Cliff's Notes

Where did THAT song come from?

cliff@ogdenchurch.org (Cliff Washburn) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:39:37 GMT

The question of music and how it works in a church setting is clearly one of the more controversial issues of any program. I get asked on a regular basis about why we do "this" and don't do "that"...or simply why we do what we do. How do I select music for a particular Sunday or is there a greater committe of people who select music. What makes me choose on song over another or this new song instead of a different new song.

Now, I know that many of you don't give much thought to what I really do from week to week. When you do think about it, you wonder what I do with all the time I have on my hands. It's understandable since I always wondered what a full time Worshp Pastor did with all of his/her time. The simple answer is that I just sit down in a chair in my office and play my guitar. Sometimes, when I have extra time, I'll even build a camp fire and sing songs around the glowing embers.

OK...cruel joke. This blog is designed to give you some insight to my world and let me assure you that there is much to do in a week before services, but none more important than the process of trying to figure out what God is wanting for Sunday morning. So let's take a walk through the process and that should answer a few questions regarding what we select and how it's done.

It makes sense that there is so much in question because there is so much at stake. I firmly believe that anytime we do music on a Sunday morning, it should take us someplace instead of just being a group of nice songs. Last week, we concentrated on the scripture of worship music in applying to Brad Gray's message about taking scripture to heart. We meshed songs of scripture with thier actual scripture verses. Thanks to all of you who have let me know how much that meant to you. You'll likely see more of that as the future unfolds. If we truly believe that true worship is a result of the Word of God, then we should be getting after it more often.

I also have a database of all of our music which allows me to see what songs we have done and when we've done them. I typically give at least 7 weeks between the time I do a song and the next time I'll put it in the order. So with at least 24 songs eliminated (6 weeks x's 4 songs a week), I look through the rest of them and begin to pray. I begin to select music and as I do that, usually there will be a theme that comes out allowing me to select the whole package that ties together. Nothing is token...it all serves a purpose to get us all to arrive at a specific outcome.

For instance, if I begin to see praise being a theme coming to the forefront, then the music will take a "praise" angle. At that point, I'll pick out music such as David Crowder's "O Praise Him" or Michael W. Smith's "Prince of Peace". It may eventually end up with a song that causes us to empty ourselves of everything else so that we can truly praise Jesus such as Chris Tomlin's "Enough".

There you go! Just a picture of the week. Keep checking back often and I'll keep opening the window so you can get a look at why we do what we do here in the Worship area of Ogden Church.

Because of Daddy,
Cliff

Welcome!

cliff@ogdenchurch.org (Cliff Washburn) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:28:00 GMT

Welcome to the Ogden Church Music Blog...or less formally known as "Cliff's Notes". This is designed to answer the many questions that come my way either through direct contact or by other means such as email or music survey comments.

My hope is that you'll find plenty of answers to questions you may have. If you don't, feel free to ask them here. This concept came up after we relaunched out website and people were making comments and asking questions through the new music survey page. I really didn't have a way to answer some of the great questions or clear up confusion from a situation. I'm all about communication, so I thought this would be the best way to do it.

With that in mind, my hope over the next couple of months is to address a few questions such as:
    1. Why don't we do any secular music during our services? Crossroads does.
    2. Can we do more songs about welcoming the Holy Spirit into our midst?
    3. Is it possible to NEVER do that song again?
    4. How do you pick new music?
    5. How do you pick music from Sunday to Sunday?

While comments sometimes can be made tongue in cheek, many of them are just great questions and I know there are others who would like to hear the answers, so I'm excited about this opportunity to just talk it through. I welcome all of your comments and thoughts about the writings. Just be fair and open to the answer I may give you and know that it's always more fun if we can come to a clear understanding of why we do what we do.

Hope to hear from you!
Serving Daddy,
Cliff

Music Fits into a Larger Plan

cliff@ogdenchurch.org (Cliff Washburn) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:34:14 GMT