by Bethany Wouters, MHS Senior Editor/Cross Culture Ministries Worship Leader
This week, MHS had the privilege of hosting the Calvary Chapel Worship Leader’s Conference. Every November, Costa Mesa’s School of Worship puts on a conference for Calvary worship leaders. Hundreds of worship leaders from around the Calvary Chapel world come to be refreshed, gain new perspectives on worship leading, and join in fellowship with other likeminded believers.
This is my second year attending CCWLC. While I believe I took away more, overall, from last year’s conference, this past week still ministered to me greatly.
Pastors Tim Chaddick, David Guzik, Evan Wickham, Josh White, and Richard Cimino taught, with worship led by Evan Wickham, Lovelite, Joseph Pfeifer, and Leeland. This year’s theme, Soli Deo Gloria, was centered around the glory of God, and rightly comprehending how our relationships as worship leaders coincide with His glory.
Monday evening started off with worship by Calvary Creative and the School of Worship choir. Pastor Tim Chaddick from Reality LA spoke on “The Pursuit of the Glory of God”. He compared the glory of the mountaintop with the glory of the valley, from Matthew 17. The key points to Tim’s message were, “Jesus is the glorious ruler, experienced on the mountaintop, the glorious healer, seen in the valley, and the glorious redeemer, shown in the midst of everyday life”. His message was easily one of my favorites.
Each night, there was a concert in the coffee shop on campus, The Overflowing Cup. Monday night saw the band Thine Arrows, from Calvary Chapel Wildwood. Their original music was upbeat, Christ-centered, and folky. Andrew Enos, lead singer/guitar player, would later lead us in worship Wednesday afternoon, which I was blessed by.
Pictured: Lovelite
Tuesday, our first full day of the conference, was jam-packed with sessions and workshops. Worship band Lovelite kicked off the day, followed by a message from Pastor Evan Wickham from Westside: A Jesus Church in Portland, Oregon. He spoke on the glory of the Lord communicated in beauty and aesthetics within the church. Evan brought some interesting points up about how beautiful things have a way of working past intellectualism and attracting unbelieving people.
After Evan’s message, we participated in a Q&A panel with Pastors Zach Vestnys, Joseph Pfeifer, Evan Wickham, Andrew Polfer, and Scott Cunningham. Questions ranging from whether women should be worship leaders to finding the balance of stage production and authentic, natural worship were asked, and I have to say I actually enjoyed hearing the different answers given from each pastor. What I took away from the Q&A panel is that while it’s okay to have lights and maybe a fog machine on stage during worship, but, in the grand scheme of things, they’re not essential in creating and cultivating an environment of true worship.
After lunch, we broke up into two workshop sessions. The first session offered workshops about songwriting, the call of a worship leader, drums and bass, presentation technology, basic and advanced acoustic guitar, using ableton/tracks in a set, and live mixing.
I attended the call of a worship leader session taught by Scott Cunningham, worship pastor of Calvary Costa Mesa. He taught on what it means to be a worship leader, why we have worship leaders, and what a worship leader needs to be skilled in: theology, leadership, musicianship, and communication. As a leader of the church, we are to “cultivate praise in every part of life; praise creates a thankful heart” and, “to facilitate an environment of praise.” Worship leaders are praising in every moment, not just during a worship set on a Sunday morning.
The second set of workshops brought teachings on keys, electric and advanced acoustic guitar, cultivating a creative community, children’s worship, shaping your vocal tone, audio foundations, and videography.
I chose to sit in on the “shaping your vocal tone” session with Pastor Brendan McPeek of Roots church in Orange County. He taught us how to manipulate the tone of your voice to either sound brighter or darker, and what the benefits of each tone were. He then spoke about how shaping your tone not only benefits you as a singer, but also helps you be a more effective worship leader, as “a clear tone helps you better serve the church. The congregation is not only able to understand what you’re singing, but it makes it easier for the church to follow you.”
Dinner was served, and then the night was closed out with worship led by Evan and Sandy Wickham and a message by Pastor Josh White of Door of Hope in Portland, Oregon. He spoke about the glory of God’s grace as seen in Psalm 139. The highlight of his teaching? “Grace means I am known, I am not alone, and I have the power to change.” His message reminded us of just how undeserving, yet in need, of God’s grace we are, and how much we are loved by God.
After the final session of the day, another concert was held in the coffee shop. The Eagle and Child, a band based out of San Diego, performed some of their original songs as well as covers of hymns and popular worship songs. Their rhythmically-driven, guitar-heavy songs were both attention-grabbing and unique. (I’ve already listened to their full album. It’s good.)
Pictured: David Guzik
Wednesday morning started off with worship led by Joseph Pfeifer and two sessions taught by Pastor David Guzik, both of whom are from Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara. David compared the glory of the Lord revealed in the Old Testament with His glory shown in the New. In Exodus, Moses was so desperate to be in the Lord’s presence that the promise God gave him wasn’t enough. “Show me your glory!” Moses cried out (Exodus 33:18). “To do a job/work here on earth, you need more than God’s help. You need a display and connection with His glory!” After a short break, David then compared Moses’ experience with God’s glory to Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians. Paul’s momentary affliction was nothing compared to the glory of God that would revealed to him. He asked the question, “Do you do ministry because you will be blessed, or do you say, ‘It’s okay if it’s death to me if it brings life to whom I speak?'”
I believe David’s two messages were my favorite, as he not only encouraged us as worship leaders, but as children of God, to have a right understanding of God’s glory. He asked, “Is there an outstanding act of disobedience in your life that hinders you from fully experiencing God’s glory?” If so, he said to get right with God so we could experience His beautiful glory.
Pictured: Leeland band members
After lunch, we broke up into our final workshop session. There were workshops offered on songwriting, band dynamics, and church technicians. Members of my worship team and I attended the band workshop, taught by members of Leeland, a worship band from Nashville, Tennessee. Most of the workshop was discussion on how they came to be part of the band, but a short Q&A time allowed different attendees to ask questions on band dynamics and rehearsals. I liked the workshop. It was great to see their heart for the Lord, and how they use their platform as a nationally-known band to share the Gospel every chance they received.
Pictured: Leeland
The conference closed out with a teaching on the core of worship by Pastor Richard Cimino of Metro Calvary in Roseville, California. His message was centered around understanding what it means to be passionate about the Lord being worshipped, as in 2 Chronicles 29. Those who are passionate about seeing God worshipped don’t just praise Him on stage, as we talked about all throughout the conference. His message simply reiterated what it means and looks like to actually worship. After his message, Leeland led an extended time of worship. Every single worship set was filled with Spirit-led praise - the presence of the Lord was evident in those moments.
An open mic night finished out the conference. Worship leaders, young and old, performed original songs that the Lord used to minister to those who attended the concert. Open mic nights are a neat way of getting to hear different styles of music, and how the same Lord can inspire so many unique songs.
All-in-all, this year’s CCWLC was refreshing. Every sermon ministered to me in a different way, and as I reflect on what the Lord has taught me this past week, I am so grateful to have been able to attend. I’m definitely looking forward to next year’s conference!
Check out the hashtag from the conference to see more pictures and videos of the week! And be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for blog updates and more!