Vbs - LifeWay

Acquisition will
integrate into larger
worship project
In early July, LifeWay acquired WorshipWebsite.net, a
Website launched in 2006 to “help churches spend more
time in worship and less time in the details.”
The software, which represents the first acquisition for the
LifeWay Business Development Group, will be redesigned
and integrated into LifeWay’s Worship Project.
Mark Brodsky created
WorshipWebsite.net as a
solution to the frustrations
he witnessed first-hand
as the drummer in the
worship band at Crossroads
Community Church,
Summerville, S.C.
“It’s not the focus
of the worship
ministry to plan
the service, but
to do the actual
worship.”
“I wanted to help the most
visible ministry in church
— Mark Brodsky
spend more time in worship
and less time in all the
minutia,” Brodsky said. “It’s not the focus of the worship
ministry to plan the service, but to do the actual worship.”
LifeWay Worship Director Mike Harland said he was
excited to find that Brodsky’s vision for his Website matched
LifeWay’s vision for the Worship Project.
“There are, of course, some changes that need to happen
before WorshipWebsite.net can integrate seamlessly into the
Worship Project,” Harland said. “But this software is new
and robust and has incredible potential.”
LifeWay’s Worship Project is scheduled to launch Oct.
1. Full integration of WorshipWebsite.net into the project
will not occur until early 2009. Harland said current
WorshipWebsite.net customers will continue to receive
service throughout the transitional period.
“We’re excited about this,” said Tim Vineyard, vice
president of LifeWay’s technology division. “We’re excited for
the vision of this project and what will be done with it.” n
Worship as lifestyle
Wayne Barber, pastor of Hoffmantown
Church in Albuquerque, N.M., led seminars
on worship and God’s love, its conflict with
the world, and its relation to God’s Word.
He also taught during the daily worship
services about worship as a lifestyle, not an
event.
“If there is no walk, there is no worship,”
Barber said. “If there is no obedience, there
is no worship. The more you are with the
Lord, the more you want to worship.”
Younger worship leader Dan Odle from
Highview Baptist Church in Louisville,
Ky., spoke about leading balanced worship
services with a blend of traditional and
contemporary elements. His seminar
“What’s Re-CHOIRed” focused on the
relevance of a church choir in today’s
culture.
“The culture’s changing and it will be
more challenging to grow a choir,” he said.
“But there is value to having a large group
leading worship.”
Conference attendees also participated
in corporate worship each day and every
evening ended with a performance featuring
a multitude of acts with traditional and
non-traditional elements.
Appropriately, the concluding night
featured a unified choir composed of
worship leaders and music ministers all
seeking to glorify God through song. n
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