Tall Skinny Kiwi

Ars Nova and New Media Worship

"The current worship transition from old media to new media is as radical as, and in some ways similar to, the shift from "Ars Antiqua" to "Ars Nova". From around 1300 AD, church music broke away from simple Gregorian-type chants into chords, polyphonic masses and harmonies that were not constrained by parallel movements of the foundation line (cantus firmus). Despite being condemned by Pope XXII, the new approach to music opened the door for similar movements in art and literature, setting the stage for complexity and modularity in church worship. And now through new media, complexity and modularity once again find new expression."
Andrew Jones, from "Transcoding Worship: When the Parts Become Pixels", Worship Leader, Jan-Feb 2007 print edition. [No web access]

Sad to announce that the Culture Watch column that I help write for Worship Leader Mag will be stopped so you wont be hearing from me anymore if you subscribe to WL. I enjoyed writing for it and always tried to look beneath the surface of what we do and find something deeper. It may have been a little too technical or philosophical for the readers who just want to know what the next cool thing is and how to implement it, but i appreciate the WL people who let me say my bit. Thanks to Jeremy Armstrong for the recent articles, and to David Di Sabatino (ex-editor of WL, producer of Frisbee) who pushed me to contribute my first article on alternative worship for WL back in 2001.

Amazing Grace Sunday - Feb 18 (USA)

This Sunday (today) is Amazing Grace Sunday. About 4000 churches [so far] all over USA are singing this song and looking into how they can put a stop to modern day slavery. Erik Lokkesmoe is the Director behind this project and he has been kind enough to keep me updated on its progress all the way through. I have even offered some people his way to help the process along. I really like this whole thing - good people, good heart, worthy cause, nobody out to make a buck.
Details on what we are doing this Sunday and on the 25th coming up . . But in the mean time check out the resources for you (especially you worship leaders) if you want to be part of this movement to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.

Register your church here

Technorati Tags: amazing grace

Worship Leader: Transcoding Worship

I have a article in this months edition of Worship Leader called "Transcoding worship". It deals with what happens when old media becomes new media and how that affects our worship. You will need to subscribe to Worship Leader to get this issue or buy it on the newstands.
If you have read it and want to discuss it further, please use the comments below.

LiveWorship for Intel-Mac

LiveWorship is now available for intel-based Macs. If you live in the Bay Area, LiveWorship is on display at Macworld Expo in Moscone Center’s North Hall (booth #N4014) HT: Macworld

Worship Leaders - what say ye about LiveWorship? Better than MediaShout?

Technorati Tags: worship

Nintendo Wii: Remote Control for Ableton

DJVicar brings up the possibility of using Nintento's Wii remote and Ableton Live for a worship setting and links to a post that discusses it. There is also a video demonstration. Very cool. I saw a VJ use Arkaos and Ableton Live at the same time, but he still had to use his MIDI to run it all. Remote control would rock!.

DJ Cloudburst [Hi Tim!!] used a Gameboy at one of our worship events in Prague (2002). Once I bought Salling Clicker so I could trigger Powerpoint or Keynote slides from my bluetooth phone. But I never really used Powerpoint [yes, i know, the devil uses powerpoint] prefering to use Arkaos for teaching and presentation instead. I wonder: Is there a way to use Nintendo Wii to trigger videos in Arkaos or a similar VJ program? Anyone know?

Related: The Phones for You, The Skinny on Powerpoint

Icons and the Possibility of a Tropological Theology

Worship using icons, images and multimedia is being discussed right now, especially in relation to Calvary Church's stance on iconic worship and the emerging church. It might be helpful to look at the idea of tropological theology.

Tropological theology is found all the way through church history. "Augustine suggested a four-fold sense which would later be adopted by medieval theologians: (1) literal; (2) allegorical; (3) tropological or moral; and (4) analogical." Theology Adrift, Bible.org

According to Viggo Mortensen Snr, some scholars believe Martin Luther gave the tropological (relating to the soul) interpretation priority over the allegorical (relating to the church) in his interpretation of the psalms. (Link) Dr John Barber says "Luther’s mature exegetical approach, which was the tropological method of Bible interpretation (it emphasized the spiritual and existential side of Christian living), came to fruition between 1516-1519". [Luther and Calvin on Worship and Music, PDF]

Paul Hiebert speaks of the doxological or tropological theology that "is done in the context of worship, and stresses the mystical, sacramental and iconic nature of truth. The key question it addresses is, “How can we comprehend complex, transcendent truths about God and reality that lie beyond words, logic and human reason?” It uses nondiscursive signs and tropes such as icons, metaphors, types and parables to communicate transcendent truth." (Paul Hiebert, Spritual Warfare and Worldview, p. 167, Global Missiology for the 21st Century, ed. William Taylor)

Technorati Tags: missiology, worship

Getting Things Moving

An article I wrote for Worship Leader is online. Its called "Getting Things Moving" and its about movement in worship.

I suggest the following ways to get things moving at your church;
- Pray with your bodies
- Install an interactive worship station
- Create a multi-media labyrinth
- Set up a 24/7 prayer room
- Prayer-walk your city
- Go on pilgrimage

There was a question from one person over my use of the word "labyrinth" and its relationship to new age/mysticism. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to answer questions about the article right here. Otherwise read, enjoy, and subscribe to the world's leading worship magazine.

Technorati Tags: christianity, worship