The Worship Experiences Blog

I've started a separate blog where I (and hopefully other people soon) will write about experiential worship and ways to incorporate it into church services. Check out the Worship Experiences Blog.

This is something that's very important to me, but I haven't really nurtured it lately, so it's a nice outlet. I led a workshop on this stuff a couple weeks ago for an Aldersgate Renewal Ministries worship conference and was really encouraged that interactive worship is something a lot of people are interested in, but just don't know quite how to go about doing.

So, in addition to this blog, I'll be posting there from time to time with ideas and things I've done in the past.

I'd like to get other folks to write for the worship experiences blog as well, so if you're interested in this sort of thing, please email me at eric(at)ericcoomer(dot).com.

So long but not "so long"

It's been so long since I cared enough to write on this blog. I grew weary of writing about myself. So I started focusing on worship and music and music in worship and alt worship. So I started mostly just posting one music video and one movie trailer every week. Then I got tired of that. 

Here's what's going on with me:

• Daphne's due any day with our second child, Evan
• My office/studio is gone in favor of a room for Evan
• Jackson, our first child, is 3½ and the pride of my life
• We're attending McKendree UMC in downtown Nashville and love it
• My band, KNAPSACKHEROES! is still working toward superstardom.
  *Or at least toward getting a freaking album done
• Pray for my dad. He currently has pneumonia and it's not looking good
 

Lastly, in the recent year I've fallen back in love with the electric guitar. Well, I never fell out of love with it, so I should say I've fallen more deeply in love with the electric guitar and much more in love with effects pedals. 

So, in addition to continuing to post trailers and music, you should expect to read about my thoughts on guitar gear...all this despite the fact I currently don't play guitar in my band. I have been playing at church a lot and though I'm leading worship once a month, I've found it incredibly freeing to play while not actually being the leader on other Sundays (we have a great leader in Anthony Mangin - and he has really great guitar tone).

Anyway, stay tuned for whatever. I shall not say "so long" to you just yet.

Look for more updates at the official Eric Coomer website.

New multisensory alt.worship blog

I haven't posted here for a while. It's just been boring and I haven't gotten any feedback lately.

I have started a new blog though. It's for something I'm passionate about, interactive worship experiences that are  multisensory and participatory in nature.

So, check out http:/www.worshipexperiences.blogspot.com. I'm hoping to get tons of people involved with it, but I've already posted a couple things myself.

Emergent Wednesday

I'm in the digital lounge at EC and feel I should blog... you see I'm next to Bill, Gavin, and Jonathon and we are all blogging indeed. Yesterday was wonderful. The dork that I am, I did not blog last night due to the fact I wanted to post some pictures. Yet today I am blogging about last night and am using a foreign computer without my pictures. Anyway, I will post them.

I hung out yesterday at Downtown Presbyterian and McKendree UMC. Maybe I shouldn't say "hung out". I loaded in more sound equipment and screens. Anyway, the churches are both beautiful (as you will see when I post pictures).

The only seminar I was able to attend was Dan Kimball's "They Like Jesus But Not The Church" (hey, me too sometimes!). It was a great seminar. Wonderfully depressing and yet optomistic. Dan talked about the many things the church has done to turn away emerging generations. We left with more questions than answers... a good thing. My hope, as I think is Dan's, is that those who came to the workshop will find their own answers, solutions, and remedies.

Last night Phyllis Tickle warmed us with the night blessing. I followed that with the Justin Dillon concert/forum at McKendree. Justin used to be in a band called Dimestore Prophets (I think next week's free MP3 will be their song "Hitler's Girlfriend" if I can find a legal MP3... here are the lyrics) that I loved. Matt Slocum of Sixpence and Astronaut Pushers played cello. I am a very big Slocum admirer.

I wrote down the songs Justin on the offering envelope but I can't find it. Here are some of the songs:

It Is Well With My Soul
The Wonderful Cross
Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
If It Be Your Will (Leonard Cohen)
Yahweh (U2)

There were more typical praise and worship songs, but of course they're the ones I don't remember.

Scandrette followed the songs with an interesting forum about Christians and the arts. He ruffled the feathers of some non-artistic folks who couldn't understand why an artist from San Fransisco would loathe being lumped in with Thomas Kinkade just because he is a Christian. Scandrette was called an eliteist by someone who later apologized.

So here we are in the digital lounge. The NPC is in the next room and Taylor Mason just finished up a very funny puppet routine. Now Michael W. Smith is on stage. In fact I have to go... they're showing a trailer for Steve Taylor's new movie "The Second Chance".