This cohort is for worship leaders, team members, or pastors interested in furthering their understanding of worship, liturgy, and contextualization. Using Rhythms of Grace as a backdrop for our study, we’ll explore a biblical theology of worship, a framework for thinking about music and liturgy as spiritual formation, and a philosophy of ministry for creativity and contextualization. Each session will aim for both establishing strong theological and philosophical foundations while also providing practical on-the-ground instruction and resources for worship leaders.

Each cohort will include special guests. Past guests include Sandra McCracken, Harold Best, Alan Noble, and more.

Topics Covered

How We Got Here – We’ll begin with a brief overview of how the church gathering evolved into what we see today, including reflections on what’s been good about that evolution and where the landmines are.

Worship and Idolatry – Understanding worship demands understanding its distortions. We’ll explore what the Bible says about the origins of idolatry and connect it to contemporary examples. In particular, we’ll look at the way our culture invites us to subtle idols like materialism and consumerism, as well as how church leaders are tempted to worship idols like success, accolades, and fame.

Jesus as Worship Leader – To understand the work of the gathered church, we have to understand the redemptive work of Jesus as our High Priest and primary worship leader. This session will explore how the gathered church is a participant in Jesus’ work, and how leaders can shape their gatherings so congregations can see Christ at the very center of what they do.

Worship in a Local Culture – A central concept for those who plan and lead church gatherings is spiritual formation. How are the practices of the church shaping the spiritual imaginations of our congregations? To answer this, we’ll look at what culture is and how it works, understanding how culture is formed, how it forms us, and the complex intersection of local culture, and popular culture, particularly seeking to understand how popular culture creates enormous performance pressure on local churches.

What We Sing and How We Sing It – Perhaps nothing in the life of the church is as controversial as music. What makes a good song for the gathered church? What kinds of songs should we be singing? What shouldn’t we be singing?  What is the role of preference, deference, and contextualization? We’ll explore this and more in order to lay out a strong theological and philosophical foundation for choosing songs.

The Pastor as Artist – We have many reasons to cultivate creativity as pastors and worship leaders. Church history is full of artists, musicians, and poets who helped stir the affections of the church through skill with words, music, and images. Because culture is constantly evolving and shifting, the church has evolved to provide fresh expressions of worship in varying contexts. We’ll explore how to think about creativity in our local context, as well as practices we can embrace to unlock a more creative way of life.  

Depending on Group Size and Availability – Cohorts will also include Ask Me Anything sessions and guest host sessions.

What You’ll Get

6 live video calls with your cohort, consisting of teaching and Q&A. Calls will be monthly on Thursdays, starting July 8th, from 2:00-3:30 EST.

An invitation to a private Slack channel for your cohort, to reflect on your studies and develop a community for shared ideas about your work as church musicians.

A one-on-one call with Mike for coaching.

Video or Audio recordings of any missed group calls.

What You’ll Invest

 $750 for the six-month cohort.

Attendance at video and coaching calls.

Participation in the Slack channel.

Completing assigned readings for each group meeting. (No more than 50 pages per month.) Preparation for sessions will include readings from Rhythms of Grace, Unceasing Worship by Harold Best, and Desiring the Kingdom by James K.A. Smith, as well as selected articles and YouTube videos. Reading won’t be overwhelming, though options for additional study will be provided.  

What to Do

Fill out the application here.

Upon acceptance, pay your tuition or first payment to secure your place. Space is limited.

Accept your invitation to the Slack Channel and Introduce yourself.

Mark your calendars for 2:00-3:30pm Eastern Standard Time on:

• July 8th

• August 5th

• September 2nd

• September 30th

• October 28th

• November 18th

For questions, contact me here.

Rhythms of Grace Workshops for teams

I’ve developed 2-part and 4-part workshops for pastoral teams, worship ministries, and others who want to study Rhythms of Grace together and facilitate learning conversations. Curriculum covers a basic overview of a biblical theology of worship and a practical theology of worship as spiritual formation. Workshops during the COVID pandemic will be conducted live via ZOOM, and include 75 minute sessions of teaching and Q&A. For more information, please fill out this form.

Coaching

The enneagram

For almost 15 years, I’ve used the Enneagram as a self-awareness tool for with individuals, married couples, and ministry teams. The Enneagram provides an in-depth framework for thinking about personality, leadership, and relationships. I’ve used many tools over the years to help develop leaders and teams, and the Enneagram has by far been the most effective.

For more info, contact me here. 

One-on-One

For more than a decade, I've worked with pastors and worship leaders as a one-on-one coach. I've covered nuts-and-bolts work with leading a worship ministry, leadership development, and much more. 

I specialize in working with worship ministries in growing churches, churches making multisite transitions, and pastors or church leaders who want to work on spiritual formation and self-awareness. 

Generally, coaching arrangements are made in four session blocks.

For more info, contact me here.