D'Vine Worship Team

New songs

2006-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered iTunes. Well, I had checked it out in the past, but this was the first time I had really delved into it. I ended up spending at least a couple of hours (legally) downloading and listening to music. Several of the songs I bought were worship songs (including an entire copy of Vineyard Music's Sweetly Broken, which I've been meaning to purchase for quite some time), so it ended up being a great time of worship.

It's amazing how songs can capture a moment or a season in your life, how God can take someone else's words and melodies and speak to you. I think I'm learning why the Psalms talk about singing new songs to God. It's an opportunity to connect with God in a fresh way.

So how about you? How does new life get breathed into your experience of worship (musically or otherwise)? If music is a key factor in how you worship God regularly, what songs are adding special meaning for you in this season? Other sources of inspiration? I'd love to hear about it...

God bless,

Candyce

Easter thoughts...

2006-04-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Check out my other blog for some thoughts on Easter...

Candyce

Holy Week

2006-04-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

So squeezed among a few small things we call auditions, a preview celebration, and an upcoming launch is this little thing called Easter. It snuck up on me this year.

Maybe I'll sneak a few seasonal thoughts in here over the next few days...

Until then,

Candyce

What's your sacred pathway?

2006-02-21T11:45:00.000-08:00

The women's ministry at Vineyard Community Church (the church that's planting D'VINE) has been drawing wisdom from Sacred Pathways, a book by Gary Thomas, and focusing on that for the last couple of months. Thomas puts forward the idea that different people are wired to connect with God and express worship in different ways. That makes sense to me; people have a variety of strengths, gifts, personalities, learning styles, and love languages. So it's just natural to think that different people might be wired to connect with God in a variety of ways.

I believe that worship isn't just about singing songs in a gathering on a Sunday. It's ultimately about the way you live your life before God, loving Him and loving others. It's also about experiencing God's presence. I've found that I've felt the most empowered to live in a way that honors God when I've experienced God's presence in a profound way. The feelings that come with experiencing God's presence will definitely ebb and flow throughout the life of someone following Jesus. All relationships have fun times and hard times, and a relationship with God is no exception. But there are spiritual disciplines that can help a person to experience God's presence, that can help a person to worship even when the "feelings" aren't there. I'm finding the approach presented by Thomas helpful in determining which spiritual disciplines are most helpful in maintaining my spiritual health (not that other disciplines are unnecessary, but that I'd be malnourished without these).

So what's your sacred pathway? This quiz might be a good step in finding out. It might also be a good way to find ways to worship that might be a bit out of your comfort zone. Either way, I hope it's helpful for people seeking to make worship a part of everyday life...

Peace,

Candyce

New song for a new year

2006-01-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this on my other blog, but thought some who read this might appreciate it as well...

__________________________________________________

worship connect is the online song database i use to create song sheets and chord charts for worship or pdf's to send to my friend kalla, who helps us out with her mad power point skills. worship connect really does make life easier for me as a worship leader. i can use it anywhere that has an internet connection (which is good for bivocational worship leaders like myself or for churches where multiple people are leading), it produces all sorts of nice charts as mentioned, it changes keys for you (a must-have for a girl worship leader who occasionally leads songs written or recorded by guys), and it even does your ccli reporting for you. it's amazing. but adding new songs to the database is one of my least favorite things to do. it involves sitting at my computer and typing, switching back and forth from my computer keyboard to my musical keyboard, so i can transcribe the music. it's one of the more tedious
things i have to do in this role...

but one of the benefits of spending that kind of time on transcribing and adding new songs is that you notice all sorts of things you wouldn't notice if you were just listening. for example, i've had a collision by the david crowder band for more than a couple of months, and i've listened to it pretty frequently over that period of time. yet i never noticed until last night that the song 'wholly yours' uses the words 'might could be'. holy crap. i'm singing a song sunday night that uses the words 'might could be'. next thing you know someone will write a worship song that talks about what God is 'fixin' to do'. unbelievable. the irony of it all is that crowder also writes in this song about how God is 'the antonym of me,' a line that i think is brilliant. oh well, grammatically correct or not, i still love the song...

one of the other things i noticed in this song as i typed it into worship connect is what crowder has to say about grace and human brokenness...

from the broken earth, flowers come up, pushing through the dirt...
from wounded hands, redemption fell down, liberating man...

at a time when i'm pretty keenly aware of the brokenness and woundedness in my life, i am so incredibly thankful that God has a way of using the broken, the dirty, and the wounded for the sake of His glory, even using the scars and the damage as His wounds heal ours... how incredibly amazing God is... and what amazing hope He offers...

and this might could be the most impossible thing
Your grandness in me making me clean
glory, hallelujah
glory, glory, hallelujah... (from 'wholly yours' by david crowder)

hallelujah, indeed...

___________________________________________________

Peace,

Candyce

Poem for Advent #4: Time

2005-12-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Time and all creation stop for just a moment
A King is about to make His entrance
But not in a palace
Or even a sterile hospital

A host of angels turns its collective attention
From the heavens and its glory
To a dark, dismal manger
No place for any baby, especially this One

But it was time
Time to be taxed
Time for a birth
Time for a world to be redeemed

At last, the One we had watched for has come
The anticipation has reached its culmination
Incarnation is now a reality, God has become Man
And it was time for a new chapter in eternity's story...

The wait is over... and spring begins...

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come... (Song of Songs 2:11-12)

Merry Christmas, all...

Candyce

Poem for Advent #3: Incarnation

2005-12-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Incarnation
It seems to be such a big word for such a tiny Life
Yet much too small for life's Source
But it's the only word that fits the thought

Word became flesh
And she now carries the weight of glory
Much too young for such a burden
Such a responsibility

It seems so unreal, the angel, the prophecy...
But her cycles have skipped
She's felt Him kick
Her neighbors question her integrity

But she knows the truth
She watches as she carries the Child to term
And she wonders why...
Why would God ever choose her?

Poem for Advent #2: Anticipation

2005-12-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

Anticipation grows each day
And with each passing hour
Something different's in the air
She can almost feel it now

So long she's waited, pleaded
For a promise to be fulfilled
The years passed all too quickly
And in the temple she waits still

Yet something is stirring
Her aged heart skips a beat
Could redemption be coming now?
Could Israel finally be soon free?

And with anticipation comes a new hope
A resolution with joy
She will see this through
Her own eyes will see Him come through...

Poem for Advent #1: Watch

2005-11-27T15:00:00.000-08:00

Watch as the snowflake falls and melts on the earth
Creation impatiently stirs
Something is different
Something is changing

The wind has been groaning, has been moaning, blowing
"How long... it's been so long, too long..."
And she waits as she roams
But watch, she is shifting...

This star has seen a thousand nights, and then a thousand more
But something has called him to shine
To shine out with more power
More brilliance than ever before...

And a billion people are asleep to this,
This great drama as it unfolds
But one awakens, then another
Each man holds his breath...

They are watching...
They are waiting...

Not about me

2005-11-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

D'VINE has a preview celebration coming up on December 11. It's extremely exciting, and I hope you can come.

But as exciting as it is, it also makes me nervous.

We are still so very much in the process of building a launch team as a church. And I'm more than definitely still in the process of building a team that will lead worship for our gatherings. Some core members have stepped up to the plate, and they have served eagerly and faithfully. But I'm not where I'd like to be in the recruiting process. And everything seems to be happening so quickly now. In a couple of weeks, we'll have our preview celebration. And though our actual launch is still a few months away (late February or early March, something like that), I know that time will pass quickly. And it just makes me nervous.

Why am I nervous? Because I'm hoping people will walk away from our preview celebration thinking, 'Wow, that was cool. I really sensed God's presence.' Because if they walk away saying something other than that, it will be my fault somehow.

I want to give my best. I want to present quality. But sometimes I place too much weight on my efforts. And this leads to much stress in my life (and probably in the lives of people around me).

But I had a conversation this week with a mentor of mine. He's not much older than me, but so much wiser and so much more experienced when it comes to leading worship. I mentioned my nervousness regarding the upcoming celebration. And he told me the greatest thing. He said that in a church that is attempting to build a community where worship happens as much in how we serve and love each other as in how we sing and play music, there is not as much of a need to rely on the perfect production of 'worship'. In other words, I can relax a bit.

It reminded me that it's not up to me to create worship. Yes, our church's mission refers to wanting to create community and experiences where people can encounter God. But I think it's more about creating space for God to work. He does the actual work. I don't make worship happen, and it's really not my job to do that. I pray that God uses me, that He uses the other members of the worship team, that He uses the community we're seeking to build to give people we encounter a taste of the incredible glory that's coming... But if someone has an 'aha' moment with God, it won't be because of anything I did or said.

It's not about me. It's all about Jesus. It always has been. It always will be.

Soli deo gloria.

More than words

2005-10-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

"More than Words" is a song by an early-90s band called Extreme. It's one of the first songs I ever learned to play on guitar. It's not a great song, really. But it makes a great title for a post about worship, don't you think?

In the community we're in the process of building, we've been talking quite a bit about what it looks like to truly make worship a lifestyle. Doing some online research on something totally unrelated (well, not if I was doing all things to the glory of God, but anyway...), I stumbled onto the website of Island Family Christian Church, a church in Honolulu, HI (serving in Hawaii is a heavy cross for them to bear, I'm sure). It's a very cool, very multicultural church where they do hip-hop and hula dance on occasion during worship gatherings (I imagine that's not at the same time, but you never know). And I found this neat little page on their website with a list of ten ways to worship without music. Check it out!

Here are a few quotes to think about...

"You've got to find some way of saying it without saying it." (Duke Ellington)

"Now I can say loudly and openly what I have been saying to myself on my knees." (also from Ellington, what a wealth of wisdom as well as music!)

"Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words." (St. Francis of Assisi)

One of our dreams for D'Vine is that people who connect with our community would not be locked into just one format for expressing worship. We pray that people would feel free to encounter God in a variety of ways, corporately as well as individually. There are so many ways we've been blessed, and so many ways to express thanks and worship. We got a taste of what's to come at our most recent gathering. Special thanks to Lori R., our creative team and a wonderful band for all the help with this gathering. Lori put together some great stations for experiential prayer and worship. Here are some "before" pics of the way the Riddle house was set up for the gathering...

Setting the mood (left) ... We removed our shoes as we entered the house as a reminder that we were entering into a place where God was present...

Worship with magazines and scissors... The collage space was probably my favorite non-musical space of the evening.

Worshiping corporately without music (left) ... I always love a wailing wall, a place to express heartfelt petitions and praise. Wailing walls are dangerous places.

And the band played on... Oh yeah, we did actually have about 20-25 minutes of worship through song. It was a pretty fun (and loud) set. :)

My personal experience has been that I experience God most deeply in a corporate, musical setting after times of deep connection with Him one-on-one, often not through music. Hopefully, experiences like this will fuel more worship, whether through singing, playing an instrument, creating a visual art, writing, working, serving, or doing dishes.

Let's do this again, shall we?

Peace and peaches,

Candyce

How to rock a worship leader's world

2005-09-30T23:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the step-by-step:

1. Ask her to lead worship in a church that's trying to reach emerging generations.

2. Suggest that she read Dan Kimball's book, Emerging Worship.

3. Just wait until she gets to read the chapter that's all about why churches shouldn't be built around weekend gatherings.

If you've been following the personal blog, you can probably guess that I've been thinking about worship (what it really means to worship, what it should look like, etc.) a lot lately. Part of that is the gathering our church is planning for this weekend. We're focusing in on part of our mission--to build an army of worshipers. And our goal is that by the end of the gathering, people who come will have a clearer picture of what it looks like to make worship a lifestyle. So a team of people has been thinking and brainstorming about what kind of experiences we might seek to create at the gathering so that this goal is realized.

At the same time, I had posted a request from my xanga readers to ask me any 3 random questions they wanted, and several responded with questions about worship. So I've been thinking about how I got started on the journey as a worship leader, other worship leaders I admire, and what drives me as a worship leader.

And then, as I hinted, I've been reading Kimball's book. I've mentioned to a couple of people that this book is like a textbook for me (though much more interesting than any other textbooks I've had to read in the past :)). Now that we're planning a more experiential gathering than any we've had so far, I feel like a test is coming up. And now I'm cramming. :) But it's good stuff...

Here's something Kimball wrote that rocked my world. He refers to the 80-20 principle, which means that 80% of the results stem from about 20% of the work (for example, in a lot of churches, 80% of the work accomplished comes by the hands of a number of volunteers comprising 20% of the people there). But he applies this principle to the way ministry leaders spend time and resources. "Considering [the 80-20 principle], we in church leadership typically agree that 80% of true discipleship and spiritual growth occurs from mentoring, smaller group gatherings, relationships, serving, etc. I also bet (if we are brutally honest) that probably only 20% of discipleship really is a result of our weekend gatherings. So it is rather ironic that in most churches we pour 80% of our energy and resources into something that produces only 20% of long-term spiritual growth."

This really made me think, particularly about my role as a worship leader. Yes, we do tend to focus a lot of attention on weekend gatherings. In the churches I attended growing up, inviting a friend to church was seen as the pinnacle of outreach. Churches spend a lot of time and money trying to learn from "successful" (which usually means large) churches about how to improve the weekend gathering. Churches large and small allow their paid leadership to have Mondays off in order to recover from the amount of energy expended on Sunday (as a volunteer, I sure wish I could have Mondays off :)). It just goes on and on.

And as a worship leader, I know that worship isn't really all about music. But I notice that in most evangelical churches, worship through music often takes up about half or close to half of the time alloted for the gathering. And I'm aware that my musical background has a lot to do with why I've been given some of the opportunities I've been given. And even at our planning meeting to brainstorm ideas for our upcoming gathering, our group had to be redirected once or twice to focus back on the idea that worship is more about how we live every day than about something we do on Sunday.

So it just makes me think... If I'm to be a worship leader, and worship isn't really about music, or even about some component of a regular gathering, what's my role really? How exactly am I to be leading the people I serve into more authentic worship? I'm still such a newbie when it comes to all of this, but I imagine it has something to do with, first of all, being an example. I want to live my life in a way that expresses worship, and I want to be able to share that with the people in our community, especially the people I serve with most closely. And second, I think it has something to do with taking advantage of any opportunity I get to encourage people in their pursuit of God's heart in worship, whether that's writing here about worship, helping out in creating experiences like the one we'll have this weekend, having significant conversations with people about how they're connecting with God, or actually leading a corporate time of worship (imagine that :)).

Just when you think you know what you're doing in a particular role, everything changes...

Take care,

Candyce

Finally, an update

2005-09-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, I do realize we're long overdue for an update here. Things have been good, but quite busy. I was holding off until I could upload a few pics from recent D'VINE events that are still stored on my camera. :) Those are coming...

But for now, check out a couple of posts at my personal blog... My post today ("by request #3") talks about some values I have when it comes to leading worship. Yesterday's post ("by request #2") is more about my story as a worship leader. (I had asked readers of my blog to ask any random 3 questions they could think of, and I wrote that I would respond in an upcoming post, hence the "by request" titles. "By request #1" is my response to some very, very random questions, in case you were curious. :))

Tonight's a big one for D'VINE as we head to the Clifton bar scene for an outreach. At one blog or another, I'm sure I'll likely end up posting about that. :)

Have an amazing weekend, folks!

Candyce

2005-08-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

A couple of busy, busy months...

Man, some huge things are happening around D'Vine! Here's a rundown of important dates...

September 5: Labor Day party
September 16: Game night followed by a show by The Times (featuring our own Ashley Peacock)
September 18: Launch team meeting
September 21-25: The neighborhood university moves in for fall quarter... Lots of opportunities to reach out to students, especially at a late, LATE night bar outreach Friday night (9/23/05). But don't worry, Dr. Zimpher. We know that it's not like all UC students drink. :)
October 2: Launch team meeting (starting with this meeting, we'll be meeting on the first and third Sunday night of each month)
October 15: Volleyball party (similar to the event last month, if you missed that event, you won't want to miss this one!)
October 16: Launch team meeting
October 22: Outreach opportunity (details TBA)
October 29: Super cool event at Old St. George... more exciting details to follow on this...

Let me know if you need more info on any of these events... It would be great to see you there!

Peace,

Candyce

2005-08-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

Our captivating, wild-at-heart, and just plain great God

'Safe?... Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you...' (said a beaver to a daughter of Eve in the wonderful classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)

I recently heard someone speak about the differences between the needs of women and the needs of men. On my personal blog, I shared some thoughts that were inspired by that talk. (You can read that post here, if you'd like.) Some of those thoughts pertained to worship, how we view and relate to God in light of the fact that both men and women are designed as expressions of His image. I told my xanga readers I would flesh out those thoughts here, so here goes... (I will confess here and now that lots of these thoughts are heavily influenced by John Eldredge's work...)

'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.' (Gen. 1:27) Our amazing God created humanity to reflect who He is, His ways, His heart, His character. And He created us in a way that no one person, no one kind of person can fully express who He is (well, other than Jesus, but that's a different sort of thing). God made us to be unique and different, with our differences in gender, culture, ethnicity, personality, and giftings, because He wanted to reveal so many different aspects of who He is. So although we are broken, fallen, flawed, we can still see traces of our Creator in the people around us. And those traces can point us back to our master Designer...

Men tend to desire adventure. Men desire to be on a mission and to accomplish that mission, to show leadership and strength, to offer that strength to a beauty. And we can see this in the heart of God... He is a God who acts on behalf of His people, taking on their battles out of His love for them. 'The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name...' (Gen. 15:3) One thing that always strikes me while watching The Passion of the Christ is the heroic way Jesus is depicted. He is a Defender of the woman caught in adultery. He boldly rails against the religious leaders who manipulate the hearts of people for their own benefit. He stands victoriously against Satan as he accuses Him (even in His weakest moments, He never forgets who He is, His mission, His destiny... or His enemy's destiny). And in one of my favorite scenes, after He's been savagely beaten with rods, He stands back up, almost as if to say, 'hit Me again. I dare you to hit Me again.' Jesus is the ultimate Hero. Maximus, William Wallace, Robin Hood, and the prince (whose name I can't remember) who fights through thorns and slays a demonic dragon in order to rescue and awaken the Sleeping Beauty that he loves... these men have nothing on my Jesus.

Women tend to desire to be pursued and fought for and cherished, to be beautiful and to unveil that beauty, to share in an adventure (they want the thrill of the adventure, but the thrill is a bit empty if they think they have to go it alone). They want to nurture and comfort and give life to things. And we see this in the heart of God as well... He is, as Francis Thompson would say, the 'Hound of Heaven,' ever pursuing us, yet His word expresses His longing to be sought by humanity. 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' (Jeremiah 29:13) And though few have even seen glimpses of God's beauty in this life, we're definitely given clues of how captivating He truly is. Men who were granted enough grace and favor to even be near Him would walk away glowing. They were inclined to build shrines. They would fall on their knees as if dead. And prior to the work Jesus did on the cross, God's looks really could kill. The most beautiful woman, the most amazing piece of artwork, the stars, the ocean, and the mountains... they have nothing on the beauty of our God. And our wild, adventurous and beautiful God isn't about going it alone, either. Have you considered recently what an incredible privilege it is that He includes men and women like us in the greater story, the story of our planet's redemption? Wow. That's really amazing!

So how do we worship such a multifaceted and infinitely complex God? I wrote in the xanga post that spawned this one that I think many Christians tend to express worship in ways that reflect His more feminine characteristics (and in case you were wondering, I don't think God has a gender identity crisis; Jesus calls God His Father rather than Mother, and that works for me, too; but I think God's bigger than our labels can adequately describe, and I can't deny that my femininity is a reflection of God's image just as a man's masculinity is). We refer to Him as beautiful or precious. We thank Him for ways He nurtures us or comforts us. And all of those things are true. I'm so thankful for these aspects of who He is. But I think we need some balance. We don't sing songs about His ways of being a warrior nearly as often as we sing about His mercy. So what does it look like to bring balance?

First of all, as always, we have to mention the fact that worship isn't just about singing. That frees us up so much as we look at all of God's many attributes. Worship can be singing a song or praying or listening to someone teach. But it can also be a visit to an art museum, recognizing that any beautiful piece of art you see there is only inspired by something even more beautiful God made and that He made those things because it reflected His beauty. Worship can be hiking or mountain climbing, taking an adventurous journey with the God who made the rugged terrain upon which you travel. Worship can be service, joining Him on His mission to redeem men and women, making His battles your battles and loving people as He would. Worship can be how we relate to each other, trying to understand each others' hearts, and seeking to truly put others before ourselves. More than anything, worship is becoming transformed into the image of God that we were created to be. We are freed up to cherish and honor God more deeply when we are more like the men and women we were designed to be.

But you probably want to hear about songs... :) As a worship leader, I feel a certain responsibility to be balanced in how I choose what songs to sing. And as I've looked at this in recent weeks, it's been such a challenge to find good songs that reflect a variety of God's attributes! I think the old hymns do have a way of being a bit more balanced. For every 'Fairest Lord Jesus,' there is a 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God.' I think part of the reason why so many of the more modern choruses tend to paint softer pictures of God is a reaction against the image so many have of God--a harsh Disciplinarian waiting to punish the wrongdoer. So we seek to drive home images of love and grace and mercy. We speak of God as a Warrior, and then we worry that someone will connect that statement with the crusades. But our God is as fierce as He is loving, and our images don't reflect that often... So I'm actively looking for more songs to balance things out as I lead people in worship through song. (If you know of any, hit me up...)

Well, that was a lot to write, and a lot to read, I'm sure. I don't have all of this figured out. God is so much bigger than any words I'll ever be able to write here. But I think it's important to take a look at this, to really examine the way we worship, and to take a good look at the God we serve and adore. Isn't He amazing?

2005-08-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Desperate...

This morning I was listening to one of my favorite worship CDs, Hungry, from Vineyard Music UK. On this CD, Kathryn Scott sings two of my favorite songs, "Breathe" and "Hungry." Both of these songs relate to the topic of this post, so I'll post excerpts from both...

"I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me
Jesus, You're all this heart
is living for..." (Scott)

"And I, I'm desperate for You
And I, I'm lost without You..." (Marie Barnett)

Reading through a few passages from Luke recently, I was noticing a common theme among people who encountered Jesus. A man stricken with leprosy falls before Him, face in the dust, and he asks Jesus if He's even willing to heal him. A religious leader (one of those people Jesus didn't get along with too well) falls at Jesus' feet, begging Him to come and heal his daughter, deathly ill with some sickness. A woman dealing with a severe case of endometriosis or fibroids or something like it for 12 years nonstop (ladies, can you imagine that? do you want to?) sees Jesus on His way to the religious leader's home, and drops down near Jesus, just hoping to touch the hem of His robe. A woman whose sordid past (we aren't given the details here) had been forgiven kneeled near Jesus' feet and couldn't stop kissing and anointing them with oil and with her own tears in one of the most sincere forms of worship ever recorded.

The common theme I notice is that they are all kneeling. Each knows that he or she is in desperate need of the intervention of Jesus. And so, with a sort of bold humility, each person begs for it.

So how do I approach God? I am so thankful for the freedom I have to call the God of the universe "Daddy." But sometimes I think there's a sense of entitlement that comes from being "Daddy's little girl." I get used to the phone privileges and other perks and forget how much I truly need Him. And sometimes pride is a factor as well. Sometimes, I look at stories like the ones above, and I think, "Well, I don't need Him like that."

But the truth is I desperately need Him. His touch. His wisdom. His presence. His filling of my heart. His compassion. His joy. My very life depends on the kindness of a strange and mysterious God. And I am hopelessly lost without Him. I am nothing without Him.

In worship, there is definitely a time for absolutely crazy, delirious, joyful expression of praise. There's a time for quiet reflection. There's a time when worship is less like a concert and more like a work day at a community service site or like taking cookies to a neighbor. But there's also a time when worship looks like begging, falling on the mercy of Someone whose blessing we desperately need. I'm finding myself needing to remember that. May God grant us the wisdom to balance out these different seasons and phases in worship...

Peace,

Candyce

2005-08-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

Up your alley...

Chances are, if you're reading this, you're interested not only in what's happening with D'Vine's worship team but also in worship in general.

Inside Worship, a website with lots of articles geared toward worship leaders, recently featured an article by Dan Wilt with several links to blogs and other websites about worship. So you might want to check it out... here's a link to the article.

Peace,
Candyce

2005-08-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new Worship Team blog for D'Vine!

Check back for news and updates on what's going on with our worship team and with D'Vine, a new Vineyard church coming to Uptown Cincinnati (our launch goal is February 2006).

Recently, we had a really fun party. The goal was to give folks an opportunity to connect and meet new people and check out the community we're in the process of forming. I think we reached our goal! Jen S. and Steve F. threw a great party! Here are a few pics of all the fun!

Whose serve is it, anyway?

Jen B. spinning some discs for us. There was even some wild and crazy dancing involved. :)

So what's next?

Several of us will be attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit via a satellite link at the Springdale Vineyard. The summit is from August 11-13. Check out this link for more info...
On August 18, we'll kick off a 3-week Spiritual Conversations group that will be using Brian McLaren's book More Ready Than You Realize.
Also on August 18, we'll have a special community prayer time. We're getting ready to take some exciting steps, and we'll be meeting to ask for God's favor at this time. Even if you aren't able to make it, we'd really appreciate your prayers!
Our next launch team gathering will be held on August 21.

For more info on D'Vine or on any of these upcoming events, please let me know...

Peace,

Candyce