Welcome 2009!

Since we never know what a new year may bring, we sincerely add the words, "If the Lord wills" to our conversations.  I look forward with great anticipation to what the Lord will bring in 2009.  My long-time favorite verse has been:

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed."
Proverbs 16:3

An AVB reunion at ACAFEST (July 1-3) this year promises to bring a flood of ministry memories, reminding us of music's powerful influence.  Although my appearance has not changed in a few decades (yeah, right!), I'll bet some of the AVB guys will look different, but sound better than ever.



What else is in store for 2009?  Well, if the Lord wills, we'll release a brand new Acappella album that will be a doosey (is that a redneck word?)  After 27 years of music ministry, we should be familiar with how Scriptures combined with music can shape our hearts.  I'm especially excited that our son, Anthony, is now singing with Acappella and helping to continue Acappella Ministries into future generations.



Zach Wilson                 Anthony Lancaster                Robin Brannon
Photo by Randy Glover of Legal Clicks

This year, we plan to record our next Praise & Harmony CD, Victorious God, to provide an inspiring collection of contemporary songs that are very "singable" arrangements for congregational worship.  The free bonus training disc that is bundled with every Praise & Harmony CD has become integral to our efforts to help congregations train and mobilize congregations to enjoy vibrant, four-part harmony. We're very pleased that Holy God is rekindling appreciation for the treasured hymns of our faith.



The Praise & Harmony workshop ministry has been growing as more and more congregations are addressing the need to energize their worship, provide training and easily learn new songs.  One of the greatest blessings has been the number of churches who have RE-booked workshops (some for three years in a row) in order to encourage the growth and progress they are enjoying.  Here are some places who have booked multiple Praise & Harmony workshops:

St. Petersburg, Florida
Ashdown, Arkansas
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Laurel, Maryland
Morgantown, West Virginia
Valdosta, Georgia
Noblesville, Indiana
Summerville, South Carolina
Overland Park, Kansas
Paducah, Kentucky
Bloomington, Indiana

One of our priorities this year will be training worship leaders.  It seems that, after successfully igniting a passion at a church level for worship and singing through the P&H workshops, many congregations find themselves lacking well-trained and well-equipped leaders to plan and lead worship.  Although our pulpits are filled with capable and thoroughly educated pulpit ministers, we often find ill-prepared volunteers attempting to handle the equally important role of worship minister.  I'd like to establish a worship leader internship to assist those who have a passion for this ministry.  However, most volunteers do not have the time to go back to college for a degree in worship ministry or invest years in training.  That's exactly why we established the Worship Leader Institute.  We coach, train and mentor a limited number of qualified candidates who are able to be sponsored by congregations who want to invest in the quality of their singing and worship.  The deadline for enrollment for the next Institute, (Feb 24-26) is rapidly approaching.  Do you believe that worship and singing is important enough to invest in advanced training?  For more information, contact Derek Sachs.



Lloyd Shelby at 2008 Leader Institute

ACAFEST is an outstanding festival, celebrating a cappella Gospel singing.  Hosted on the lovely campus of Lipscomb University, ACAFEST occurs at the same time as Lipscomb's family-oriented Summer Celebration.



A variety of classes are offered at ACAFEST



Concerts are offered indoors and outdoors, featuring all styles of Christian music

As many of you know, I'm passionately seeking to help non-singers and non-musicians experience the joy of learning to sing in harmony.  I'm also assisting congregations in providing musical education for their congregations.  Because of this, we are developing notation slides with the arrangements we use in Praise & Harmony.  We are including beautiful pictures and graphics as a way to project notation for worship.  This year is the year we will begin releasing those slides for churches.



Slides featuring notation combined with photos projected at Providence Road

Mission opportunities for Praise & Harmony are abounding in 2009.  Last year, we were blessed by a fruitful trip to Australia and New Zealand.  We're making plans to return to the South Pacific this year as well as the United Kingdom.  The Lord is blessing us through exhiliarating receptions at international churches through our missionary journeys, making us thankful to be "musicianaries."



Nassau, Bahamas



Tauranga, New Zealand



Redlands, Australia

As you can see, we have been blessed with opportunities to minister to young people as we introduce them to the joys of praising in harmony.  The Praise & Harmony mission trips are not the only opportunity for international ministry in 2009.  Acappella has long been a force overseas, including trips to China, Japan, Australia, South America, Caribbean, Europe and Africa.  This year, in addition to returning to South Africa, Acappella is planning a return trip to Brazil to minister to churches in that very receptive nation.  In 2007, Acappella's Brazil tour was amazing.

 




We are happy to announce a new booking representative who will handle Acappella's scheduling.  Perhaps this year would be a great time for you to host an Acappella concert in your town to bless your church family and reach your community?  Contact Lance Flood for more information.

I'm planning on giving this blog an injection of new articles.  Beginning Sunday, we'll launch a series based upon the book, Worship Matters to foster serious discussion about worship ministry.  I have also asked mentor, Latayne Scott, to lead a Bible discussion of topics that have literally changed my thinking.  That series will be entitled, How To Think Like A Christian.

If you follow my blog, you'll know that Sharon and I love cruising.  We are excited about going to the Mediterranean for the first time ever, as we host a Praise & Harmony singing cruise to Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece.  Hope you can join us for this!

So what are some things I hope to see blessed in 2009?
A brand new Acappella album
Churches trained through Praise & Harmony workshops
New Praise & Harmony CD
Worship Leader Institute
ACAFEST international singing festival
Release of notation and graphics slides for worship
Praise & Harmony international missions
Acappella international missions

I'll try to remember to regularly post a SPECIAL EVENTS calendar:

Feb 24-26         Worship Leader Institute
Mar 26-28         Tulsa Soulwinning Workshop
May 4-8            Pepperdine Lectures
June 27-30        Red River Family Encampment
July 1-3            ACAFEST International Festival
Aug 26-Sep 7    Mediterranean Singing Cruise

At which events will I see you?