Jonathan Swindal

Is Your Church Service Format the Reason Your Church is Apathetic?

Here’s the thing about Sundays: they come every week without fail.   There is no preseason or offseason. Every Monday morning this reality seems to punch me between the eyes. The cycle of it all can be overwhelming. Meet with the staff, choose a set, prepare the team, rehearse, soundcheck, lead weekend services. Rinse. Repeat. …

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Should We Sing Songs that We Know aren’t *Technically* True?

Have you ever printed off the lyrics for your Sunday set and read them aloud? No melody, no accompaniment, just the words in your speaking voice.   It’s a unique experience that I’ve encouraged many worship leaders to do over the years. Words and phrases will strike you differently. It can freshen up an old …

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“You’re Never Gonna Let, Never Gonna Let Me Down!”…Right?

Music is a funny thing. In a utilitarian sense, it’s not very useful, but it holds enormous power over our human species.   In his book Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks rightly claims that music is auditory, emotional, and motoric, meaning that we listen to it with our whole bodies including our muscles. Even the tone-deaf among …

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“Worship Leader” or “Worship Pastor”? Our Language Tells on Us

A number of years ago, in a moment of profound revelation, one of my friends was arguing that the “worship leader” wasn’t a legitimate role in the church because it wasn’t listed in Ephesians 4! These typically-silly ministry debates generally didn’t concern me, but this time my interest was piqued. Can you believe that the …

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Why Should Worship Leaders Even Care About Theology?

We are incredibly honored to welcome Jonathan Swindal to the writing rotation here at Worship Online. He’s spent significant time in high-level leadership roles at acclaimed institutions like Southeastern University, Oral Roberts University, & now New Life Midtown in Colorado Springs and has both an MDiv from ORU & ThM from Denver Seminary (graduation Fall …

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