Just-in-Time Help for the Harried Worship Planner

A while ago, I wrote about the work I was doing on a second volume of the next great Christian publishing franchise: Ten Service Plans for Contemporary Worship. I am pleased to announce that the second volume is printed and ready to go. Ladies and gentlemen, warm up your credit cards.

It was a long difficult slog pulling it together, but I'm rather pleased how it turned out. The services are not intended, of course, to be borrowed wholesale and used in different congregations exactly as they are. I expect people will use them as jumping off points for their own planning, or glean from these plans particular resources for their own services.

In fact, I think the best feature of this book is the immediate availability of bonus material: sheet music, mp3 files, jpg files and other good stuff -- all free, all available on the web, and featured in this publication. Plan 4, for example, begins with the song "The Lord Be with You," a riff on the traditional Reformed votum. I composed it for use at LOFT, and have given it away regularly when I do worship workshops. One can now download a lead sheet and listen to an Mp3 recording of that song from a supplemental materials page.

The good folks at the CICW were kind enough to host the "supplemental materials" page -- but I've been toying lately with the idea of an entirely separate site that would function as a constantly updated worship resource clearing house. I have in mind a collaborative and interactive blog site where members could solicit help for their own weekly worship planning, and post their latest great worship idea to share with other interested worship wonks. Music, written prayers, artwork, photos, books, links, etc. -- all sorts of resources for the harried but thoughtful worship planner. Easter is coming up - what will you sing other than "Up From the Grave He Arose"? You could go to this site to find ideas for yourself if you're stumped. Or you could go there to create a post telling others about that wonderful Honduran "Alleluia" you found in an obscure songbook.

I think the idea of a blog to help worship planners and leaders has so much promise, in fact, that I'm actively soliciting folks who would be interested in being founding members. Hey worship wonk friends! (or strangers!) - if this sounds like you, drop me a line.