Maybe this has happened to you. Coming home from a Life Teen conference, you returned home in a fog of doubt and confusion at your ability to recreate the vibrant music you heard at a conference. With hands in the air, enraptured in worship, you made an internal commitment to take your music ministry to the next level. Or for some, you made the commitment to do something at your parish that has never been done before. Here are some thoughts for you to consider as you begin to form your music ministry

It has been some time since I have written an article on lifeteen.com, so first let me apologize for being away. Some of you may have heard that on July 3rd my wife Kristen was in a bad accident. She was struck by a car while she was jogging and sustained two broken shoulders and a wound to the back of her head. First of all, I want to thank all of you who prayed for her recovery from the bottom of my heart. These last few months have been extremely difficult and all your prayers, support and Emails

Have you ever been up late at night and seen those infomercials for exercise equipment or jewelry? Have you ever wondered why people buy this stuff? It may be that they have nothing better to spend their money on, but I doubt it! Usually the people who sell these things to us are so full of life and enthusiasm that it makes us want to buy the product. Well, in the Church, we’re not selling a product, but in a way, we are bringing the love of Jesus to the world. I can’t imagine that Jesus gave

I once worked with someone who had a T-shirt that said “We’ve always done it that way” with a big red mark slashed through it. A lot of times we fall into this rut…What did we do last year? Let just do that again. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of wisdom in looking at what we’ve done in the past and trying to learn from it, but how can our ministry ever evolve if we just recycle last years ideas? We must always strive to come up with new ideas and new ways to reach the people

Have you ever been to a church and seen those guys in the red sport coats running up and down the aisle waving 2 fingers in the air, right in the middle of the readings? Does this sound like your Church? If it does, you probably have figured out by now that we’re talking about the ushers. Maybe they don’t wear jackets at your church, but the big question is: do they help the flow of the Liturgy or hinder it? Hopefully at a teen Liturgy you have teens or CORE Team members welcoming people, giving

Our Church is in need of good, solid musicians who are filled with the Spirit and who give their talents back to God through music. We need to seek those people out and encourage them. At one time or another, each of us was mentored by another musician. We either learned from watching another Music Director or actually working with them at the Liturgy. Helping another musician to learn the Liturgy can be one of the greatest gifts we can give the Church. Let’s pass on the gifts we have been given

Whether you’re a Doctor, a Lawyer, or a Teacher, the key to how successful you will be in your field is how much knowledge you have. The same goes for Music Ministers. The more knowledge we have about music and the Liturgy, the more fruitful our Ministry will become. Where do we get it? Although it’s true that some of our knowledge might come from workshops and mentoring relationships, the best place to learn about Liturgical music is in the documents of our Church. If we know the documents