In the …« Read Entire Post

Today through Wednesday, the Acts 29 Network is putting on a LEAD Conference that will focus on theological and practical implications of urban ministry.  St. Louis church The Journey is playing host for the main sessions, which you can view for free via live streaming on PlantingChannel starting Tuesday morning at 9:15, EST. The main sessions, along with three breakout tracks, will help give attendees the knowledge and tools needed to “equip, encourage and employ up and coming urban leaders.”  Sojourn pastor/directors will lead all three breakout sessions: Arts Track — Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper will teach three …« Read Entire Post

Sojourn Church’s Second Annual Fall Festival took place this past Saturday, and by all accounts I heard, it was a rousing success and good fun for our inner Louisville neighborhood.  Due to long-standing, out-of-town plans, I couldn’t be there.  But thanks to Dan Canales, whose photographic work you’ll recognize from our worship set blog posts here at sojournmusic.com, I got an inside look at the festival.  And now, you will too.  Here, with much thanks to Dan, is a little photo album of the 2008 Sojourn Fall Festival.  And we might as well start with this great gem — Sojourn Lead Pastor …« Read Entire Post

I was on a mini-vacation this weekend but thanks to The Planning Center (and worship arts pastoral assistant Jamie Barnes, who helps Pastor Mike with service planning and who keeps everyone up-to-date on the schedule), and with photos by Dan Canales, here is the worship music set list for this week’s service here in Louisville, which included 22 baby dedications on a Baby Dedication Sunday.  This is posted in cooperation with other church music set lists as part of the Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com. 1. Psalm Three, written by King David, Isaac Watts, and Sojourn’s own Rebecca Dennison.  The brand new ESV …« Read Entire Post

‘Christ For President: God’s Gospel and Human Politics’ – Daniel Montgomery from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.  Last week I posted part one of Sojourn Church’s two-part series on a Christian theology of politics and government, taught by Pastor Daniel in our home, The 930 Art Center of Louisville, Kentucky.  Now, you can click the player and view the conclusion of this “Christ For President” series. Here are sermon notes and discussion questions from another of our pastor/elder’s, Chad Lewis (also the singer-songwriter from our Fading Grass CD): Sermon Recap: We hear a lot about people being tired of political …« Read Entire Post

Check out this Youtube video of a live performance by a cool Louisville area band known as the Parade Schedule, and note the tight harmony among bandmates Matt Kinder and Brooks Ritter and evocative songwriting on “Backyard” by Matt, as well as the tasteful drumming of Matt Harris. Parade Schedule is the brainchild of Matt Kinder, who occasionally performs solo under the moniker but more often sings with a rotating cast that can range from two or three, like here, to over ten musicians and singers.  It’s really something to see, as music lovers in Louisville can attest, as well as parts of …« Read Entire Post

Since we completed our “Worship Practices Explained” series last Friday, I thought we’d launch a new weekly series.  I’ve noticed that many people in blogs, message boards and other avenues share their “worship leader pet peeves.”  Not long ago, worship leader Carlos Whittaker invited people to complete the phrase “I hate it when my worship leader ____” and hundreds responded. Kent Shaffer of churchrelevance.com compiled the responses into a rough sketch of the top ten complaints.  Since different blogs and websites each have different audiences (at least somewhat) and different areas and degrees of focus (not to mention opinions, which …« Read Entire Post

“Happy, happy, happy, boing, boing, boing.”  That’s the stereotype of modern Christian worship, which you hear and read about in many forums online and elsewhere.  It’s fresh-faced, bouncy people with permanent smiles, singing about how great they feel since Jesus came into their hearts.  But what happens when a loved one suddenly dies?  When someone you look up to is caught in a tawdry sin?  When a child turns away from Christ, or when the forces of nature wreak havoc on a city?  Do you plan a worship service as if nothing is amiss?  I remember the Sunday morning in …« Read Entire Post

Each Monday here at sojournmusic.com I post “Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs,” a look at our weekly worship service, particularly focusing on our music set list and the “liturgical order” we follow.  Below, worship leader Lorie King outlines the basic outline we follow each week, answering things like “What is a Call to Worship?  What is a Celebration of Assurance?”  Is this similar to the flow of your church worship service?  Different?  How so? Why We Do What We Do At Sojourn Gathered, by Lorie King In our weekly services we have a usual structure that we follow—our “liturgy”—that helps …« Read Entire Post

And How Record Producers Can Use Modern Technology To Advise Their Musicians Sojourn Music producers Mike Cosper and Neil Robins finalized plans for the first of two new worship albums based on the hymns of Isaac Watts, and wanted a way to prepare all the musicians and vocalists who were invited to the recording sessions.  They could have made lots of calls or tried to schedule a time when everyone could attend a meeting, but recording music is time consuming enough.  So we shot five short vignettes on my trusty Flip Mino video recorder– an intro by Mike (who is also the …« Read Entire Post

Join me Tuesday at noon, EST for full, live-streaming coverage of Dr. Best’s lecture.  You will not have to continuously refresh your browser or download/register for anything.  Click the link below now to see details — and if you’d like you can schedule an email reminder to be sent to yourself at a pre-selected time, before the start of the event.  Then click the link below at noon tomorrow when the event goes live — it’s as easy as that: Click Here

Posted in collaboration with the posting of other church music set lists at fredmckinnon.com.  Photos by Dan Canales, taken from the 11:15 a.m. service.  We were also pleased to have Harold Best, author of “Unceasing Worship,” join us in worship during our 7 p.m. service.  There is a special announcement at the end of this post. 1. This Old World, written by Buddy Miller and Victoria Williams.  This was our Gathering song, as the congregation came in, took their seats and began to sing.  It’s a good lead-in for our “Christ for President” sermon series, and expresses emotions that many …« Read Entire Post

Sojourn Pastor Daniel Montgomery is currently preaching a two-part series at The 930 during our Sunday worship services entitled “Christ for President,” using Romans 13 as his text.  The timeless message is particularly appropriate here in Louisville and throughout the U.S. because of, well, you know … the presidential election contest between Barak Obama and John McCain.    ‘Christ For President’ – Daniel Montgomery from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo. The video above contains the entirety of Pastor Daniel’s first sermon in this series.  He will wrap Christ For President up today in each of our four services.  After our 7 p.m. service, we …« Read Entire Post

Here is a video performance of Jamie Barnes performing his song “Idol of Ohio,” backed by Mike Cosper on the lap steel guitar. Of course Mike is Sojourn’s worship arts pastor and Jamie is his pastoral assistant.  But in the Louisville music scene, Jamie is a singer-songwriter who has received a lot of positive local press, played many of Louisville’s favorite music venues and received significant radio airplay.  And Mike is a multi-instrumentalist who has sat in with quite a few artists, from folkies to rock bands, country artists and other music-makers.  Together, they’re like … they’re like a singer …« Read Entire Post

“When do non-Christians sing together?” – Laura Wimmer, Calvin College Festival of Music and Faith, 2007 In this seventh and final (for now) edition of “Worship Practices Explained,” we’ll look at singing in the church congregation.  For a complete list of past editions in this weekly blog column, scroll down. Why Do We Sing Out Loud? Over and over again, the Bible tells us to sing to God, and also to sing about God to each other. God commands us to “lift up our voice” in congregational song, which is a lot different than singing under our breath, mumbling the …« Read Entire Post

From Harold Best, Unceasing Worship, p. 89:… when it comes to his (Satan’s) dealing with the church and the world, I believe he can lie in two opposing directions at once. Here is what he, coming as an angel of light, may say to the church: “The average human being is fairly slow, culturally encrusted. People like things that are palatable and light. So be palatable and light. And for goodness’ sake, don’t go into the primitive stuff — the blood of Christ or the realities of lostness throughout eternity.” Here’s what he says to the unconverted: “You’re too smart …« Read Entire Post

Sojourn’s Rebecca Elliott, featured on our Before the Throne and Advent Songs CDs, has contributed her warm vocals and piano skills to the brand new Before the Goldrush compilation project, which also includes artists like Carey Ott, The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova), Vandaveer, Neko Case, Tracy Bonham, Okkerville River and many more compelling artists. Before the Goldrush includes 26 songs and is available as an Amazon download for just $18.99.  You can hear free sound samples before purchasing.  Proceeds from this digital album benefit Teach For America, a nonprofit group known for its innovative work towards ending …« Read Entire Post

Alex O’Nan and Kyle Noltemeyer are long-time members of the Louisville indie music scene as well as Sojourn Music.  They’re also best friends and founding members of the innovative band Interstates, signed to The Record Machine label. Interstates will be opening for critically acclaimed band Wovenhand this Thursday, October 9 at The 930 Listening Room. This comes fresh on the heels of their first ever cross-country tour and the release of their first CD, Run, Run, available through iTunes and many other outlets. Read The LEO Weekly review of Run, Run by Interstates I sat down with Alex in the …« Read Entire Post

Written as part of the Blog Carnival at fredmckinnon.com, featuring many church worship music set lists.  Photos by Dan Canales. We began the gathering portion of this baptism service (we’ve been holding baptism services every other month) with 1. Mourning into Dancing, by Sojourn’s own Jeremy Quillo.  This might be my favorite of Jeremy’s songs — it’s definitely in the top two or three.  You can hear the mp3 and view the chord sheet from our These Things I Remember page.  2. Gifted Response (We Will Worship You), written by Matt Redman.  We sang this one following a Call To Worship …« Read Entire Post

Heard of Wovenhand?  This David Eugene Edwards (formerly of 16 Horsepower) band has been drawing rave reviews from critics and music lovers alike, and will be playing The 930 Listening Room here in Louisville this Thursday, October 9.  You can get all the pertinent info on the show at the930.org, but I thought even those of you reading this from afar would enjoy the promo video that our own singer-songwriter and worship leader Jamie Barnes made for this live show.  Travel with Jamie below as he goes for ice cream (and you may be surprised to learn the location of, in Jamie’s …« Read Entire Post

Sojourn loves its home and the surrounding neighborhoods: Germantown, Smoketown, the Highlands and the Louisville area.  We love the culture of Kentucky and Southern Indiana.  And so last year we chose to begin an annual event that would celebrate these things and be a gift to the community: the Sojourn Fall Festival. It’s hard to believe a year has gone by, but in just two weeks, we’ll do it all again.  If you will be anywhere near Louisville on Saturday the 18, please stop by.  You will get some good free food, you will be thrashed by me at a game …« Read Entire Post

In this sixth installment of “Worship Practices Explained,” we’ll look at creeds (statements and confessions of faith).  Churches have different views on the recital of creeds in their gatherings.  This is how and why we use them here at Sojourn: Why Do We Recite Confessions Of Faith? The church of Jesus Christ is more than just the people who come into our own church building. It’s more than all of the Christians alive right now. We share a rich heritage with followers of Christ throughout the ages and all over the world. As part of this body of Christ, it …« Read Entire Post

Neil Robins and Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper are co-producers on our two-disc Isaac Watts worship CD project.  Neil, producer of the first disc, is co-founder of Dirt Poor Robins and produces their albums, as well as No More Kings and other acts. Hear an interview with Neil on the upcoming Isaac Watts project Last Saturday I gathered with a group of friends to help Neil move his recording equipment to the brand new, spacious studio space where he will produce the Watts CD as well as various clients who have secured his services.  In this first short video, you …« Read Entire Post

There is more to worship leading than what goes on from a pulpit on Sunday mornings.  Sojourn Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper and his merry crew have done many things over the years to teach a biblical, missional theology of worship, through sermons, a devotional, articles in our church newsletter (Travelogue) and here on sojournmusic.com, as well as lectures in our New Member classes, workshops and Bible studies of various kinds, and more.  Here is something that Pastor Mike and worship leader Lorie King devised and sent to Sojourn members earlier in our brief (eight year) history.  Through asking these …« Read Entire Post