Song Mapping (Worship Training)

I think it's time to share some free tools for worship training. Sometimes our music teams get into a pattern of doing things a certain way without knowing the purposes behind it. We keep using the same methods, even when there are better ones, or when we need to freshen up our old ways of doing things. 

Scheduling regular worship training for each of our ministry teams ensures that we keep trying to improve, we stretch ourselves in creativity and hone our skills so that we can give the very best worship offering to our Father. 

Today's free resource is a chart called a Song Map. This is a tool that you can use during an annual training workshop, or even an extra-long weekday practice when learning a new song. Its purpose is to allow your team to truly listen to a recording of a song and notice minute details about instrumentation, energy, layering of voices and harmonies, etc. It will show you how the artists in the recorded version chose to build the song.

When you finish the process, you will have a spreadsheet that shows you, at a glance, what should be happening in any part of the song. 

You won't want to use this for every new song. It is time-consuming to complete, and seasoned musicians will learn to listen for these things automatically. But especially if you have a team who is still learning their instruments and learning to play together, developing their listening ears is one of the best skills you can give them. 

Immediately after using this, you should notice some more awareness among your musicians about when to play and sing, and it will also allow your leaders/arrangers more ideas about how to craft a song.

How to use a song map

1) PREPARE

Listen on your own to the song recording. As you listen, jot down the order of each section. For example, "Verse 1, Pre-Chorus 1, Chorus 1, Verse 2, Pre-Chorus 1, Chorus 1, Bridge, Bridge, Chorus 2, Tag, Ending"

Prepare the template by typing in the song name and changing the heading for each section, then copying/pasting the lyrics for each section. This enables your team members to easily follow along when it is their turn to listen. 

Print one out for each team member. Use 11x17" paper. If your printer doesn't print this big, I suggest printing them at your local print shop instead of shrinking it to 8.5x11, because else the boxes will be too small to write in. If you have too many sections, consider combining some or using multiple pages. You also do not have to use the entire song to get a good idea for how to build the song. 

2) EXPLAIN

Explain what they are going to do. Give several examples of what you are looking for. For example, "I see that the male singer doesn't come in until verse 2 and the harmony is added in the second chorus. I see that the drums start with a double floor tom on beat 2. I hear the keyboard use more reverb starting on the second chorus. The guitar cuts out during the verses. It only uses downstrums during the bridge."

Tell your team members why you are doing this. "This is to train your ears to listen more, both to the way that others play this song and to the musicians who are playing along with you. In doing this, we can learn to effectively build a song instead of always playing the same thing. Sometimes the difference from one verse to the next comes down to only one small change."

3) LISTEN & WRITE

Play the song recording at least twice. The first time, ask them just to listen and follow along as it plays. The second time, they can start writing stuff down. Give them a moment to finish writing as the song finishes.

Remind people that silence is a very important part of music and they should write in when to stay silent. If someone is not singing or playing in a certain section, that's because it was an intentional choice to leave them out, because whoever was arranging the song thought it would be better with select voices/instruments at that point. 

4) SHARE

After listening, ask each musician or group of musicians (for example, percussionists, singers, etc.) to share what they noticed in each section. 

It is better to go through the song section by section, instead of sharing only one instrument at a time. That ensures that everyone stays attentive and can even build on what each other say. 

5) LISTEN AGAIN

If you have time for a third listen, do it after sharing with the group. After the sharing, they will know exactly what to look for, and they will find more details to fill in.

6) PLAY

After completing the song map, have everyone play through the song together. 

If you are doing this at a large worship training event, and you have multiple musicians for each instrument, you can take turns playing the song together at the end, but make sure you don't weary people by going through the song too many times. Those who aren't on stage can just take notes and learn by listening. 

 

Tips

*You may also wish to use this when arranging a worship song from scratch

*Don't worry if you don't notice everything. You can take it home and listen multiple times, adding more every time you listen. But even with 1-2 listens, you will already hear things which you may be able to incorporate into your playing which will lift the level of the song performance.

*Try to do this with multiple styles of songs, so you can learn. If you don't usually play jazzy or gospel songs, for example, it can be very enlightening to listen and see the choices that the artist makes, and then try to apply some of them in your own worship. 

Here's your free resource: Song Map for Worship Training

Download Word format (.docx)  |  Download Pages format (.pages)

Purpose: To train your musicians to listen and think more deeply about their song arrangements

Audience: Worship Musicians

Feel free to modify this resource in whatever way will help you and your training purposes. 

If the song map works for your team, please drop a comment below and tell me how you used it.

Wash Me Whiter

"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." --King David (Psalm 51:7)

Good Friday is always one of my favorite worship services to plan. Since it's in the evening, we don't need to think about time constraints, since often there isn't another congregation using the worship hall after we do. We also have the freedom to get creative, and I try to make Good Friday services more interactive and experiential than a normal Sunday service.

Sometimes we will set up stations of the cross for people to wander through at their own pace; one time I placed a bowl of water in the front of the room for participants to wash their hands as they silently confessed their sins; once we ended our service in utter darkness and mourning, releasing people silently to make their way home and reflect on the darkness of that first evening when Jesus died on the cross. 

This year, I was feeling very heavy and sorrowful after hearing so much about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the starvation of the Afghan people, and other cruelty and pain around the world, and also hearing about some of my dear ones who had recently lost people they loved to death. The weight of death and the terrible effects of the world's sin was on my mind. But any celebration about Good Friday must still end in hope, though the first disciples may have had none. 

Wouldn't it be wonderful, I thought, if you could actually see the healing of your sin? Wouldn't it be meaningful if you experienced the truth of your sins being washed away? I started to research whether there was any way to have people write their confessions on a paper and then have the paper literally get washed away. 

The short answer... there is! And it's called Paper Solvy, a water-soluable stabilizer. Actually, the original purpose of this paper, and other similar papers, is crafting. You make a craft, printing or drawing a design on the paper, and then sew it onto a fabric, or put it in soap, and when you wash the fabric, the "paper" washes away and your sewn design remains. Genius. 

But for our purposes, it works just as well! During a time of reflection, I invited the congregation to think about the sins they are carrying and write their confession to God. I invited the worship band to play reflective music in the background. After 3-4 minutes, I invited them, if they wished, to bring their confessions and place them in the basin of water in the middle of the room. I didn't tell them what would happen, I just asked them to come. During two of our services, it took awhile for anyone to come forward, but eventually, they did come, first one or two, and then a stream of people. 

With amazement, they watched as the folded piece of paper they placed in the water start to come apart, the letters seeming to float off the paper. And then, as they swirled the water, the entire paper and its contents vanished before their eyes! 

Here's how we did it:

1. What You Need: 

• 1 sheet of Paper Solvy for every four people (give everyone a quarter sheet). Each package contains 12 sheets.
• Blue or black pens (but any kind of pens, pencils or markers should work)
• A table (If you have a large congregation, set up multiple stations. One table should be enough for 50-60 people). 
• A basin for water. I wanted to allow multiple people to do the activity at the same time, so I used an under-bed storage bin.  
• 2 large buckets
• 1 small bucket or pitcher
• A fine-mesh soup skimmer
• A towel for each station
• 4 large popsicle sticks
• 2 people to sit close by and keep the station clean, skim the water as needed and clear the station after the evening is done

2. Setup: 

• Set up the stations with a table, tablecloth, basin, buckets and skimmer
• Fill the basin with water and place the popsicle sticks on the table around it
• Place the quarter-sheets and pens on each chair or give them out at the door
• If you choose to dim the lights during the service, make sure they are bright enough over the seating area so that people can see to write.

3. Explain: During the service, announce that there will be a time for confession and that people can write their confession on a piece of paper. Depending on how comfortable your group is, they may readily do this activity, or it may take awhile for them to come forward. If you really want to help them be more comfortable, you could have them seated at tables. I placed tables around the room for people to use, but no one actually used them; they just remained in their seats to write. 

During the evening, we also included a time for spoken prayers as well as a message and songs around the theme of Isaiah 63:4-5. Check out the worship flow: 

Overall, it was a beautiful and meaningful way to remember Christ's redeeming work which washes away our sin. Sometimes an activity can be very simple yet have great impact for our understanding. May this activity also bless the hearts of your congregation too!

The Pilgrimage

 

Retreating with God

I think it was in seminary that I first developed a love for praying outdoors. During an assignment for one of my seminary classes with my favorite professor, Dr. Steve Korch, I had to scout locations for a prayer retreat. It was a new thing for me to set aside a place that was "ordinary" and yet sacred in some way, to remove myself from distractions, walk slowly and listen for God's voice.

One of the first locations where I started to walk and pray was the beautiful chapel and grounds at Santa Clara University, a Jesuit school. I remember traversing the covered pathways under the creeping vines, thinking about God talking to the saints whose images were all around me, and who had taken walks just like me, asking for God's presence and words of truth. 

The most memorable prayer retreat came some years later. I had just quit my job at the church where I was the worship director and though I knew I was supposed to move on, I didn't have a clue what was next for me, or even what direction I was supposed to go. I had applied to a few other churches, but wasn't getting very far in the interview process. I felt very lost, and sorely in need of direction. 

And that’s when I took a one-day pilgrimage by myself to a little remote retreat site in the Santa Cruz mountains, dedicated to those seeking God in prayer. It is such a simple place and yet, every time I go there, God condescends to meet with me.

An Unexpected Answer

That day, I heard from God. I had spent the day following little paths, sitting still, studying the Bible, and gazing all around me at trees, birds and flowers. I had repeatedly asked God what was next for me, where I should I work, what I should do? Big church, small church, Chinese church, American church, Hispanic church? Which denomination? And which role? If only He would give me a lead, I had told him, I would gladly follow it. 

I remember watching a small sparrow hopping on the ground, picking up bits and pieces, here and there. I had just been reading and studying Matthew 6, where Jesus tells the people listening on the hillside not to worry about what they will eat or drink, because the Lord God Himself would provide for them. As I watched that tiny sparrow, I heard from Him. "You are like this sparrow," He said. "You will not have a job for some time. But I will provide for you. I will give you things that you are supposed to do. Just rely on me" That was hard to hear. But I never doubted that it was the word from God, because I had asked Him for His direction, and I hadn’t been expecting to hear that reply. It wasn’t anything that I could have made up in my head. It was directly from Him. 

At the end of the day, I went back to my life, literally going "down the mountain." In His Word, God often uses mountain-tops as places where someone can be "closer" to God. Moses went up a mountain to talk with God. Elijah met God on a mountain. Jesus climbed a mountain... and was revealed in splendor to his companions.

When I went back down the mountain, I treasured this word from God, and I looked carefully to see whether God would do what he had said. God was true to his word. He did provide things for me to do during the next six months: even without a paid job, I was led to specific people he wanted to me to mentor and spend time with, and though I didn't get called back by the churches I applied to, I was filled with peace and contentment. I knew that God was providing, in his own way and time. Every time I was tempted to doubt whether it had been the right thing to quit my job, or to wonder when I would ever make money again, He reminded me that this was his leading and he would provide for me, just like that sparrow. 

Since that time, not only has God always provided, but he also has reminded me of a need to quietly retreat away from my regular surroundings, away from the distractions and a normal every day way of reasoning that I have. 

The Pilgrimage Material

In a new environment, we can often be more open to God and hear from him more clearly. That’s why I created this devotional material, called The Pilgrimage. 

I invite you, too, to get away from your normal surroundings, to  I pray that as you focus on hearing from God, His Holy Spirit will let you know what purpose God has for your life.

What: Material for one day's quiet retreat. It can also be spread out over two days. 

Who: This is a solo retreat, designed to be done by one person alone.

When: The recommended timing is during the Lent season, before Good Friday. 

Where: Away from normal surroundings; find a place outside in nature that is secluded, beautiful, and free from distraction. If you are unable to go to a public space, you can also use it in your backyard or just find a quiet, comfortable chair.

How: Research a location or locations, including planning what to eat for a meal. Print and bind the devotional material into a booklet. Take a pencil and a mobile device to scan the QR code. 

Download The Pilgrimage here:   

• English
• 中文繁體
• 中文简体

More Details: The material is divided into three stations, following Jesus through three separate locations. When following the material, you will pick three different locations to spend with God. After finishing each location's material, you will either drive or walk to another location. 

• The first location is called The Hill. The reading and reflection questions remind us of God's provision in all things. 
• The second station is called The Garden. The setting is that long Thursday night before Jesus was crucified; that night he was spending time with his disciples in the garden, giving them poignant last words that he wants them to remember. 
• The third station is called The Cross. It was originally written to be done at a church location beside a big cross and a fire pit. If your location doesn't have a big cross, it could be done sitting or kneeling in any quiet place, preferably at night.

Usage Rights: 

Feel free to modify the details of The Pilgrimage to suit your audience, but you do not have permission to change the reflection questions or redistribute or sell this material as your own creation. I pray that this free resource is helpful for your faith community and also for your own relationship with God. 

If you appreciated this resource, please comment below and let us know how you used it!

Free Worship Resources

It's been a long time since I posted anything. In the last four years, I have had a second child, taken on the title of Worship Minister, and, just like you, lived through a global pandemic. 😒

But recently, God brought this blog to mind again and given me a new vision for it. "Mondays Off" has always been a window into my heart as a minister; since I work on Sundays, I get Mondays off work. But now I would like it to have another purpose too. 

If you're like me, a few months (or even days!) before special occasions like Lent and Advent, you start looking online for resources. Surely, you think, someone out there must have made something beautiful and creative that can be used for FREE by a small church (with a few basic modifications). But it's not always easy to find these kind of resources, and often they are created more for fun or tradition, than actually helpful in leading a congregation to worship.

So, from here, I expect to share what resources I have found and created, for the help of worship ministers  everywhere. (And also for parents, as you look for creative ways to celebrate Jesus and the church year along with your kids.)

The Land of the Rising Sun

Some memories from 14 days spent by myself in the Land of the Rising Sun:

Japan is a beautiful land, full of lovely, heartfelt people. I stayed in an AirBnb in Tama-shi, West Tokyo, about 45-60 minutes from the busy Shinjuku station. It was part of my sabbatical (2 months graciously given me by Southbay as a time for rest and spiritual recharging). I had a few plans made ahead of time, but mostly I just wanted to be open to learning and where God would lead me. I was hoping to that God would be teaching me about Himself and what He is doing in Japan.

Spring in Japan is all about Sakura (cherry blossom) season. These beautiful blossoms represent not only a season but also the heart of the people. During the short sakura season, you find it everywhere. Everyone is talking about them and what stage they are at, every store is selling something made with sakura, and they decorate every train station or main attraction. And they truly are “sugoi” (incredible) when they are in full-bloom. I got to experience Hanami (picnicking under the sakura) and an afternoon walking tour around the neighborhood and down by the river with my AirBnb hosts under the shade of these ethereal blossoms.

Later, we spent some time in a park (famous location from Whisper of the Heart, screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki) with the wind blowing the blossoms all around us.

Famous location of the library from Whisper of the Heart

Hanami with Satoshi-san and Hitomi-san

Besides that, here are some other memories that I will cherish:

• Sitting at my low table listening to the 5:00pm "Go home, children" music that they play everyday, while studying Japanese and playing ukulele 
• Eating lunch with a graduate who found God in college, and hearing her speak of the beautiful story He has woven in her life 
• Foot-bathing (ashiyu) at Kosatsu Hot Springs (a famous onsen supposed to cure every sickness but love sickness!) 

Famous Kosatsu Onsen

• Eating home-cooked kakina (“the taste of spring”) with Moeka and smelling the sunny spring air through the open door at her family’s office 
• Stopping under the glorious sakura garden in the mountains next to a train embankment over a rushing stream 

With Moeka and her mother in the sakura park

• The sakura “snowing” (hanafubuki) all around me after church on Easter Sunday 

A rare whole blossom fallen amid the "snow" 

• Long rambles and chasing the sunset in Tama-shi (I never got a full view of it) 

The Parthenon in Tama Center

• Buying my first ice cream and communicating in half-Japanese, half-English with the convenience store cashier

And here are a few more pictures:

Dinner at an old-style soba restaurant

My first taste of oden

Stirring the waters (Yumomi) at Kosatsu

Jamming to "Country Roads" at the home of Satoshi-san and Hitomi-san

Night-time sakura (yozakura) down by Keiō Tama-Center station 

Speaking Japanese:
I studied Japanese before I left, and everyday during those two weeks, but found it really hard to actually use what I’d learned beyond a super basic level. Here are the words I actually used daily:

• Excuse me 
• Thank you 
• Do you speak English? 
• Can I use a credit card? 
• Do you have __________? 
• Where is _________?

The hardest things were:

• Being lonely for my family and remembering that God is caring for them so I don't need to worry 
• Understanding supermarkets 
• Being scared of running out of battery (phone or wifi) when far from my apartment 
• Finding an unobstructed view of the sunset 
• Not being able to eat anywhere I want when I’m starving (Japanese people sit down to eat, and don't eat on public transportation. Sometimes finding a bench is harder than you would think!)

Along with those, here are some other things I learned about:

• Caffeine free (カフェインゼロ) tea 
• Hamburg 
• How to use sumimasen (すみません) for everything (excuse me, sorry, thank you, I’m ready to order) 
• Proper train etiquette (This is totally a thing; they even have pamphlets in the airport express explaining this) 
• That lots of people don’t speak English at all (esp out of central Tokyo) so I had to be really brave and make a fool of myself lots of times 
• What cashiers are saying to when you try to pay? (Do you have a point card? Do you want a bag? One payment or two? Do you need chopsticks?) 
• I can get tired of convenience store onigiri! (I actually craved Chinese food) 
• How happy I can be to see a Seven Eleven

Overall, it was really a journey of self-discovery as much as God-discovery. I was reminded who I am and what I love doing, as opposed to what I mostly do for others. 2 weeks of not forcing myself to get up for others and cook, clean or run errands for others, and mostly feeling the permission to do things on my own schedule were wonderful. But I also was reminded of the gift of my family that God has given me, and the stage of life that I’m in now. Thank God for his gift, and for showing me how and where He is working in Japan.

Rats in the Cellar

Awhile ago, I subscribed to get a daily devotional email from Bible Gateway. I'm not very good with reading daily emails (although I get far too many "dailies" in my junk email inbox from Cost Plus, Max Studio, and Joanne's Fabrics, just to name a few).

But the C.S. Lewis one is different. Almost every day, I feel a sense of excitement and anticipation when I open this email. His words, whether quotes from the beloved Narnia series, words of wisdom from Mere Christianity, or his heartfelt musings on pain after the death of his wife, all challenge and renew my faith.

Here's my email from a few days ago:

"We begin to notice, besides our particular sinful acts, our sinfulness; begin to be alarmed not only about what we do, but about what we are. This may sound rather difficult, so I will try to make it clear from my own case. When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity; I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediately springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected; I was caught off my guard, I had not time to collect myself. Now that may be an extenuating circumstance as regards those particular acts: they would obviously be worse if they had been deliberate and premeditated. On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light." ~ C.S. Lewis (from Mere Christianity)

Growing up, I had a fairly high opinion of myself. I knew I was a Christian, and I also knew that I was free of some of the more obviously egregious (to teenagers) sins such as murder, pre-marital sex and drug use. In my eyes, this made me pretty good with God. Sure, when friends asked, "You're so good, you don't have any sins," I would modestly explain that I still struggled with pride, gossip or fights with my parents, but even I didn't really believe those sins were that bad. (Nor was I struggling that hard.) In fact, in high school, I adopted the nickname "Angelchild" that one of my friends had given me, and continued to take pride in how pure and like and angel I was.

It's funny growing up in the church. I think that many who come to know Christ later in life have a more realistic view of just how terribly depraved we all really are without Jesus. But for those of us who grew up basically following the rules, we may not get a true picture of the blackness of sin until we grow older - and then only if we are truly honest and allow God to reveal it to us. As the years have passed, I have seen myself more and more 'in the light' - I've realized how often I have "sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed." And, while it might be more comforting to believe that I am safe from the truly terrible sins others struggle with, that in itself is a lie from the enemy, trying to deceive me that I am alright, that I don't really need a Savior.

But those rats keep on hiding in the cellars of our souls. And it is these rats in the cellar (or if you want to be more practical, cockroaches in our church storage room), that really keep me from holiness - not the obvious sins which everyone else would judge me for. The only way to catch and kill the vermin is to continually come to Jesus in honesty and humility and confess my sin. And He will continue the purification process in me which started at my conversion.

No, I'm not an Angelchild. But I am a child of God, and hopefully one day I will look like Him.

How was your day?

How was your day?

Some years ago, I learned the power of these simple words... from one of my youth. I would meet her after school and we'd chat about everything from boys to God. Unlike many of the teens I encounter, she wouldn't just talk about herself, she wanted to know what was going on with me. 

"So, how was your day?" she'd ask conversationally, her arms full of school projects. "By the way, thanks for picking me up."

It was refreshing. A sudden open invitation to say whatever I wanted to about my day and know that someone was listening and interested. And since knowing her, I have used those words many times -- in my marriage, with my youth kids (you usually have to be more specific with them else they will just say "fine") and with friends. I find them amazingly disarming. They imply a level of care that most people are not used to hearing in their busy lives. People are even more willing to open up and share when you follow them up their response with, "Oh yeah, how do you feel about that?"

Try them sometime. You might be surprised how the simple words open up a pathway for friendship and conversation.