If you’re looking to download the messages from WorshipGod11, both the main message and seminars can be downloaded from the Sovereign Grace Ministries blog.

We’ve been looking through the WorshipGod online evaluation surveys and are so encouraged by all the ways God met us at the conference. Christ was exalted, his people were built up, and the God even made sure the weather was ideal.

But maybe you have a story of something that happened at WG11 that you wanted to share with others to encourage them. Maybe you were a lone attendee who was adopted by another group. Maybe God ministered to you in a significant way. Maybe you have an awkward or embarrassing story to tell.

Whatever it is, we’d love to hear about it. You can leave a comment below.

At WorshipGod11, Nathan Sasser (works with the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s College) shared for about five minutes on how the creeds have come to us through discussion, debate, suffering, and even death. We never want to take the truth lightly. He wanted to recommend two books for further study:

Arthur C. Cochrane’s Reformed Confessions of the Sixteenth Century

Philip Schaff’s 3-volume Creeds of Christendom.

Just wanted to let you know that we’ve been hard at work writing, rewriting, editing, and arranging songs for the live album we’ll be recording at WorshipGod11. Steve Cook has been overseeing the project and is in California right now rehearsing with the rhythm section for the band (which includes Joel Sczebel, Pat Sczebel, Jonathan Baird, Dave Zimmer, and Ryan Foglesong).

We plan to send out information on the conference next week. That info will include a link where you can download the songs we’ll be recording at WG11. Be watching for it!

Well, on March 31 we found out how many people are the kind that wait until the last minute to sign up for a conference. 478. That’s how many signed up that day, bringing the total registration to around 1000.

That’s by far the most we’ve had registered for a WorshipGod conference this far out. We’re excited about what God has in store!

But here’s the bad news. Seminars are already beginning to fill up. We’re switching some rooms around to add more people to the full seminars, but eventually those will fill up to. The moral of the story is, if you want to go to a specific seminar, sign up now.

And remember, you can change your seminar choices up until July 31, the day that online registration ends. But once a seminar is full, it will no longer appear in the drop-down menu. Of course, if some people drop out, it will show up again. So if you don’t see the seminar you want to attend listed, stop by again later to see if it’s opened up.

For the last two WorshipGod conferences we’ve capped attendance at 1700. It looks like we might surpass that this year. If the demand is there, we have the option of opening up another section of the auditorium and increasing the attendance by about 500.

We’ll see how it goes…

With so many worship conferences going on, why come to WorshipGod11? Here are twelve reasons why I think you (pastor, worship leader, musician, songwriter, techie) should join us:

1. Biblical, practical, engaging preaching. Guys who love to preach God’s Word and serve local churches will be explaining why gathering together as God’s people matters. We’ll get to hear from Ray Ortlund, Jr., Bryan Chapell, Thabiti Anyabwile (pictured here), & Craig Cabaniss. And me. Here’s a clip of John Piper from WG2009.

2. Skilled church musicians who love God, his gospel, his Word, and his church. Everyone who leads at the conference may not be a household name (although Enfield and Sojourn Music should be), but that’s okay. They’re leading because, like you, they know what it is to serve in the church week in and week out, with volunteers who want to serve the church more faithfully. And they do it really well.

3. Live album. Friday night we’ll be recording back to back sessions of our new album, The Gathering. And you can be on it! The songs will be designed around a gospel-shaped liturgy. If you’re registered, you’ll receive MP3s of the songs 2 weeks in advance of the conference to learn them. Should be a rich time.

4. Lots of free stuff. in 2009 we gave away a midi keyboard, a $300 Sweetwater gift certificate, a copy of Sibelius, a guitar amp, some iPods, and a bunch of other stuff. Who knows what we’ll give away this year? Besides free, we also do cheap albums and books pretty well.

5. Like-minded worshipers. You’ll meet over 1500 people who are passionate about doing what you do and want to do it better for the glory of Jesus.

6. One responsibility: take it all in. Enjoy 3 whole days where you don’t have to arrange any of the songs, lead any of the rehearsals, practice any of the riffs, or show up early for any of the sessions. Of course, if you’re a conference junkie, you can come early to watch the rehearsals and stay up till 2AM hanging out.

7. Forty seminars and two pre-conference intensives. You get to pick four seminars, and can download the rest later for free. Grow in your musical chops, become a better leader, learn how to fight sin with worship, test out sound/band equipment, grow as a vocalist, understand creativity better, simplify your spiritual life, etc. The two 3 hour pre-conference intensives focus on playing the piano (I’m teaching that one) or rehearsing with Ken Boer and the conference choir. More info can be found here.

8. Theology, character, and skill. That’s what we focus on at each WorshipGod conference. Because all three matter.

9. There is a time to laugh (Eccl.3:4). And we make sure we find it at WorshipGod. We take worshiping the Savior very seriously. Ourselves, not so much. Here’s one example. And here’s another. And one more.

10. Spanish seminars and translations. So this one only really matters if you speak Spanish or know someone who does. The main sessions will be translated and we’ll have one seminar each session in Spanish as well as another that’s translated.

11. It’s cheap. Until April 1, students get in for $90, groups of 5+ are $120, and individuals are $150. That price includes lunch both days, a binder with all the outlines, 6 sessions, and 4 seminars. Did I mention the snacks and drinks during the day and after the evening sessions? And the free stuff? We’re practically paying you to come!

12. Encountering God. If you’ve attended a WorshipGod conference in the past, you know that it’s about much more than receiving solid teaching, singing great songs together, and growing in your skills. God never fails  to change, inspire, convict, and encourage hearts as we behold his glory together (2 Cor. 3:18).

So there’s my pitch. If you’ve been to a WorshipGod conference in the past, feel free to leave a comment as to why someone should think about coming this year.

Twenty years ago worship conferences were rarely heard of. That’s no longer the case. We’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of conferences put on by churches, ministries, and music companies, devoted exclusively to the topic of worship.

As I’ve attended and participated in different events over the years, it’s made me think hard about why we’re putting on a worship conference. I mean, does the church really need one more worship conference? Should we put all the hours, energy, and prayer into hosting WorshipGod11 when there are so many other worship conferences to attend? Obviously, my answer is yes. So I thought I’d share a few of the reasons we’re sponsoring this conference.

1. Content and Context: We attempt to combine biblical depth, musical training, leadership expertise, heart issues, and Spirit-led creativity all in a gospel-centered, local-church context. Sometimes we have well known speakers and musicians, but the popularity of a speaker isn’t our main concern. Our goal is to help church musicians serve their churches more effectively and we try to bring in people we think will serve that end. They include pastors and leaders we’ve known for years in Sovereign Grace.

2. Doctrine and Devotion: We teach on and model congregational worship that is both Reformed and charismatic. In other words we believe in the absolute sufficiency and authority of Scripture, but also believe all the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and other passages have some form of expression today. We think corporate worship should be both theologically rich and emotionally expressive.

3. Learning from others. You can’t visit every church or ministry that you’d like to, so we try to gather in one place some folks and musicians that we’ve been encouraged by over the years so you can be encouraged, too.

4. Free Materials: We like to give away a lot of stuff, because we want you to go home encouraged, enthusiastic, and equipped. You won’t go away empty-handed.

5. Books and More Books: We stock a bookstore not only with books that will help you lead worship, but also with ones that will deepen your knowledge of God and love for the gospel.

6. A Heart to Serve: While we still have a great deal to learn, and continue to benefit greatly from other churches and ministries, we feel God has enabled us to make a small contribution to equipping leaders and musicians to serve their churches more biblically, faithfully, skillfully, and joyfully.

There are other reasons, but this post is already long enough.

I’d love to hear from you if you have thoughts on a previous WorshipGod conference, or a question about the upcoming conference. Feel free to leave a comment.

And thanks for stopping by.

Although we have reached the 1,600 number of attendees planned for WorshipGod09, and online registration is now closed, we want to extend an invitation to an additional 50 people to register on site. This is on the understanding that the choice of seminars is limited (see below). To reserve a spot, on a first-come-first-served basis, please contact us via our website. The cost is $185 or $135 for students. Payment (cash/check) will be expected when you arrive.

Thursday, Seminar 1

“Do You Thirst for God” Donald Whitney

“Thoughts on Songwriting, Part 1” Keith & Kristyn Getty

Thursday, Seminar 2

“Improving Your Blend” Shelley Reinhart, Vikki Cook, & Todd Twining

“Thoughts on Songwriting, Part 2” Keith & Kristyn Getty

Friday, Seminar 1

“Clean hands and a Pure Heart” Pat Sczebel

“Let All the People Be Glad” Bob Kauflin

Friday, Seminar 2

“Worship Team Evaluation” Bob Kauflin

“Leading Your Family in Worship” Donald Whitney

One feature we’ve added at WorshipGod09 this year are pre-conference intensives for vocalists, songwriters, and worship leaders/planners. They’ll take place on Wednesday, April 5, 1:00-4:30. We wanted to offer something more hands-on and focused for those who were willing to pay a little more ($50) and come a little earlier.

Due to numerous requests, we’ve added thirty slots to the worship leader intensive, which I’ll be leading. I’ll be covering topics like 4 ways to view ourselves as leaders, heart issues, song progression, working with a team, and more.  If you’ve already signed up for the conference and saw that the intensive was full, you can email the conference via the WorshipGod09 website, and ask to be added to the intensive. You’ll also have to give us permission to charge your credit card.

If you haven’t yet registered for the conference (and you’d better get on it!), the intensive will be one of the options during the registration process, until the class is full.

If you haven’t yet reserved your hotel room…

The special Conference Rate we’ve negotiated with each hotel is good for reservations made through to July 7. After that date, the conference rate is no longer available and the room rates will be considerably higher (unless the hotel has plenty of unsold rooms and is willing to be kind, gracious, and generous).

So if you haven’t reserved a hotel room yet, get on it!