National Worship Leaders Conference '11

Well....finished with Day 1 of the National Worship Leaders Conference '11. This is my first time to attend this conference and so far, so good. It is held at The Church of the Resurrection in Overland Park, Kansas. This has got to be the largest Methodist church I have ever seen! It is a very cool facility, and their volunteers are doing a great job of serving.

The day started with a general session taught by Dr. Leonard Sweet. I had seen some of his stuff before, but had never read any of his books or heard him speak. I'll say this....I'll be coming home with a couple of his books and adding him to my podcasts and blog list. He was awesome!! Highlights of his session:

*Why is Jesus' mission statement for all of us not enough. Do we form our own mission statements because His is just not good enough?

*We must speak in the language of the culture we exist in so that the people hear us.

*People understand narrative and metaphor, not words.

He proceeded to tell the story of the birth of Jesus by using the historical narrative of some of the things surrounding the birth. Not that scripture is not important, but when told through narrative and metaphor, it comes alive.....and so do the people.

Tim Hughes led worship and made me want to have a British accent. I don't know...there's something about the worship leaders with British accents that make me feel like I need to repent or something.

The conference is full of your typical conference stuff. The exhibit hall is full of companies who have lots of fun stuff for your building, ministry, etc....This one has lots of fun stuff because it is centered around the creative and worship arts.

This is the first conference I've gone to by myself. I don't have a problem with meeting or talking to new people, so I've had fun meeting worship leaders from around the country and talking strategies, styles, etc.. I must say though, it's not as much fun playing some of my favorite conference games like, "You Might Be Trying to Hard If....." or "Church Titles You May Have Never Heard Of" without a friend to play with like my buddy Robert. I thought of him today when I was standing in the bookstore of the church, Casting Crowns song "If We are the Body" came on, and the guy next to me started singing at the top of his lungs, raising his hands, and practicing his leading skills for all of us in the immediate vicinity. I don't know if he was applying for a job somewhere or just overcome by the sheer excitement of hearing Casting Crowns, but he was definitely trying to hard.

Attended a couple of workshops today, the best of which was a songwriting workshop with Matt Redman. Awesome! That guy can write a song, and he has some incredible wisdom when it comes to leading, writing, and just being a worshipper. I thoroughly enjoyed his workshop.

After dinner at a great pizza place, D' Bronx, we went to the night of worship which is part of each night here at the conference. Tonight's service was led by Brenton Brown and Matt Redman. It was great! Got some great new music to take back home to Still Water and put into our repertoire.

Gonna turn in and get ready for Day 2 tomorrow. General session tomorrow morning led by Pastor Miles McPherson, Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding (Hillsong United). Tomorrow's Night of Worship.....Gungor, Rebecca St. James, and Kari Jobe. Gonna be good!

I'm out....