dan kimball here for abandoned: worship as life seminar 2008

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: art, community, emerging church, emerging culture, evangelism, examining, missiology, my favorite songs, planning, post-Christendom, q & a, quotes of note, radio, social justice, sports, theology, worship
• Date: May 6,2008

It is with great excitement that I announce that Dan Kimball, pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA, conference speaker, and author of The Emerging Church, Emerging Worship, and , They Like Jesus, But Not the Church and co-author of Listening to the Beliefs of the Emerging Church, has agreed to be our keynote speaker for the Abandoned: Worship As Life Seminar on Saturday, September 27, 2008!

Dan will speak in four sessions on various issues such as the emerging church, emerging worship, the future of worship in the church, etc.

I must say that Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church, absolutely changed my life. It set me on a course of deconstruction and reconstruction in my ecclesiology and Emerging Worship did the same for my worship philosophy. It is an unbelievable honor to have him come.

If you remember, last year Sally Morgenthaler and Shaun Groves were with us. It was a time of great challenge and encouragement.

My vision for Abandoned remains focused on the emerging worship conversation and educating, encouraging, and spurring on MBU Worship Arts students, as well as the local church worship community. The mission for the event is:

1) Simply put, Romans 12:1. We are ‘abandoned to worship as life’ because we have been commanded to offer our bodies of living sacrifices. Living – as in all of the time. That means our spiritual act of worship, or our spiritual lifestyle, never ceases. It’s not a something we clock in to do when we go to church and then clock out. Because of the cross the ‘temple’ of worship is now our own hearts. We don’t go to church, we are the church. And that means worship can and should happen everywhere, including the church.

2) ‘Worship as life’ eludes to the idea that as we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, it impacts the people around us. This is the missional aspect of worship. In other words, as we personally worship God, we have a conversation, a connection, an intimate exchange of love between Father and child. After we’ve experienced this love in a time of worship, how could we not share the love we have been so freely given with others? Why wouldn’t we want those around us to experience what we have? If not, our worship has terminated on ourselves. We have to remember our salvation doesn’t end at the point we receive God’s free gift of grace. We have been saved to continue to redeem the world. So our worship should propel us outside the four walls of the church.

Soon, I will have an announcement regarding the artist[s] that will be here to close the day out on that Saturday evening. Be looking for more information regarding the seminar in the months ahead!

extract’d

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: CCM, music, quotes of note, radio, roaring lambs, songwriting
• Date: Jan 25,2008

…you see few Christian artists really working hard enough and doing good enough art to be in that bigger worldview conversation that’s happening. Instead you see them sort of relegated to this kind of meaningless little Christian chart, well it’s like since we’re not good enough to compete with the real music, the real general market music, the big worldview discussions happening. We’re going to have our own awards ceremonies, the Dove Awards, or our little radio stations, our own little charts, and our own little world to make ourselves feel significant because ultimately the art we’re making just isn’t earning ourselves a seat at the table to really communicate what we believe by way of great art.

-Derek Webb, from Patrol Magazine’s “The Derek Webb Interview Part II“

is christian radio going mainstream?

• Author: Brad
• Filed under: culture, music, radio, roaring lambs
• Date: Mar 18,2007

Well, that is what Daniel Pulliam of the Get Religion blog is wondering.

In a recent blog entry, Pulliam responds to David Segal’s Washington Post article about Christian radio going ‘mainstream.’

The thrust of Pulliam’s intersest revolves around Segal’s profile of Johnny Stone, a former controversial Atlanta DJ – now a Christian – who is now the morning drive time host for a NY/NJ area Christian radio station, Star 99.1 FM. Segal is particularly interested in Stone’s background, his current platform on Christian radio, and what impact this could have on the future of Christian programming.

According to Segal, Stone “spent most of his career in secular radio, on morning shows that were often so raunchy he can barely bring himself to talk about it.” But Stone had an ephinany after multiple suspensions by an Atlanta radio station and a divorce and, much like the prodigal son, he came back to God. And into Christian radio.

Segal purports that John Frost, a partner at Goodratings Strategic Services – consultants for religious broadcasters – and his mid-90′s push to take Christian radio in a new direction was the impetus for the shift seen in Star 99.1 FM’s philosophy.

For clarification, when Segal is talking about ‘mainstream,’ he isn’t talking about the style of music but rather the format. Morning shows, contests, on-air personalities, etc. Most of us would say that there is a strong correalation between Frost’s mid-90′s push and much of what is heard on Christian radio stations today.

But what Pulliam says about Segal’s article on Stone is what is interesting to me:

Stone is going for edgy material that will supposedly draw in listeners, but are they getting what they are seeking? It’s clear from the article that the show is nowhere close to the technical sophistication of secular radio. Why is that the case? Is radio that happens to be Christian destined for a programming ghetto?

Pulliam is right. If dressing up Christian radio to be a little ‘edgier’ but still with the overall same format and content, it is headed for the programming ghetto. But this shift signals some hope.

I’m waiting for Christian radio to catch up with this idea when it comes to music. I know there are no easy solutions. And I know we need to define what ‘edgy’ means. In fact, maybe change is insurmountable. But I’m waiting to see a place where David Crowder is played next toOver the Rhine next to Shaun Groves next to Sufjan Stevens next to Andrew Osenga.

I remember back in ’03 reading this article by Robin Parrish on cmcentral.com about ‘roaring lamb’ Josh Foster, who at the time was Director of Operations of Lazerbeam Radio Networks and producer of The Lazerbeam Countdown. The Lazerbeam Countdown was a mainstream countdown show, featuring music from spiritual artists who promoted a positive and worthwhile message.

If you go online today, you can’t find anything online about Lazerbeam or Josh Foster.

Maybe that was our test case…