#SundaySetlist #InHisImage

We started a new series last week titled 'In His Image' discussing the topic of Creation and beginnings.  So far it's been a great series.  This week focused on the thought God created us for the purpose to bring Him glory!  We rearranged the service quite a bit and I lead just on acoustic.  No drums, or electric guitar, or bass.  It was completely different from what I have done since I've started but it was great to be able to hear the church sing their hearts out!  We laid the service out so that instead of the music being a preparation of the heart for the sermon, we put the sermon right at the beginning, that made the worship a response to the Word.  It actually turned out great!  I love to hear the voices of many proclaiming the love of Christ in a unified song.

This is our #sundaysetlist

Welcome - Josh (lead Pastor)

Video Buffer - The G.O.S.P.E.L (life in 6 words) 

Message - In His Image: Creation (Josh - Lead Pastor)

Worship Set
  - From the Inside Out (Hillsong)

  - God of Wonders (Third Day version)

      - Scripture reading: Necia DiTrapani - Psalm 19.1-9,14

  - How Great is Our God (Tomlin)

  - Doxology (Crowder Version)

Closing & Announcements (Josh - Lead Pastor)

We are excited where this series is headed.  If you are interested in the series, feel free to listen to our Evident Church Podcast on iTunes

#SundaySetlist

This morning we had amazing service! It was our baptism Celebration service so instead of having a message and a typical layout, we focused the entire morning on the baptisms.  We had songs that were geared toward washing our sins away and our redemption in Christ.  What we envisioned was 'BIG,' massive celebration and I would consider it a successful service.  Here's our #Sundaysetlist.

Video - Baptism (http://rv.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/15480/Baptism)

Welcome - Rosalie (our children's director)
    She gave a small presentation explaining what baptism is using a naked barbie ken and peanut butter.  We try to cover our sins with stuff (going to church, good deeds) but God is the only thing that can wash us clean.  It was a great intro to the service

Worship Song - Our God is Greater (Tomlin) - B
    We wanted HUGE!  We started off with the band doing a driving beat while I coached the church describing why today was a celebration.  This is where we wanted to "raise the temperature" of the room.  I backed my coaching from Psalm 100 - Shout for joy, all the Earth.  We even did some shouting.  We had great congregation participation this morning!

Baptisms - 5 people!
   We had 2 sets. We had each person read a short story they had written about their lives, conversion and calling to baptism.  Some of the stories were very emotional.  It was an amazing addition to the service.  Some of the people being baptized were younger, and this was a great way to help them understand what they were doing.  We had each participant go through a booklet describing what baptism is and some questions to help them write their story.

Worship Songs
    Forever Reign - B (Hillsong)
    Jesus Messiah - B (Tomlin)
        Once again, the theme was Huge!  Another word I would use is passionate.  I would say that since I've been a worship leader at Evident this was the most united and participative the church has been in worship.  At one point I think the kids (1st grade and up were in the service with us this morning) were actually singing louder than the adults! I would step back away from the mic and just bask in the sound of the congregation proclaiming their worship.  It was an amazing sound!

Baptisms - 5 people! 
    We borrowed a portable baptism and had it set up basically at the bottom of the stage in the center of the room.  If felt as if the baptism was the center of attention for the morning, which is exactly what we wanted.  It was a lot of work for a portable church but the payoff for this type of service was very great!

Closing Worship Song - Happy Day - C (Fee)
    This was a great song to close the day of celebration.  Once again BIG.  I did some more coaching at the beginning of the song to help the congregation sing from their hearts.

Announcements/Offering/Closing
    We ended after the song with just a few announcements (small groups, Offering - which was basically at the back door, drop it on your way out, and a few other things).  Once the congregation was dismissed we played a few lines of Happy day and officially ended the service.


It was an amazing day.  The baptisms were amazing, the worship was amazing and the atmosphere of the entire morning was very upbeat and full of excitement!  One thing I wish we would have thought of was having a small graphic of the people getting baptized. We also had trouble mic'ing the people in the baptism (trying to be as safe as possible).  Things for the future, but all in all, a great day.

#SundaySetlist

In the Worship Leader blogging world there is a following titled #sundaysetlist where worship leaders will post about their sunday worship services and tweet the songs that they did. I am going to start sharing about once a series or so what we are doing on sundays to first, help me reflect on what all happened in our worship service, and also as a resource if someone else wants to incorporate what we are doing.  I have gotten many different ideas from others who have posted their #sundaysetlist and I hope when I post on ours, we can give ideas to others.

Right now we are in the middle of our series Multiply.  This series is all based out of Matthew 28, the great commission.  We are focusing on the idea of discipleship, which can be broad, but we have to have a strong foundation on what we believe "go and make disciples" means.  Last week Pastor Josh Hossler (our lead pastor) laid some groundwork explaining before we can make disciples we first need to make sure that we know what we are to be discipling.  We must examine ourselves and ask the tough question "are we modeling what Christ considers a good disciple to be?"  This week Pastor Bill Hossler, the president of the Missionary Church (as well as Josh's dad),  gave us some strong challenges.  He gave us some of the different aspects of what the Missionary Church believes "discipleship" is.  For me this series hits home because I am a Pastor of Worship & Discipleship.  I believe when it comes to discipleship the best way is with others!  We see discipleship from our small groups, mentoring those not as spiritually mature as ourselves, even doing life together serving in a particular ministry you see true discipleship.  If you feel you need discipleship, you need to be involved in your local church!

Here is our worship flow:

Welcome 

   Lord, Almighty - Kristian Stanfill version

Worship Set

   Not to Us - Passion version
       Scripture References: Psalm 115.1 & Psalm 66.1f
 
   Hosanna - Hillsong United version
 
   Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin version

Announcements - Tony


Message - Bill Hossler

   Multiply (week 2 of series)

Offering & Closing Song

   From the Inside Out - Hillsong United version

Dismiss - Tony

Things I'm working on as a WL:

  - We start at 10.30a and it seems most people don't come in until around 10.40a or 10.45a.  I want to create an atmosphere of anticipation and excitement.  For me, I am so excited about our Sunday gatherings and I want to make every minute as intentional as I can.  I want to share that desire with the congregation so I am starting to lead us into worship as soon as I can and follow the worship set with announcements instead of having them at the beginning.

  - I want to see our congregation engaged in worship.  So many times I've been in services where I have had worship leaders basically give a "performance" and I want the congregation to be actively involved in our worship.  To achieve this I have been giving vocal cues for them to sing and I back away from the mic.  Also, I have used some scripture verses to "coach" them as we are in worship.  So far we have had a great response from the church as far as participation. 

Getting Settled In

Just thought I would give a small update with some pictures of our new place.  We are doing well and the house is completely unpacked and we are loving it!  We are so lucky to be here and there have been many doors God has opened up for us to make it happen.  I started working at the church on Tuesday and have already met with some of the worship band members and I am starting to get used to my responsibilities at the church.  I am excited about Sunday's worship service, which will introduce us to the church as a whole.  I led worship once in October, but since then the church has switched locations so it will be different.  The church is a "portable church" which means they meet somewhere other than their own facility.  Every sunday morning they set up the whole church from the children's classrooms all the way to the sound system and chairs in the main room.  It's exciting to be part of that.  Here is a short video of what they do...

This is at the other school that they were meeting in.  The reason they are meeting in schools is because it's so expensive for property up here, it is the cheapest route to go.  There are many churches that meet in other's facilities in this area.

  So.. back to our house... Here are some pictures of what we have done with the place.  It is very spacious!  Technically it's a condo (there are other houses connected on both sides of ours) but it's so massive that we don't even realize it.  I didn't take a picture of the backyard, but there is a 20'x12' deck on the back and a pond with fountains.  Very nice.  The weather up here has been incredibly warm and I'm sure that we will see snow soon.  As for now, we will enjoy the 35-45 degree weather :)  Please keep us in your prayers as we still get settled in and make more connections with people in the church.  We are doing well and loving life right now!

This is the Entryway when you walk in the house.  To the left is the stairs to the basement

 One of my favorite rooms in the house... the garage, which for now fits all our toys in there!

 Master bedroom.  We painted the blue.  There is a big window with a great view of the pond. The Master bathroom is on the right.

 This is the hallway between the two bedrooms and a full guest bathroom, which is very purple. :) The closets in the master bathroom are huge!  Ashley loves all the storage space in the house.  You can see we were still unpacking the guest bedroom when this picture was taken :)

Kitchen. Ashley making cookies, pj patiently waiting for cookies. :) I am standing in the laundry room, which has a huge pantry and a door to the garage.

 Guest bedroom.  There is also a desk in the room, but I couldn't fit it in the picture.

 My new office.  Love this!

 My new desk.  The MacBook Pro on the left is my new work computer.

 Picture of how big the basement is. Room for a pool table :)

 Home theater. nuff' said :)

Mellingers On The Move

   If you haven't heard by now, Ashley and I are moving at the end of the month!  Ashley and I have felt called to join the team of a church in Chesterfield Michigan (northeast Detroit).  We decided last year around this time we wanted to take a year off of ministry to spend with each other.  We had gotten married in May 2010 and realized the life of ministry is very fast paced with many long nights at the church and we wanted our first year of marriage to be a strong foundation for the rest of our lives.  I resigned from my youth pastor position at Cross Community Church and have been working at Sears and Family Christian stores in Fort Wayne part time while Ashley was a nurse at Parkview Hospital.  This year has not been wasted at all.  Ashley and I grow closer to each other every day and the one year break has given us a chance to just "be married."  We have been able to go on some trips, we have been able to focus on each other, and focus on our love for Christ as a couple.  I would strongly suggest this for any newly wed couple involved in ministry.  Now that this year is ending, we are going to start a new position, together, on the same page and I am very excited about where God is leading us!
   I accepted the position of Pastor of Worship & Discipleship at Evident Church in Chesterfield MI.  This church is 3 years old as of September and is part of the Missionary Church denomination. My position is twofold: First I will be focusing on leading the sunday morning worship, and overseeing and directing the portability team, tech, and guest services. I'm excited about having the chance to not only use the musical gifts God has given me but also the opportunity for me to teach a church congregation weekly about what true worship really is.  So many times we think that worship is just the "music" portion of the church service and it's so much deeper than that!  Worship is a daily activity, and God only accepts authentic worship from us!  Our whole purpose in life is to worship God!  We were created just for that: to bring God pleasure.  What a calling!  Right now I am reading a book titled "The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship" by A.W. Tozer and it is so uplifting because it is reminding me of why I am here on earth!  It's not to gather "stuff" or to become educated, or even for my own pleasure.  God created us in his image, with an intellect that has the capacity like none other to understand his love and grace.  Because we have this type of intellect, we can give Him pleasure by offering pure worship to Him!  What an amazing calling for our life!  The second part of my position will be directing certain aspects of the discipleship ministries of the church, plugging laypersons into positions they can help serve this local body, and assisting the Lead Pastor, Josh Hossler, as needed in other areas as a partner in ministry.  Ashley and I are so excited about joining this team of Christ followers.  We will be moving on December 31st, after we spend some time in St. Louis with Ashley's family for the Holidays.  Please pray for us as we switch gears from living in Fort Wayne to moving to a different community and joining a new church family.  God has blessed us so much in the past few months!

I've been spending a lot of time with my guitar lately.  Last month I led worship at a church in Michigan and it reminded me how important worship leading is.  I was reading an article today and I thought  Rob Still had some great points that I wanted to share with everyone! Sometimes it's so easy for us to get wrapped up in the band, or which songs, or even whether or not we like the singer's voice, but it's so much deeper than that.  As a worship leader, you are called to lead everyone not only musically but also spiritually.  It's a big challenge!  

~Tony

1. Leading worship is … primarily a spiritual activity.

”God is spirit. He is looking for worshipers in spirit and truth.” John 4:24

“Worship of the true and living God is essentially an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible” David Peterson, Engaging God (20, 283).

2. Leading worship is secondarily a musical activity. Nevertheless it is to be done skillfully (Psalm 33)

3. The leadership aspect varies according to your role. Not only do you lead with your instrument or voice, you also lead with your whole countenance and how the congregation experiences you.

4. Leading Worship is a combination of art forms requiring skill, talent, aptitude, knowledge, understanding, insight, wisdom and discernment.

• Music is an art.
• Leadership is an art. So is preaching of the word.
• Leading Worship is a unique art form converging these aspects with spiritual sensitivity and “anointing” – that is, the power God to do His work, His way.

5. As a leader of worship therefore, you are called to a lifestyle of personal spiritual growth and maturity that is, discipleship.

• No, you don’t have to suddenly become “super spiritual”. You do however, need to understand that your role is much more than learning and playing music.That’s where this is going. Leading worship is primarily a spiritual activity.
• There is grace for you to start as you are, where you are, right now. You just have to be headed towards growing in the Lord.

6. To lead spiritually therefore, by definition, you can not take people where you have not gone yourself. So you have to lead yourself deeper spiritually in order for people to follow your leadership.

• You lead by the overflow of your heart. (Matthew 12:34, Luke 6:45)
• David is a primary example of a heart that pleases God. He is a “man after God’s own heart” and is commended as a model to imitate (Is 55:4). Therefore we will reference regularly how to cultivate a heart of worship like David’s. This is the type of heart God is looking for.

Rob Still is a worship leader, artisan, instructor and blogger in Nashville TN. He teaches at conferences and extensively on the mission field in eastern Europe – and blogs atRobStill.com.

welcome back to boring Indiana...

Well, made it back safe this afternoon.  Sunday Clint and I pushed it super hard, rode 1100 miles (we left around 6am and didn't get in until about 1am) and made it from Santa Fe, NM all the way to STL.  Then, I woke up and headed back for Indiana (another 400+ miles), only to find a million police officers in Illinois, and construction every 20 miles in Indiana.  It was a hard push, but I was super excited to see my bride, and a little white dog, who both missed me terribly.  I rolled in about 4pm super exhausted, hungry, and sunburnt, so after a long scrubbing in the shower, we ended up going out to dinner.

I thought it was only appropriate, because Clint and I were just in Texas yesterday! :)

The trip was super fun, and I loved spending time with Ashley's family.  I am so glad to be home though. I missed Ashley more than ever, but loved spending the time with her father, Amber and Jacob (Ashley's sister and brother in law), and her grandparents in Denver and Santa Fe.  Now, I am trying to persuade Ashley that God is "calling" us to Denver :)  The scenery is just breath taking on a motorcycle in that part of the country... I am sure God could use us there, right?!  Total trip ended up being right around 4000 miles, which translates into about 27 fill ups at the gas startions!!! (some of those were not quite empty though).  I wouldn't trade the trip for anything. The only thing that would have made it better is if Ashley would have been there to experience it with me, but I know there is no way she is ready for such an adventure yet, or maybe ever! My butt still hurts from yesterday! :)  I am trying to wait until at least tomorrow to get the bike up on the lift in the garage to start the cleaning, I know if I start tonight, I will still be up when the sun is rising scrubbing that thing! I am sure I will be posting some more pictures of the trip here soon, once I download them from the camera. The pictures already posted, were just random ones from my phone.