Award winning worship

There used to be an ‘awards season” when it seemed like all the awards shows were on TV one after another, week after week. It’s not like that so much any more, as the different types of awards (Juno, Grammy, Emmy, Academy, Tony, Gemini and so on) all seem to be equally split between fall or spring, both early and late in the year.

We’re conscious of awards at Worship Café this month, but it’s not about us qualifying for any. It’s rather that it’s the season for us where the guests we’ve had recently (and coming up shortly) have been nominated for different awards.

We had the pleasure of hosting Mark Tromsness this past Sunday, one half of the band Colors and Tone. Their self-titled debut album is nominated in the category “Rock Album of the Year” at the Canadian Gospel Music Association’s Covenant Awards, which will be held later this month in Calgary.

On October 17^th we will be hosting Daniel Bremnes, a worship leader from Salmon Arm, BC, whose new album is also up for a Covenant Award this year; “Your Strength” is a nominee in the category of Modern Worship Album of the Year.

The last Sunday in September we had Jon Buller as our worship leader. Buller is from Vernon, and his latest album, “Light Up The Sky”, is also nominated in the Modern Worship Album of the Year category at this year’s Covenant Awards. Buller is also a finalist in the Christian/Gospel Recording of the Year category at this year’s Western Canadian Music Awards, which run from October 21 to 24 in Kelowna.

Does being nominated for an award mean the worship is really, really good? Well, I think that comes down to us as individuals, more than anything else. Am I zoned in? Am I focused on God and on worshiping Him with my whole heart? If I am, then that will play a much larger role in whether or not the worship time will be really good – and I have to remember, too, that I’m not the audience, as a worshipper: God’s the audience!

I’ll save any further pontificating for a future blog. Just wanted to mention that this is award-nominated worship leader season at Worship Café – hope to see you online!

Instrumental Worship?

Jon Buller was at Worship Café this past Sunday, and for one number his band (Dan Oldfield and Aaron French) played an instrumental version of "I Exalt Thee". I found myself thinking about worship in relation to instrumental music.

We know, of course, that worship is more than music. Yet as believers we choose music as one of the primary means of worshiping, at least in groups (i.e. "corporately"). There's something about the gift of music that transcends the 'cerebral only' (our brains, our thinking processes alone without emotion) and draws us more as "whole people" into a place where we can worship more fully and completely.

So, is that worship based on the lyrics of the music, or the music part of the music? Can instrumental music be worship music?

In Sunday's case the song was "I Exalt Thee", a well-known worship standard. Even though the two musicians played with skill and grace and imbued the identifiable song with extra substance and flair, the melody was still clearly recognizable. It was relatively easy to still sing the words (inside one's head, anyway) along with the instruments. Therefore even though the number was instrumental, it was still possible to worship God with the lyrics ("For Thou, O Lord, art high, above all the earth... Thou art exalted far above all gods..." and so on).

But what about when there are no lyrics to the music? What about when the instrumental music is purely instrumental, written and intentionally sans lyrics? Can it be called worship music? How about if it's purchased at a Christian Book Store, or if it's released on a 'Christian' label? Does that make it worship music?

Or, on the other hand, what if the instrumental music is written by a Christian and released on CD through a record label that's just a standard label, maybe known for jazz or even new age music; does that render the Christian composer's work as being not Christian, and therefore not suitable for worship?

Let's stretch those questions a little further: can 'secular' instrumental music be used in a worship context? If you showed up at church next Sunday and the sound guy was playing Pat Metheny for the pre-service music; would that be non-worshipful?

It's an interesting philosophical trail to wander down. Tell me what you think - I'd love to hear what you have to say on the topic.

In the meantime, you can check out this instrumental worship track from the September 25 worship set at Worship Café.

French & Oldfield's take on "I Exalt Thee" 

Authenticity in Action

The parable of The Good Samaritan has a lot of things to teach us. There’s truth about racism, the obvious truth about ‘Who is my neighbour?’, and, some might say, even a dire warning about taking shortcuts through unfamiliar territory (okay, maybe the last one not so much…).

One thing I see in it is the truth about being authentic. The Priest and the Levite (read: ‘pastor and worship leader’, or ‘minister and facilities manager’), who each passed by the beaten-up man on the other side of the road, illustrate how easy it is for each of us to fall into the role of being a ‘professional believer’ without letting the words of Jesus actually change our lives in any way. That’s not a good way to operate.

It’s always refreshing to see someone operate in fidelity to their faith. When what someone says – or sings about – lines up with what they profess, especially when they think no one is watching, I find it makes me smile.

Last time Jennifer Jade Kerr was at Worship Café she illustrated this truth without being aware of it. Jennifer had been a guest worship leader in January, and returned to lead again in May. In between those two gigs I was reviewing old video files, and I saw I had filmed her as part of a project where adults contribute time as mentors to help kids in elementary and junior high school.

That’s what made me smile. As part of this project (“Heroes Okanagan”) she was giving her time without anyone really knowing about it. Sure, the other three volunteers knew about it, and the kids in the classroom knew about it, but no one outside of those parameters knew anything; no one who could ‘help build her career’ as a worship leader or children/youth pastor knew what she was up to. She was basically just doing it because she wanted to make a difference in some kids’ lives.

The second time Jennifer led at WC she blazed into the Café from a car wash where she was helping the youth from her church raise money. As soon as she was done the worship set she left to go back and help wash cars again. That in itself was cool to see – but that was a fairly public event where lots of people from her church would have been in attendance. The gig she did with the kids in school, though, was done far away from the public eye.

I liked that.

You can find an archive of Jennifer Jade Kerr’s worship times on the Worship Café website. Just look for her under the ARCHIVES tab at the top left of the page.

And join us again for live worship every Sunday afternoon.

In the meantime, be real.

Log in to Worship Cafe to see the archive.

Up and running

Hard to believe we’re already way down the road in our calendar, booking artists now for Worship Café’s October dates. But we are, which means in a couple of weeks school is going to be back in session, stores will be gearing up for Thanksgiving and Halloween, and long days of laying out in the summer sun will be behind us.

Rats.

At Worship Café, though, we’ll be kicking things off in a good way come September with Nico as our first post-summer worship leader. He’s been to the Café a couple of times previously with his buddy Ari, but this time it’s Nico in his own right.

Nico B in an earlier visit to WC

Nico left Kelowna (home of Worship Café) several years ago to engage as a worship pastor down in the USA. He formed a stellar band while he was in the US, and his recordings from that era are really good. When he moved back to Kelowna a few years back he stepped out of music for a bit, and we’ve all been glad that he’s seen fit to pick up his guitar again.

If you’ve never been to a Nico-led worship session before, you can expect lots of groove, lots of rich husky vocals, and lots of truth. Nico’s not one to do fluffy songs for the sake of singing something nice – but he sure does deliver well with the material that’s in his heart.

Nico will be the first worship leader after our summer break, and he’ll be getting underway at 4PM on September 12. Hope to see you then…

The soul of rock and roll

I remember as a kid looking up Rock Music in the World Book encyclopedia. I think it was the 1978 edition. Remember when encyclopedias were actual physical books?

According to WB, Rock and Roll was born from a blend of R&B, Soul, and Gospel music. If that’s the case, then we got a true experience of that on Sunday June 27th with the visit of gospel-playing John Lee Sanders to the Worship Cafe.



Raised in Memphis Tennessee, and with years of the Louisiana and southern States gospel music scene under his belt, John Lee Sanders has been a blues man for years. He tours either on his own or with a band, primarily playing the piano but also adding in powerful blues tenor sax from time to time.

His “played-with” list reads like a textbook on who’s who in the music business, with John Lee Hooker, Long John Baldry, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Page, and Huey Lewis among the names you’ll see there. John Lee actually replaced Elton John as the music director/keyboard player with the touring Long John Baldry outfit.

John Lee says the heart of what makes him tick musically is Gospel Music. Raised in the church but then experiencing years of the lifestyle of a touring blues musician, Sanders told us, on Sunday, how he was faced with a crisis of soul several years ago when his new record label encouraged him to do a Gospel album. John Lee knew he wouldn’t be able to record the songs with any degree of authenticity if his life didn’t line up with what he was singing, so he grabbed the opportunity that was presented to him and got back on track in his life with God.

On Sunday John Lee started off with the classic gospel song Mary Don’t You Weep and followed that up with number after number of gospel tunes, ranging from originals or songs written by friends to gospel arrangements of hymns such as Amazing Grace and His Eye Is On The Sparrow. Confident piano playing that supported a perfect blues voice made for an afternoon of great Gospel music... it was a perfect way to wind up the Spring session of Worship Cafe prior to our summer break.

We’ll be featuring previous shows and a loop of previous worship leaders during our summer months. Join us again in September for new experiences of live worship music every Sunday on your computer at 4PM Pacific.

John Lee will be rebroadcast all this week at www.worshipcafe.net


- Malcolm

Hybrid worship

Hybrid cars: seemingly esoteric a few years ago, but all the rage in the current environment. Two power sources, one gasoline and the other rechargeable electric, share duties to power one vehicle forward.

We’ve seen a lot of hybrid worship artists in the Worship Café over the last few weeks. Just one power source, mind you, but two different tracks on which the artists run. Kim McMechan, Andrew Smith, and Ari Neufeld, to name a few, all pursue careers as musicians and singer/songwriters in the non-church arena, yet all have graced our stage at Worship Café as worship leaders.

 They don’t fit the typical slot of ‘worship leader’, in that most of their repertoire does not consist of cover versions of worship songs known by believers everywhere. Probably most of them would even hesitate to call themselves worship leaders.

But as singer/songwriters who also engage the rest of the world face-to-face with their art, they bring a heartfelt authenticity to the table when it comes to leading worship. Kim, Andrew, and Ari each have gut-level songs that speak from and to deeper issues in life than one normally hears addressed on a Sunday morning. Their songs, even though they’re not necessarily ones we’d all sing along with, resonate with truth.

Am I saying more typical Sunday-morning worship leaders don’t operate in authenticity? Not at all. I’m one of those myself.

I’m saying that these artists, in the context of the Worship Café, have shared deep and precious inner thoughts with us as the viewers, both in their songs and in their spoken lead-in to songs. They’ve touched on topics, including depression and wrestling with God, that are not the common ingredients of a more ‘typical’ Sunday morning time of musical worship.

The book of Psalms includes a number of  laments, songs written out of angst or inner turmoil. Rarely do we hear songs based on these passages, even though it’s clear the ancient Hebrews were not afraid to wrestle with God one-on-one over things which weighed them down. But I’ve heard songs at Worship Café which could be called laments.

So what is it about Worship Café that allows these artists the freedom to talk and sing about things they’d perhaps normally reserve for the non-worship concert stage? I don’t know; it might be just that we’re meeting in a coffee shop, and the environment is free enough that everyone just feels safe. Like I said, I don’t really know – but I know that I like it. And I’m sure hoping it will continue.

New Folk

What does it mean to win a Kerrville New Folk award at the Kerrville Folk Festival?

Well, for one thing, it puts you in the shoes of other performers who've gone on to much broader recognition: Steve Earl, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, David Wilcox, to name a few, have all appeared as finalists in the competition.

For another thing, it marks you as having really stood out in the crowd. A massive amount of entries come in, and each year the Festival only allows the first 800 entrants they receive to compete.

And what has that got to do with Worship Café?

Andrew Smith was a Kerrville New Folk award winner in 2006. It's a fitting accolade for someone who's written songs from the depth of his being for years. One of the songs Andrew played in the competition was "Rite of Passage", a song about his son's coming-of-age and heading off to university. Years earlier, that same son was the underlying current in Andrew's worship CD entitled Through My Emotions, which explored the darker side of faith: is it okay to question God when someone you love is deathly ill and no prayer seems to make a difference?

When I've heard Andrew's songs over the years, it seems to me that he's been on a real journey. I guess all of us are, but few are as candid about it as Andrew is. His songs serve as markers along the way, almost a roadmap for the pilgrimage.

His last few albums (the guy's got four or five solo recordings plus at least two other collaboration CDs) are logged as Folk, and some of his earlier ones would be considered Worship CDs. Yet no matter the genre, in each album you'll find honest writing that explores the human condition, wrestles with belief in the context of real life, and thoroughly celebrates being a man, a husband, and a father.

At Worship Café on May 9th it was sublime to hear Andrew doing songs from across that spectrum. The simplicity of some of his classic worship songs like I Come Undone were the perfect counterpoint for newer and more intricate numbers like Turning to Stone. Fans of Andrew know he's discovered the beauty of traditional songs, too, as evidenced by his version of Stephen Foster's Hard Times Come Again No More. Yeah, he's discovered the beauty, and he brings us along for the view.

I found it very refreshing.

If you missed the live worship time with Andrew, you can find the full session in our archives at worshipcafe.net - and, by the way, it makes great sonic wallpaper to have on while you're working away at your computer...