The Passion

The Passion

A review of the latest CD release by Contemporary Christian artist Michael Schroeder
by Steve Brown

“The Passion” was released in time for Holy Week observations 2014. It is a compilation of Michael Schroeder’s best passion-filled songs together with a few new pieces.

Vinyl Records and a Trip Down Memory Lane
One thing that I enjoy about Michael’s CDs is that in one way, they remind me of vinyl album releases back when I was a teen. I remember the actual buying of an album to be such a fun experience because when you got home and opened it up, you were treated to an array of album artwork, printed lyrics – sometimes there were even messages from the artists; but the real treat was if a poster was also included.

More than an MP3 Download
Michael’s CDs, at least his last two, contain little gems that harken back to these fond memories of opening up a new album. His last CD, titled “Worship” contained two discs: (1) the music CD and (2) a bonus disc of backing tracks to be used in a corporate worship setting. The 2-CD package also included all the lyrics together with an exhaustive list of scripture references and an article on Michael’s thoughts relating to worship.

His new CD, “The Passion” contains a devotional booklet to be read for each day during Holy Week. It is this kind of stuff that is missing in today’s world of digital downloads. The eight devotional readings are paired with the first eight songs from the CD. It is worth the purchase of the CD just to experience the worship moment of reading through these devotions while listening to the selected song. Without giving too much away, in the devotions you will learn that the first song, the song that goes along with Palm Sunday – was written in a very inspirational and special place. As the saying goes, “sometimes we just need to strike while the iron is hot.”

The Song List
Here’s a quick rundown of the ten songs contained on the CD:

1. Jesus is Lord* – Palm Sunday (originally released on the Worship CD)

2. Handle with Prayer – Monday (originally released on A Witness)

3. The Greatest Gift – Tuesday (originally released on Fuel for the Soul)

4. The One – Wednesday (originally released on Fuel for the Soul)

5. Just as I Am* – Maundy Thursday (originally released on the Worship CD)

6. The Nails* – Good Friday (new)

7. Free – Saturday (originally released on A Witness)

8. Jesus Christ is Risen Today* – Easter Sunday (new)

9. Paradise* (originally released on A Witness)

10. Love Changes Everything* (originally released on the Worship CD)

The “*” next to some songs are what I would classify as “congregational friendly” – meaning these can be sung in corporate worship if you have a good enough worship team to pull-off the accompaniment. All of the songs are a pleasure to listen to and nicely produced.

The Poppy
The CD cover art is a simple, delicate, pink poppy – a symbol of sleep (remember in the Wizard of Oz), peace, remembrance, life lost and the promise of resurrection after death – perfect for a Holy Week compilation! Do you see any other symbolism? There is one more important element. Look closely and open up your mind and think about Holy Week and your savior. It will come to you.

 

 

 

Song Reviews
Rather than provide a critical commentary on each song, I will concentrate on the two newbies – “The Nails” and the remake of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today“.

He Nailed It!
The Nails is obviously a passionate piece for Schroeder as it is sung with great feeling and emotion. I think this is so important in worship. Charlie Chaplin, was once quoted as saying: “we tend to think too much and feel too little.” I think he’s right. If us worshippers could harness this emotion in our corporate singing, God would be greatly glorified and we would also sound a whole lot better! Music is meant to be felt. We are not stones. Like Jesus, we are passionate people.

“I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it.” – Ivan Stravinsky

I am pleased that Schroeder sings with heart-felt emotions making these lyrics his personal testimony to his Savior. In the church, we call this “inwardly digesting the lyrics”. Lyrically, the song hits deep, as most of Schroeder’s songs do. It strikes a ringing minor chord in my heart. It is a perfect song for Good Friday as it captures the essence of this incredible substitutionary sacrifice – for You! And for me!

You can hear “The Nails” here:

He Makes All Things New!
The new arrangement for “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” to me, is only recognizable with the singing of the title line followed by Alleluia. There are plenty of new lyrics, new progressions, new instrumentation, a new groove, new, new, new… to make this a joyous pleasure to listen to. I guarantee that you will be smiling and tapping your foot within a few seconds of listening to this piece.

What’s really special to me is that I love the original hymn and when this is the case, I just don’t like it when people mess around with them. Leave them alone! They have survived a few centuries for a reason! What I do like, is when it is changed so much that it takes on a new life and this is exactly what happens with Schroeder’s arrangement of the classic hymn. It does have a new life and a new meaning. You will just have to hear it for yourself.

Link to listen to “Jesus ChristChrist is Risen Today”:

A Penultimate Thought
On a closing note, check out the pinnacle of the song titled “Paradise“. You will know the pinnacle moment by the pitch of one exemplary high note. I’m guessing it’s at least a very impressive high G note. It does it’s job. It draws attention to the lyrics and after all, our music is supposed to serve the word, right?

It strikes me that this CD would be a great confirmation gift or a good subject matter for a teen bible class!

You can read all the lyrics, watch a few videos, and purchase the Passion CD at michaelschroeder.com.

 

 

A Call to Worship based on the Beatitudes

M:        This is a call to all those who are poor in spirit,
C:        for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

M:        This is a call to all those who mourn,
C:        for they will be comforted.

M:        This is a call to all those who are meek,
C:        for they will inherit the earth.

M:        This is a call to all those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
C:        for they will be filled.

M:        This is a call to all those who are the merciful,
C:        for they will be shown mercy.

M:        This is a call to all those who are the pure in heart,
C:        for they will see God.

M:        This is a call to all those who are the peacemakers,
C:        for they will be called sons of God.

M:        This is a call to all those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
C:        for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

M:        Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me (Jesus). 

– Based on Matthew 5:3-12

Here’s some incredible music based on these passages to go along with the reading:

Matt Maher – “Unwavering”

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Michael Schroeder – “The Beatitudes”
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-witness/id30841673
http://www.newsongministries.info/ms-site/lyrics/A%20Witness/Beatitudes.html

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“Blessed To Be A Blessing” by Michael Schmid (ref Mt 5:1-16):
http://www.truevinemusic.com/blessed_to_be_a_blessing.htm

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“Blest Are They” (CWS 758)
“Jesus Sat With His Disciples”(CWS 763)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

How to Modernize a Hymn – Part two of a two part series

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” by Michael Schroeder

Let’s consider the doxology put to music, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” which is hymn number 334 in “Christian Worship” (the Lutheran Hymnal).

By looking at the hymn, it’s apparent that it is written in the key of G because it has one sharp.  This already is a guitar friendly key so we are off to a good start.

Next, from the chord tables presented in yesterday’s post, we see that the typical chords in the key of G are going to be G, Am, Bm, C, D, and Em.  Very important!

Next, by looking at the notes, we identify the chords and the best places for the chord changes.  We can see from the lead sheet below that the artist, Michael Schroeder, is using a chord progression consisting of G, D, C and Em which are all in line with our expectations cited above.  We’ll discuss the slash chords and extensions later.

First, let’s look at the intro.  This is the musical hook for the new arrangement.  It’s catchy, it’s a driving beat, it sets the mood for the song, it’s memorable, it’s identifiable, in short, it’s great.  The key to the hook is the chord change from the G(no3) to the Gmaj7(no3) and the transition to the C2(no 3) and the Gmaj7(no 3) / C bass.  These are not very well known chord voicings but once you know them, they sound incredible together.  This is “jazzing up the piece” as identified in step five in yesterday’s post.

Next, let’s look at the lyrics and the structure of the song.  The first and last verse are the same as the hymn verse.  This is great because who wants to mess around with the doxology?  But Schroeder adds two new verses that are biblical and support the overall themes of praise and thanks in the hymn.  He also does a fine job of bringing out our praises to all persons of the Holy Trinity.

He has also added a chorus that does all the things mentioned in yesterday’s post.  Namely, it is lyrically a response to the verse, it is sung higher and with more energy and it is memorable.  It also uses all the major chords (tonic chords) in the key of G – G, C and D.

The structure of the song is Intro, Verse 1, Intro, Verse 2, Chorus, Verse 3, Chorus, Verse 4, Outro.  You will also note that the “hook” established in the intro is used as a musical turnaround throughout the song.  The arrangement is nicely and thoughtfully put together.

Finally, Michael Schroeder has done a stellar job of jazzing up the chords.  He’s dropped the third from the G chord converting it to a power chord (essentially a G5 chord), he’s added slash chords to highlight a bass run to go along with the chord changes in the verse, and he’s using a Dsus and a few “2” chords, like the C2 for a real contemporary sound and feel.

All in all, a very fine job.  This is what modernizing a hymn should sound like.

You can listen to a 1.5 minute sound clip of this piece here (song #10):

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/worship/id363944033?uo=4

You can also purchase the CD from the Itunes site, or if you buy it from Michael Schroeder’s website ( www.michaelschroeder.com ), it will also include a free bonus CD with backing tracks, chord charts, lyrics, scripture references, commentaries and power points for each of the songs included on the disc. 

Here’s my recommendations: 

If you are a Pastor who has never tried anything like this before, but you are curious, I would propose to proceed carefully as follows: 

1. Buy the CD from www.michaelschroeder.com because the dual disc format and the extra resources will prove to be priceless to you.
2. Use the bonus disc with the backing track for “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” and try it first with your youth or teen group if you have one.  If not, try it with your choir first.  My guess is that your people are going to love it.
3. Have your choir or the youth group introduce it to the congregation by singing it on any given Sunday.
4. Get a copy of the lead sheet from this website to your church musicians (pianist and a guitarist are a must for this piece).  Have them practice it until they know it well.
5. Sing it as a congregation using either the above two-piece band or you can still use the backing track if you don’t have the musicians.
6. You might want to have a soloist or the choir sing the choruses because the E note is quite high for the average singer.
7. God be with you.  Email if you have any questions.

For a limited time, you can get the lead sheet by clicking on the following text:

Praise God – MSchroeder

 

Song Choices to Accompany Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is documented in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5:1-47. It begins with the beautiful Beatitudes in verses 1-12. This section of scripture comes up in our Lectionary during the season of Epiphany on 1/30/11 (Mt 5:1-12), 2/6/11 (Mt 5:13-20) and 2/13 (Mt 5:21-37). The following are my favorite songs to use for this text:

Traditional: “Speak, O Savior; I Am Listening”, CW283, text by Anna Sophia, music by Johann Schop. I have the guitar chords for this tune if any one is interested; email me at sjbrown58(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Blended: “Speak, O Lord”, CWS735 by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend. This song is included in our hymnal supplement and lyric-wise is similar to the above mentioned hymn. Both songs do an excellent job at describing our listening to Jesus’ words as He speaks his sermon.

You can hear this song as performed by the Getty’s by clicking on this graphic:

You can learn to play it by clicking here:

You can here the MLC choir performing it by clicking here:

Contemporary: “the Beatitudes” by Michael Schroeder and/or “Unwavering” by Matt Maher. Actually, in my opinion, both of these songs are better than either “Speak, O Lord” or “Speak, O Savior; I Am Listening” for this occasion because they basically take the Beatitudes text and set them to music; especially Schroeder’s song.

You can hear “the Beatitudes” by clicking on this graphic:

You can hear “Unwavering” by clicking on this graphic:

We Bow Down

There are some really great song lyrics coming out these days, but some of our churches don’t have the capabilities to play the newer musical styles.   Here’s a way to still use these finely crafted lyrics in a spoken format.

The following is a responsive reading that uses scripture, together with the lyrics from a contemporary song.  It is meant to be read responsively.  For an added bonus, and if you do have the capabilities, your praise band might want to play the song “We Bow Down” as either pre-service, during the Offering or as a postlude.

M:  Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound—May the glory of the LORD be praised in his dwelling place! – Ezk 3:12
C: I bow at your glory, I bow at your love; that purchased and bought me through your precious blood.

M: Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; – Ps 95:6
C: I bow to the Savior, my Lord and King; I worship and praise you, and to you I sing.

M: But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. – Ps 5:7
C: I bow at your mercy that reigns over all, I bow at the greatness of the Lord our God.

M: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. – Ps 19:1
C: I bow as your glory the heaven’s proclaim and fall down to worship, and bow to your name.

M: It is written: ” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me;     every tongue will confess to God.’ ”
C:  We bow down to our Lord and King.  We bow down to Your holy Name.  Let all the nations sing praises to the King as we bow down.

M: She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. – Mt 1:21
C: I bow at your glory, and fall to my knees.  I bow to the savior that came to save me.

M:  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. – Isa 40:28
C: I bow in Your presence, the lord over all; I bow to our great, everlasting God.

M: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, – Phil 2:10
C: We bow down to our Lord and King.  We bow down to Your holy Name.  Let all the nations sing praises to the King as we bow down.

M: Once more the humble will rejoice in the LORD; the needy will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. – Isa 29:19
C:  I’m humbled before you, my Lord and King.  I worship and praise you, and to you I sing.

M: All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. – Ps 86:9
C: We bow down to our Lord and King.  We bow down to Your holy Name.  Let all the nations sing praises to the King as we bow down.

—

“We Bow Down” was written by Michael Schroeder – thanks for sharing your lyrics and allowing others to use them in this format!

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission of International Bible Society

Lyrics – ©2010, Michael Schroeder, http://www.michaelschroeder.com

Free Chord Chart for “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”

In my prior post, I had mentioned a new version of the hymn “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” arranged by Michael Schroeder.  The post also included a video of the piece.  Michael has offered a chord sheet of his arrangement to anyone interested.  You can get your free copy by either downloading the pdf file from my file download area, or by requesting a copy from me at my email address: “sjbrown58 at yahoo.com” and I would be happy to pass one off to you; courtesy of Michael Schroeder.  For a limited time, you can also visit Michael’s website for a copy as well (http://www.michaelschroeder.com).

If you missed the video, you can see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai13oFR9pOo

Have a great “Holy Trinity” celebration this weekend and may God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit share the glory in all that you do.

Five Great Holy Trinity Songs

Traditional:
My two favorite hymns for Holy Trinity Sunday are “Come, Now, Almighty King” and “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”; I probably don’t need to say much about these hymns because the circles I run with and the majority of the people reading this BLOG are infinitely familiar with each song.  So let’s move on.

Blended:
I have two song recommendations that are getting old and are well used but I like them for a particular reason.  The two songs are “Father I Adore You” by Terrye Coelho Strom and “Glorify Thy Name” by Donna Adkins.   I like these songs for one main reason – they do a wonderful job at voicing our equal praise to each person of the Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The song lyrics show no favoritism between the three persons of the Godhead and I think this is a valuable thing to consider on Holy Trinity Sunday because most of us tend to cling closely to Jesus, I know that I do, and there’s nothing wrong with this; but I think that we also need to take time once in a while to show equal worthiness to all three persons in the Trinity.  The other thing that I like about these songs is that the lyrics and melodies are so simple that most people can sing them from memory without even looking at a book, a song sheet, or at a screen.  Even if you’ve never sung these songs before, you will be able to sing it this way after the first verse.  This also, is a valuable attribute to consider because we sing better when we can look forward, chins up and not having to be concerned about reading lyrics and musical notation.  Either of these songs are a wonderful complement to the recitation of the Athanasian Creed.

Here are the lyrics for each piece:

Father, I adore You (LAPPY #67)

Father, I adore You, Lay my life before you, how I love you.
Jesus, I adore You, Lay my life before you, how I love you.
Spirit, I adore You, Lay my life before you, how I love you.

©Copyright 1972, Maranatha! Music, Terrye Coelho Strom

Father I Adore You can also be sung as a round, and as an added benefit most children know this song as well, probably from VBS.

Glorify Thy Name (BOB #66 & LAPPY #86)

Father we love you, we worship and adore you.  Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.
Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.
Jesus we love you, we worship and adore you.  Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.
Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.
Spirit we love you, we worship and adore you.  Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.
Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name, Glorify Thy Name in all the earth.

©Copyright 1976, Maranatha! Music, Donna Adkins, CCLI #1383

New (Contemporary):
My recommendation for a new piece of music would be Michael Schroeder’s rendition of the classic hymn “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow.”  His arrangement gives equal praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and he even fit in the expression “three in one” which is a great lyric to be expressing on Trinity Sunday.
As an added bonus for you guitarists, here’s a few hints to nail this piece:

For the opening riff, noodle around between these two chord fingerings:

3×0033 changing to 3×0032 and really emphasize the change on the first string which is actually bouncing  between a G5  and a G maj7 (without the third) – it’s pretty simple but effective; the key is to get the timing which you can only obtain by listening to the original and practicing along with it.  You can actually play this riff after the first, third and forth line of each verse to fill in the gap between the lyrics.  It does a nice job of drawing attention to the lyric that has just been sung.
The second hint is to do a reverse rake (pull up on the last four strings – one at a time; faster than an arpeggio but slower than a strum) after the second line of each verse.  The chord is a Dsus so you’ll be pulling up on these notes:

E string – 3rd fret
B string – 3rd fret
G string – 2 nd fret
D string – open

I don’t know if this is how Schroeder (or his band members) actually play these riffs but my interpretation should be a quick and easy way of getting close to his sound.  This is one of those songs where you can lead the congregation with only a guitar!

You can hear the piece here:

Used with permission and heartfelt thanks go to Michael for sharing.   www.michaelschroeder.com

One more thing of interest here; at least to me.  On Schroeder’s CD he has included the chord sheets but he has arranged this particular chord sheet in a peculiar way.  It’s actually set up like a hymn which is an interesting twist given that the song is a modern arrangement of a hymn.  You’ll have to get a copy of the CD to see what I am referring to; and now you also know a few of the musical licks to get your strumming to sound like the original.

Michael Schroeder – CD Review

Michael Schroeder is a diamond in the rough, rising out of America’s heartland, and doing his part to help bring his fellow believers in Christ into a new era of worship and praise.  This movement, which extends beyond Schroeder’s efforts, is inspired, lively and uplifting, yet still is anchored in rich biblical truths.  This is only possible by and through God which leads me to believe that this work is filled with, and inspired by, the Holy Spirit.

Schroeder’s latest CD is simply and humbly titled “Worship” and contains a mix of three re-arranged hymns and seven new musical pieces written by Schroeder.   It is Schroeder’s sixth CD and in my opinion his best.  As an added bonus, the set contains two CDs, one containing the music and the second contains lyrics, chord sheets, some thoughts on worship, PowerPoint charts, backing tracks and commentary for each arrangement – a nice bonus indeed.  In fact, the PowerPoint charts contain background images photographed by Schroeder on his recent trip to the Holy Land that have apparently been stylized by either a graphic artist or by software.  Either way, the end result is appealing.

Right from the start, as I opened the CD package, I noticed something very different.  Integrated into the lyrics that are printed in the CD booklet are the bible verses that each lyric is derived from.  And I don’t mean just one bible verse mentioned under the song title, I mean dozens of scripture references contained within and interspersed right there among the lyrics that are based from them.  I have never seen this done before and I’ve looked at literally hundreds of CDs in the Contemporary Christian genre.  It just shows where an artist like Schroeder is getting his inspiration from and where he is ultimately giving the credit to.

Michael Schroeder, to me, sounds like a smooth version of pop singer Marc Cohn who had the hit single “Walking in Memphis.”  Schroeder has the same edge and tone to his voice but it’s his smooth, almost British-like under tones that really stand out and make his music very pleasing to the ear.

Following is my take on each song:

“By No Other Name” is a great “Call and Response” song to sing with your congregation and my recommendation would be to sing it responsively as Michael does on the CD with the congregation singing the responsive parts.  My favorite lyric is “by no other name is anyone saved but through Jesus”.  I like the use of the word anyone as opposed to using “am I’ or “are we” as most songs of this type would use.

“We Bow Down” is a rousing song of praise that begs the listener to bow down and sing along.  This is probably the best suited song on the CD for use in a corporate setting and I personally can’t wait to try this one in our church.  The lyrics give a variety of reasons why we should bow down to our master; which is a fresh take on an often written about song topic.

“Just As I Am” pretty much keeps the hymn melody but does so with some nice piano and cello movement.  I love the line that Michael added in the chorus that says: “For all that You are, is all I am not.”  I point out these minute details and some choice words because Michael Schroeder is an artist who pays attention to details and his use of the English language as guided by scripture is critically important to his mission and his music.

“Love Changes Everything” drips with Gospel content as do many other songs in the collection.  It is a piece that I would reserve for your soloist and praise band.  The original has some really nice piano work and it also shows that the electric guitar can be used tastefully in worship music, with distortion no less, and still be glorifying, dignified and respectful.  My favorite little lyric in the song is “the Savior proved that God is love”.  I also like “condemned by the ones you would save.”

“That’s My King” is an upbeat guitar-driven tune.  It mostly relies on electric guitar; and shows a hint of Schroeder’s falsetto capabilities.  It’s a moving song to listen to and if you’re like me, you will want to attempt this number with your praise band as well.

“The Light of the World” contains more names and titles for Jesus than I knew existed.  It is also a sweet and sonorous mix of some really fine acoustic finger-picking paired with some nice cello work.  It’s also a nice piece for use on Trinity Sunday. But again, I’d reserve this one for your soloists.

“Jesus is Lord” is another guitar-driven piece.  This one could work as a congregational song.  The chorus strikes me as especially fun to sing.

“Holy, Holy, Holy” is a remade version of the classic hymn about the Triune God called “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty.”  I’m not a fan of a lot of made-over hymns because I’ve been singing these great truths for over 30 years and when I hear someone come out with a new version, invariably my reaction is “why’d you have to go and change the song?”  But that’s not the case to this new arrangement.  Michael has captured the essence of the song and capsulated it into a new rhythm and to be honest, I could hear this version on popular radio today.  It’s remarkable what he has done to this tune.  I still like the original hymn, but I like this one as well; and that’s what’s great about the inspiring work of the Holy Spirit as is evident in this piece.

“By His Grace” is an interesting piece and I particularly like the interplay between the seemingly opposed attributes of God’s grace to His holiness.  Schroeder has a writing style that is unlike many of his contemporary Christian song-writing colleagues.  He does not rely on the same old cliché’s that are so prevalent in this genre; all of his music has a fresh edge to it and “By His Grace” is a great example of this.

Schroeder has done a fine job on updating the classic hymn “Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow” and interestingly enough, this arrangement is musically led by the drummer.  It’s a toe tapper if not a foot stomper!  Your congregation will enjoy singing this new arrangement but you might want to leave the chorus for the soloists.

In all, this is a must have for your musical collection.  Every song is enjoyable to listen to and the lyrics are particularly personal and reflective as they draw the listener into each story.

It’s often said that the popular big label contemporary artists have to “dumb down” their lyrics so that more Christian denominations can use their music and thereby maximize sales.  This is not the case for the likes of Michael Schroeder who is at home with expressing his faith and his beliefs as they are defined by scripture and his mid-western upbringings.  This is a CD that you will both enjoy listening to and using in worship.

One way to use this collection in worship, even if you don’t have a praise band, would be to use the PowerPoint slides to project the lyrics and have your congregation sing along to the backing tracks.  If you are new to this type of worship, you will need a good technical person to flip through the PowerPoint charts on a timely basis and it doesn’t hurt to use a choir of singers to lead the congregation in singing.  In fact, have the lead singers practice with the backing track before using this in worship.

You can hear song clips to the new CD entitled “Worship” at Michaels’ website:

http://michaelschroeder.com