My name is Mike O’Brien and I am passionate about teaching and mentoring worship leaders and teams. My calling is to use my experience as a producer, worship leader, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist to come alongside musicians, helping them more fully worship God with their instrument and lives. Find out more about how I can help your worship leaders and teams HERE.
Encouraging musicians in the church to STEP UP and INTO the microphone is a constant point in my training. There is a ton of apprehension with church singers “bringing it” for fear of being perceived as rock stars. Using the microphone with confidence is the beginning of great on stage leadership.
My name is Mike O’Brien and I am passionate about teaching and mentoring worship leaders and teams. My calling is to use my experience as a producer, worship leader, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist to come alongside musicians, helping them more fully worship God with their instrument and lives. Find out more about how I can help your worship leaders and teams HERE.
These high quality, durable 11×17 posters designed by Andrea Bryant are a wonderful inspiration for the worship leader, vocalist or church musician! These posters can be placed backstage, in the green room, in the office or home. Click the button below to order your own 11×17 Worship Team Training Poster:
One “Before You Sing” Poster – $15
One “The Perfect Worship Set List” – $15
BOTH POSTERS SHIPPED! – $20
Increasingly, I find myself pulling my phone out before, during and after worship gatherings. Not so much to update my social media, but for reference and support as a worship leader. Here are 12 helpful apps (admittedly, some of these are only shortcuts to websites that I save to my home screen) that I am using consistently in worship ministry.
1. ESV Bible
As worship leaders, we need to keep the word of God close to us. The ESV is the version of the Bible my church uses, so I keep this app handy. This particular app is free, well designed and functional. Some traditions might discourage reading from a phone on the stage, but I have found that it’s nice to have an illuminated screen and reading from a device models a great use of technology. Additionally, it models what real life might look like.
Ten years ago, leading into the Christmas season I had a nervous breakdown as I was frantically preparing songs, dramas, and choirs for our medium sized congregation. The pressure of making Christmas “extra-special” for everyone nearly broke me. Below is a video of my story and a few ideas of how I reclaimed the Advent season. This is a VIDEO re-post of a previous text blog from last year.
My name is Mike O’Brien and I am passionate about teaching and mentoring through music. My calling is to use my experience as a producer, worship leader, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist to come alongside musicians, helping them more fully worship God with their instrument and lives. Find out more how I can help your worship leaders and teams HERE.
Great sound in our gathered worship spaces is all about removing obstacles. How a congregation perceives sound from the stage should inspire more singing, not less. A music volume that is weak is just as much a distraction as piercing frequencies that assault the ears of the faithful. Churches often meet in strange rooms at strange times. We have revolving volunteers with competing values working the knobs. Because of this, it’s ok for churches to be vigilant in the evaluation of sonic environments. This video (and some notes below) will give inspiration and ideas for senior leaders as we work together to win the volume war:
1. Decide the culture of sound that you want
Certain leadership values will encourage concert-like environments, while others lean towards a more ancient future space. Many will say you want it all! Cast a wide net, but choose which side of the boat and tell your worship leaders and sound teams what you want. Your language for this value is more important than the number on a decibel meter. Pastors, check out this brilliant post from Dan Wilt on the values of volume.
God is very kind to build seasons into our lives. Every new season is an excellent time to recalibrate and make new what has become tattered and worn.
For many, our worship ministries and personal leadership have plateaued. Sure, we get the weekly worship set out and go through the motions, but there is something deep inside that says there could be more. The non-stop voice in our head says, “I wish….”. For years I wanted a better voice but I was too embarrassed, broke or distracted to take a voice lesson. I also wanted a real Hammond B3 Organ. I wanted to get high quality counseling… and the list went on and on. All these dreams (and more) connected with my calling went nowhere year after year. In 2002 I started making a list and a plan of action for everything I could dream in the area of worship leadership and our team. That year, by March – EVERYTHING had already been accomplished! Needless to say every year since I have continued to pray, dream and designing goals for that next year.
We so easily discount these goal making sessions as RESOLUTION PLANS that will only fail. But let me say this: You will inevitably begin and restart cycles of sin this year without a list or a plan. I promise. Knowing that the one who comes to steal and destroy is always working, we need to take the time to listen to what God has for us. There are more tools today to help us succeed than ever before.