This is my second try at sending a blog post via email. If this works, it will be SO cool.

Speech Level Singing

Here is a post that I ran across recently that may help you understand a bit more about Speech Level Singing ...

Do You Understand The Speech Level Singing Technique Theory?

Get a crystal clear understanding of the speech level singing technique theory. And put this powerful method to work in your voice.

The speech level singing technique is a method of learning to sing created by Seth Riggs. It is a way of singing with a large range, with power, expressiveness, and best of all... with the effort that it takes to speak.

Here’s some insight into the theory behind the speech level singing technique…

For the rest of the article, click HERE.

Practicing on Your Own

Thanks for a great rehearsal and for all the the effort and focused attention that you gave at rehearsal last night. I was very pleased with where we are after the summer break. You sound wonderful already. After we get into our musical groove, you will sound incredible!! It is going to be an exciting year.

One of the things that will move us to the next musical level very quickly is practicing our music on our own outside of rehearsal. We are at the point in our musical growth, that improvement will not happen by just rehearsing with the group once a week. It will come by focused practice on our music and our technique.

I'm asking that each of us sing through our music with the CD once a day. A great place to do this is in your car while you are diriving around town. Then, a couple of times a week, set aside 30 minutes and sit down with your charts and work through a couple of songs with your CD. When you hit a troubles spot, hit rewind and go over that spot several times until you can get it right. We'll all improve if we all do this.

I'm looking forward to seeing you next week!! Until then ... "release your inner praise" every day.

In Anticipation

My Mom

Thanks for your prayers for my Mom. She is "rallying". Something is causing her sodium levels to fall through the floor. Then her blood pressure skyrockets. She's had several close calls lately. My brother who was with her at the time thought we were going to lose her this time. Once they got the IV and drugs going in her, she stabilized. Then after 8 or 10 hours on the IV she started to rally.

Prayer Request

I received a text from Joe Wood at 11:15 this morning saying that they took his Mom to the hospital in Gainesville, GA. Joe was on his way to check on her. Joe did not say why she had been taken to the hospital. Please join me in lifting up Joe and his Mom up during this difficult time. I have asked Joe to update me this afternoon, and I will post something as soon as I know.

It's Time to Get Your Praise On!!

It’s time to finally start choir rehearsal again. YEAH!!! We will meet tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 26, in the auditorium at 6:00 PM. We have some great music picked out and it is going to be an exciting fall.

Childcare will be provided, but you MUST buy tickets or they cannot stay. If you have financial issues and need assistance with the cost of childcare, please see Joe Wood or Alba Spinelli. We want to help.

We look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday night.

On the Edge of our Seats

I have enjoyed the Life Worth Watching series so much. Perry’s messages just seem to get better and better, don’t they? What a blessing to recognize that from my vantage point this morning in the early service, I could see several people whose lives I consider worth watching. I saw a couple that has been trying unsuccessfully for a long time to conceive a child. They have experienced a lot of pain and disappointment, but there they were worshiping God and displaying such love and tenderness for each other. I saw another couple who I know are experiencing financial struggles. Circumstances had already been difficult for them and the husband recently got laid off from his job, but they were there still looking to God for strength and direction. I sat behind Sandra and her husband. Some of you may not know that Sandra suffers debilitating effects from Fibromyalgia(I asked her permission to share this). This condition causes her to have extreme fatigue and pain at times, but I have witnessed her inner joy. Once I saw her walking to her car from Pets Mart (she didn’t know I was watching). She was alone, but she had the sweetest expression and a smile on her face... evidence of the humor and joy she carries around inside. And then on the front row…(where else would they be?), I saw Dave and Alba. It’s very encouraging to me knowing the little bit I do about Dave’s life and struggles, that he has such a love for God. And it’s so obvious on his face during worship. And then there’s our little Alba. I’ve always liked to think that Southerners had nearly perfected the art of hospitality, but this little ‘Yankee’ lady is hospitality on legs. She’s so warm and gracious with everyone she comes in contact with. I also see in her a childlike excitement. She literally sits on the edge of her seat during church, like she’s anticipating something wonderful at any moment. I think that’s the way we should start this next season of praise and worship with our music ministry family… with great expectancy…on the edge of our seats. To God be the glory!

I love y’all,
Sharyn

Worship Summit - Report

Thanks for your prayers as Steve, Don, Adam, Mike and I attended and presented at the SC Baptist Association Worship Summing. This was a gathering of around 350 worship leaders from across the state meeting to worship together and learn ways to hone their craft.

It was a very refreshing time for me personally. And it was great to be able to share our approach to ministering with Praise Choirs in a contemporary worship setting. I met a lot of people who are eager to learn from what God has taught us over the last few years. Keep these folks in your prayers. God is leading many of them into new territory for their churches.

I was overwhelmed with recognition of how blessed we are at Brookwood. It is very easy, as we enjoy each week the benefits of our technical equipment and of working with such a talented team of technical people, to take for granted the "promised land" that we serve in. Many of the folks that I met are leading worship with very limited technical resources. They deserve our support and our prayers.

My take-away was a strong sense of the responsibility that we have to support and nurture those who are blazing new trails of worship in thier own congregations. I ask you, as we pray for each other, to also pray for others who have our same passion for worship, but who work in situations far more difficult and more limited than ours. They deserve and need our prayer and support!

Blog of Note

Blogger featured this blog recently ... The Choir Girl. Rob pointed it out to me. This girl all choral music. She's not involved in our kind of choir, but she has an interesting viewpoint. If you enjoy choral music, you'll enjoy her blog.

http://thechoirgirl.blogspot.com/

1st Rehearsal

NO ... we do not have rehearsal tonight! We start NEXT week. We figured that the first day of school would NOT be a good day to have first day of choir!

I'm looking forward to starting rehearsal again. I've missed you. AND I am excited about what I sense God is going to do with us this year. I can't wait to start rehearsing.

Will you join with me in prayer for our choir and our ministry in the coming year? I would like to bathe it all in a flood of prayer and see what God will do ...

Don't Fight God - Purpose Driven Life

“Don’t fight me.”I was four thousand feet above the ground in a glider over California’s central coast. The firm and calm rebuke came from Gary, my flight instructor. We had just been towed up to our gliding elevation, I had released the tow cable, and after trimming us out, Gary asked, “Do you want to take the stick?”

I eagerly grabbed the stick with my whole hand while, unbeknownst to me, Gary’s firm hand was on his “chicken” stick—the flight control used by an instructor in case under-trained novices forget that flying gliders is not their day job. I fit the criteria—something was wrong. Gary rebuked me and took over: “Don’t fight me.” Shocked and surprised to hear those words, I quickly released my hand from the stick. “Let’s try again. Forward is down. Back is climb. Left is left and right is right.” Slowly, I put my hand back on the stick, taking hold of it with my whole hand. Just as I did, I heard those words again: “Don’t fight me.”

For the rest of the article, click here: http://www.purposedriven.com/article.do?method=articlePage&contentId=201771&trkid=ddnews

Schedule Change

Please note that we moved the October 25 Praise Date to November 1. We recognized that October 25 is Missions Sunday. Fenton always has a lot of special things planned for that Sunday. He'll have a lot more flexibility in his planning if we are not on the stage.

Prayer Request

Please join me in lifting up Karen Hadden in prayer this morning. She will be having knee surgery today. Please pray for a successful operation and a speedy recovery.

Thanks!