So often as lead worshippers we can get caught up in the ‘performance’ side of what we do. Is the band clicking? Are the vocals on? What we need is to take a step back, take a breath and remember that we are called to love. Love the people we serve and serve with. Show God’s love to His people through our worship.

I recently came across a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 that hopefully will give each of us a little perspective.
“And now I want to show you the way that is better than talent– the best way. If I speak in tongues and sing like Darlene Zschech, but don’t love my team members or the people in the congregation, I’m just making music– and though that’s nice, it’s just not the best way. Love is patient- (playing various instruments together takes time and work!). Love is kind- (my words have the power to unite us or divide us). It doesn’t boast, isn’t proud- (it doesn’t matter who has the most or least talent). It isn’t rude, isn’t about me and isn’t easily ticked off. But when it is, it doesn’t keep score. It just forgives and understands. Love never fails. When the amp isn’t hooked up and I can’t hear in the monitor, when my voice cracks and we lose the beat, love goes on.”

This was written by Holly Pentz of New Covenant Assembly of God in Montgomery, PA.

God bless you as you serve God through serving and loving His people.

Amy Foster

Technology is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? If you’re like me you have several pieces of technology that let you make phone calls, send emails, keep up with your friends on various social networks, watch an endless array of videos of all kinds and see what hundreds of your friends are doing at any moment. Needless to say, it is easy to find ourselves addicted to being overinformed and overstimulated. I love technology and have to confess, at times, I spend way too much time with it.

Our culture dictates a fast paced life. We spend our days running from meeting to meeting, appointments, rehearsals, songwriting, scheduling people, working with pastors, and then add family responsibilities to that! We can easily find ourselves scheduled morning til night almost every day. We have been given the great privilege of leading people. As leaders, it is very important that we position ourselves, on purpose, in a place where we can hear from God. Whether it is a song list choice, or a personnell issue, we need his direction.

I have become very fond of Eugene Petersen’s Message paraphrase of the Bible. Psalm 46:10 (MSG) brings the context right where we live . . . “step out of the traffic, and take a long, loving look at Me, your High God”.

Step out of the traffic! Just the thought of it makes me both nervous and excited. There is a certain comfort zone that we create by being heavily scheduled. Sometimes we just don’t know what to do when the noise of the world goes away and we are left to contemplate. But that’s just where He wants us to be. Still. Quiet. Listening. One of my mentors in the ministry taught me a valuable concept . . .”sometimes the very best answer to a very important request is NO!” Solitude requires discipline. But it is worth it!

Social networking has a buzzword phrase on which that premise seems to be built . . . “what are you doing right now?” The important thing is to ask the Father that question; often, and then take time and wait for His answer.

Step Out Of The Traffic.

Our worship and media conference last weekend was a huge success! Months and months of planning and the efforts of many people resulted in a great event with 315 registrants from 50 different churches, more than 20 exhibitors, 25 volunteers & staff and some incredible special guest artists & clinicians. Many of our registrants and exhibitors couldn’t believe this was our first conference and stated they will definitely be back next year.  I can’t count the number of people who said, “I wish we would’ve brought more people!  We didn’t realize it was going to be this good.”

Thank the Lord for helping us with all the details.  We learned a LOT and will build on this experience to make future conferences even more relevant and productive for all who attend.

Check out these links to catch a glimpse of the experience.

View our 36-page full-color program

View our photo album of the event

If you attended the event and have any feedback or impressions to share please sign in below and leave your comments.

• Corevalus SamePage – Bill Klaber (www.corevalus.com)

• Shure – Doug Gould (www.shure.com)

• Audio Ethics – David McCauley (www.audioethics.com)

• NJN Productions – Nate Noss (www.njnproductions.com)

• Spire Lighting Design – Matt Phillips (www.spirelightingdesign.com)

• JP Lilley – Elaine Bish (www.jplilley.com)

• Guitar Center – Dan Newell (www.guitarcenter.com)
> OPEN FOR RETAIL BUSINESS DURING CONFERENCE – SELECTED ITEMS WILL BE AVAILABLE

• Valley Forge Christian College – Floyd Richmond (www.vfcc.edu)

• A/G National Music Department – Tom Matrone (www.music.ag.org)

• Cornerstone Design Architects – Kent Vandervort (www.cornerstonedesign.com)

• 1Christian.net – Rob Winter (www.1Christian.net)

• George Furlow – Guest Artist (www.mattgossband.com)

• Matt Goss Band – Guest Artist (www.georgefurlow.com)

• Kristian Walker – Conference Host & Worship Leader (www.kristianwalker.org)

Hampton Inn – Harrisburg West
> 3 minutes from Christian Life A/G
4950 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg,, PA
717-691-1300

Rate: $109.00

Wingate by Wyndham
> 5 minutes from Christian Life A/G
385 Cumberland Pkwy.
Mechanicsburg., PA, 17055 US
717-766-2710

Rate: $89.00

OTHER HOTEL OPTIONS IN THE AREA:

Comfort Inn (5 minutes)
1012 Wesley Drive, Mechanicsburg, PA
(717) 766-3700

Courtyard by Marriott (5 minutes)
4921 Gettysburg Road, Mechanicsburg, PA
717-766-9006

Country Inn & Suites (5 minutes)
4943 Gettysburg Road, Mechanicsburg, PA
(717) 796-0300

Holiday Inn – Harrisburg West (5 minutes)
148 Sheraton Drive, New Cumberland, PA
(717) 774-2721

Comfort Inn (5 minutes)
130 Limekiln Rd. , New Cumberland, PA
(717) 774-8888

Phillip Bongiorno Conference Center (25 min)
430 Union Hall Rd., Carlisle, PA
(717) 243-7381
Attn.: Nancy Graver

Rates:
Hotel Room with 1 Queen Bed: $39
Open Dorm (1 for men; 1 for women): $10
* No breakfast served

For the WORSHIP LEADER
• How to Lead a Worship Band I (Rehearsal Tips / Practical Preparation) – Matt Goss
• How to Lead a Worship Band II (Incorporating orchestral instr., finding charts, etc.) – George Furlow
• The Heart of the Worship Leader – Matt Goss
• The Relationship Between the Pastor and the Worship Leader – Paul Grabill and Wayne Miller
• Leading a Worship Ministry with Limited Resources and Personnel – TBA
• Freeflow Worship / Worship Beyond the Song – Craig Miller and Eric Miller
• Worship Leader Open Forum – Q & A with Matt Goss, Troy Peterson, Craig Miller & Kristian Walker
• Creating a Worship Set That Flows – Kristian Walker
• Effectively Utilizing Choir to Complement Your Worship Service – Tom Matrone

For the WORSHIP TEAM MEMBER
• Practical Tips for Worship Band Members – George Furlow
• What it Takes to Be a Great Team – George Furlow
• The Heart of the Worship Team Member (Spiritual Preparation & Perspective) – Bill Jenkins
• Musician Workshop / electric guitar 1 & 2 – Erich Shoemaker
• Musician Workshop / acoustic guitar 1 & 2 – Wayne Miller
• Musician Workshop / bass guitar 1 – Nick Palomo
• Musician Workshop / bass guitar 2 (combined with drums) – Jordan Mellinger (Matt Goss Band)
• Musician Workshop / drums 1 & 2 – Jeff Culp (Matt Goss Band)
• Musician Workshop / piano/keyboard 1 & 2 – Tom Matrone
• Musician Workshop / Basic Vocal Techniques 1, 2, 3 – Sheri Gould
• Musician Workshop / Take Your Worship Team Vocals to the Next Level 1, 2, 3 – Sheri Gould

For MEDIA – AUDIO
• Church Audio 101 (Basic training on mixers, EQ’s, compressors, etc.) – David McCauley, Audio Ethics
• Audio Mixing – Training Your Ear & Building a Great Mix – Dave McCauley
• “Thou Shalt Not Kill… Your Worship Leader” (gaining an understanding of their task) – Steve Giunta
• Microphones in Worship– Doug Gould, Shure
• The Quiet Stage – Lower Volumes, Great Sound (Types & options to improve house sound.) – Doug Gould
• Live Church Audio Open Forum – Q & A with Dave McCauley and Doug Gould
• Recording 101 (from basic ‘live’ recordings of your service to ‘studio’ options) – Dr. Floyd Richmond

For MEDIA – VIDEO
• Short Movie Production & Integration into Your Service (software, equipment overview, methods, tips, creativity, sermon & series branding) – Nick Palomo
• Producing the Service (systems integration, timing, live environment) – Nick Palomo
• Recording Your Service to Video (Tips & Techniques; etc.) – Richard Foster
• Editing Your Recording (Simple editing software & techniques; creating a DVD) – Richard Foster
• Podcasting & Web Streaming 1 & 2 (Simple Steps for Producing an Audio/Video Podcast) – Dr. Floyd Richmond
• Basic Video Projection 1 (where to begin, choosing a projector, positioning, etc.) – JP Lilley
• Basic Video Projection 2. (presentation methods, software options, backgrounds, etc.) – TBA

For MEDIA – LIGHTING
• Introduction to Stage Lighting (lighting concepts & basics) – Matt Phillips
• Lighting in Worship Settings (using stage lighting to enhance the worship environment) – Matt Phillips
• How do we take your sanctuary lighting to the next level? – John Ebert
• Tour of CLA Lighting and Staging Systems (a behind-the-scenes look at how CLA’s lighting, staging, and special effects systems work) – Matt Phillips & Wayne Roth
• Creative Staging on a Shoestring Budget (Learn the process behind the creative staging used at CLA) – Wayne Roth
• “How do we take our sanctuary lighting to the next level?” – John Ebert


For the MUSIC ADMINISTRATION / ORGANIZATION
• Methods for Efficiency – Bill Klaber, Corevalus SamePage Digital Chord Chart & Database System
• Methods for Efficiency – Rob Winter & Nate Hoffman, 1Christian.net Worship Planning System
• Music Department Organization and Infrastructure – Troy Peterson, Erich Shoemaker, Paul Taddeo
• Staying Out of Jail – (legalities of copying music, CDs, displaying lyrics, using video) – Troy Peterson, Richard Foster, Erich Shoemaker and Sam Cornwell

GUEST ARTISTS

Phillips, Craig and Dean – www.phillipscraiganddean.com

Matt Goss and The Matt Goss Band – www.mattgossband.com

George Furlow – www.georgefurlow.com

Tom Matrone – www.music.ag.org/team

Doug & Sheri Gould – www.myspace.com/dougandsherigould

Troy Peterson – www.christian-life.com

Kristian Walker – www.kristianwalker.org

and others…

ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES

• Phillips, Craig & Dean – Internationally-known, Dove Award-winning Contemporary Christian vocal recording artists. They are producers of 10 albums with 18 #1 singles and have sold over 2 million albums over the past 16 years, but the real focus of Phillips, Craig and Dean is to minister the gospel through music and deliver a message of hope and encouragement. Randy, Shawn and Dan are each lead pastors at their home churches yet they still have a heart and passion to be on the road as often as possible leading God’s people in worship.

• Matt Goss Band – Worship Pastor at Lancaster County Bible Church in Manheim, PA. Over the past 8 years the church has grown from 700 to over 7000 people in weekly attendance. Matt is a featured worship leader and speaker at Integrity Music seminars and many other conferences each year and his songs are being sung in churches all over the world. Matt’s band has performed with such worship artists as Delerious, Lincoln Brewster, Third Day, Paul Baloche, Paul Coleman, Jeff Deyo, Rita Spinger and many others. In 2004 they had the honor of performing for President George W. Bush 4 times during his reelection campaign.

• George Furlow – Music director, band leader and arranger at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh with Bishop Joseph Garlington. George is a master saxophonist & woodwind specialist who travels worldwide sharing his musical gifts and teaching workshops for church musicians. He has played on multiple Hosanna Integrity, Maranatha and Promise Keepers worship recordings and has ministered with notable worship leaders such as Ron Kenoly, Israel Houghton, Mary Nystrom, Paul Wilbur and Don Moen. George has also been a part of the Pittsburgh symphony.

• Tom Matrone – National Music Director for the Assemblies of God. Tom Matrone has been a minister of music for the past 28 years with the Assemblies of God Fellowship and has been a catalyst for bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary worship formats in church music. He serves as the Music Minister and Senior Associate Pastor at Central Assembly of God in Springfield, MO and is also a professor at both Central Bible College and Evangel University, teaching courses such as Choral Conducting, Worship Leadership and Hymnology.

• Doug Gould – Doug is an associate manager and ‘in-house’ technical guru for Shure. He travels coast-to-coast teaching audio classes in various music & worship conferences, working alongside well-known Christian worship artists such as Paul Baloche, Jeff Deyo and Carl Albrecht, among others. Doug is first a musician and teaches everything he knows about audio from that perspective. He specializes in helping solve audio issues for churches specifically.

• Sheri Gould – Professional voice coach and worship vocal specialist. Sheri has taught voice privately for over 25 years and has been a worship leader and music director in various local churches since 1986. Sheri writes articles regularly for Worship Musician! Magazine and tours the country with her husband, Doug, teaching and equipping the Body of Christ for music ministry at such conferences as: Christian Musician Summit, Karitos Conference, the Northeast Worship Institute, His Call Ministries’ Throne Zone Conference, Kingdom Bound and many more.

• Troy Peterson – Worship Ministries Pastor at our host church, Christian Life Assembly in Camp Hill, PA. Troy has served as worship leader, music minister and media pastor at Christian Life for the past 10 years and has administrated and navigated them into the world of media, technology and professional video production & audio recording. He was very instrumental in guiding the building committee down the path of implementing the tools for technology in the church’s 2000 seat state-of-the-art sanctuary. Troy has produced a live worship CD and a sanctuary choir CD for the church in addition his own 2 solo recordings.

• Kristian Walker – PennDel District Music & Worship Liaison. Kristian and his wife Shannon are first worshipers with a heart for leading people into God’s presence. They are music and worship evangelists, traveling to over 100 churches each year ministering in music & worship and providing encouragement and training to pastors, worship leaders, worship teams and media teams. The Walkers have had the opportunity to take their music and teaching ministry to over 40 countries around the world. They have recorded 7 CDs, including the “Simply Praise Series” which consists of 4 long-play devotional worship recordings.

WORKSHOP CLINICIANS

Paul Boisvert – Minister of Music, First Assembly of God – York, PA

Sam Cornwell – Graphics and Web Coordinator, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

John Ebert – Sales Manager, Creative Stage Lighting – Northcreek, NY

Richard Foster – Director of Video Production and Media Assistant, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

George Furlow – Music Director, Covenant Church of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, PA

Steve Giunta – Minister of Music, Media and Fine Arts, Central Assembly of God – Houston, PA

Matt Goss – Worship Pastor, Lancaster County Bible Church – Manheim, PA

Jordan Mellinger – Matt Goss Band

Jeff Culp – Matt Goss Band

Doug Gould – International Conference Speaker & Representative for Shure

Sheri Gould – Professional Voice Coach and International Conference Speaker

Paul Grabill – Lead Pastor, State College Assembly of God

Bill Jenkins – Pastor of Music & Fine Arts, Monroeville A/G Pittsburgh, PA

Bill Klaber – Director of Sales, Corevalus SamePage – Digital Worship Music Systems

Tom Matrone – National Music Director for the Assemblies of God – Springfield, MO

David McCauley – Representative from Audio Ethics

Craig Miller – Associate and Pastor of Worship, Christian Life Community Church – Allentown, PA

Wayne Miller – Pastor of Worship Ministries, State College Assembly of God

Nate Noss – Founder of NJN Productions Lighting Design & Installation – Harrisburg, PA

Nick Palomo – PennDel District Communications and Media Specialist

Troy Peterson – Worship Ministries Pastor, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

Matt Phillips – Director of Lighting, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

Dr. Floyd Richmond – Church Media Specialist & Professor, Valley Forge Christian College

Wayne Roth – Technical & Staging Director, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

Erich Shoemaker – Administrative Assistant for Worship Ministries, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hil, PA

Paul Taddeo – Assistant Music Director, Christian Life Assembly – Camp Hill, PA

Kristian Walker - PennDel District Music and Worship Liaison / Evangelist – Camp Hill, PA

Rob Winter – Founder and CEO, 1Christian.net

FRIDAY

8:30 – 9:30
Registration / Exhibits Open

9:30 – 10:45
Opening Worship – Troy Peterson & Christian Life A/G Worship Team
General Session – Matt Goss

11:00 – 11:45
Breakout Workshop I

Lunch (provided on site – included in conference price)

1:00 – 2:00
General Session – Tech Forum (CLA Team)

2:15 – 3:00
Breakout Workshop II

3:15 – 4:00
Breakout Workshop III

Dinner (on your own)

7:00 ‘Friday Night LIVE’ – Phillips, Craig & Dean
===
SATURDAY

9:00 – 10:15
Opening Worship – Kristian Walker Band
General Session – George Furlow

10:30 – 11:15
Breakout Workshop IV

11:30 – 12:15
Breakout Workshop V

Lunch (provided on site – included in conference price)

1:30 – 2:15
Breakout Workshop VI

2:30 – 3:30
Closing Worship Concert with Matt Goss Band