Today’s post hits a topic that should be obvious, but – sad to say – it’s not. Guitar and bass players – TUNE YOUR INTRUMENTS. I’m amazed at how many times I’ve seen services where it was clear that someone had skipped this essential step. I know that sometimes you’re not in ideal environments – playing outside, or close to hot lights, for example – where the heat/cold or humidity can fight you. I know that sometimes your instrument may be an issue in and of itself – I have a Les Paul that seems to delight in quickly going out of tune [my fault for not getting it taken care of].
However, quite frankly, most of the time it’s simply laziness or a blatant lack of attention. I actually witnessed a service where a professional looking countdown hit zero, the worship team strongly kicked in – and then, about three chords in – the worship leader stopped the song to tune! Stopped the song! Finally, after we all sat and watched the tuning process for about 2 minutes, the set started, went well for a few songs, and then was stopped AGAIN because it hadn’t gotten completely tune the first time. You could’ve picked my lower jaw up off the floor. The lesson? Tune your guitar. BEFORE the service.
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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