Worship Recap 9/16/2012

Set up and tech run

This week's worship recap is from the Westchester perspective, just because I was there this week!

Matt O'Rear has planted himself at the Westchester campus. His background and education along with his raw talent make him an incredible addition to our team at PCC. Matt led, along with the equally talented Paul Myers on drums, the excellent Terry Shackleferd on bass and Mariah Lewis on vocals. It as a smaller band, with a more intimate sound. We continue to consider whether or not that more intimate feel should be something we strive more consistently in the theater setting. It seems to work well.

As an aside, for those who worship at Westchester: sometimes, you'll see the drum kit placed off the stage. This isn't ideal, but occasionally necessary due to stage space. With the "Real Housewives of PCC" skit each week during this series, we're erring on the side of caution and hoping to prevent any mishaps (like someone falling off the stage).

Holy Is the Lord is a great, old tune - seems like it's been around forever! Written in 2003, it's a great opener and very pure worship song lyrically.

Mighty to Save last week, I had the privilege of hearing this Hillsong tune sung by the Hillsong band and a thousand singers. Another powerful anthem from Down Under, and easy to sing.

Matt

Lead Me to the Cross We met Matt O'Rear out in the Powhatan community one day. He had been coming to Westchester with his parents, and had met Sammy and mentioned that he could do a little music. We invited him back to the Powhatan campus and asked him to play something for us. He picked up his guitar and played "Healer", and then he played "Lead Me to the Cross".  It's a powerful song, also from Hillsong, that Matt delivers with authenticity.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) is a great reworking of the old hymn that has become a staple in the contemporary church.

Fury To Injustice was written on Tuesday by Laura Krzyston. You can read more about the song here, and I encourage you to check out Laura's version of it at the Powhatan campus as recorded here. Because it was original and relatively last-minute, I made an accompaniment track with a keyboard track for Westchester (our audio board doesn't have enough channels to support a keyboard along with the additional mics needed for the skit). It connected very strongly with Brian's message (because after reading his notes, Laura wrote the song!) and was a great demonstration of the value of having Laura on board as our Artist in Residence.