I learned a hard lesson once when I was a young guitar player. It was our very first “Battle Of The Bands.” We only got to play two songs, and we had worked very hard to create a cool transition between them – at the end of the first song, we built and built, ending on a huge, dramatic note, and then kicking into song number two. The day arrived, we made it through the first song strongly, got to the big dramatic note, and – as I hit that final chord – I broke a string. I was the lead guitarist, and it was my B-string – no way I could play around it. Unfortunately, we hadn’t thought to bring a spare guitar and have it ready to go. So…we stopped…someone loaned me a new string…and I tuned it up…on stage. People [mainly the other bands] clapped in derision as I tuned. Needless to say, we didn’t win…I learned that day to make sure that our band had backup plans for each instrument. Things WILL eventually break or malfunction – know what you’ll do when that happens. Have an extra guitar and bass available – even if they’re “cheap-ies.” Have extra drumsticks and strings – even bass guitar strings [I’ve broken those in live settings, more than once]. Have direct boxes in case an amp goes down. Have an extra snare and drumheads. If a backup keyboard is impossible, have a track option available with the keys mixed in.Be prepared – and nine times out of ten, no one will have any idea that there’s a problem…
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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