WE ARE LIVING in times of great change and uncertainty and though many are fearful we believe that God is at work in His world and therefore these are also days of great opportunity.

I thought it would be helpful for those of you who are considering an invitation to to outline what I believe are the most fruitful and useful events that I can offer at this time – not to exclude other kinds altogether of course!

1. Prayer gatherings with intercessory worship
BlesSing Over...... [your town]

We are in a season where the Holy Spirit is stirring the church to unusual prayer. I have a passion to see worship overflow into intercession. I do this by leading scripture songs improvised on the spot, enabling the whole gathering to sing and speak blessings, prayers, promises and proclamations directly from the Bible overtheir locality. The wider aim is to inspire and equip the church in daily habits of scripture based prayer and worship.

One expression of this will happen under the title ‘BlesSing Over - - - - ’. For example in Worcester it would be called ‘BlesSing Over Worcester’, in Croydon ‘BlesSing Over Croydon’, and the intention would be to gather people with a heart to pray for their area and neighbourhood from across the churches. This can be particularly effective when local church leaders are already praying together and are looking for an event that has the potential to increase the momentum of prayer in their region. Rather than bring in a ‘pre-packaged’ programme this approach enables me to gather up and give a corporate voice to the prayers and longings God is already stirring up in the local leaders and people. I also often use local musicians so that they can ‘learn by doing’ alongside me.

2. An Evening With Graham Kendrick
‘Acoustic Gospels’ Concerts

3. An Evening With Graham Kendrick
‘Acoustic Gospels’ Easter 2012 dates still available

4. An Evening With Graham Kendrick
‘Acoustic Gospels’ Christmas 2012 dates still available

What is it?

This is an intimate and atmospheric evening of my acoustic ‘story-telling’ songs [inspired by characters and scenes from the Gospels, see ‘Acoustic Gospels’ CD], woven together with worship songs.

The concert can be adapted to fit seasonal themes notably Easter and Christmas.

Who is it for?

Of course for those who know my music, but it is also the kind of event to bring friends to who may feel more comfortable in a concert than a more formal church setting. I want the audience to step into the story, to feel the drama and atmosphere of those world-changing events and encounter Jesus in the present moment.

The programme includes a brief presentation about the work of Compassion International, a child development charity.

5. Psalm Surfing

A lively worship celebration with a difference, all based on the Psalms, and designed not only to be a time of worship and ministry in itself, but also to equip people to use them.

I set out to make it stimulating, fun and accessible, and a good deal of it will involve something I call Psalm Surfing - improvised ‘call and response’ psalm singing on the spot, something which has to be experienced to be fully appreciated – it’s creative, it’s easy to participate in, it’s fun and most of all it helps us to engage with God through His Word.

I believe in learning by doing, so I also involve people in several ways to use the Psalms that they can carry over to their personal devotions and small group situations. Rather than give lengthy teaching, as I go along I will stitch the elements together with nuggets of explanation and illustration.

It can be as large a gathering as you like, and the desire is to gather as many as possible of your all-age community of worshippers - something for the wholechurch to experience together rather than being a specialist activity. I also like to encourage people who are talented in the arts, e.g. painters, dancers, poets, writers etc, to be present and seek to respond creatively to the stimulus of Word and Spirit that using the Psalms in this way generates.

It may also be possible to have a separate question and answer session with worship leaders, musicians and those gifted in areas of the Arts to explore how to develop your own Psalm-based activities.

As you can see, this is not a concert performance – myself, [sometimes one or two other musicians depending on the scale of the event], in-house PA's can sometimes be used, and potentially some of your musicians who are able to improvise. It won’t be a show, it won’t be a sing-along of classic songs, and every occasion will be unique and different.

If you have a vision for, and are in a position to successfully organise and promote any of these events [or indeed have something of a different nature in mind], email Simon Dennis simon@makewaymusic.com and he will guide you from there!

Thank you for reading this far, and may God bless you in all your efforts to lift up his name and tell his story.

Graham Kendrick

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