Graphic Design Challenge: Communicating Money & Church Tithes & Offerings

Sojourn "God Gave" liturgical art display

A few weeks ago my church Sojourn embarked on a short sermon series on money, generosity and giving. Church leaders know this is one of the biggest communication challenges we have. Frankly, the Bible calls us to give generously because of God’s lavish gifts to us: salvation, right-standing with Him, and a place at the King’s table. Yet churches often either avoid the subject for fear of seeming money hungry, or they preach it in ways that induce guilt-inspired giving rather than giving in thanks and joyfullness.

Rebecca Elliott and I faced this challenge when we wrote Sojourn Music’s modern hymn of offering, “All I Have Is Yours” from the Before The Throne album.

More recently, Sojourn’s pastors taught a sermon series entitled God Gave (check out Sojourn’s God Gave sermon audio here).

We wanted church graphic design that would stimulate interest and cause people to think. Lead Pastor Daniel Montgomery’s pulpit team, of which I am a member, researched and brainstormed ideas for a few weeks. Art Director Michael Winters imagined the winning graphic design concept — dollar bills in the shape of the cross, on the stage backdrop of each Sojourn campus.

Pastor Daniel worried that it might be unnecessarily offensive, but decided that while some might find it offensive, it’s not unnecessarily so. Our culture’s view on money is far from God’s view, so “playing safe” with the God Gave graphic design would undermine our desire to challenge this modern, ungodly view.

Artist’s Statement (Michael Winters)

Listen To All Of Hymns 4 by Page CXVI Right Here!

You know Bobby and I are all about modern hymns here at My Song In The Night, just as we are at Sojourn Music. So we’re excited to share the entire new album by Page CXVI with you. For a limited time, stream the entire Hymns 4 record below. You’ll see links to buy the record or individual tracks below, as well as the Audio Player for listening to all of it right here at My Song In The Night.

If you’d like us to write a Songwriting Analysis blog post on any of these songs (like this one on Death In His Grave by John Mark McMillan or this one on All I Have Is Christ by Jordan Kauflin of the Na Band), let us know in the comments or by using our Contact Us form.

Hymns IV by PageCXVI

• Follow Page CXVI on Twitter here
• Follow my husband Bobby Gilles on Twitter here
• I’m not on Twitter, but feel free to friend me on Facebook here.

Worship Music Songwriters, Take 30 Seconds To Read This. Remember It

I found this via my friend Tony Kumer at his Ministry To Children blog. Seriously, those of you who write praise and worship songs and modern hymns, this is an important point to remember.

How Shall We Sing The Lord’s Song In A Foreign Land?

"By His stripes, we are healed" - Isaiah 53. Art by Alan Vales

How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? I don’t remember reading this verse before, but when I read it this week I was jarred as it so closely reflected the nagging question lingering in my heart for the last few weeks:

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors demanded songs of joy, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? — Psalm 137.1-4

I have wondered where the song of the Lord in my heart has gone. I’ve had no desire to sing or play or compose a song. No, I’ve been downtrodden, anxious, afraid, and just like the writer of this Psalm, I’ve found myself tormented and taunted by my enemies seeking to destroy my life. I’m left grieving the loss of better days.

Here I’m unable to silence the constant whisper of my enemy, “Where is your song of joy now, Kristen? Can’t you find a voice to sing in the midst of these trials? Sing a joyful song about your Lord if He is sovereign over your life! Why have you no desire to sing, Kristen? Have you forgotten the Lord’s song?”

And accompanying these taunts are the guilt and shame of having so easily hung up my harp on the banks of Babylon’s waters. Why have I lost hope? Why have I forfeited my song in the night?

Why Care About Poetic Devices In Songs, Sermons And Testimonies?

Does the pursuit of poetic skill detract from the power of the cross? When we study hymn meter, rhyme schemes, storytelling devices, consonance, assonance and other elements of poetry, is this what Paul warned about in 1 Corinthians 2:1 when he said:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

Should we quit studying the techniques necessary to write modern hymns, as well as effective sermons and memorable testimonies?

Eloquent Pastor John Piper Speaking At Advance '09 in North Carolina

Nope. And while you might expect me to take you through a study of Isaac Watts, Anne Steel or Charles Wesley here, we’ll reserve them for other occasions (like this post on internal rhyme and alliteration in the work of Watts). Today, read the excerpt below from John Piper’s “Is There Christian Eloquence? Clear Words and the Wonder of the Cross,” and watch a three-minute part of this sermon (different from the text excerpt below) in the video player above.

Want To Join A Church Communications Strategy Coaching Network?

Wired Churches Coaching Networks logo

“Effective communications is really about releasing the right response, not sending the right message. – Kem Meyer

In September 2010 I began a journey of several months in a communications coaching network along with communications directors from the east to west coast, from Minnesota to Texas, and many points in between. Kem Meyer, Director of Communications at Granger Community Church (GCC) in northern Indiana, led our motley crew.

Kem is also the author of Less Clutter, Less Noise: Beyond Bulletins, Brochures And Bake Sales, and has led many seminars and workshops across the country and in Granger, through Wired Churches initiative to train church leaders.

During these seven months we met twice in Granger for long, intensive sessions together, we conferred offline and we read book assignments. Now, we’ve joined with many alumni of Kem’s coaching group who collaborate, ask questions and learn from each other online through an Alumni Google group.

All of life is communication

Now you can join this Church Communications Strategy Coaching Network for the next session in Spring 2012. Apply here by February 1.

Here are the reasons I preferred this group to any conference, seminar or church communications book I’ve read:

If You Don’t Have This, You Won’t Make It As A Songwriter

Frances Mayes writes in The Discovery Of Poetry:

If your blood is on fire with the love of language and the desire to make something with words, you probably know that. You probably know, too, that no matter how awkward your writing is right now, something in you will make you a writer …. Teaching in a large urban university, I’ve been surprised to find that genuine talent is not at all unusual. What is unusual is the perseverance and will it takes to become a writer.

I’ve lost count of the number of short stories, songs and other pieces of writing I’ve done which have never seen dawn’s early light. Before I discovered that I preferred writing songs and nonfiction, I even kept a tally of the number of rejection notices I received for short stories versus the number of stories that literary journals accepted. I believe the finally score was:

• 150 rejections
• 4 acceptances (one of which was by a magazine that went out of business before publishing my story)

To Make It, You Must Persevere

We all know it takes talent and it takes experience. One of our major goals at My Song In The Night is to give you tools and pointers. But realize that it also takes volume — plugging away, day after day. A personal example:

Every time our church Sojourn releases a major, full-length album of original worship songs, we include 10-12 songs from a pool of at least 50 songs that writers have submitted. And these 50 are the resulting work of writers who tested, pruned and started many other songs that they knew not to submit.

You know this may take awhile, right?

Yet occasionally writers have expressed disappointment to me that their song didn’t make it. “Your song?” I ask. “You turned in one?”

Tell The Story Of Your Church Events Through Photo Blogging

Here I am with my brothers in the Sojourn Music band that led worship at New Albany's launch service

Not long ago Bobby shared with you an interview he conducted with a key volunteer on his Sojourn communications team and the leader of our photography ministry, Chuck Heeke. If you missed that interview about how to start, grow and utilize a photography ministry at your church, read it here.

For now I thought I’d let you see one practical way we use photography to tell the story of many events at our church campuses, like:

• Health clinics
• Festivals
• Mercy ministry projects

and more. This past Sunday we launched the fourth Sojourn campus, and the first to operate outside the city limits of Louisville, Sojourn New Albany. The Indiana town of New Albany is just across the Ohio River from Louisville.

Bobby and I live in New Albany and have been praying and working towards the launch of this campus. I was blessed to be a part of the Sojourn Music worship team that led worship at our campus launch. You can jump over to our church’s official blog, TravelBlog, to see the way Bobby used Chuck’s great photography to tell the story of our launch Sunday. 

How To Prepare For Leading Worship At Retreats And Conferences

Promotional for the 2011 Hungry For Hope Conference, where I led worship

I’ve been privileged in the last few years to lead worship at several Sojourn Women’s retreats, conferences and other events. I’ve also led at various events outside of Sojourn, most recently at the 2011 Finding Balance Hungry for Hope conference in Colorado Springs, an annual conference for anyone who’s struggled with eating disorders, family members and friends of those who struggle, and counselors and clinicians who serve those struggling.

All the events I’ve participated in have required similar general preparation in addition to specific preparation based on the unique themes and needs of each event. I’ll flesh this out for you by detailing the preparation I’ve undergone for a retreat where I’m leading this week.

A few months ago a Louisville church’s women’s ministry leader invited me to lead worship for their upcoming fall women’s retreat. She’d learned of my experience leading worship at women’s events and other conferences upon contacting my worship pastor for a recommendation. Since then, and in similar fashion to my preparation for past events, I’ve been prayerfully, practically preparing for this event so that I’m able to serve in a way that blesses the women at the retreat and honors the Lord.

Gather Information and Count the Cost

The first thing I do whenever I’m asked to lead worship at a retreat or conference  is ask my own set of practical questions to help me determine:

1. what the expectations are
2. how much time and preparation will be required
3. whether I can reasonably meet those expectations and time commitments.

When I was approached about this upcoming retreat, I asked first for all information pertaining to the time, location and length of the event. Since the event was only three months away, I had a good handle on what my family and work schedule would be at that time. After rearranging a few things, I found I was available to serve.

Glen Eyrie Castle & Retreat Center, where we held Hungry For Hope. Yep, a castle in Colorado

The next practical element to address was the monetary cost.

Hear 30 Of Our Favorite Worship Songs From Many Bands, Right Here!

Kristen and I love songs for Christian worship, whether old or modern hymns, gospel music songs, psalms or praise & worship choruses. Old, new, acoustic, electric. We love the classics and we love discovering new tunes. We love writing worship songs, singing them, playing them, sharing them with others. As long as they are good worship songs.

When Spotify added our new hymn “My Song In The Night” (which you can also download for free in the player on your right, or buy from iTunes), we thought it would be fun to create a My Song In The Night Playlist on Spotify that included our song with a bunch of our favorites. So here it is: a link for you, and the track list, and then a video showing you how to create and share your own playlists on Spotify, as well as a note on songwriter royalties. If you’re not on Spotify yet, still click the link to our playlist. You’ll be guided through a very quick, painless, free signup process.

Listen to the My Song In The Night Spotify playlist, all 30 songs for worship, right here.  And share this playlist with others, through your Facebook and Twitter accounts. The track list:

1. My Song In The Night: Kristen Gilles (facebook.com/kristengilles)
2. The Cross (3 Hours): Shai Linne (@shailinne)
3. See What A Morning: Keith & Kristyn Getty (@gettymusic)
4. Come Every Soul By Sin Oppressed: City Hymns (@cityhymns)
5. You Have Been Raised: Sovereign Grace (@markaltrogge, @bkauflin)
6. Psalm 25: Joe Day (@joeday)
7. O Fount Of Love: Matt Papa (@matt_papa)
8. Awake My Soul: Sandra McCracken (@sandramccracken)
9. I Will Boast: Paul Baloche (@paulbaloche)
10. Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me: Bifrost Arts
11. Eyes On The Prize: Mavis Staples (c’mon Sister Mavis. Get on Twitter)
12. Refuge: Sojourn Music
13. Begone Unbelief: Indelible Grace (@kevinjtwit)
14. More: Lecrae (@lecrae)
15. Death In His Grave: John Mark McMillan (@johnmarkmc)
16. Your Mighty Hand: Saint Lewis (@SaintLewis)
17. Lord, I Believe (Communion Hymn): Zach Hicks (@zachicks)
18. In The Shadow Of The Glorious Cross: Sojourn Music
19. O God Of Our Salvation: The Village Church (@michaelbleecker)
20. Gotta Serve Somebody: Shirley Caesar (@igotnexx)
21. Beautiful Wonderful Cross: Matt Boswell (@mattboswell)
22. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus: Red Mountain Church (@redmtnchurch)
23. Deliverer: Vicky Beeching (@vickybeeching)
24. Look Where He Brought Me From: The Blind Boys Of Alabama (@blindboys)
25. Come And Sing: Sojourn Music
26. Beautiful Saviour: Stuart Townend (@stuarttownend)
27. Be Still My Soul: Page CXVI (@Page CXVI)
28. What Special Act Of Providence: Bruce Benedict (@Cardiphonia)
29. It Is Not Death To Die: Sovereign Grace (@bkauflin)
30. Absent From Flesh: Sojourn Music

Want to know how to create your own playlists, and share them with others? Watch this quick tutorial: