The search is over

180327_190569670971733_123844007644300_609830_1041855_n 166805_190319584330075_123844007644300_608682_5010906_n ...and I've found a new team mate! We hired Eric Abney today to join my Worship Arts Staff  @ LCC. Eric currently lives in Kennesaw, GA (my old hometown) and has served as a Worship Leader at Eagle Point Church and at NorthStar Church (where I served for almost nine years). He has worked with some of my favorite Worship people in the world (you know who you are!) He brings such a passion for worship and a genuine love for developing younger musicians at LCC. Eric is engaged to Kaylie (pictured above). They are getting married in late May.

Eric will be leading worship a couple of times this month here at LCC and then permanately moving here the first of March. Eric and I will rotate leading worship at both campuses starting in March.

I cannot express the excitement and joy that I feel tonight! It has been a very difficult year managing both campuses alone and I am overjoyed about the fact that I now have a great teammate to serve with here on a full-time basis at LCC.  The time was right for all of us to make this step forward and I am very thankful for our Lead Pastor, Jeff, our Exec Pastor, Jason, and our Board of Elders for their support with this new addition to my team.

I'm beaming...oh, yes, I am.... :)


Sunday Recap

Rate of Return Option 2  I attended the Bluffton Campus yesterday as we were led in worship by Eric Abney from Atlanta, GA. Eric did a wonderful job! He is a very talented guitar player and really has a heart for mentoring and developing musicians. He worked so well with our band in rehearsal and it was a tremendous joy for me to have another opportunity to participate in worship as an attendee in services. Eric served at Eagle Point Church and has also been a part of NorthStar Church where I served as the Worship Pastor for five years. He gets the great privilege of working with some of my favorite people in the world - former worship staff colleagues at NorthStar. Todd and I enjoyed spending time with him and his fiance Kaylie the past few days. God is doing some great things in their lives and we were encouraged so much by them being a part of LCC this weekend.

We kicked off a new series called "Rate of Return." It's a three-week series on finances and our responsibility as Christ-followers to live our financial lives with a God-centered foundation. When we stop and realize that all we have is God's anyway, doesn't it put everything into perspective on how we spend our financial resources?

How was your worship experience this weekend? Join me at Sunday Setlists for more recaps.


My view from the pew

We don't have pews at either campus of LCC, but it was a catchy title...

I had the opportunity to attend worship services at both campuses of LCC this past Sunday. I sat in the service "like a normal person!" I was so encouraged by our Worship Leaders at both campuses. They brought such an authenticity to the worship experience. I'm one of those (like most of you Worship Leaders) that struggle with not hearing or seeing things that need to be "tweaked" while you are sitting. I was so grateful for their preparation and execution of the musical elements of the worship experience.  The way they led us drew me right in so I was not distracted. Thank you, Johnny, Debbie, Brandon, and Kim for allowing me to worship so freely in corporate worship! Band guys - you brought such a musical tapestry to the worship experience. Thank you for sharing your amazing giftedness through worship.

This also means I heard two messages yesterday. My hubby Todd did a fabulous job of kicking off the New Year with a personal message for Islanders as we embark on a New Year as a campus. CLICK HERE to listen. I'm so excited about what God has laid on his heart for the future of the Island Campus. It' s a tall order, but as Nehemiah learned - God is faithful! It was also a privilege to receive commuion and pray with him during the Time of Response at the end of the service.

Pastor Jeff shared with us the importance of the time we have been given on earth and not waisting it. I was so convicted about the things I waste my time doing that have no eternal value. I want to do a better job making the most of my time in 2011 and making better choices every day.

I'm so thankful for my church. As I headed to lunch, my heart was so full with overwhelming gratitude that I have the privilege to lead musically, create artistically, and participate corporately at LCC. I encourage ALL worship leaders out there to spend the money and give yourself the opportunity to partcipate in corporate worship at the churches you are serving as worship leader. It is an experience that I need more often, but was definitely a spiritual highlight of my Christmas season.

This post is a part of the Worship Community Sunday Recaps!


Sunday Recap

We wrapped up our "Old School" series this week with the life of David. Pastor Jeff shared his five landing lights of discovering God's will...CLICK here to read more about it on his blog. Todd and I have used this SO many times in our lives at crossroads. I'm working on Pastor Jeff to put in a booklet...more to come on that:)

 We had an interesting day at the Bluffton Campus. Our lighting system has been giving us fits and we have had no success with any troubleshooting. We think we figured it out and it was just getting too hot in the amp room, but we will see:) It was resetting itself every 5-10 minutes during the first service. We kept the door open and that seemed to stabilize it.  Then the lightning and thunder started...In the second service, I leaned into my mic and got quite a shock on my lip and I started playing in a different key for about 5 seconds! In spite of all of this, it was a great day of worship and teaching.  Here was our setlist:

Call to Worship - Band -  Key of D (we all just played on a D and improved for about 60 seconds...a very cool opening!)

"Come Now is the Time to Worship" - Vineyard

Responsive Reading - Romans 8:1-17

"The Lord Reigns" - Klaus Kuehn

Welcome

VIDEO - LCC NEWS

"Hosanna" - Hillsongs

VIDEO - Message Bumper

MESSAGE

"Restless" - Audrey Assad (My new favorite worship song)

"Take My Life" - Tomlin

The team did an amazing job in spite of all the distractions. I am overwhelmed at the servant hearts of our team and their giftedness. It such a privilege to worship with them!

CLICK HERE to read some more setlists!

Sunday Recap

OLDSCHOOLLOGO  We are in Week Four of our Message Series entitled "Old School" and we discussed the life of Jonah this week. We focused our worship on God's mercy, redemption, and that He is the God of second chances. We introduced Carlos Whitaker's new song "God of Second Chances" into our corporate worship repertoire and used it as a song of reflection after the Message.

It was the last week with our third Worship Intern from Liberty, Luke Crouterfield. We only had the opportunity to play and sing together twice this summer as he was usually leading worship on the opposite campus that I was so it was a great way to end the summer together. Here was our setlist:

"Counting on God/Because of Your Love" - New Life Worship/Paul Baloche

(we do this drum solo between the two songs. It helps us transition from the key of F to D.  It's one of our favorite arrangements!)

Welcome/Announcements

"Desert Song" - Brooke Fraser

Responsive Reading - Psalm 19

"We Crown You "- Fee

Video Bumper

Message

"God of Second Chances" - Carlos Whitaker

Closing Remarks/Doxology

It was a great day of worship at the Hilton Head Island Campus!  Join me for more setlists at the Worship Community!


Day One Reflections @ NWLC10

Index Index 9613ab7b62ffc58aaf7f1eed23d6d941
I chose the songwriting track for Day One - Keith Getty, Laura Story, and Matt Redman. I felt as if the three of them got together (which they didn't) and talked about how they would connect their talks to one another!

Songwriting is a sincere passion in my life. I had my first song recorded by a Southern Gospel group at the age of 18. I've written songs for Christian artists. I've had the amazing privilege of writing arranging, and producing a record for our church in Atlanta with original songs from our church. I do not share all this as an accolade to myself. I share it as a testimony to how much songwriting has been a part of my life.

The last line of that paragraph is the point I'm trying to make...has been. I've allowed the busy schedule of raising kids, doing ministry, and pure laziness to invade this creative passion that God placed in my heart many years ago.  Here are some things that I learned.

  • At its essence, Christianity is a story. Hymns show us how to sing our faith. - Keith Getty
  • As songwriters, God uses the normal things in our lives to write the soundtrack for the church. - Laura Story.
  • What is in God's Kingdom that is about being the BEST at something? Being the best should not be the goal of songwriting. -Laura Story
  • What are the themes for your church right now? Ask you Lead Pastor what God is saying to him about the future of our church. This is visionary songwriting. - Matt Redman

I feel in some ways that God is rebuking me this week for not embracing this gift in my life. I feel the Holy Spirit telling me that it's time to not be a " former" songwriter anymore and embrace this calling on my life in this new season of my life at LowCountry.

The heart of these three worship leaders/songwriters was very exposed. They all have a passion for the local church which so resonates with my heart. They believe strongly in writing FOR the local church and writing songs for our own communities of faith. I know this is what God is calling me to do at LCC. Pastor Jeff has been reading my updates and has ALREADY affirmed me in doing this. I am processing this and asking God for the strength to do what I feel He is calling me to and being faithful to do it - regardless of what others think or whether these songs every leave the lowcountry. These will be OUR songs of faith as a community of believers.

The night of worship was tremendous. One Sonic Society opened (who I heard live earlier this year and LOVE), Tenth Avenue North performed, and then Matt Redman. The thing that struck me is that Matt has written SO many amazing songs that he could have lead us in only songs that he has written and WE would have known them all! But, he chose songs from others as well to lead us in worship. He lead us in worship and encouraged us as leaders to bring truth to our congregations..to teach the truth of God's Word...to sing the truth of the redeeming power of Jesus in our lives. 

More updates to come...follow me on twitter or facebook.


Sunday Recap - Happy Birthday, America!

You never know on a holiday weekend what your attendance will be. As a Worship Leader and Programming Director, I make every effort on holiday weekends to make it an experience that is accessible to our LCC family as well as any 1st time attenders or family members of LCC members who are visiting from out of town. I led worship at the HHI Campus yesterday and it was standing room only!  Here was our setlist:

"America" (yes, Neil Diamond!) - Bill did an AMAZING job on this song and the band rocked!

Welcome/Announcements

Parent/Child Dedication  - This is such a cool thing that we do on holiday weekends. We schedule one family per service. We pray over the parents and the child and then we give every child a wood chest with their initial on it to keep their spiritual keepsakes as they grow. We include a letter for the child to open on the day that accept Jesus as their Savior as well as a Bible.

"Salvation is Here "  - Hillsongs

"All Because of Jesus" - Fee

Video Bumper

Message - Esprit de Corps - Part 4 - STAND

"Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)" - Sam on viola was terrific!

"Hear our Praises"  - Hillsongs

It was such a wonderful day of worship together. Check out our video bumper for this series. Jimmy hit it out of the park with this series! Each week, the word that describes each message appears under the Series title to make the bumper unique to each week. Thanks, Jimmy!

Join me for more Sunday Setlists at TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

Esprit de Corps - STAND from LowCountry Community Church on Vimeo.



Sunday Recap - Palm Sunday

We celebrated Palm Sunday on both of our campuses yesterday in our services. I love the creativity of different worship leaders preparing worship sets with a couple of shared elements. All our visuals are totally different as far as background video loops and flow, but it's cool to share a couple of key things that the communicators desire to be in both services. I led at our Bluffton Campus and Johnny Rohrbeck led at our Hilton Head Island Campus.  At the Bluffton Campus, we did a throw back men's trio to a PCD tune from about 10 years ago. It was great! Toni knocked it out with Hillsongs " Hosanna". We have upgraded both campuses to ProPresenter 4. We brought the Bluffton Campus online with it a couple of weeks ago and HHI this week.  We are LOVING the Stage Display option in Bluffton. You have to check it out.  If you are not a Mac production ministry, no worries. Pro4 for Windows comes out very soon! Here are the setlists for both campuses...

Bluffton                                                            Hilton Head Island

"Friend of God"                                                    "Unchanging"

"Sing to the King"                                                "Hosanna" - Baloche

Welcome/Announcements                                   Welcome/Announcements

Scripture Reading - Mark 11:1-11                        Scripture Reading - Mark 11:1-11

"Hosanna" - Brooke Fraser                                  "How Great is Our God"

Offering Prayer                                                   Video: Message Bumper

"Your Grace Still Amazes Me" - PCD                    Message:Pastor Todd

Video:Message Bumper                                        Time of Response: Communion & Giving Station open

Message:Pastor Jeff                                            "Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)"

"Praise the Father/Praise the Son" - Tomlin          Video: Easter Invite

VIDEO: Easter Invite                                             Closing Remarks

Closing remarks - Band played out...                    "Happy Day"

                                                                               Dismiss - Band Plays out

I participate in “Sunday Setlists” at TheWorshipCommunity.Com. Check out other great setlists by clicking here!


Did you miss me?

One of my friends asked me a couple of weeks ago if I still lived on the Island (lol, Cassie!) Yes, I have been away from cheval glass and everyday life quite a bit the past few weeks. I have embarked on a new adventure...working on both sides of the bridge. Yes, I spend part of my working week in Bluffton and the other part on the Island. I'm serving at both campuses of LCC now working with Programming for services and communication. It's been a great experience to meet so many wonderful LCC people at the Bluffton Campus that I have never met since I have been serving exclusively at the Hilton Head Island Campus the past two and a half years. As a family, we are adjusting to mom being at both campuses. My only fear is that I will end up at the wrong one on a Sunday. As Sydney says ,"Are we going to the big church or the little church?" You figure it out :)

While there is more than normal on my plate for the moment as I transition, I am so excited about the new musicians, tech people, and creatives I have most recently met that want to jump in and get involved. As I talk with Pastor Jeff and Pastor Todd about Easter and upcoming Message Series', I cannot help but get SO PUMPED about the direction that we are headed as a church and what God is doing in the lives of our staff and our LCC family. I see God revealing Himself to me and working in my life in new and fresh ways...this is the answer to one of my most earnest prayers during this Lent Season. So even though I've been a little silent here, I have been learning, growing, and connecting with God in a huge way in these past few weeks. Yeah, I'm tired, but it's a GOOD tired and it feels really good to be back here at cheval glass. I'm ready...

IMG_8551Worship

HHI Campus                Bluffton Campus

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Sunday Recap

We are in Part Two of a series called "Hostage" talking about fear, anger and depression and breaking free of the bondage of these things in our lives. We made the decision to devote more time to worship through music in 2010. I can't tell you the difference in adding just another 5-6 minutes to the service for worship through music. It was exactly what we needed to do, especially during this series. Here was our service order:

"Glorious" - Tomlin and Nockels

"All Because of Jesus" - Fee

Welcome/Announcements

"Let Me Sing" - Fields

"Our God Reigns" - Passion

Video - Message Bumper

"Arms that Hold the Universe" - Fee

"Blessed Be Your Name" - Redman

We introduced "Arms that Hold the Universe" this week from Fee. This is a great song! I really feel like our people are responding in worship more now than ever.

Meet me at Sunday Setlists at the Worship Community!