Worship, Writing Workshops, Hymns & more: My Allie Lapointe Interview

A short time ago Pastor Josh Dix of The Journey church in St. Louis introduced me to the work of singer-songwriter Allie Lapointe. Allie served as one of the first worship leaders in the early years of The Journey. Josh pointed me to the website of Allie and her husband Nick Lapointe, who is also a singer-songwriter musician. He also introduced me to Allie’s new album of original worship songs and modern hymns (hear all the songs and read the lyrics here). And find Treasures by Allie Lapointe on iTunes here.

And now, I’m glad to introduce it to you and to give you the chance to win this new CD in our latest My Song In The Night Twitter contest (see details at the end of this post — the contest details are quick and painless).

As Kristen and I learned more about the Lapointe’s, and Allie’s experience songwriting, leading worship, recording as an indie artist, bringing new life to old hymns and teaching workshops on songwriting, we knew we had to invite her to My Song In The Night, to share her music and her experience with you:

Bobby Gilles: The first song of yours I heard from your new album Treasures was “When Amidst The Storm I’m Shaken.” I was immediately hit with the wealth of poetic devices, right in the first verse – the consonance of all those “W’s”, assonance of the long A and the tight 87.87 “Wesley” meter:

When amidst the storm I’m shaken
Wearied by the wind and waves
Lord within me faith awaken
Jesus hear me call your name

Allie Lapointe in the recording studio

Do you have a background in poetry? Do you think much about poetic devices, either in your initial writing session for a song or in rewrites?

Allie Lapointe: For me, the genre in which I am writing helps determine the word palette I use. So, for hymns, I tend to write in the poetic voice. Finding that voice has come through years of absorbing poetry and scripture, and trying to think metrically.  It does not come naturally, but the more I write, the more quickly I find that voice.  Hymns are really fun to write because the word palette includes some beautiful words that might not be appropriate in a more conversational lyric.

Bobby Gilles: You do a lot of co-writing, both with your husband Nick and with other writers like Randall Goodgame, Andrew Osenga and David Moffitt.  When you’re writing with someone are you typically the lyricist, the tunesmith or both? Is it different with each co-writer?

How To Host A Church Christmas Gift Exchange

Church leaders, give your people a chance to display their creativity and generosity

The women in my church family have an annual tradition of celebrating the Christmas and Advent season through a huge gift exchange. Not only have I had the privilege of serving my sisters in leading worship at the events, I’ve also participated in the exchanges and each year taken home six unique gifts that remind me of the Greatest Gift of All: the lavish grace of God poured out for all of us undeserving sinners through the perfect life, death and death-defeating resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ on our behalf.

If your church is interested in hosting a Christmas/Advent gift exchange like this, I’m happy to share with you the logistical details of the Sojourn Women’s Gift Exchanges:

In order to participate in the gift exchange, each woman must bring six similar unwrapped gifts. They can be handmade, homemade baked goods or inexpensive store-bought items. For example, one year I brought six loaves of homemade pumpkin-cranberry spice bread. I saw other women bringing things like:

• six different pairs of hand-crafted earrings
• six hand-crocheted scarves
• six types of candles
• six sets of handmade greeting cards, etc.

We also seek to give to our communities as we gather to celebrate Advent. Each woman is invited to bring a $5 gift card to an area retailer to be donated to several local charities sponsored by each campus. For example, our Midtown campus donates gift cards to Scarlet Hope, a local outreach to women struggling to break free from the sex industry. Our New Albany campus will be donating Kroger gift cards and/or children’s items to the local Boys and Girls Club.

It’s a great opportunity for women to share their skills/talents with each other in giving unique gifts. Some women love to bake. Some love to make. Some love to buy. Women are free to bring whatever they’re inspired to make, bake or buy.

As the women arrive with their gifts, several volunteers

34 Songs! Free Christmas Music Playlist: Carols, Hymns, Advent Songs

We have something even sweeter than this for you ... Cool Christmas Music!

Looking for new versions of standard Christmas carols and hymns? Looking for original Advent music and Christmas songs, either for:

• Your Christmas weekend worship services?
• Your worship services during Advent calendar season?
• Your personal Christmas mood music/ party mix?
• Your personal times of contemplation, devotions and worship during Advent and Christmas seasons of the Christian liturgical year?

Kristen and I have come up with the 34-song My Song In The Night Christmas Playlist on Spotify — two hours of streaming Christmas songs, by many artists. You can freely listen to these songs, subscribe to this playlist by hitting the Subscribe button, and share the playlist with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. This follows on the heel of our other Spotify worship song playlists:

• The 30-song My Song In The Night worship music playlist– worship songs we love, from many different artists, painting many different musical landscapes.
• The 20-song “Sojourn Ain’t Afraid Of No Ghost” Halloween playlist, featuring music from our church Sojourn, along with individual pieces from singer-songwriters and bands who are part of the Sojourn community.
• Our 22-song Thanksgiving Worship Songs Playlist – songs of thanksgiving and praise from many different worship bands and soloists.

34 Worship Songs For Christmas & Advent Season, All Freely Available On Our Spotify Playlist

1. Hosanna In The Highest by Sojourn
2. The First Noel by Folk Angel
3. Light Of The World by Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman
4. O Little Town Of Bethlehem by Bifrost Arts
5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Stephen Miller
6. Rise & Fall by Daniel Renstrom

Christmas Song Analysis: Go Tell It On The Mountain

The spirited Christmas song “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” like the best African-American spirituals and southern gospel hymns, is a work of sophisticated simplicity, with crisp action verbs, strong nouns, colorful phrases, a tight narrative structure and a fun, singable melody. Before we examine it here on My Song In The Night, a short history and audio recording for you:

Some scholars think Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942 wrote “Go Tell It On The Mountain.” Work was an African-American composer and scholar who collected and arranged spirituals, including this one in 1907. Other scholars believe slaves had been singing this American folk carol since at least the 1860’s, so Work could not have composed it.

Whether Work wrote “Go Tell It On The Mountain” or found and preserved it, the Christmas song didn’t attain its current popularity until the mid-20th century. By then, jazz, blues and early rock’n roll had taken the U.S. by storm. The energetic, driving rhythm and lyrics of “Go Tell It On The Mountain” made it a favorite of young Americans.

Our church Sojourn drew inspiration from the Blues and African-American spirituals in this new recording of “Go Tell It On The Mountain,” featuring our friend and Sojourn New Albany worship director Justin Shaffer:

Most arrangements of Go Tell It On The Mountain begin with the simple refrain which draws from:

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7)

"Go Tell It On The Mountain" vocalist Justin Shaffer. Yeah, that hat looks Christmas-y

The song exhorts us to tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere/ that Jesus Christ is born.”  Then the first verse

Thanksgiving Day: Are You Thankful Like These People?

Some of us seem to have more to be thankful for than others — more safety and better health in this life, more stuff, more security, more comfort. But ask yourself these two things:

Worship Leaders Should Go On Retreat: Our Experience At Refuge SSI

St. Simons Community Church hosted Refuge SSI. Many thanks to them. All photos here courtesy Chris Moncus

Bobby and I had the privilege of retreating to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia recently and attending Refuge SSI, a retreat hosted by St. Simon’s Community Church for worship pastors, leaders and Christian creative and artists. The time away from our jobs and home and the change of pace were much needed and refreshing to both of us. We enjoyed everything about the trip including the beautiful 11 hour drive from and to our home through Eastern Kentucky into the Smokies of Tennessee and round the Blue Ridge of the Carolinas, all breathtakingly colored with gorgeous autumn trees.

 

Kayaking on Dolphin Creek. Bobby and I are in the front, on your left.

We enjoyed kayaking through the marshes on St. Simon’s Island as part of Refuge SSI, and cycling through maritime forests on its neighbor, Jekyll Island. I’m thankful for the times of recreation God provided throughout our time in St. Simon’s. It was invigorating to enjoy God in His marvelous creation.

Picnicking by the ocean with our worship leader friends from across the U.S. Delicious food catered by Barbara Jean's

I also have to mention that the food we shared was delicious—the best of the island. I praise God for this too.

Trent Smith, Russ Hutto & Mandy Thompson lead worship in our opening session

As for the retreat itself, we spent two and half days in community with about 30 other men and women of different ages and from various church backgrounds and experiences. But we all shared a common faith and calling as worship leaders, musicians, songwriters and creatives: we believe in and belong to Christ and seek to make much of Him in our worship gatherings.

Song For Tithes And Offerings: How To Musically Broach A Tough Subject

My “All I Have Is Yours” cowriter Rebecca Elliot w/ Sojourn band. “God Gave” liturgical art in background

Recently here on My Song In The Night I shared with you my church’s graphic design for our God Gave sermon series about generosity and the “M Word” in the church, money.

Some churches talk about money all the time, and seem all too willing to induce guilt trips to get people to tithe and give offerings, or commit to capital campaign pledges. Other churches — perhaps even a greater number — are so hesitant to broach the subject that they almost never do so, until a budget crisis threatens to disrupt even basic ministry.

If we believe, as the Bible teaches, that all we have belongs to God and that giving is an act of worship, then we cannot ignore this subject any more than we can ignore other biblical teachings.

So how do we approach this subject in our hymns and worship songs? So few songs deal with giving that we don’t have a broad selection.

Our solution at Sojourn Music was to write our own song for the offering. And so I wrote the lyrics for the modern hymn “All I Have Is Yours” (in 85.85.8885 hymn meter) and Rebecca Elliott wrote the music. She and the Sojourn band then recorded it in 2007 on our Before The Throne album. Before I talk about the way I wanted to approach this subject in the song’s lyrics, listen to it here:

Free chord sheet for “All I Have Is Yours” here.

I approached the writing of “All I Have Is Yours” the same way I always approach my worship songwriting: by making sure I understand what God’s Word says on this subject. My subjective experience is less important than the Word Of God.

So each of the two verses deals with a different aspect of our giving, both of which stem from God’s extreme generosity toward us.

The opening four lines of verse one acknowledge that God created everything and everyone, and bestowed all the gifts and wealth of this world. Our offerings back to him are “humble” in the sense that whatever we give him is his anyway. The verse then teaches, in a series of three iambic tetrameter lines (eight syllables each) that Christ “bought my life” by paying our sin-debt on the cross. We could never amass enough wealth to buy our way into the good graces and presence of our sovereign God:

Abstractions Are Killing Your Testimony, Silencing Your Song, Pt. 1

Sure, Abstraction worked for Jackson Pollock ...

Abstractions run amuck in bad writing and bland public speaking. Abstractions are weak-kneed, slack-jawed pansies that infest second-rate poetry (as demonstrated here), songs, sermons, stories and personal testimonies – even stories of redemption, healing and salvation.

Although skilled writers learn how to make abstractions work for them in small doses, a little dab will do ya. Strive for the concrete, particularly when it comes to congregational praise and worship songs and hymns, as well as personal testimonies.

Let’s see what this looks like for both testimonies and songs. We’ll tackle it in a two part series, but trust me – whether you’re a worship songwriter or a Christian who wants to give your testimony, you’ll benefit from Part One and Part Two.

Part 1: Abstract Testimonies Rob Your Story Of Its God-breathed Power

As Director Of Communications at a large, multi-site church and as an avid reader and listener, I come across many testimonies like this make-believe example:

I praise God that he’s teaching me patience. I used to lose my patience all the time but God’s been showing me and guiding me. He turned me around and started me on a different path. I lose patience less often and I don’t feel as angry. I have setbacks but thank the Lord that he is dealing with me everyday, conforming me to the image of his son Jesus.

I would like to praise God with you but I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. Okay, that’s not true. I rejoice over testimonies like this, but I’ve been a Christian a long time, and I have an avid imagination, and I speak “Christianese.” You should aim for a wider target audience than me, like, your unsaved neighbor, your skeptical coworker and your easily bored cousin.

A Songwriter’s Brain

It’s true. I have a song lyric for every occasion, every question, every required response. Some of them are mine. Most of them are others. I think in song.

You?

And seriously, knowing that many people are like this, doesn’t it make you want to take your job as a lyricist and songwriter even more seriously? And you writers of worship songs and modern hymns — you do know that many people will actually get a significant chunk of their theology from the music you create, right?

Advent Candles That Promote Social Justice For Women Refugees

Advent Candles At Sojourn Worship Service

We’re now a week away from the beginning of this year’s Advent Season on the Christian liturgical calendar. I’ve written here about the meaning and practice of Advent, and Bobby has written about Advent resources and Advent music like “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by Charles Wesley.

One of the big church traditions of Advent is the lighting of Advent candles each week during Sunday services. We do this at Sojourn, as you can see in the picture above.

Bobby and I recently learned of a company that makes Advent candles that promote social justice for women refugees. In their words:

Each candle is made by a woman refugee from Burma who is rebuilding her life in Western Massachusetts. For women like Moo Kho,