We keep talking about doing these worship workshops in Ireland and it occurred to me that there are probably many that have no idea what that is all about. So if you have been wondering what a worship workshop looks like, here's my best effort to describe it...
Beth and I meet together with worship leaders, worship teams and anyone else who might happen to be interested, and have an open floor discussion about Biblical and practical issues regarding worship and worship leading.
We have had as few as four and as many as a couple of dozen so far. We don't lecture. There are several reasons for this. First, we feel that learning is best done interactively. When one actively participates, rather than passively absorbs, one will remember what has been discussed. Second, participants will stay awake. Third, discussions are dynamic and unpredictable, so participants enjoy the process and are stimulated to learn. Fourth, we (Beth and I) nearly always come away having learned something. One thing we learn is how the group thinks and feels and we can make modifications to our plan on the fly. We also might actually gain new insights into the topics discussed by way of comments and observations by the participants. We are also learning about the culture and its prevailing attutudes and viewpoints.
Our discussion times, while free flowing, are directed and focused. We have an outline to follow that is tailored to each particular workshop as suggested by the worship leader. If we use the entire outline, our discussion times may take up to about 6 hours. That doesn't include a lunch break, or any type of practicum with the worship team.
A practicum might be allowing the band to do a few songs and then giving constructive criticism and pointers as to musicality and presentation. Alternatively we might divide the group into vocalists, keyboardists, etc. and give practical insights in the use of particular instruments or vocal harmonies. We also may teach a new song and demonstrate effective rehearsal techniques. The thing we try to stay away from is style. Our style may not be that particular fellowship's style and we don't want to put up any walls because of it. I'll get into musical styles in worship at a later date.
I'm sure by now, you're wondering why in the world I'm boring you with all this. I don't know. Just felt like it. Thought there might be a couple of people who might think it was interesting.
I'll finish up with our basic discussion outline:
The Theology of Worship
- How do we define worship?
- Why do we worship?
The Philosophy of Worship
- Why is the worship of God important?
- What else seeks our worship?
- Why does God seek our worship?
- Forms of Worship
- The Role of Music
- The Music/Spirit/Worship Connection
- What is the right music for worship?
The Practice of Worship Leading
- What does it mean to “lead” worship?
- Who needs a worship leader?
- Who is the ultimate worship leader?
- Why have a worship leader?
- What are the requirements of a worship leader?
- How is one enabled for the task?
- What are the worship leader’s responsibilities?
- Planning Times of Worship
- Planning the Rehearsal
Practicum – Working with the team
- Effective Rehearsing
- Effective Arranging
- Playing as a unit
- Yes, even the bass player is a worship leader (Leading From Your Instrument)
- Developing Flow
- Q&A/Discussion
Oct 15, 2006
Oct 5, 2006
What does it mean to be a missionary?
So I've been thinking, and Beth and I have been talking about this whole thing of being a missionary. What does that really mean?
When you say the word "missionary" to someone, it usually conjures up images of stalwart Christian men and women giving up their Western lifestyle, selling everything they own and moving to the remotest parts of the earth to work among the "natives" who have never heard the Gospel. They work for years with the indigenous tribes, gaining their trust, learning their language, teaching them about Christ and how to sing "Amazing Grace" in their own language...
(the sound of screeching tires is heard)
In walk the Hodges. They live in a regular home in Florida. They drive a car. They don't look like missionaries. They don't even live in Ireland yet. (Does Ireland really need missionaries?)
"Now what is it you're doing in Ireland?"
Well, we're Worship Trainers!
"But I thought a missiona..."
I think it's time for a new definition. Now don't be alarmed at the following statements:
We aren't going to Ireland with the primary focus of evangelization.
We don't have an agenda to do tent meetings and large outreach events with altar calls.
We aren't setting out to save a whole village.
That said, this is in no way intended to belittle the ministries of those whom God has called for the purposes mentioned above. God has all sorts of people in all sorts of roles -- all of them important.
Here's the deal. Europe is what is referred to as a "post-Christian" society. There are many churches, cathedrals and other religious structures throughout the continent and into the British Isles. However, the church as a spiritual institution is languishing. In fact, in Ireland -- which was once the center of Christian scholarship and evangelism -- less than 1% of the population are Bible-believing Christians. That means that greater than 99% are NOT Bible-believing Christians. This figure holds pretty close throughout Europe.
Our organization, Greater Europe Mission has as its purpose statement:
"...to assist the peoples of Greater Europe in building up the Body of Christ so that every person is within reach of a witnessing fellowship."
For GEM, it's not about invading a country with an American model of how to do church. Instead it is working within the belief that God has people within the cultures of Europe whom He is raising up as the leaders of the church in those cultures. GEM is there to come alongside those individuals and assist them in establishing fellowships that are indigenous. This method establishes a grassroots foundation that is not then dependent upon foreign leadership.
Do we evangelize? Of course! In the same way that the vast majority of Americans are evangelized -- through one-on-one relationships over time. (And every now and then an outreach event is organized.)
So Beth and I have an interesting role in that we are coming alongside worship leaders, worship teams and pastors to encourage, mentor, train, resource -- in short, to equip those whom God has called to lead others in worship in the local church setting. It just so happens that the focus of our ministry is Ireland.
"How does that work now -- long distance?"
I'm glad you asked.
For the next year or two, until we make a permanent move to Ireland, we will be traveling to Ireland and Europe several times throughout the year. During those visits we will be conducting workshops, retreats and training seminars, as well as developing relationships with local church leaders -- providing whatever assistance we can to enable local fellowships to develop the most effective worship ministry possible.
During our time at home in the States, we will be developing curricula for said events, planning and scheduling those events, making contacts with new people via email and phone, maintaining relationships with those with whom we are already working, building our website (to be used as a clearinghouse of information and resources for worship ministry), developing other ministry tools for training, maintaining our own musical skills and ministry, working for GEM in the area of recruiting, etc., and anything else that happens to become a part of our ministry.
It's a full-time job, despite the fact that we won't yet be living in Ireland.
Which brings me to my final point.
The definition of what it means to be a foreign missionary is not quite as clear-cut as it once was -- especially in our case. Our ministry is focused on Ireland. That makes it foreign. Yet we live in Florida -- for now. Our ministry also doesn't quite line up with the traditional definition of "missions", does it?
There is another full-time missionary with GEM that I know who lives in Memphis. Tennessee, that is -- not Egypt. His children are at that critical age of transition from high school to college (sounds like us), so he and his wife made the decision to be based in the States for now. However, his ministry is ongoing to Europe and beyond. It is an effective ministry that impacts hundreds each year.
All that to say -- if there is confusion, try not to think of our work as missionaries in the traditional sense, but instead as more of a multinational ministry working in the area of developing worship ministries in the local church.
Yeah, I think that's it.
Thanks for listening.
When you say the word "missionary" to someone, it usually conjures up images of stalwart Christian men and women giving up their Western lifestyle, selling everything they own and moving to the remotest parts of the earth to work among the "natives" who have never heard the Gospel. They work for years with the indigenous tribes, gaining their trust, learning their language, teaching them about Christ and how to sing "Amazing Grace" in their own language...
(the sound of screeching tires is heard)
In walk the Hodges. They live in a regular home in Florida. They drive a car. They don't look like missionaries. They don't even live in Ireland yet. (Does Ireland really need missionaries?)
"Now what is it you're doing in Ireland?"
Well, we're Worship Trainers!
"But I thought a missiona..."
I think it's time for a new definition. Now don't be alarmed at the following statements:
We aren't going to Ireland with the primary focus of evangelization.
We don't have an agenda to do tent meetings and large outreach events with altar calls.
We aren't setting out to save a whole village.
That said, this is in no way intended to belittle the ministries of those whom God has called for the purposes mentioned above. God has all sorts of people in all sorts of roles -- all of them important.
Here's the deal. Europe is what is referred to as a "post-Christian" society. There are many churches, cathedrals and other religious structures throughout the continent and into the British Isles. However, the church as a spiritual institution is languishing. In fact, in Ireland -- which was once the center of Christian scholarship and evangelism -- less than 1% of the population are Bible-believing Christians. That means that greater than 99% are NOT Bible-believing Christians. This figure holds pretty close throughout Europe.
Our organization, Greater Europe Mission has as its purpose statement:
"...to assist the peoples of Greater Europe in building up the Body of Christ so that every person is within reach of a witnessing fellowship."
For GEM, it's not about invading a country with an American model of how to do church. Instead it is working within the belief that God has people within the cultures of Europe whom He is raising up as the leaders of the church in those cultures. GEM is there to come alongside those individuals and assist them in establishing fellowships that are indigenous. This method establishes a grassroots foundation that is not then dependent upon foreign leadership.
Do we evangelize? Of course! In the same way that the vast majority of Americans are evangelized -- through one-on-one relationships over time. (And every now and then an outreach event is organized.)
So Beth and I have an interesting role in that we are coming alongside worship leaders, worship teams and pastors to encourage, mentor, train, resource -- in short, to equip those whom God has called to lead others in worship in the local church setting. It just so happens that the focus of our ministry is Ireland.
"How does that work now -- long distance?"
I'm glad you asked.
For the next year or two, until we make a permanent move to Ireland, we will be traveling to Ireland and Europe several times throughout the year. During those visits we will be conducting workshops, retreats and training seminars, as well as developing relationships with local church leaders -- providing whatever assistance we can to enable local fellowships to develop the most effective worship ministry possible.
During our time at home in the States, we will be developing curricula for said events, planning and scheduling those events, making contacts with new people via email and phone, maintaining relationships with those with whom we are already working, building our website (to be used as a clearinghouse of information and resources for worship ministry), developing other ministry tools for training, maintaining our own musical skills and ministry, working for GEM in the area of recruiting, etc., and anything else that happens to become a part of our ministry.
It's a full-time job, despite the fact that we won't yet be living in Ireland.
Which brings me to my final point.
The definition of what it means to be a foreign missionary is not quite as clear-cut as it once was -- especially in our case. Our ministry is focused on Ireland. That makes it foreign. Yet we live in Florida -- for now. Our ministry also doesn't quite line up with the traditional definition of "missions", does it?
There is another full-time missionary with GEM that I know who lives in Memphis. Tennessee, that is -- not Egypt. His children are at that critical age of transition from high school to college (sounds like us), so he and his wife made the decision to be based in the States for now. However, his ministry is ongoing to Europe and beyond. It is an effective ministry that impacts hundreds each year.
All that to say -- if there is confusion, try not to think of our work as missionaries in the traditional sense, but instead as more of a multinational ministry working in the area of developing worship ministries in the local church.
Yeah, I think that's it.
Thanks for listening.
Oct 4, 2006
The Good, the Bed and the Ugly
Okay, really corny title.
This is the story about the awful Bed & Breakfast in Cork, Ireland to which I alluded in my post on 9/7. We had booked a room at Edelweiss House online before we left on our trip. We were intrigued by the pictures and description which made it sound really nice and quaint so we took a chance and booked it for the three nights that we would be in the Cork area.
We left Shannon late Saturday afternoon for the drive to Cork. The directions that we had printed out from the website were very confusing so we decided to call the B&B to get directions. The lady with the rich brogue on the other end of the line seemed to be quite a character and I thought we would probably enjoy our stay in her lodge.
The directions were roughly thus:
"Ye have to teek de exit fer Blarney. Y'go troo de town, pass de castle and go 5 kilometers out frome de town center. You'll tern left just pass de Huntsman, teek de next left and go for 7 kilometers. At de garij (garage) teek a right and we're just dere on de right." Sounded easy enough.
It was dark when we came to the exit for Blarney. We made our way through the town and soon found ourselves at the Huntsman Pub. We turned left just past the pub (actually, the road made a sharp curve to the left, so we had no other choice), took the first left and after a couple of blocks found ourselves in the midst of a housing development with a small shopping center.
I called the lady at the B&B and told her our predicament. Obviously irritated with us she gave me directions from there and we found ourselves right back at the Huntsman. Hmmm.
So we thought, maybe we would try again from there. When we found ourselves back at the Huntsman for the third time (this was getting old) I realized that the only thing to do was to call again.
I heard the lady's voice, "What!"
"Uh, well it seems we've found ourselves back at the Huntsman again. I'm sorry."
"Okay, now lissen. Go left pass de Huntsman, go to de end of de road and turn left..."
Ah ha! It dawned on us that when she said, "teek de next left," she didn't mean, turn left at de next road, but turn left at de end of de road.
She ended the conversation with, "Don't call me again!"
It was getting late and I was getting drowsy. It was a good thing that we were so close. A few minutes later we were pulling into the driveway at Edelwiess House. The lady(?) of the house greeted us at the door with a scowl, and showed us to our room.
The first thing we noticed as we entered the house was the unmistakable lingering aroma of old cigarette smoke. The room was, shall we say, cozy and decorated in early rummage sale. The brass canopied bed looked stunning next to the wicker lawn loveseat with its faded floral design cushions, which set off the pressed wood wardrobe beautifully. To complete the look, the floor was tastefully covered in green indoor/outdoor carpeting. There was a wonderful selection of Irish glossies to read.
Like a good hostess, she followed us out to our car as we unloaded our luggage. "What time would ye like breakfast in de marnin'?" she queried.
We had to be at church in Cork in the morning so we said, "Eight o'clock would be fine."
"Ye can't have it then. Cook doesn't arrive until 9."
We smiled and said, "Nine then."
We decided then and there that Edelweiss House would be the perfect B&B to stay at for one night if you'd made the mistake of booking it online and arrived there late at night. We agreed that we would check out in the morning. After breakfast.
It was prudence which told us to keep our suitcases closed overnight, lest all our clothes absorb the cigarette-laden atmosphere.
When I told the lady of the house that we would be checking out, she was none too happy. "I could charge ye fer de full tree nights since dat's what ye booked. But I'll just charge ye fer de one." Her charity warmed my heart.
As we made our way through the dining area with our luggage, there was nervous silence from the other guests. You could almost hear them thinking, "Lucky stiffs. We wanted to check out early, but how would that look now that you've jumped ship?"
After church that morning we made our way to an internet cafe and found a few possible B&B's and began calling them. The first one we called, Rivermount House, had a vacancy, so we booked it. We were intrigued by the pictures and description. Yeah, I know, but this time it was different. Really! It was a bit further out of Cork near Kinsale to the south. We told them to expect us in the late evening.
We ate dinner in Kinsale and made our way to Rivermount House, arriving just at dusk. The man of the house greeted us and told us as we climbed the stair that we got the last room -- they were fully booked -- so they had to put us in the family suite. It seemed to us the Taj Mahal. It was beautifully decorated and not so "cozy" as the previous night's accommodation.
The next morning we were not only stunned by the view from our room, but "Claire's Special Porridge" was out of this world. We never realized that oats could taste so good.
Our hosts were very gracious. They were dead set against smoking. We had breakfast at eight o'clock. It was just what we needed after our night in hell -- I mean Edelweiss House.
This is the story about the awful Bed & Breakfast in Cork, Ireland to which I alluded in my post on 9/7. We had booked a room at Edelweiss House online before we left on our trip. We were intrigued by the pictures and description which made it sound really nice and quaint so we took a chance and booked it for the three nights that we would be in the Cork area.
We left Shannon late Saturday afternoon for the drive to Cork. The directions that we had printed out from the website were very confusing so we decided to call the B&B to get directions. The lady with the rich brogue on the other end of the line seemed to be quite a character and I thought we would probably enjoy our stay in her lodge.
The directions were roughly thus:
"Ye have to teek de exit fer Blarney. Y'go troo de town, pass de castle and go 5 kilometers out frome de town center. You'll tern left just pass de Huntsman, teek de next left and go for 7 kilometers. At de garij (garage) teek a right and we're just dere on de right." Sounded easy enough.
It was dark when we came to the exit for Blarney. We made our way through the town and soon found ourselves at the Huntsman Pub. We turned left just past the pub (actually, the road made a sharp curve to the left, so we had no other choice), took the first left and after a couple of blocks found ourselves in the midst of a housing development with a small shopping center.
I called the lady at the B&B and told her our predicament. Obviously irritated with us she gave me directions from there and we found ourselves right back at the Huntsman. Hmmm.
So we thought, maybe we would try again from there. When we found ourselves back at the Huntsman for the third time (this was getting old) I realized that the only thing to do was to call again.
I heard the lady's voice, "What!"
"Uh, well it seems we've found ourselves back at the Huntsman again. I'm sorry."
"Okay, now lissen. Go left pass de Huntsman, go to de end of de road and turn left..."
Ah ha! It dawned on us that when she said, "teek de next left," she didn't mean, turn left at de next road, but turn left at de end of de road.
She ended the conversation with, "Don't call me again!"
It was getting late and I was getting drowsy. It was a good thing that we were so close. A few minutes later we were pulling into the driveway at Edelwiess House. The lady(?) of the house greeted us at the door with a scowl, and showed us to our room.
The first thing we noticed as we entered the house was the unmistakable lingering aroma of old cigarette smoke. The room was, shall we say, cozy and decorated in early rummage sale. The brass canopied bed looked stunning next to the wicker lawn loveseat with its faded floral design cushions, which set off the pressed wood wardrobe beautifully. To complete the look, the floor was tastefully covered in green indoor/outdoor carpeting. There was a wonderful selection of Irish glossies to read.
Like a good hostess, she followed us out to our car as we unloaded our luggage. "What time would ye like breakfast in de marnin'?" she queried.
We had to be at church in Cork in the morning so we said, "Eight o'clock would be fine."
"Ye can't have it then. Cook doesn't arrive until 9."
We smiled and said, "Nine then."
We decided then and there that Edelweiss House would be the perfect B&B to stay at for one night if you'd made the mistake of booking it online and arrived there late at night. We agreed that we would check out in the morning. After breakfast.
It was prudence which told us to keep our suitcases closed overnight, lest all our clothes absorb the cigarette-laden atmosphere.
When I told the lady of the house that we would be checking out, she was none too happy. "I could charge ye fer de full tree nights since dat's what ye booked. But I'll just charge ye fer de one." Her charity warmed my heart.
As we made our way through the dining area with our luggage, there was nervous silence from the other guests. You could almost hear them thinking, "Lucky stiffs. We wanted to check out early, but how would that look now that you've jumped ship?"
After church that morning we made our way to an internet cafe and found a few possible B&B's and began calling them. The first one we called, Rivermount House, had a vacancy, so we booked it. We were intrigued by the pictures and description. Yeah, I know, but this time it was different. Really! It was a bit further out of Cork near Kinsale to the south. We told them to expect us in the late evening.
We ate dinner in Kinsale and made our way to Rivermount House, arriving just at dusk. The man of the house greeted us and told us as we climbed the stair that we got the last room -- they were fully booked -- so they had to put us in the family suite. It seemed to us the Taj Mahal. It was beautifully decorated and not so "cozy" as the previous night's accommodation.
The next morning we were not only stunned by the view from our room, but "Claire's Special Porridge" was out of this world. We never realized that oats could taste so good.
Our hosts were very gracious. They were dead set against smoking. We had breakfast at eight o'clock. It was just what we needed after our night in hell -- I mean Edelweiss House.
Sep 18, 2006
Last few days in Ireland
We're home now. Good ol' HOT Florida. Dang it's hot.
So Thursday, the 7th, we had lunch in Dublin with a young man, Daragh Hoey. Daragh plays electric guitar at Trinity and is also in a band that is working on getting wider recognition - Star Turtle. They are already popular in the Dublin area and look forward to seeing what the future holds.
We had a great time with Daragh. One of the things that we have found very beneficial are those Irish who are willing to help us understand the Irish mindset -- the dos and don'ts; the ins and outs.
Friday we spent the day looking around the city at areas that we may be interested in living (when we eventually move there) before heading up to Swords, north of Dublin for dinner with Rory and Mindy McDonald. Rory is one of the key worship leaders at Swords Baptist and Mindy is an American who went to Ireland as a missionary and ended up marrying an Irishman. After taking a nice, unplanned tour of the entire village (I should have listened to my wife), we found ourselves at the McDonald's where we enjoyed the meal and the conversation and spent a little time talking through our plans for the worship workshop the next day.
Saturday, we held the aforementioned workshop at a school that Swords Baptist uses for it's Sunday services. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 or so Worship Team members and others who were able to be with us. We had the hall from 10 am to 4 pm and expected that we wouldn't use up the whole 6 hours. When we finished, I looked at my watch and it was 3:55. What a wonderful group of people and what great conversations we had regarding worship and worship leading. We hope to be back there in January to do a vocal workshop, some keyboard instruction and maybe some other intensive training.
Sunday morning we attended St. Mark's Church in the heart of Dublin. St. Mark's is one of the largest and most influential evangelical churches in Ireland. They had a great worship team and solid teaching. You may be familiar with Maire (Moya) Brennan. She and her husband are key people at St. Mark's and she happens to be Enya's sister and a successful recording artist in her own right.
Sunday afternoon we packed and then went over to Phil and Cheryl's to debrief, say goodbye and talk a bit about our next trip, which will probably be in January. They were very encouraged with our trip and very encouraging regarding the future.
All-in-all it was a very successful trip. While it was a lot of work, leading worship in Hungary was a great joy and blessing. Spending time with my brother, Judit and Vivi was awesome. The events we held in Ireland came off without a hitch - and those for whom we did them want more of the same. The meetings we had with various individuals were exciting and opened up many more opportunities for the future.
So far, for our January trip, we could easily have 3 major events and already have plans to meet with several individuals with whom we were unable to meet this trip.
Check back here often, as I will be sharing some highlights and reflections on this trip with greater details of our adventure.
So Thursday, the 7th, we had lunch in Dublin with a young man, Daragh Hoey. Daragh plays electric guitar at Trinity and is also in a band that is working on getting wider recognition - Star Turtle. They are already popular in the Dublin area and look forward to seeing what the future holds.
We had a great time with Daragh. One of the things that we have found very beneficial are those Irish who are willing to help us understand the Irish mindset -- the dos and don'ts; the ins and outs.
Friday we spent the day looking around the city at areas that we may be interested in living (when we eventually move there) before heading up to Swords, north of Dublin for dinner with Rory and Mindy McDonald. Rory is one of the key worship leaders at Swords Baptist and Mindy is an American who went to Ireland as a missionary and ended up marrying an Irishman. After taking a nice, unplanned tour of the entire village (I should have listened to my wife), we found ourselves at the McDonald's where we enjoyed the meal and the conversation and spent a little time talking through our plans for the worship workshop the next day.
Saturday, we held the aforementioned workshop at a school that Swords Baptist uses for it's Sunday services. There were somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 or so Worship Team members and others who were able to be with us. We had the hall from 10 am to 4 pm and expected that we wouldn't use up the whole 6 hours. When we finished, I looked at my watch and it was 3:55. What a wonderful group of people and what great conversations we had regarding worship and worship leading. We hope to be back there in January to do a vocal workshop, some keyboard instruction and maybe some other intensive training.
Sunday morning we attended St. Mark's Church in the heart of Dublin. St. Mark's is one of the largest and most influential evangelical churches in Ireland. They had a great worship team and solid teaching. You may be familiar with Maire (Moya) Brennan. She and her husband are key people at St. Mark's and she happens to be Enya's sister and a successful recording artist in her own right.
Sunday afternoon we packed and then went over to Phil and Cheryl's to debrief, say goodbye and talk a bit about our next trip, which will probably be in January. They were very encouraged with our trip and very encouraging regarding the future.
All-in-all it was a very successful trip. While it was a lot of work, leading worship in Hungary was a great joy and blessing. Spending time with my brother, Judit and Vivi was awesome. The events we held in Ireland came off without a hitch - and those for whom we did them want more of the same. The meetings we had with various individuals were exciting and opened up many more opportunities for the future.
So far, for our January trip, we could easily have 3 major events and already have plans to meet with several individuals with whom we were unable to meet this trip.
Check back here often, as I will be sharing some highlights and reflections on this trip with greater details of our adventure.
Sep 6, 2006
Ireland, cont.
I haven't kept up on a daily basis with this blog and there is so much to tell that I will never get caught up. So...
I'm going to give a quick overview of our time here so far and include a few pictures as well.
Beginning Sunday, the 27th of August:
We attended two churches -- Trinity (www.trinity.ie) in the morning and Core (www.corechurch.ie) in the evening. We met a few people that we plan to get together with later to talk about worship and how we might be able to assist them in our ministry.
We had an interesting meeting Monday morning meeting with other missionaries. We were there to meet and talk with the board members of Church Planting Resources, a group of missionaries from various organizations formed to strategize and share resources for the purpose of building the church in Ireland.
I finally got my insulin Wednesday morning. Fortunately it wasn't critical that we leave for the west of Ireland Tuesday.
We had hoped to connect with some people in the Galway area while were traveling, but that never happened due to various circumstances. We did have some good days of sightseeing and getting familiar with that area of the country.
Saturday we had a great time in Shannon leading a worship workshop with the worship band of Jamzone, a youth ministry lead by Elton Goode of Shannon Evangelical Church. It's kids like this that are the future of the church in Ireland.
Saturday evening we drove to Cork and stayed in a really awful Bed and Breakfast. I'll try and relate this saga at a later date.
Sunday morning we were at Grace Fellowship. Monday, we met with Michael O'Donovan, the worship leader at Grace and had a really encouraging conversation. We are planning to do a worship workshop with his worship team next time we come to Ireland (maybe January).
Although it didn't work out to meet with him, we spoke with Laurence Graham, the pastor of Cork Methodist about meeting with him and one of his key musicians who has a heart to see contemporary worship in their church. We will also look to doing this when we return.
Tuesday morning we met with Michael Neglia, pastor of Calvary Chapel Cork , his wife Rachel and their worship leader, Niamh (pronounced Neeve). It was the beginning of a long term relationship and we plan to meet up again on our next visit and perhaps pull together a workshop for several worship leaders in the area.
Tuesday night we were back in Dublin and had a great time of playing and worshipping with several guys who are traditional Irish musicians and a part of a new church plant. We also had good conversation about leading worship and arranging music, etc.
Today we are meeting with one of the worship team members from Trinity, so I guess I'd better close for now.
Cheers...
I'm going to give a quick overview of our time here so far and include a few pictures as well.
Beginning Sunday, the 27th of August:
We attended two churches -- Trinity (www.trinity.ie) in the morning and Core (www.corechurch.ie) in the evening. We met a few people that we plan to get together with later to talk about worship and how we might be able to assist them in our ministry.
We had an interesting meeting Monday morning meeting with other missionaries. We were there to meet and talk with the board members of Church Planting Resources, a group of missionaries from various organizations formed to strategize and share resources for the purpose of building the church in Ireland.
I finally got my insulin Wednesday morning. Fortunately it wasn't critical that we leave for the west of Ireland Tuesday.
We had hoped to connect with some people in the Galway area while were traveling, but that never happened due to various circumstances. We did have some good days of sightseeing and getting familiar with that area of the country.
Saturday we had a great time in Shannon leading a worship workshop with the worship band of Jamzone, a youth ministry lead by Elton Goode of Shannon Evangelical Church. It's kids like this that are the future of the church in Ireland.
Saturday evening we drove to Cork and stayed in a really awful Bed and Breakfast. I'll try and relate this saga at a later date.
Sunday morning we were at Grace Fellowship. Monday, we met with Michael O'Donovan, the worship leader at Grace and had a really encouraging conversation. We are planning to do a worship workshop with his worship team next time we come to Ireland (maybe January).
Although it didn't work out to meet with him, we spoke with Laurence Graham, the pastor of Cork Methodist about meeting with him and one of his key musicians who has a heart to see contemporary worship in their church. We will also look to doing this when we return.
Tuesday morning we met with Michael Neglia, pastor of Calvary Chapel Cork , his wife Rachel and their worship leader, Niamh (pronounced Neeve). It was the beginning of a long term relationship and we plan to meet up again on our next visit and perhaps pull together a workshop for several worship leaders in the area.
Tuesday night we were back in Dublin and had a great time of playing and worshipping with several guys who are traditional Irish musicians and a part of a new church plant. We also had good conversation about leading worship and arranging music, etc.
Today we are meeting with one of the worship team members from Trinity, so I guess I'd better close for now.
Cheers...
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