Review: Not Be Moved (Vineyard); Book: Confessions (St Augustine); Articles: "How Loud is Too Loud?"

Welcome to Digital Worship News, Edition 73. This issue includes 3 different resources. First is a book review of "Confessions", the ancient autobiography of St. Augustine, now a classic "must read" for all Christians. Second is the album review of recent Vineyard Worship recording "Not Be Moved"! Finally, is a set of short articles addressing the age-old question for worship sound-techs "How Loud Is Too Loud?" Be sure to check out this great resource!

blessings,
Kim Gentes

Over 1600 years ago a young man made a journey- from a life dedicated to fulfillment in sexual passions and rhetorical conjecture to spiritual discovery and embrace of Christ and the church. That young man wrote down his story in what many consider to be the first autobiography in Western literature- "The Confessions". "Confessions" was written by Saint Augustine, who would later become the famed bishop of Hippo (Hippo Regius). His literary output, along with his philosophical and theological stature, made him one of the famed 35 "Doctors of the Church" throughout history.

The essence of the book is framed well by its title- this is the testimony of a man who pours out his confession and remorse of sins, all the while showing almost no regard for his own piety as viewed through posterity. But Augustine is anything but thoughtless. He is seen as one of the great theological thinkers in all church history. But "Confessions" shows us the strength and expanse of his character- his ability to be fully intellectual in logic and rhetorical arts, while being completely aware and involved through his passions and senses. He argues convincingly, at times, through understandings of sin, grace and even the essence of time, and yet feels, cries, repents, anguishes and joys all the experiences of his life...

Read more here...

"Not Be Moved" is the latest recording from Vineyard Worship and is released via their quarterly series (called Club Vineyard) with some grace-filled fresh songs. The twelve songs that fill this project are congregationally minded offerings that could fit in a varied range of churches, partly due to their generally singable vocal ranges and partly due to the diverse range of styles in which these songs are arranged...

...If you are looking for songs to consider for your local church, I recommend "My Savior My Rescue", "Love Lifted Me", "Name Above All Names", and "Satisfied"- each of these songs have something significant to contribute to any worship repeteroire. Be sure to listen through the entire album and glean some good new songs for your local church worship.

Read the complete review, here...

One of the most commonly asked questions and controversial topics in churches is "how loud is too loud" for music in church worship settings. It is often the responsibility of the music or worship leaders to manage a sound technology group that provides the tools and operation of the events in a church. But many of those leaders are professional sound engineers. So what are they to do?

My best advice- get advice from a pro! One of those guys who is a pro is Jeff Dykhouse...

...But recently another friend pointed out that Jeff also has posted some really good articles on the proverbial church worship question "how loud is too loud". Jeff answers this question in three excellent articles that are worth a serious look. If you are a church, you use a sound system and you have this question come up often, there is no better a place I can recommend than having you first read and take to heart Jeff's concise answers in his three-part post...

read more here...