There’s a tendency to look down on Christmas carols. For some. Its simply that traditional hymns are not generally sung around the year, so why suddenly dedicate entire church services to them now. For others, it’s the belief that they are too sentimental, saccharine and lack the theology or poetry of other hymns and songs.… Continue reading In defence of carols
Category: Worship
Why we remember
It’s 107 years since the end of the great war that was meant to end all wars. It didn’t. In fact a second world war was fought just 21 years later. We were meant to learn from the evils of that war too, particular the horrors of the Holocaust yet antisemitism and the appeal of… Continue reading Why we remember
For all the Saints
Did you know that today is “All Saints Day”? That’s where we get the name Halloween from. It’s literally All Hallows Eve or All Saints Eve. The idea was that this was a day to remember all the minor, lesser known saints who didn’t get a saints’ day, a catch all if you like. Protestants… Continue reading For all the Saints
Training and practice for worship leaders and teams
A lot of attention when it comes to both training people as worship leaders and when it comes to preparing and practicing as worship teams goes into making sure that the music is technically on point. That matters of course. The best thing that musicians can do to serve our corporate worship is ensure that… Continue reading Training and practice for worship leaders and teams
Stay in touch – sort of responding to a TGC article on what to wear to church
An article about what to wear to church is currently doing the rounds. If you want to think through what to wear to church in more detail then you can read this which Steve Kneale has reposted here. To be honest, the arguments advanced in the TGC article are pretty thin. There’s the good old… Continue reading Stay in touch – sort of responding to a TGC article on what to wear to church
The problem with worship culture and how we can be counter cultural
I recently wrote about decisions regarding what songs we should sing. I originally focused on decisions about lyrics but then was asked about how we respond to questionable sources, what do we do if the song comes from a writer/church with an iffy theology. That’s an important question. However, the issue goes deeper. As I… Continue reading The problem with worship culture and how we can be counter cultural
Should we refuse to sing songs from particular sources such as Bethel and Hillsong.
I recently wrote about what we do with problem lyrics in worship songs. However, for some readers, the question needed to go further. What do we do when we have concerns about the ethos and theology of the song writers/ originating church. Issues may include both suspect theology and practices. This may not just be… Continue reading Should we refuse to sing songs from particular sources such as Bethel and Hillsong.
Can we sing that? The challenge when choosing worship songs
Worship leaders have a challenging task when choosing songs for a couple of reasons. First, song writers may not always have thought through carefully the implications of chosen lyrics or the lyrics may even be influenced by what we might describe as at best “wonky theology.” At the same time, you are also trying to… Continue reading Can we sing that? The challenge when choosing worship songs
Sunday is coming …but we don’t need to wait in uncertainty
I’ve written before about two things, one is about the tendency to use a meme about Friday being about darkness, tragedy and defeat but “Sunday is coming.” I’ve highlighted this as an example of how not to preach at Easter in this video. The other thing I’ve picked up on from time to time is… Continue reading Sunday is coming …but we don’t need to wait in uncertainty
Beneath the Cross of Jesus
Here’s a Faithroots Podcast Walk and Talk for Good Friday
Faithroots 