Vineyard East Worship

You have just purchased a new guitar or better yet, your grandma gave you her old one and it turns out that it’s a collector’s item and worth two grand. You are dazed and amazed by all that has happened and are wondering what to do with this instrument besides playing it. Here are some tips on how to take care of your guitar and keep it in tip-top shape.

First, guitars are made of wood. (I know, this information is right on the cutting edge.) Because of this feature, the guitar is affected by environmental changes, primarily humidity. The best way to protect against humidity changes is to keep the guitar in its case whenever you are not playing it. I can hear your complaints already, “That’s a pain in the neck.” “I like to look at it.” “I will forget I have it and never play it.”

Second, during the winter months place a small humidifier in the case to keep the guitar from drying out. These can be purchased very inexpensively at a well-equipped guitar shop. The simplest kinds are made of plastic with a small hole in the top and a sponge on the inside. Keep the sponge moist and your guitar will live happily through the winter months.

Third, wipe the neck and strings after each use. The acid and perspiration from your hands will coat the strings and in a matter of weeks they will go dead. The problem then becomes that you get used to this dull, lifeless sound and think your guitar sounds great when it really sounds terrible.

Fourth, keep the finish clean and polished. You know the feeling, the light is glistening off the spruce top, you take a deep breath and smile at the beauty of your instrument, inwardly congratulating yourself on such a fine choice. You tilt your head to the side to see it at another angle and suddenly you see dried fingerprint stains all over the top. You immediately look around to see who could have done this and then sheepishly realize that no one else has ever played your guitar. Buy a high quality guitar polish from your favorite guitar store and give that little wooden beauty a good shine.

Our vision for Crop ’10 was to praise God with our locally grown songs. This project has truly revealed the great value and excitement the community in our region has for worship (with roughly 70 songs submitted).

Congratulations to Justin Barney, Patrick Abendschein, Ryan Green, Spring Goutte, Rebekah Vasquez, Roy Gernhardt, Seth Andreson, Charles Brown, Chris Orza, and Walt Janusz!

The Crop ‘10 concert was a great night of singer/songwriters performing their songs. All of the artists were present except for Spring Gouette and Roy Gernhardt. Seth Andreson finished off the night with a spontaneous blues tune.

Special thanks to Abbey Harrington for leading this project. She did this as a volunteer and put in hours of work to make it happen. Thanks to the house band Chris Shinall on drums, Mike Ward on bass and Ron Halsey on electric guitar.

We have the fun opportunity ahead to host an Integrity worship conference at the Greater Boston Vineyard, featuring Brian Doerksen, Kathryn Scott, and Paul Baloche. The conference takes place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 29 & 30, culminating in a worship concert featuring these three in tandem with a really deft band. I went to such an event last year, and they’re a complementary trio with a lot of breadth, depth, and spiritual authority. And they’re impressively supported with top quality technology. (The fact that AudioEthics will be taking over our sanctuary, installing their own lights, sound and projection systems means it’s a rare opportunity for behind the scenes training on every level.)

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So time is moving forward, as it tends to do. It’s now 2010 (yikes, whenever I hear Prince’s 1999, I have to pinch myself that already happened over a decade ago!). And while the world around us still loves classic formulas for music, art & expression, it’s also embracing new styles, the young who are experimenting with it, the process by which they’re working out expression and (almost secondarily) the final result.

The iPad DJ video from @ranajune is case in point. Gimmicky? Without question. But allowing access to creative expression to a whole bunch of bored kids (or unemployed or really dedicated older people) in your town? At least in theory.

To what degree are you (worship & creative leaders) harnessing & encouraging that kind of energy into your church communities? I know I’m barely scratching the surface.

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Album: Fee – Hope Rising
Group: Fee (Steve Fee)
Published: 2009

OK … gotta say another bravo for Steve Fee. This CD, although having the cosmetic of a youth-built project, contains songs that have excellent lyrical and melodical bones for any generation. If you have the talent to adapt songs to your various applications such as congregational worship, youth worship, small group worship, etc., I’d recommend getting this CD and picking up the chord sheets at http://www.stevefee.com/extras.

My favorite song on this CD is “We Crown You,” for its ability to draw the congregation into a singing mood (it has an echo chorus) and it’s multi-generational appeal. It also has lyrics that allow the worshipper to sink their teeth into giving God their all—those upwardly-pouring thoughts.

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Why We Sing

I have been blessed in my life by growing up in a home that placed a high value on music. It is so much a part of my life that during an assessment for ministry, when I was asked to describe what I did when my mind was in neutral, without thinking I responded with, “I Sing, tap a rhythm, a bass line, a piano part, or work on a harmony.” Taking that love for music into the church gives me the chance to do what I love with a group of people who are focused on the face of Jesus.

The question then becomes how to help the average person that sits in the congregation become a participant and not a spectator. One of the things that struck me when I first discovered the Vineyard was the high value on participation. John Wimber called it “Everybody gets to play.” That value permeates everything we do from praying for the sick, serving in the food pantry to singing the worship songs in the weekend services and the small groups.

Three values of our expression of worship in song are simplicity, intimacy and accessibility. As a worship leader I want to bring the people to that place of communion with the living God, to focus on Him in wonder and awe, and to bow before Him in surrender. We do this through songs and the songs that we pick to sing on any given weekend.

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Album: Fee – We Shine
Group: Fee (Steve Fee)
Published: 2007

I recently purchased this CD without knowing anything about Fee or Steve Fee, founder and songwriter. I was pleasantly surprised in the worshipful style of these songs. The CD starts out with two aggressive, arranged-for-youth tunes–but once you get past those, there’s nuggets in here for both congregational and small group worship. Steve Fee has compiled a CD that contains several upwardly-vertical lyrics and easy-learnable melodies.

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Power of 4ths A simple three note chord that has a variety of uses and can enhance any song.

Songteach.com is a website brought to us by Vineyard Records UK designed to resource you with songs for your community, whether for use in a small group or church setting.

Songteach provides free video tutorials with easy-to-follow instructions so less experienced players can quickly learn new songs & provides more seasoned players with twists, new techniques & exercises to consider. Although the site only offers guitar tutorials right now, watch for keyboard tutorials, vocal tutorials and much much more! PDF chord charts are also available on Songteach. Read more »

The deadline for song submissions has been extended until April 15, Tax day. We hope the extension will help more of you finish your project and give us a great representation of East coast songwriting. (VineyardUSA Eastern Region’s collecting of locally written songs)!

Download the PDF form (Eastern Crop 2010 Submission Form) & send via snail mail by April 15, 2010 If you prefer you can email an mp3 file to crop2010@vineyardeastworship.com

Eastern Crop ‘10
attn: Abbey Harrington
The Vineyard CHurch
312 Lakeside Rd.
Syracuse, NY 13209

Get writing & please spread the word to the worship leaders & musicians in your churches. Also, lets chat on the forum about any ideas or questions that you have.

Check us out on Facebook

http://www.vimeo.com/8888169

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