In Review: Contemporary Worship Workshop
What a weekend! This year's Contemporary Worship Workshop was an incredible experience. The AOK Division welcomed the Texas Division to join us for three days of instruction, worship, and fellowship. 100 people came together at Camp Heart O' Hills to learn how they could become better musicians and worship teams. This was all done with the intention of enhancing the quality of worship at their corps.
Fourteen corps sent delegates to the Workshop. The delegates came as a part of their corps praise band, or as beginner guitarists and bassists. Corps praise bands had the incredible opportunity to spend the weekend being coached by an expert instructor. Beginners were taught the fundamentals of their instrument so that they can continue to grow and learn.
We were blessed to have a team of incredibly talented instructors to work with our praise bands and beginner classes. Transmission and Bernie Dake have been a part of these events since the very first "Guitar Heroes" in 2010. Their support and ministry continues to be an important part of the success of this event. We were also happy to welcome Jude St.-Aime, Eric Himes, and Doug Berry. They are the Contemporary Worship Arts Specialists from the Central, Eastern, and Western territories. They spent the weekend working with corps praise bands as coaches. What a blessing to have them with us! Captain Michael Harris joined us as our guest speaker for the weekend. He brought a powerful and challenging message in a series of Bible studies. See the full list of instructors and guests below:
- Captain Michael Harris - Bible Teacher
- Bernie Dake - Audio Tech - Praise Band Coach
- Marty Mikles - Transmission/Praise Band Coach
- Lex Roberson - Transmission/Praise Band Coach
- Josh Powell - Transmission/Praise Band Coach
- Michael Capehart - Transmission/Praise Band Coach
- Jude St.-Aime - Praise Band Coach
- Eric Himes - Praise Band Coach
- Doug Berry - Praise Band Coach
- Ronnie Murchison - Praise Band Coach
- Matt Broome - Praise Band Coach
- Jeff Robbins - Praise Band Coach
- Jimmy Cox - Praise Band Coach
- Ernie Potter - Beginner Guitar
- Jeff Barrington - Beginner Bass
- Major Janice Riefer - Visual Tech
The weekend kicked off at 7:00 Friday night with Transmission and Captain Harris. Both of them set the tone for the weekend as they led us through a time of worship and through the Word. Everyone then borke off in to their classes where they got to meet their coaches and play with their worship teams. The night ended with Ronnie Murchison teaching a session on Ableton software and how it can benefit worship teams
Saturday was a long day, but a great day! We began with Captain Harris and Transmission again, and then moved into a series of masterclasses. In the masterclasses everyone grouped together by what instrument they play and received some great information on their specific role in a worship band. We then moved into another session with praise bands and beginner classes. After lunch came two more of these sessions. What an incredible opportunity everyone had to spend so much time with their coaches!
Saturday night began with Transmission playing their "We Believe" concert. This was an exciting and moving journey through the doctrines of The Salvation Army. There was wonderful spirit of worship during this time as we examined the foundational beliefs about our faith. This spirit of worship continued into Bible study with Captain Harris.
Austin Citadel Praise Band
Everything culminated on Sunday in the Holiness Meeting. Transmission led us through several worship songs that focused on the presence of the Holy Spirit and our complete love and devotion to the Lord. This led perfectly into Captain Harris's message, where he challenged us with examples of complete devotion and surrender to the Lord. After a time of prayer at the Altar, we then spent time in prayer with our corps teams.
The weekend was filled with a spirit of unity as we all came together with the intention of worshiping the Lord, and learning how to be more effective worship artists. This was a unique opportunity for entire bands to receive this level of direct instruction. The corps bands also had the chance to have a retreat together, and go back as a unified team. We pray that that everything learned about music and about our relationship with the Lord translates to the corps in a lasting and powerful way.
Look for an entire photo gallery from Lt. Israel Roseno coming soon!