The Church Collective Worship Leader Podcast

In this episode I had the chance to catch up with the always awesome Zach Bolen of Citizen's and Saints. They just put a new album out, you should probably go get it. In this episode we talk about: What they have seen God do through the music from their new project. The need for different types of themes in our music in the church. How this latest project differs from their last. Why people are hu...

In this episode myself, Josh, and Fox talk about the age old question. How loud should our services be? Some topics: The levels we are running in our services. How the level at your church will likely be different than another church. Why the physical space we are in has an effect on the levels we should run. The need to understand who is in our congregations. How to overcome difficulties among ou...

In this episode myself and Chris Bellamy talked with Josh Havens from the Afters about: Growing up in worship ministry. The balance between touring and doing local church ministry. Their new project "Live on Forever." How God has been working through their latest music in their churches. The process of writing the album of the course of two years. How loss has played a big part in the writing of t...

In this episode I talk with Jeff Sandstrom about: What it looks like to run production for Worship Night in America. Worship Connect at Sweetwater. We'll be there! You should too! Details about all the technology used for some of the biggest worship events. How to go about aligning tech and worship vision. The role a sound guy plays in helping the congregation participate. The need for preparation...

In this episode myself, Fox, and Chris talk about how to encourage more participation in our churches. We talk about: How to go about recruiting musicians and leaders. What songs we should choose to help encourage participation. The importance of the pastor/worship leader relationship. The resources available to us when we're looking for songs that will resonate in our churches. The value in using...

In this episode I talk with Luke McElroy about: Salt! (you should come join us!) How they go about changing the set for every main session. Advice for a smaller church who wants to go for the bigger things they see at conferences. How to do ministry while also doing setup and tear down. Why a lot of smaller churches are having a lot of success. What the heck environmental projection is. Thoughts o...

In this episode myself, Chris, and Adam talk about: What should we do when our senior pastor is part of the worship team. What if our older pastor feels like the younger worship leader is not picking the right music? The need for trust between the lead pastor and the worship leader. Why we need to be intentional about the songs that we pick. How you can work with your senior pastor if you feel lik...

In this episode Chris and I talk with Bryan and Katie Towalt about: Their new album champion. The need to recognize God's power in the midst of our situations. How Bryan and Katie got connected with Jesus Culture. Why most of the album will resonate with the local church. Here's our review. The story behind the songs "Champion" and "God with Us." How they stay grounded in their faith while they ar...

In this episode myself and Chris talked with Keith Everrett Smith and Tasha Layton Smith about the value of theology in worship. Some points made: The difference between corporate and private worship. A discussion about the "why" for corporate worship in the first place. The importance of teaching our churches about worship. Partnering with our lead pastors to move our worship culture forward. Som...

In this episode I had the chance to talk with Leeland about: How the band Leeland came to be. What it was like growing up in a traveling ministry family. How powerful it can be to have mentors in our lives. Why Jesus needs to be at the forefront of our ministry. The danger of identifying ourselves by our musicianship or worship leadership. Why we need to foster a heart for worship in the secret pl...

In this episode Miles, Adam, and Chris talk with Chad from Kings Kaleidoscope about: What the band has been doing lately. Their latest project Beyond Control. What it's like now that Chad is no longer a week to week worship pastor at Mars Hill. The heights and depths of emotion found in this album. The story behind the song "Enchanted" and how it conveys the theme of the entire record. How God is...

In this episode Adam and I continue our discussion with Dustin Smith about: Why we need to constantly fill ourselves up with the Word of God. The songwriting process with others. Starting the songwriting process with just worshiping. Ways to become inspired. The importance of community for worship communities. The need of joy in our lives and how to express it in a worship context. How the venue w...

The trouble with trying to aim for young people for the sake of just aiming for young people. Should we use a fog machine in our service? The franchising of the church vs the smaller boutique church. How the fasted growing churches in the country are multisite. The village mentality and what it means for the worship service. How things in the church are constantly changing. Some lessons learned fr...

In this episode myself and Adam talk with Dustin Smith about: His heart and ministry in The Healing Project. Why we need to be focused on the people in our church over the music. Dustin's dream about the healing power of music. What Dustin has seen God do through his music. The power of declaring God's place over everything in our life. Encouragement for the weekly worship leader. Why we need to t...

In this episode I talk with Travis Ryan about: The tension of writing music from a place of brokenness. The reason for worship music in the first place. Why we need to be vulnerable as worship leaders. The tension of being an artist and a worship leader. Why that idea is flawed in the first place. The honor of being an artist in a community. How to become more vulnerable in your worship leadership...

Here's part two of our talk with Bob Kauflin. You can hear part one here. In this episode you'll find: Why it is dangerous for our churches to try to just copy what we see coming from the most popular churches. The importance of multiple generations worshiping together and learning how to to do so. Thoughts on how to contextualize for the group we are leading worship for. The difference between wh...

What we think is going on with worship ministry and church in general. How the change in church culture is cyclical. The reality of the retirement of a lot of mega church pastors. How the internet has helped break down the walls for worship leaders and churches. The balance of churches focusing on multi-generations vs younger generations. Why the senior pastor has to be able to cast vision for the...

In this episode Miles and Adam talk with Bob Kauflin about: His latest book and how he come to write the ones before. The importance of a Biblical understanding of worship. The story of Sovereign Grace Music. Why the church needs theologically driven, accessible music. Some perspective on the evolution of worship over the past 30 years. The importance of looking toward mentors and leaders from gen...

In this episode I talk with Jordan Frye from Urban Rescue about: The impact of worship on the life of the artist. How an encounter with God can wildly change our lives. The impact of a simple ask from a leader when Jordan was in Jr. High. The value of getting students involved in worship ministry. Here's a great article on that. How to grow in our songwriting and leading. Why we need to understand...

In this episode I talked with Darren Mulligan from We Are Messengers about: How God changed his life and came to meet him. The influence that secular music had on Darren well before he became a Christian and before We Are Messengers. What God has been doing while they are on the Winter Jam tour. How Darren has observed that many people that come to Winter Jam are not Christians and how We Are Mess...

In this episode we talk about: What getting vocal nodes did in Phil's life. How it affected his songwriting. The way God birthed songs through the experience. How to seek and find peace in God through trails. Why we need to understand who we are in Christ to really be able to do ministry for Him. What songwriting was like without being able to sing. How God healed Phil's voice. Why we have to trus...

How they started their band. The importance of education as a worship leader and musician. Here's a great article about that! Why we have to mentor other leaders. How Ben started a program at Judson University that brings students out on the road with Citizen Way. What's going on on the road now. The value of music education in the songwriting process. SATB harmony from the hymnal! How the miscarr...

In this myself and Patrick from Soul City Church talk about when everything at church goes wrong: Patrick tells us about losing power to the entire building mid service. How our reliance on technology doesn't need to hold back what we can do on the weekend. The importance of having someone in the role of the technical director. The use of a music director in our services. How Jesus supersedes all...

In this episode Miles and Adam talk with Zach Bolen about: How the bands from Mars Hill Music has come together now to make Gospel Song Union. The heart behind coming together to provide music for the church. The importance of fighting against the celebrity culture of the church. The need to resource the smaller church worship leader and teams. Why we need to be ok with doing music differently tha...

In this episode myself and Cliff talk about vocal health! Here's what we chat about: The danger of singing too much. Fear of having nodules or nodes. What exactly a nodule is and how we can avoid getting them. Some encouragement for those that think they may have them. The mechanics of singing. Why it is so important for us to get proper training for singing. How much of our vocal troubles could b...