Join us on a musical journey with the Dove Aware Winning Recording Artist, the inspiring LaRue Howard, a woman whose heart beats to the rhythm of worship. She shares her melodious story, from humble beginnings singing hearing Charlie Pride songs on her uncle's porch, to her thriving ministry in music. In addition to this, LaRue graces us with invaluable insights on vocal health, the importance of staying hydrated, and introduces us to her vocal athlete spray made of pure essential oils.
LaRue's infectious passion for music, her unwavering dedication to spiritual and vocal health, along with her deep understanding of the unique challenges in music ministry will strike a chord with anyone who holds a deep affinity for singing, choir, and worship.
Mietta brings has our CRQ and leads us in a conversation that reveals the crucial role of community and local solutions in growing a music ministry. We traverse the potential of hosting music workshops within your own group, tapping into local resources, and then reaching out to the wider community to tackle obstacles. We don't just scratch the surface; we dive deep into the balance between impressing and impacting when it comes to growth, and how seeking opinions and asking the right questions can pave the way for success.
Dorian also takes a moment to reflect on the timeless hymn, 'Grace Greater Than Our Sin,' its powerful message, and how it encapsulates the essence of grace. Then, Coleman puts in the capstone of this episode with a very thought-provoking thought for the week..."Faithfulness".
If you have a love for singing, whether in a choir or as a solo performer, this episode promises to not only entertain but also furnish and inspire you. Don't let this chance to soak in LaRue's wisdom, zeal, and practical advice for promoting choir and music ministry growth, slip away.
https://www.larueministries.com/
https://www.instagram.com/laruelive/
https://www.youtube.com/@LaRueOnline
https://www.facebook.com/laruelive
https://www.tiktok.com/@ladypraiza
Perpetuating and Promoting the Christian and Positive Idea Through the Medium of Music and Other Arts.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the choir room, season 1, episode 25 of
the Choir Room podcast.
Welcome to the choir room.
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, andI'll soon be joined by my
co-hosts, Dorian Johnson.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Be it a Stansel for RR and who we like to call the
fourth wheel, coleman Smart.
This podcast has a productionof Metro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts.
This podcast exists to promoteand encourage two long-time
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
(00:42):
that is choir and corporatesinging.
We hope to revive theexcitement and joy experienced
with singing in a choir, as wellas inform and educate the
listener on all things singingand all things choir.
We encourage you to subscribeto the podcast by sending the
word subscribe to the Choir Roomat MetroMusicDashArtscom, or
(01:03):
you can subscribe anywhere youlisten to podcasts and then do
us a favor while you're thereLeave us a five-star review,
leave us your comments and sharewith a friend that you're in
the Choir Room.
Welcome to the Choir Room.
Our guest contributor today hasthe mandate of reaching the
world through worship, and fornearly two decades she's been
(01:24):
doing just that, having workedwith choirs and groups, worship
teams and solo artists.
She is a wife, a mother, aworship pastor, vocal coach and
did I mention?
A dub?
Award-winning recording artistwith seven highly acclaimed
recording projects.
Stick around, because LaRueHoward is here with us in the
Choir Room.
We are now into the fall seasonand there's some things in the
(01:47):
planning with Metro Music andArts, and the Choir Room
specifically, that we'd like tokeep you informed about and have
you participated Now?
The first one is a monthlyevent that we've been working on
for some time now that's goingto afford you an opportunity to
come together for singing,connection and fellowship.
It's going to be a very specialtime and you can look forward
(02:08):
to getting more informationabout participation if you are
subscribed to this podcast.
Secondly, be on the lookout forthe upcoming Choir Room theme
song contest.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Welcome to the Choir Room.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Now that's just part of it.
You can hear the full versionat the top of this podcast.
Now, what started out as aregional call to just a few
choirs to record the theme song,it has blossomed into somewhat
of a national reach now thatwe're getting responses from
people around the country andwe're glad to report that we've
got a couple of sponsors anddonors who have made this
somewhat of a contest, and sothere will be prizes and gifts
(02:47):
for the best recordings of theChoir Room theme song.
If you want to stay in the know, you have to subscribe to the
Choir Room atMetroMusicDashArtscom.
And then, finally, if you liketo sing and you like to learn
and you like to have fun doingit, mark your calendars.
From Monday, october 16th, at7pm, right here in the Choir
(03:08):
Room, vocal coach and YouTubesensation and a dear friend of
mine, tara Simon, with TaraSimon Studios, will be joining
us again right here in the ChoirRoom with live demonstration,
live evaluation and vocal tipsfor all of our Choir Room
listeners.
That's what's coming up in thenext few weeks.
Now Dorian has our hymn of theweek.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Thanks, greg.
This week's hymn of the week isGrace Greater Than Our Sin.
But there is an alternate titleto this hymn, which is
Marvelous Grace of Our LovingLord, and the term Marvelous
means causing great wonder orsomething that's extraordinary.
Romans 5, 20 to 21 says Now thelaw came in to increase the
(03:52):
trespass.
But where sin increase, graceabounded, all the more so that
as sin reigned in death, gracealso might reign through
righteousness, leading toeternal life through Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
God's answer to the problem ofsin is the shed blood of Jesus
(04:14):
Christ.
But that shed blood applied tothe wretched life, as we learned
last week in studying amazinggrace is because of the
marvelous grace of our God.
The first verse says MarvelousGrace of Our Loving Lord, grace
that exceeds our sin and ourguilt.
(04:36):
When you consider your own sin,you consider your own guilt,
both your past sin, but alsoyour present sin.
Think of if all of them werepiled up, say, think of how high
that that piling would be.
(04:57):
Think of how high the piling ofyour guilt over your sin would
be.
And now take all of the sin andall of the guilt of all of the
people of God and think of howhigh that pile would be, and yet
the grace of God is far higher.
(05:19):
Think of the depths that yoursin has taken you to, think of
the depths that your guilt hastaken you to.
And yet the grace of Godreaches far deeper than even our
deepest sins have taken us andour deepest guilt has taken us.
And we're told that this graceis shown by the outpoured blood
(05:44):
of the Lamb on Calvary.
We're reminded of John 1.29,where John the Baptist
proclaimed as he saw Christbehold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world.
Verse 2 says Sin and despairlike the sea.
Waves, cold threaten the soulwith infinite loss.
Sin infects everything that wedo.
(06:07):
There's a saying, and I don'tknow who to attribute it to, but
they said to try to remove sinfrom our doings is to try to
remove salt from the sea.
Sin infects everything.
And yet we're told that thereis grace that is greater, grace
(06:29):
untold that points to the refuge, the mighty cross of Christ.
And then the third verse saysDark is the stain that we cannot
hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look, there is flowing acrimson tide wider than snow.
You may be today, and thisreminds us of God's promise of
(06:52):
judgment against his own peoplethat we find in Isaiah chapter
one.
But at the end of Isaiahchapter one we read in verse 18,
where he says Come now, let usreason together, says the Lord.
Though your sins are likescarlet, they shall be white as
snow.
Though they are red likecrimson, they shall become like
(07:14):
wool.
And God is able to do thatbecause of the precious blood of
Christ shed on Calvary.
Second Corinthians eight ninereminds us of this.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sake,he became poor so that you, by
(07:38):
his poverty, might become rich.
This hymn is very simple.
It simply says Grace, grace,god's grace, grace that will
pardon and cleanse with him.
Grace grace, god's grace, gracethat is greater than all our
sin.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So great.
Thanks, dorian.
Welcome to the quiet room.
Here's Mi'edda with our CRQ.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Thanks, greg.
So tonight our CRQ is this whatconferences or and or workshops
can you recommend for smallchurch departments, for small
church music departments inside,to attend an effort to grow
their music ministry teams?
What conferences and orworkshops can you recommend for
small church music departmentsto attend in an effort to grow
(08:33):
their music ministry teams?
That's interesting.
I think that is a greatquestion.
My input is very brief and Iwould say this to the person who
sent this no name start localin your local community, your
local church communities,because there you'll be
(08:54):
surprised the types of helps youcan gain from situations like
that.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe the music, the big music
conferences or the big musicworkshops.
There are some we know.
There's the GMWA, that's amusic workshop.
There's the NCGCC, which isalso the Thomas Dorsey workshop.
(09:15):
Those are the bigger names andand perhaps some of my
colleagues here may have someother suggestions as well but I
would say to start local andfind out what the needs are in
your church and then reach out.
Don't be afraid to ask for helpfrom those local assemblies.
(09:35):
We used to do workshops in mycommunity when I lived in Jersey
.
We would have local workshopsbecause there were a lot of our
local churches who were prettymuch going through the same
challenges.
That, and you'd be surprised,we are more alike than we are
different and we all had thosesame challenges of concerns in
(09:58):
our music departments trying toget people, gather people
together, get singers together,get musicians together.
We all had that problem Peopleshowing up, not showing up, the
inconsistencies of things.
We all experienced all of that.
So I would say, reach out toyour local churches, start there
, and you could create a musicworkshop right there in your own
(10:21):
church, right there in your ownmusic department.
You know, call the singers,whatever singers you have or
whatever music musicians youhave, call them in.
Let's take a Saturday and, fora couple of hours, come together
and let's talk about, prayabout and discuss what we would
like to see in our musicministry on all levels, be it
(10:44):
choir, be it praise team,whatever liturgical dance,
whatever it is.
You know, just meet with whoyou have and you'll find that
you probably get more out ofthat than you would out of the
major, the big name workshops orconferences.
So, gentlemen, let's say you Me.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
you stole my thunder because I was going to say
almost the exact same thing.
A lot of times, when people goto these really big conferences,
they leave thinking, well, whatdoes that mean for me in my
context?
And so I was going to say, yeah, look at churches and
(11:28):
conferences and stuff that arelike your church, that are like
what you're trying to do, and Iwas going to say something more
local or local churches.
And yeah, something else thatI've thought is helpful.
You just described a workshopat your own church with your own
musicians and singers.
That is great advice, andsometimes I've seen something
(11:50):
that helps is bringing in acouple outside voices to do that
with you, so that it's not justyou.
Sometimes those fresh voicesare really helpful.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofgreat consultants or people that
travel and do that for a livingor they do it on the side.
(12:12):
So, yeah, I agree completely,mieta.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Dory.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
This is a tough one for me.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Well, no, I mean I just from the church context
that I'm in.
I mean there are, I mean Ithink, of conferences such as
the Sing Conference that'ssponsored by the Getties and
others from that type of genreas a possibility.
But I guess the question behindthe question is what are they
(12:48):
looking to do?
What's the purpose of seekingout something outside of your
own church that you think ismissing in your own church?
And so that's kind of, for me,the question behind the question
what are they looking for?
(13:09):
Because, as I'll steal thisfrom Coleman, it's your context,
it's the context of your churchand what's the spiritual health
of your church?
And a whole host of things thatmight lead you to looking for
(13:29):
answers within your own churchand within your own body and
considering what do we need todo to cultivate our music
department?
Maybe there are changes thatneed to be made in terms of
leadership and expectations andthings like that, and so I think
sometimes we are tempted tolook outside of our churches and
(13:55):
outside of our bodies for theanswers.
But ultimately, what's thequestion that you're looking to
answer?
And so that would be myresponse to this question what
is it that you're looking for?
Because that's then going to, Ithink, lead you in some
(14:17):
directions that you may not haveeven considered, and it may not
lead you to a conference thatis outside of your church.
It might lead you to some realsoul searching in your church.
That might lead to some majorchanges or some minor changes,
but ultimately, if your desireis to glorify God, he'll direct
(14:38):
you and He'll lead that musicministry, no matter how big or
how small it is.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Right, excellent Thank you Great.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Well, thanks for stealing my thunder, dorian.
I was going to say literallythe exact same thing.
I think Dorian hit it.
That is the question what is itthat you're trying to
accomplish?
I think in music ministry, youhave to be very careful not to
(15:09):
compare what God is doing on theinside of your house to what is
being presented on the outsideof others.
We can easily get caught upinto thinking and feeling that
what we're doing is notsufficient, and so we can slip
into thinking that our ministryshould be bigger or we should
have better singers or moreproficient musicians, and I'm a
firm believer that God wants youto prosper and blossom where
(15:32):
you are, so it may not be meantfor you to have 300 people, or
85 or 35.
Whatever that number is, youhave to know that you're doing a
great work Now in terms ofworkshops and conferences.
I applaud the person sendingthe question, because we should
always be learning andunderstanding the fact that all
that we know is not all thatthere is to know.
(15:54):
So we're constantly learning,and I think to be willing to
grow in the music ministry issignificant.
And so to Dorian's point I thinkyou need to identify why you
feel you need to grow and inwhat areas you feel you need to
grow, like me, at a state thatyou can start within your own
team and at least have thediscussion so that you all agree
(16:15):
what that need for growth is.
You've identified it, you'veacknowledged it and now you can
come together.
You'd be surprised at how muchinformation is right amongst
your team.
So sharpen the tools that arein your toolbox.
Grow the team from within theteam.
Blossom where you plant it andthen grow out from there.
And because we should always belearning, then you go to the
(16:37):
community.
And if you can't get it in thecommunity, you need more
information and again, alwaysgrowing.
Then you can look at going to aconference or a workshop.
Just be sure that themotivation for wanting to grow
is not based on anotherministry's size or sound.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I like that.
Yeah, I guess it's the impactversus impress type.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Exactly.
You're not going to beimpactful or you just want to
impress?
The next bunch of people and soyou have to, kind of, you got
to weigh that out, you got topray that, got to pray through
that and make sure that you'renot just doing it because you
saw it somewhere else.
So yeah, you're all absolutelyright.
(17:21):
Assess these needs before westart to get out there and harm
ourselves.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
That's what I'm saying Harm ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
I think once that person has identified their
growth needs, we can later makea recommendation based on the
conferences and workshops thatwe're familiar with.
Maybe I'll just list the onesthat we mentioned in the show
notes.
I have followed her musicministry for about a year now
(17:52):
and, after looking at thecircumstances on how we ended up
connecting and then speakingwith her briefly offline, I feel
like we've already known eachother, having so much in common.
Welcome to the choir room.
Larue Howard Ministries.
Larue, thanks for your yes,thanks for agreeing to join us.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Thank you so much.
It's an honor to finally meetyou as well and to be a part of
your your podcast.
I'm excited to chat with youand your listeners today.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We have a mutual friend.
A big shout out to our dearsister, cynthia Gonzalez.
What's up, cindy, we love youand Cindy didn't know.
Well, we didn't know that shewas working with you and you
didn't know that we knew herRight, and vice versa.
I think it was just Godordained the way the connection
(18:42):
happened, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
So here we are, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Talking about all things choir, all things singing
, all things ministry andanything else that's on your
heart.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I tell you, all of those things are definitely a
part of my heart.
So, ministry, singing choir,all of that is great.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Awesome, wonderful.
So let's go back to the earlyLaRue, where it all started,
where it all began when youstarted singing.
Do you come from a family ofsingers?
Oh, didn't start at the church.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Okay, so you do want that.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Anytime people ask those questions, I always think
about what was it?
George Jefferson?
He would always say I was theson of a sharecropper.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Like.
Do you want?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
that story or do you?
Okay, but no, I was raised inSouth Carolina and did not come
from a family of singers.
But my grandfather was aBaptist preacher and I was told
that he was a great singer.
But my love for singingprobably came more so from
spending time with a paternaluncle who would come and hang
(19:47):
out with me and we would sit onthe front porch at my house and
we would sing Charlie Pridesongs.
You know Charlie Pride.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Absolutely.
I know his music.
I didn't know him personally.
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Yeah, but yeah, you know, he was African American
country singer and I don't know,my uncle played guitar not
really played, but he just youknow he would come and strum his
guitar with me and we wouldsing, and that was that was kind
of where it all started.
And then, my mom being in aBaptist church, we had a, we
were part of a Baptist communitychoir and I was probably the
(20:23):
only little five, six, sevenyear old singing with all the
mothers and the deacons in thechoir, and so that's kind of
that's where it all started.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Charlie Pride.
Okay, you know, I alwaysthought that there was some kind
of connection between countrymusic and gospel.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Who would have known?
Who would have known it?
I think it was Charlie Pride,exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
You know I grew up in a Baptist church, but I also
remember growing up and watchingthe show he Ha.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Okay, you really dated yourself.
Now now, now we're we see wherewe are now.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
You say he Ha?
Wow, Exactly Cause I wasfascinated with the banjos.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It's like 100%, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And so we got to see brilliant musical genius, I
think on television then thatLet me throw another one out
there too.
Lawrence Welk.
There you go.
Yeah, we talk about musicalgenius, and the list goes on and
on, and on.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
We need to stop talking about that.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Well, we were definitely dating ourselves, but
it was those experiences andthat exposure that was part of
the spark for the musicaljourney that really has landed
you where you are today, and sochurch choir was a part of that.
Exposure to country music waspart of that.
So then something came afterthat from church to what?
To school?
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Yes, Absolutely I.
My mom, kept me in privatedance lessons and piano and then
going to middle school, she'sgave let me take some voice
lessons which you know.
At that time's 12, 13 years oldI was, I didn't know you know
what I was doing, but you knownonetheless.
(22:02):
She saw, saw a, some potentialthere and wanted to get me, get
me started.
But then when I was in highschool, I joined the choir,
joined the chorus and 10th gradehere.
So 10th, 11th, 12th grade I wasin high school choir and band
Same here.
Not many students did that.
(22:23):
You know, they had to choose oneor the other, but I was
fortunate enough to be able todo both.
And then also my chorus teacher.
There was another class that hemade available for theory,
advanced theory, and I wasreally interested in it and I
was the only kid that was takingthat class, so he would he put
(22:43):
me in on a in the library, on acomputer, and I learned advanced
theory.
And so you know, that wasreally where, where my love for
just studying music came from.
When I graduated from collegeand graduated high school in
Columbia, South Carolina, I wentto a university of South
Carolina for one year, One year.
(23:05):
One year because I enjoyedbeing in college.
I enjoyed college life a lot, Iunderstand.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yes, and so fun.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I ended up on academic probation and I told my
mom that I was college materialand she told me you don't tell
me, well, you think is college,that you don't think this
college material.
I will tell you if you are acollege material.
And so, long story short, withthat she Brought me to Atlanta.
(23:45):
We have lots of family whichI'm actually visiting, my
mom-in-law here, and so we havelots of family in Atlanta.
And she took me to Morris BrownCollege and went to meet with
the choir director there and shehad a meeting with him and told
him my daughter can sing.
Can you give her some money togo to school, Can you sing?
(24:08):
And I said yes, or I can.
And it was so funny I think Isaid that because more so out of
fear that if I said somethingelse, more out of my mom right,
being confident in that.
But he said I said yes, and hegave me a scholarship.
So I went to school, I'm MarsBrown, graduated with music
(24:29):
degree, vocal emphasis, and yeah, that's that's kind of where it
all began.
That's why I had an encounterwith the Lord and Just the whole
trajectory, trajectory of mylife, changed because I grew up
in church but really in thatsetting had developed a
(24:49):
relationship with the Lord andhe gave me a vision for my life.
What I believe is has beengrounding for me just through so
many challenges and so manytransitions.
That has Just been thefoundation of where I'm able to
stand today and talking with you.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And we're glad about it.
So you sang in the church choir, you sang in the school choir,
you were in the band.
Mom kept you involved invarious types of classes.
You ended up teaching in classas well, and we'll get back to
that in a little bit.
You're also a doubleaward-winning recorded artist,
and that's a big deal.
Absolutely and so everyexperience has helped to lead
(25:30):
you to the next experience.
So, because this is the choirroom, tell us about how your
involvement in choir has helpedto shape LaRue and has helped to
steer you on this music journey.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Oh, man, choir experience, oh, my heart, so
okay.
So my, like I said, I startedout in high school.
High school course, my directorwas Craig Dunsing at Richland
Northeast High School and it'sbeautiful because I'm still in
relationship with him today.
We're Facebook friends, hefollows me, he keeps track of
(26:02):
everything that I'm doing andit's so beautiful To be able to
have allow him the opportunityto see the progress Of the seeds
that he planted in me so longago.
So when it went to high schooland then when I was in college,
like I said, I was there is amusic major, but studied under
(26:22):
Glenn Halsey, which some peoplemay know him from a CD, a
American Choral DirectorsAssociation.
He brought us there to travelTo do several performances
several years, but he was justan incredible human and
incredible musician and verypassionate and was very.
(26:42):
He was like no holds barred andjust did not allow us to settle
and didn't allow us to have anytype of mediocrity with our,
with our musicality and just asPeople.
And it was just an amazingexperience working with him and
(27:04):
so that was like a concert choirat Morris Brown College.
And then, after I graduated,moved to Florida.
I I joined a church in Floridaand joined the choir there and
Clint Brown was my pastor andMartha Munizzi, which is anyone
who's in music, praise andworship genre.
They may know her name and alsoClint Brown's name, but they
(27:27):
really poured into me anunderstanding of praise and
worship.
So here I was, had this gospelyou know, baptist gospel
foundation, but then wenttraditional choir, concert,
choir chorale and then into apraise and worship style.
So I've had my hand in all ofthose different types of choir
(27:49):
experiences.
And and then also I forgot tomention, after I graduated from
college, I was a music teacherfor six years.
I started teaching middle schoolmusic, so I had choirs, was a
choir director in those twoyears and and had the
opportunity to be named teacherof the year during that time,
(28:14):
was able to Create a curriculumfor fine arts magnet school in
Florida and it was just a great,great Experience.
But I knew that when my, whenthe grace started lifting, I was
like, okay, god, we need this,we need this time to pivot, then
(28:35):
do something.
But it was, you know.
So you know I have such a highregard for educators because I
know what it takes To, you know,to keep your kids on task, but
then you see students with withsuch great potential and maybe
they're not wanting to walk inthat same direction, but just
you know.
And then also the joy, like Isaid with my choir director, of
(28:57):
being able to see those kids,some of them, who take the
things that you deposited inthem, the music, life you know,
just life notes and just thethings that they've Received,
and go on and be Successful andproductive adults.
You know, it's, it's sorewarding.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
So but yeah, being being in choir.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I would never change that experience.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I concur with that sentiment.
I mean, band and choir were thebest formative years of my life
and I can remember just aboutevery Experience from that
season and I wouldn't trade itfor anything.
So now you've gone from highschool to college, to teaching,
(29:41):
and now we need a shift.
No doubt you've impacted manylives over the course of that
that season in your life.
What was the shift for?
I mean, why did you feel thatyou needed God to Shift you?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
That's a great question, why, you know, I don't
know.
You know sometimes when you are, you know, just kind of just in
a space of just trusting God,you just kind of go where he is
leading.
It's not always easy to do that, but I just really really felt
strongly that I did not want tosee.
But it was so funny that samesummer that was probably May,
(30:21):
june, but that same summerMartha and her husband, danny
were making the pivot as wellfrom leading full-time at the
church to doing full-timeministry, and so it was just
really just the timing of theword.
And when I Was praying about it, my pastor at the time he asked
(30:42):
if just offered me the position, if I wanted to be the Worship
pastor at our church, and beforeI could even think about it I
was said yes, I do, yes, I do.
I didn't know everything tothat in comp, you know the that
would entail, and but I knewthat that was the thing that was
next for me and that was 2001that I was.
I took that worship pastorposition.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, okay, yeah, so you just had the feeling in your
feeler and you just knew it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that, that was really it,yeah, and and having served now
under Clint Brown and withMartha Manese and, by the way,
if any of our listeners don'tknow those names, then you
totally don't know Christianmusic or gospel music.
But suffice it to say you arenow in a new position and
(31:28):
probably still unpacking in yournew location.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Sorry, I'm just thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Well, I want to talk a little bit about the vocal
coaching and now the newposition.
I mean, choir is all aboutsinging and worship leading is
all about singing.
The new position and your vocalcoaching, which you were doing
already, those two things areinseparable.
How did you balance thespiritual health and the vocal
(31:53):
health of the teams of peoplethat you have leadership over?
Speaker 3 (31:57):
You know that's a.
That's a great question.
It's the position that I'm incurrently is a very unique one.
The church that I'm serving at,willow creek community church
in South Barrington, illinois,they have eight campuses and
each campus has their ownworship service and each campus
has their own worship pastor.
So I don't have directconnection with the praise teams
(32:20):
and the choirs, but more sowith with the worship pastors.
But to answer your question,how do you, how do you keep that
balance?
I, I think, if I take it fromthe perspective of the position
that I was serving in prior,when I was in Florida as the
music director, um, excuse me,there came opportunities during
(32:42):
rehearsals that I would do a lotof vocal coaching there.
So you know, I stress to themthe importance of vocal health.
I stress to them the importanceof you know warming up and not
just Um jumping on the platformcold.
You know and and taught themhow to warm up and the
importance of the exercises andhow they related to different
(33:04):
songs that we sung.
Um, I talk about like placementand and style and how we sing
certain songs.
Like we wouldn't sing a Uh uhhas a kind of walker song in the
same placement that we wouldsing a brand and lake song.
You know totally differentgenres but also totally
different places or Tones ofyour vote, of your voice, just
(33:28):
different dynamics and differentaspects of the voice.
So I brought that Um into ourrehearsal spaces and then also,
you know, talking aboutspiritual side, we would take
time to practice the presence ofgod and we would take time, you
know, we would build those,build that community of prayer
and um understanding the songsthat we were singing with Talk
(33:52):
about the scriptures that areconnected to these songs.
So you know, there's.
I heard a quote from a fellowworship leader, um Jeremiah
Hicks, his dad.
He said his dad would tell himthat we are just as much, uh,
spiritual beings as we areNatural beings.
Right, we have the spiritualside and we also.
(34:13):
We are spirit beings, but weare, we're living, in a body.
And so, you know, I reallybelieve that, as as singers, um
who are serving in church, thatit is important for us to Be
mindful of that and to take asmuch time and care in our vocal
health, our physical health, aswe do our spiritual health.
(34:34):
You know, we can't do onewithout the other.
If we're sick, we can't carrythe weight we can't, you know,
sing, we can't minister, ifwe're not in our full before,
not well able in our bodies.
But then if we're well able inour bodies and we have spiritual
deficits, you know what that'snot serving as well.
So you know, we have to be ableto take care of both Aspects of
(34:58):
who we are.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah, yeah, beautiful .
How would you then tell thatwoman, that man who sings in the
kitchen all the time?
I Asked this question all thetime because I know so many
people who do it.
They sing in the kitchen, theysing in the car, they sing in
the bathroom, in the shower, butthey won't sing out in public
because they don't feelcomfortable.
(35:19):
You know, they've been.
They need the community, theyneed the fellowship need.
All of that comes with being apart of a choir.
And they thought about it, theyhesitated, but they always felt
you know, I just I'm, I don'thave enough foot, I don't have
enough voice.
How do you tell that personthat they need to be singing?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Oh, Wow, you know, when I was thinking about that
like one of the questions of whydo we sing?
And and there are so manybenefits to Singing period,
which is why we sing throughoutthe day, you know, people calm
throughout the day, it's, it'shealthy for your, your emotional
well-being, you know, it's goodfor your, for your mental
(35:55):
health and it just, you know,being in a choir, I, I was
talking to some friends theother day who we were in it and
the choir together at FaithWorld, and I was a worship
pastor.
They were in the choir and itwas, you know, 15 years ago and
we still, and they still, havethese relationships.
So you talk about community,yeah, like when you're in a
(36:16):
choir, you develop Relationshipsthat are sometimes for a
lifetime, you know.
But then also, singing givesyou the opportunity to express
feelings and things that maybeyou can't put words to.
But You've you hear this songthat said exactly what you're
feeling and you're able toexpress that, whether it does a
(36:40):
Christian gospel song or, youknow, just a good feeling, happy
song.
You, you find these songs thatbring meaning or express what it
is that you're feeling and itgives you that opportunity to
say Out of your mouth and out ofyour soul what you're feeling,
and so singing is good for yoursoul.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Soul and body.
Yeah, you know, a few episodesago we looked at a growing body
of research that points to thephysical and mental health
benefits of singing with others,and it concluded that, you know
, singing in a choir reducedstress hormones and increased
what was called cytokines, whichis a protein that boosts the
(37:19):
body's ability to fight offserious illness.
Now these are cancer patientsand doctors and practitioners.
The study also found thatsinging in a choir generally
lessened anxiety, stimulatedmemory for those with dementia
and increased lung capacitywhich of course is physical and
we know that and that lessenedpostpartum depression and a host
(37:40):
of other things.
And so we know that singing isgood for the mind, body and
spirit.
You know, I'm convinced thatthose formative years, those
years in high school choir, wewere benefiting in ways that we
didn't even realize.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yeah, you know that that's interesting that you say
that about even just beinginquiring just how how special
it was, and you, you kind oftalked about it too when you
said it.
You know, for for some peoplelike being in choir, that's
their getaway, and and Iremember when, uh, our pastor
made the decision to do awaywith choir- and this was.
(38:16):
This was at the time when a lotof people were, they were, they
were doing away with choirs andthey were just having the praise
team, and the impact that wasfelt From the people with it was
just, it was devastating, youknow, it was just like losing,
losing family.
And so, yeah, you're so right.
So many people would come andit was their time of of solace.
(38:38):
It was your time of of justgetting escaping, you know, the
cares of the world because theywould just get to come together
and just sing and so, yeah, it'sso important, so, so vital.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Let's shift a little bit more toward the coaching.
Okay, you were a teacher, youare a teacher, yeah and uh,
you're still teaching.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
you're teaching right now, so you're able to sing
comfortably without strain orstress.
When the exercise ascends, onlygo as high as you can without
feeling any strain or stress inyour throat area.
The goal is to have your vocalcords warm, lengthened and
flexible at the you had to giveour listeners a really quick
(39:16):
vocal tip.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Oh, tip number one.
Choir members have been singingall day, sunday.
Oh, and it's monday morning.
Now the season has changed, theleaves are falling.
What does the coach tell herchoir and her student?
Speaker 3 (39:30):
monday monday morning monday morning, after singing
all day.
Sunday Rest your voice.
You need to rest your voice,you need to rest.
You know vocal folds are very,very small, they're very tiny
but they're super powerful and alot of times people don't
realize the importance ofresting your voice in order for
(39:54):
them to heal.
You know you can't go from justuh, you can't go from just like
singing all day, all day, andthen Sing it to be okay If you
continue to use it.
But you've got to, you got torest it.
So that would be my, my numberone vocal tip for monday morning
.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
It's about all I was looking for sound effect.
They go ding ding, ding, dingding.
Because, uh, I asked thatquestion intentionally which is
why I set it up with sundayBecause a lot of singers today
will continue to sing withoutrest in order to impress.
So let's talk about tuesdaythen, okay.
So how do you then vocally prepyourself for what?
What you now have to do as avocalist?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
So tuesday, after the , a day of just resting, um, you
know, I would say that's whenyou can start doing some light
exercises, so simple things likehumming, simple things like um,
you see, on my website I have asinging straw so you can use a
singing straw to do, like, somestraw phonation exercises and
(40:56):
the benefit of that is reallyjust to strengthen those muscles
that you're going to use Onthat heavy vocal day.
So you know, I liken it to toworking out.
You'll see vocal athlete allover my website.
But you know you are um, ifyou're going to the gym or if
you're, you know you want tomaintain a healthy lifestyle.
(41:16):
They tell you you're supposedto work out three to five days a
week, right?
So it's kind of the samethought process with your voice.
You should do some type ofvocal exercise every day that's
intentional about strengtheningthose muscles, strengthening
your vocal folds and the musclesthat are connected to them
every day.
So, like I said, some type ofum straw phonation or humming or
(41:40):
lip trills in the morning whenyou're getting up, just to get
those muscles working, leadingyou up to your sundae.
The other thing is hydration alot of science.
People don't like to drinkwater and they will wait until
sundae morning to grab a littleeight ounce bottle of water,
take two sips and they thinkyou're good.
Absolutely not.
(42:00):
Vocal folds are surrounded byum, mucosal lining, which is
mainly mucus, but it's that isuh, sustained by by water and um
.
So drinking water every day,you know, will allow you to be
hydrated on sundae.
I have a saying that saystomorrow's hydration starts
(42:22):
today.
Tomorrow's hydration startstoday.
So you can't wait until Sunday,you can't wait until Saturday
night to say, oh, I've got todrink water because I'm going to
sink tomorrow.
No, drink your water all weeklong.
So that way, when you get toSunday, you're not struggling
with being thirsty or dry at theroad or dry mouth or any of
(42:42):
those things.
So definitely warming up, doingsome type of vocal exercise
every day and drinking yourwater every day.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
There you have it from the coach.
If you're coming off of astrenuous singing day, you need
a time of rest, and then youmove to light vocal and
breathing exercises and, ofcourse, the entire time you need
to be hydrated.
All right.
Now, finally, you have on yourwebsite the vocal athlete spray,
something you know I'm veryinterested in for a number of
(43:10):
reasons Because, to my surprise,it's made up of pure essential
oils.
Now, I am a skeptic by nature,and so this was a surprise to me
, almost as surprising to me asit was when my wife first
introduced me to these essentialoils.
Now, these are not the oilsthat you get from Walgreens or
(43:31):
Walmart or CVS or your localcorner store.
Now, if I hadn't traveled andseen the fields, the distillery,
the processing of theseessential oils, that is so cool,
that's so great.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I wouldn't be talking about it today.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Now, that's all the marketing I'm going to do for YM
.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Our circle is is tighter than we thought.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Taller than we thought.
Now I can vouch for theingredients in the vocal athlete
spray.
Tell me about the spray itself.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Yeah, man, the vocal athlete spray.
It does have five, sixdifferent essential oils on them
the cinnamon, clove, rosemary,eucalyptus, peppermint, I think,
lemon.
But, all of these oils are inthere.
(44:20):
They are oils that are microbial.
They're antimicrobial,antifungal, antiviral.
There's also raw honey that'sin there.
That is great for soothing yourthroat, it's great for cutting
down on coughs.
And then there are a couple ofother ingredients that just
(44:41):
binds all of those thingstogether, because we know oil
and water don't generally mix.
So there's glycerin and thenthere's also a green alcohol in
there that just kind of helpseverything to emulsify and get
through the sprayer.
But it is amazing on those dayswhen you have excess phlegm in
(45:01):
your throat Maybe you wake up inthe morning and you just got
some excess stuff and you don'twant to cough.
You know, a lot of times we'llclear our throat and that's so
bad for our voices.
So you know you're doing yourwarmups, you were drinking your
water, you're trying to, youknow, not to clear your throat.
You got your spray that'llclear out some of that excess
mucus.
(45:22):
Maybe you've just finished alot of singing or your voice is
tired.
You use that spray and it'llreplenish and just nourish those
muscles that are in your throatarea and it is just a great
opportunity that you have to usethe spray.
It just gives your throat somelove.
That's what I like to say.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Yeah, Well, I've already told our co-hosts, dory
and Mieta and Coleman, thatwe're going to be picking up
some and trying it ourselves,and then we're going to come
back on the podcast and talkabout it.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Now, since we haven't tried it yet, I'm still going
to offer my congratulations andkudos to you for all that you do
.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Thank you, thank you so much.
And you're right, you know, alot of people are like what oil?
Like we're not supposed to.
Are you?
You know?
Are we supposed to drink?
You said we'll put essentialoils in our bodies, and it is.
You're right, it's it.
These are oils that are 100%pure oil.
There's nothing else in them.
And what?
What it says on the bottle isin the bottle.
And the same with my, my vocalspray.
(46:23):
What it says is in the bottleis what's in the bottle and
that's it.
There are no chemicals, noadditives, nothing.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
So yeah, you know, and I think our listeners should
know, that as a singer, youdidn't have to create a product
just for the sake of creating it, correct.
You saw a need to fill yeah, andyou created this product from
products that you already had,right, and so you can vouch for
the fact that it works.
We're going to get it and we'regoing to talk about how it
works for us.
Now, I acknowledge thateverybody's body is different,
(46:54):
and so everybody's going torespond to it differently,
absolutely so, dorian MietaColeman, get ready, because
we're going to be sending you abottle and once we've done that,
larue, we've got to have youback.
Wonderful, wonderful.
All right, do me a favor beforewe leave, encourage that
listener who's in the car orstanding in the kitchen or at
the water cooler at the officeand they've lost their song,
(47:14):
they've lost their fellowship,they've lost their community
with their choir.
Maybe the church got rid of thechoir, maybe they felt that
after the pandemic they justcouldn't go back, maybe they
hung up their harp.
Would you encourage thatlistener today and tell them why
they should be singing?
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Yeah, so to encourage that person.
You know, the scripture thatcomes to my mind is, you know,
to make a joyful noise into theLord.
You know, and so many otherscriptures that encourage us to
praise.
And you know, being a worshipleader, worship pastor, that's
that's kind of my foundation ofit all.
(47:51):
You know, god created us.
He put breath in our body andwhen we have the opportunity to
return that breath to him is away to say thanks, thank you for
creating me, thank you for mylife.
And so you know, I want toencourage you that whatever
you're, wherever you are in yourstages of life right now, don't
(48:15):
stop singing, always sing, sing.
Singing brings joy.
We talked about it earlier.
Singing is great for your soul.
Singing is great for yourmental health.
Singing is good for yourphysical health.
Singing gives you access toyour creator when you put your
(48:35):
heart in a place and a postureof gratitude and appreciation to
him.
It opens wide thatcommunication with your creator.
And so, wherever you are, don'tstop singing.
If you're in a bad, bad mood oryou're having a tough day, find
a song that will bring and liftup your spirit, that will bring
(48:57):
and lift up your heart and yoursoul and find the strength to
sing a song.
It will change your day.
It'll change your day.
It'll change your day Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
LaRue Howard, thanks for joining us.
Thanks for your.
Yes, it's been a wonderful time.
Tell our listeners where theycan find you.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
Absolutely so.
I'm laRueLivecom.
If you forget the LaRueministries, you can always go to
LaRue Live.
It'll take you in the sameplace.
Larue Live on Instagram, larueLive on TikTok, doing a little
bit of that, but on my YouTubechannel it's LaRue online, so
(49:36):
it's L-A-R-U-E online,o-n-l-i-n-e, but everything else
is LaRueLivecom.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
Thanks again.
We'll be sure to put thatinformation in the show notes.
Coleman is going to take us outwith the thought of the week.
Speaker 5 (49:50):
Thanks so much, greg.
It's so great to be back in thechoir room with you.
So this is a really gutsy thingfor me to try to preach or
share, as someone who's just afew months into being the new
worship pastor at a church.
Right, well, perhaps it's areminder even to myself, as I
share it with you.
But here we go.
(50:12):
You are you, others are whothey are.
Your church is who your churchis.
Other churches, others churchesare who they are they are.
I'm not saying that you can'tever change or you can't make
improvements.
What I am saying is not everymusic department is the same.
(50:33):
Not every church is the same.
Not every music pastor is thesame, nor do we all even have
the same calling In a day, likethose that we live in.
It's so easy to play thecomparison game.
What we ever see is 30 secondreels or tick tocks of people's
highlights and best angles, andrarely do we want to advertise
(50:54):
the things that our programstruggles with.
This isn't necessarily meant tobe a thought about comparison,
but comparison is the enemy ofwhat I do want to talk about,
and that's faithfulness,faithfulness Just think about
that for a second.
Faithfulness is what you and Iare called to and you know what
(51:16):
that looks very differentdepending on where we are and
what we're doing and who we'resurrounded by and what resources
we might have.
Let's face it the mega churchin a suburb in the Bible Belt of
the South is a differentinstitution than a storefront
church of primarily immigrantson the west coast.
The cathedrals and basilicas ofthe northeast are different
(51:39):
institutions from the smallcountry churches tucked in the
hills of the AppalachianMountains.
All of these are different fromthe various expressions of the
faith outside of North Americaor, even more broadly, the west.
And our greatest desire oughtto be faithfulness to our
Heavenly Father.
Whether at the end of the day,that looks like leading the
(52:02):
biggest and most highlyresourced music program in the
country or consistently showingup prepared with spiritual
nourishment to offer to astruggling church that
desperately needs yourconsistency.
There is one thing that wedesire to hear at the end of
life's journey and that is welldone, good and faithful servant.
(52:25):
It's easy to lose sight of thatwhen all the time we're told on
this side of eternity well doneyou, pastor a mega church.
Or well done you have the bestmusic program in your
denomination.
Or well done you got a recordlabel or well done.
You led worship in a room ofthousands of people For a few
(52:46):
people out there.
Some of what I just said is whatfaithfulness looks like for
them, and that is to becelebrated.
But for most people it's not.
It looks different, and guesswhat that's to be celebrated
just as much.
If every member of the body ofChrist were an arm, we'd be in
(53:06):
pretty tough shape.
We all serve different purposesand those are equally valuable,
and it's what and what we'reall called to is faithfulness to
our Father.
So I hope this is encouragementto someone.
I hope this is even freeing tosomeone.
You don't have to feel bound tobeing like the church down the
(53:27):
road.
Your desire for improvement isgood.
Keep improving.
Don't ever feel like you haveto be something that you're not.
All that is required of you isthat which makes you faithful
unto God.
Speaker 1 (53:43):
And remember, if ever we put the messenger before the
message, we have failed topresent an unblemished gospel.
I'm Greg Thomas.
Join us again next week righthere in the Choir Room.
Welcome to the choir room, season 1, episode 25 of
the Choir Room podcast.
Welcome to the choir room.
I'm Greg Thomas, your host, andI'll soon be joined by my
co-hosts, Dorian Johnson.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the choir room.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Be it a Stansel for RR and who we like to call the
fourth wheel, coleman Smart.
This podcast has a productionof Metro Music and Arts, whose
purpose is to perpetuate andpromote the Christian and
positive idea through the mediumof music and other arts.
This podcast exists to promoteand encourage two long-time
traditions in our society thatseem to be dwindling away, and
(00:42):
that is choir and corporatesinging.
We hope to revive theexcitement and joy experienced
with singing in a choir, as wellas inform and educate the
listener on all things singingand all things choir.
We encourage you to subscribeto the podcast by sending the
word subscribe to the Choir Roomat MetroMusicDashArtscom, or
(01:03):
you can subscribe anywhere youlisten to podcasts and then do
us a favor while you're thereLeave us a five-star review,
leave us your comments and sharewith a friend that you're in
the Choir Room.
Welcome to the Choir Room.
Our guest contributor today hasthe mandate of reaching the
world through worship, and fornearly two decades she's been
(01:24):
doing just that, having workedwith choirs and groups, worship
teams and solo artists.
She is a wife, a mother, aworship pastor, vocal coach and
did I mention?
A dub?
Award-winning recording artistwith seven highly acclaimed
recording projects.
Stick around, because LaRueHoward is here with us in the
Choir Room.
We are now into the fall seasonand there's some things in the
(01:47):
planning with Metro Music andArts, and the Choir Room
specifically, that we'd like tokeep you informed about and have
you participated Now?
The first one is a monthlyevent that we've been working on
for some time now that's goingto afford you an opportunity to
come together for singing,connection and fellowship.
It's going to be a very specialtime and you can look forward
(02:08):
to getting more informationabout participation if you are
subscribed to this podcast.
Secondly, be on the lookout forthe upcoming Choir Room theme
song contest.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Welcome to the Choir Room.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
Now that's just part of it.
You can hear the full versionat the top of this podcast.
Now, what started out as aregional call to just a few
choirs to record the theme song,it has blossomed into somewhat
of a national reach now thatwe're getting responses from
people around the country andwe're glad to report that we've
got a couple of sponsors anddonors who have made this
somewhat of a contest, and sothere will be prizes and gifts
(02:47):
for the best recordings of theChoir Room theme song.
If you want to stay in the know, you have to subscribe to the
Choir Room atMetroMusicDashArtscom.
And then, finally, if you liketo sing and you like to learn
and you like to have fun doingit, mark your calendars.
From Monday, october 16th, at7pm, right here in the Choir
(03:08):
Room, vocal coach and YouTubesensation and a dear friend of
mine, tara Simon, with TaraSimon Studios, will be joining
us again right here in the ChoirRoom with live demonstration,
live evaluation and vocal tipsfor all of our Choir Room
listeners.
That's what's coming up in thenext few weeks.
Now Dorian has our hymn of theweek.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
Thanks, greg.
This week's hymn of the week isGrace Greater Than Our Sin.
But there is an alternate titleto this hymn, which is
Marvelous Grace of Our LovingLord, and the term Marvelous
means causing great wonder orsomething that's extraordinary.
Romans 5, 20 to 21 says Now thelaw came in to increase the
(03:52):
trespass.
But where sin increase, graceabounded, all the more so that
as sin reigned in death, gracealso might reign through
righteousness, leading toeternal life through Jesus
Christ, our Lord.
God's answer to the problem ofsin is the shed blood of Jesus
(04:14):
Christ.
But that shed blood applied tothe wretched life, as we learned
last week in studying amazinggrace is because of the
marvelous grace of our God.
The first verse says MarvelousGrace of Our Loving Lord, grace
that exceeds our sin and ourguilt.
(04:36):
When you consider your own sin,you consider your own guilt,
both your past sin, but alsoyour present sin.
Think of if all of them werepiled up, say, think of how high
that that piling would be.
(04:57):
Think of how high the piling ofyour guilt over your sin would
be.
And now take all of the sin andall of the guilt of all of the
people of God and think of howhigh that pile would be, and yet
the grace of God is far higher.
(05:19):
Think of the depths that yoursin has taken you to, think of
the depths that your guilt hastaken you to.
And yet the grace of Godreaches far deeper than even our
deepest sins have taken us andour deepest guilt has taken us.
And we're told that this graceis shown by the outpoured blood
(05:44):
of the Lamb on Calvary.
We're reminded of John 1.29,where John the Baptist
proclaimed as he saw Christbehold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world.
Verse 2 says Sin and despairlike the sea.
Waves, cold threaten the soulwith infinite loss.
Sin infects everything that wedo.
(06:07):
There's a saying, and I don'tknow who to attribute it to, but
they said to try to remove sinfrom our doings is to try to
remove salt from the sea.
Sin infects everything.
And yet we're told that thereis grace that is greater, grace
(06:29):
untold that points to the refuge, the mighty cross of Christ.
And then the third verse saysDark is the stain that we cannot
hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look, there is flowing acrimson tide wider than snow.
You may be today, and thisreminds us of God's promise of
(06:52):
judgment against his own peoplethat we find in Isaiah chapter
one.
But at the end of Isaiahchapter one we read in verse 18,
where he says Come now, let usreason together, says the Lord.
Though your sins are likescarlet, they shall be white as
snow.
Though they are red likecrimson, they shall become like
(07:14):
wool.
And God is able to do thatbecause of the precious blood of
Christ shed on Calvary.
Second Corinthians eight ninereminds us of this.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sake,he became poor so that you, by
(07:38):
his poverty, might become rich.
This hymn is very simple.
It simply says Grace, grace,god's grace, grace that will
pardon and cleanse with him.
Grace grace, god's grace, gracethat is greater than all our
sin.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So great.
Thanks, dorian.
Welcome to the quiet room.
Here's Mi'edda with our CRQ.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Thanks, greg.
So tonight our CRQ is this whatconferences or and or workshops
can you recommend for smallchurch departments, for small
church music departments inside,to attend an effort to grow
their music ministry teams?
What conferences and orworkshops can you recommend for
small church music departmentsto attend in an effort to grow
(08:33):
their music ministry teams?
That's interesting.
I think that is a greatquestion.
My input is very brief and Iwould say this to the person who
sent this no name start localin your local community, your
local church communities,because there you'll be
(08:54):
surprised the types of helps youcan gain from situations like
that.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe the music, the big music
conferences or the big musicworkshops.
There are some we know.
There's the GMWA, that's amusic workshop.
There's the NCGCC, which isalso the Thomas Dorsey workshop.
(09:15):
Those are the bigger names andand perhaps some of my
colleagues here may have someother suggestions as well but I
would say to start local andfind out what the needs are in
your church and then reach out.
Don't be afraid to ask for helpfrom those local assemblies.
(09:35):
We used to do workshops in mycommunity when I lived in Jersey
.
We would have local workshopsbecause there were a lot of our
local churches who were prettymuch going through the same
challenges.
That, and you'd be surprised,we are more alike than we are
different and we all had thosesame challenges of concerns in
(09:58):
our music departments trying toget people, gather people
together, get singers together,get musicians together.
We all had that problem Peopleshowing up, not showing up, the
inconsistencies of things.
We all experienced all of that.
So I would say, reach out toyour local churches, start there
, and you could create a musicworkshop right there in your own
(10:21):
church, right there in your ownmusic department.
You know, call the singers,whatever singers you have or
whatever music musicians youhave, call them in.
Let's take a Saturday and, fora couple of hours, come together
and let's talk about, prayabout and discuss what we would
like to see in our musicministry on all levels, be it
(10:44):
choir, be it praise team,whatever liturgical dance,
whatever it is.
You know, just meet with whoyou have and you'll find that
you probably get more out ofthat than you would out of the
major, the big name workshops orconferences.
So, gentlemen, let's say you Me.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
you stole my thunder because I was going to say
almost the exact same thing.
A lot of times, when people goto these really big conferences,
they leave thinking, well, whatdoes that mean for me in my
context?
And so I was going to say, yeah, look at churches and
(11:28):
conferences and stuff that arelike your church, that are like
what you're trying to do, and Iwas going to say something more
local or local churches.
And yeah, something else thatI've thought is helpful.
You just described a workshopat your own church with your own
musicians and singers.
That is great advice, andsometimes I've seen something
(11:50):
that helps is bringing in acouple outside voices to do that
with you, so that it's not justyou.
Sometimes those fresh voicesare really helpful.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofgreat consultants or people that
travel and do that for a livingor they do it on the side.
(12:12):
So, yeah, I agree completely,mieta.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
Dory.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
This is a tough one for me.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Uh-oh.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Well, no, I mean I just from the church context
that I'm in.
I mean there are, I mean Ithink, of conferences such as
the Sing Conference that'ssponsored by the Getties and
others from that type of genreas a possibility.
But I guess the question behindthe question is what are they
(12:48):
looking to do?
What's the purpose of seekingout something outside of your
own church that you think ismissing in your own church?
And so that's kind of, for me,the question behind the question
what are they looking for?
(13:09):
Because, as I'll steal thisfrom Coleman, it's your context,
it's the context of your churchand what's the spiritual health
of your church?
And a whole host of things thatmight lead you to looking for
(13:29):
answers within your own churchand within your own body and
considering what do we need todo to cultivate our music
department?
Maybe there are changes thatneed to be made in terms of
leadership and expectations andthings like that, and so I think
sometimes we are tempted tolook outside of our churches and
(13:55):
outside of our bodies for theanswers.
But ultimately, what's thequestion that you're looking to
answer?
And so that would be myresponse to this question what
is it that you're looking for?
Because that's then going to, Ithink, lead you in some
(14:17):
directions that you may not haveeven considered, and it may not
lead you to a conference thatis outside of your church.
It might lead you to some realsoul searching in your church.
That might lead to some majorchanges or some minor changes,
but ultimately, if your desireis to glorify God, he'll direct
(14:38):
you and He'll lead that musicministry, no matter how big or
how small it is.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Right, excellent Thank you Great.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Well, thanks for stealing my thunder, dorian.
I was going to say literallythe exact same thing.
I think Dorian hit it.
That is the question what is itthat you're trying to
accomplish?
I think in music ministry, youhave to be very careful not to
(15:09):
compare what God is doing on theinside of your house to what is
being presented on the outsideof others.
We can easily get caught upinto thinking and feeling that
what we're doing is notsufficient, and so we can slip
into thinking that our ministryshould be bigger or we should
have better singers or moreproficient musicians, and I'm a
firm believer that God wants youto prosper and blossom where
(15:32):
you are, so it may not be meantfor you to have 300 people, or
85 or 35.
Whatever that number is, youhave to know that you're doing a
great work Now in terms ofworkshops and conferences.
I applaud the person sendingthe question, because we should
always be learning andunderstanding the fact that all
that we know is not all thatthere is to know.
(15:54):
So we're constantly learning,and I think to be willing to
grow in the music ministry issignificant.
And so to Dorian's point I thinkyou need to identify why you
feel you need to grow and inwhat areas you feel you need to
grow, like me, at a state thatyou can start within your own
team and at least have thediscussion so that you all agree
(16:15):
what that need for growth is.
You've identified it, you'veacknowledged it and now you can
come together.
You'd be surprised at how muchinformation is right amongst
your team.
So sharpen the tools that arein your toolbox.
Grow the team from within theteam.
Blossom where you plant it andthen grow out from there.
And because we should always belearning, then you go to the
(16:37):
community.
And if you can't get it in thecommunity, you need more
information and again, alwaysgrowing.
Then you can look at going to aconference or a workshop.
Just be sure that themotivation for wanting to grow
is not based on anotherministry's size or sound.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I like that.
Yeah, I guess it's the impactversus impress type.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Exactly.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Exactly.
You're not going to beimpactful or you just want to
impress?
The next bunch of people and soyou have to, kind of, you got
to weigh that out, you got topray that, got to pray through
that and make sure that you'renot just doing it because you
saw it somewhere else.
So yeah, you're all absolutelyright.
(17:21):
Assess these needs before westart to get out there and harm
ourselves.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
That's what I'm saying Harm ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
I think once that person has identified their
growth needs, we can later makea recommendation based on the
conferences and workshops thatwe're familiar with.
Maybe I'll just list the onesthat we mentioned in the show
notes.
I have followed her musicministry for about a year now
(17:52):
and, after looking at thecircumstances on how we ended up
connecting and then speakingwith her briefly offline, I feel
like we've already known eachother, having so much in common.
Welcome to the choir room.
Larue Howard Ministries.
Larue, thanks for your yes,thanks for agreeing to join us.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Thank you so much.
It's an honor to finally meetyou as well and to be a part of
your your podcast.
I'm excited to chat with youand your listeners today.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
We have a mutual friend.
A big shout out to our dearsister, cynthia Gonzalez.
What's up, cindy, we love youand Cindy didn't know.
Well, we didn't know that shewas working with you and you
didn't know that we knew herRight, and vice versa.
I think it was just Godordained the way the connection
(18:42):
happened, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
So here we are, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Talking about all things choir, all things singing
, all things ministry andanything else that's on your
heart.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
I tell you, all of those things are definitely a
part of my heart.
So, ministry, singing choir,all of that is great.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Awesome, wonderful.
So let's go back to the earlyLaRue, where it all started,
where it all began when youstarted singing.
Do you come from a family ofsingers?
Oh, didn't start at the church.
Speaker 3 (19:12):
Okay, so you do want that.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
Yeah, okay.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Anytime people ask those questions, I always think
about what was it?
George Jefferson?
He would always say I was theson of a sharecropper.
Speaker 5 (19:23):
Like.
Do you want?
Speaker 3 (19:24):
that story or do you?
Okay, but no, I was raised inSouth Carolina and did not come
from a family of singers.
But my grandfather was aBaptist preacher and I was told
that he was a great singer.
But my love for singingprobably came more so from
spending time with a paternaluncle who would come and hang
(19:47):
out with me and we would sit onthe front porch at my house and
we would sing Charlie Pridesongs.
You know Charlie Pride.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Absolutely.
I know his music.
I didn't know him personally.
No, no, no.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
Yeah, but yeah, you know, he was African American
country singer and I don't know,my uncle played guitar not
really played, but he just youknow he would come and strum his
guitar with me and we wouldsing, and that was that was kind
of where it all started.
And then, my mom being in aBaptist church, we had a, we
were part of a Baptist communitychoir and I was probably the
(20:23):
only little five, six, sevenyear old singing with all the
mothers and the deacons in thechoir, and so that's kind of
that's where it all started.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
Charlie Pride.
Okay, you know, I alwaysthought that there was some kind
of connection between countrymusic and gospel.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
Who would have known?
Who would have known it?
I think it was Charlie Pride,exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
You know I grew up in a Baptist church, but I also
remember growing up and watchingthe show he Ha.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Okay, you really dated yourself.
Now now, now we're we see wherewe are now.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
You say he Ha?
Wow, Exactly Cause I wasfascinated with the banjos.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
It's like 100%, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
And so we got to see brilliant musical genius, I
think on television then thatLet me throw another one out
there too.
Lawrence Welk.
There you go.
Yeah, we talk about musicalgenius, and the list goes on and
on, and on.
Speaker 3 (21:18):
We need to stop talking about that.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
Well, we were definitely dating ourselves, but
it was those experiences andthat exposure that was part of
the spark for the musicaljourney that really has landed
you where you are today, and sochurch choir was a part of that.
Exposure to country music waspart of that.
So then something came afterthat from church to what?
To school?
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Yes, Absolutely I.
My mom, kept me in privatedance lessons and piano and then
going to middle school, she'sgave let me take some voice
lessons which you know.
At that time's 12, 13 years oldI was, I didn't know you know
what I was doing, but you knownonetheless.
(22:02):
She saw, saw a, some potentialthere and wanted to get me, get
me started.
But then when I was in highschool, I joined the choir,
joined the chorus and 10th gradehere.
So 10th, 11th, 12th grade I wasin high school choir and band
Same here.
Not many students did that.
(22:23):
You know, they had to choose oneor the other, but I was
fortunate enough to be able todo both.
And then also my chorus teacher.
There was another class that hemade available for theory,
advanced theory, and I wasreally interested in it and I
was the only kid that was takingthat class, so he would he put
(22:43):
me in on a in the library, on acomputer, and I learned advanced
theory.
And so you know, that wasreally where, where my love for
just studying music came from.
When I graduated from collegeand graduated high school in
Columbia, South Carolina, I wentto a university of South
Carolina for one year, One year.
(23:05):
One year because I enjoyedbeing in college.
I enjoyed college life a lot, Iunderstand.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Yes, and so fun.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
I ended up on academic probation and I told my
mom that I was college materialand she told me you don't tell
me, well, you think is college,that you don't think this
college material.
I will tell you if you are acollege material.
And so, long story short, withthat she Brought me to Atlanta.
(23:45):
We have lots of family whichI'm actually visiting, my
mom-in-law here, and so we havelots of family in Atlanta.
And she took me to Morris BrownCollege and went to meet with
the choir director there and shehad a meeting with him and told
him my daughter can sing.
Can you give her some money togo to school, Can you sing?
(24:08):
And I said yes, or I can.
And it was so funny I think Isaid that because more so out of
fear that if I said somethingelse, more out of my mom right,
being confident in that.
But he said I said yes, and hegave me a scholarship.
So I went to school, I'm MarsBrown, graduated with music
(24:29):
degree, vocal emphasis, and yeah, that's that's kind of where it
all began.
That's why I had an encounterwith the Lord and Just the whole
trajectory, trajectory of mylife, changed because I grew up
in church but really in thatsetting had developed a
(24:49):
relationship with the Lord andhe gave me a vision for my life.
What I believe is has beengrounding for me just through so
many challenges and so manytransitions.
That has Just been thefoundation of where I'm able to
stand today and talking with you.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
And we're glad about it.
So you sang in the church choir, you sang in the school choir,
you were in the band.
Mom kept you involved invarious types of classes.
You ended up teaching in classas well, and we'll get back to
that in a little bit.
You're also a doubleaward-winning recorded artist,
and that's a big deal.
Absolutely and so everyexperience has helped to lead
(25:30):
you to the next experience.
So, because this is the choirroom, tell us about how your
involvement in choir has helpedto shape LaRue and has helped to
steer you on this music journey.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Oh, man, choir experience, oh, my heart, so
okay.
So my, like I said, I startedout in high school.
High school course, my directorwas Craig Dunsing at Richland
Northeast High School and it'sbeautiful because I'm still in
relationship with him today.
We're Facebook friends, hefollows me, he keeps track of
(26:02):
everything that I'm doing andit's so beautiful To be able to
have allow him the opportunityto see the progress Of the seeds
that he planted in me so longago.
So when it went to high schooland then when I was in college,
like I said, I was there is amusic major, but studied under
(26:22):
Glenn Halsey, which some peoplemay know him from a CD, a
American Choral DirectorsAssociation.
He brought us there to travelTo do several performances
several years, but he was justan incredible human and
incredible musician and verypassionate and was very.
(26:42):
He was like no holds barred andjust did not allow us to settle
and didn't allow us to have anytype of mediocrity with our,
with our musicality and just asPeople.
And it was just an amazingexperience working with him and
(27:04):
so that was like a concert choirat Morris Brown College.
And then, after I graduated,moved to Florida.
I I joined a church in Floridaand joined the choir there and
Clint Brown was my pastor andMartha Munizzi, which is anyone
who's in music, praise andworship genre.
They may know her name and alsoClint Brown's name, but they
(27:27):
really poured into me anunderstanding of praise and
worship.
So here I was, had this gospelyou know, baptist gospel
foundation, but then wenttraditional choir, concert,
choir chorale and then into apraise and worship style.
So I've had my hand in all ofthose different types of choir
(27:49):
experiences.
And and then also I forgot tomention, after I graduated from
college, I was a music teacherfor six years.
I started teaching middle schoolmusic, so I had choirs, was a
choir director in those twoyears and and had the
opportunity to be named teacherof the year during that time,
(28:14):
was able to Create a curriculumfor fine arts magnet school in
Florida and it was just a great,great Experience.
But I knew that when my, whenthe grace started lifting, I was
like, okay, god, we need this,we need this time to pivot, then
(28:35):
do something.
But it was, you know.
So you know I have such a highregard for educators because I
know what it takes To, you know,to keep your kids on task, but
then you see students with withsuch great potential and maybe
they're not wanting to walk inthat same direction, but just
you know.
And then also the joy, like Isaid with my choir director, of
(28:57):
being able to see those kids,some of them, who take the
things that you deposited inthem, the music, life you know,
just life notes and just thethings that they've Received,
and go on and be Successful andproductive adults.
You know, it's, it's sorewarding.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
So but yeah, being being in choir.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I would never change that experience.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I concur with that sentiment.
I mean, band and choir were thebest formative years of my life
and I can remember just aboutevery Experience from that
season and I wouldn't trade itfor anything.
So now you've gone from highschool to college, to teaching,
(29:41):
and now we need a shift.
No doubt you've impacted manylives over the course of that
that season in your life.
What was the shift for?
I mean, why did you feel thatyou needed God to Shift you?
Speaker 3 (29:55):
That's a great question, why, you know, I don't
know.
You know sometimes when you are, you know, just kind of just in
a space of just trusting God,you just kind of go where he is
leading.
It's not always easy to do that, but I just really really felt
strongly that I did not want tosee.
But it was so funny that samesummer that was probably May,
(30:21):
june, but that same summerMartha and her husband, danny
were making the pivot as wellfrom leading full-time at the
church to doing full-timeministry, and so it was just
really just the timing of theword.
And when I Was praying about it, my pastor at the time he asked
(30:42):
if just offered me the position, if I wanted to be the Worship
pastor at our church, and beforeI could even think about it I
was said yes, I do, yes, I do.
I didn't know everything tothat in comp, you know the that
would entail, and but I knewthat that was the thing that was
next for me and that was 2001that I was.
I took that worship pastorposition.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yeah, okay, yeah, so you just had the feeling in your
feeler and you just knew it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that, that was really it,yeah, and and having served now
under Clint Brown and withMartha Manese and, by the way,
if any of our listeners don'tknow those names, then you
totally don't know Christianmusic or gospel music.
But suffice it to say you arenow in a new position and
(31:28):
probably still unpacking in yournew location.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Sorry, I'm just thinking about it.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Well, I want to talk a little bit about the vocal
coaching and now the newposition.
I mean, choir is all aboutsinging and worship leading is
all about singing.
The new position and your vocalcoaching, which you were doing
already, those two things areinseparable.
How did you balance thespiritual health and the vocal
(31:53):
health of the teams of peoplethat you have leadership over?
Speaker 3 (31:57):
You know that's a.
That's a great question.
It's the position that I'm incurrently is a very unique one.
The church that I'm serving at,willow creek community church
in South Barrington, illinois,they have eight campuses and
each campus has their ownworship service and each campus
has their own worship pastor.
So I don't have directconnection with the praise teams
(32:20):
and the choirs, but more sowith with the worship pastors.
But to answer your question,how do you, how do you keep that
balance?
I, I think, if I take it fromthe perspective of the position
that I was serving in prior,when I was in Florida as the
music director, um, excuse me,there came opportunities during
(32:42):
rehearsals that I would do a lotof vocal coaching there.
So you know, I stress to themthe importance of vocal health.
I stress to them the importanceof you know warming up and not
just Um jumping on the platformcold.
You know and and taught themhow to warm up and the
importance of the exercises andhow they related to different
(33:04):
songs that we sung.
Um, I talk about like placementand and style and how we sing
certain songs.
Like we wouldn't sing a Uh uhhas a kind of walker song in the
same placement that we wouldsing a brand and lake song.
You know totally differentgenres but also totally
different places or Tones ofyour vote, of your voice, just
(33:28):
different dynamics and differentaspects of the voice.
So I brought that Um into ourrehearsal spaces and then also,
you know, talking aboutspiritual side, we would take
time to practice the presence ofgod and we would take time, you
know, we would build those,build that community of prayer
and um understanding the songsthat we were singing with Talk
(33:52):
about the scriptures that areconnected to these songs.
So you know, there's.
I heard a quote from a fellowworship leader, um Jeremiah
Hicks, his dad.
He said his dad would tell himthat we are just as much, uh,
spiritual beings as we areNatural beings.
Right, we have the spiritualside and we also.
(34:13):
We are spirit beings, but weare, we're living, in a body.
And so, you know, I reallybelieve that, as as singers, um
who are serving in church, thatit is important for us to Be
mindful of that and to take asmuch time and care in our vocal
health, our physical health, aswe do our spiritual health.
(34:34):
You know, we can't do onewithout the other.
If we're sick, we can't carrythe weight we can't, you know,
sing, we can't minister, ifwe're not in our full before,
not well able in our bodies.
But then if we're well able inour bodies and we have spiritual
deficits, you know what that'snot serving as well.
So you know, we have to be ableto take care of both Aspects of
(34:58):
who we are.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Yeah, yeah, beautiful .
How would you then tell thatwoman, that man who sings in the
kitchen all the time?
I Asked this question all thetime because I know so many
people who do it.
They sing in the kitchen, theysing in the car, they sing in
the bathroom, in the shower, butthey won't sing out in public
because they don't feelcomfortable.
(35:19):
You know, they've been.
They need the community, theyneed the fellowship need.
All of that comes with being apart of a choir.
And they thought about it, theyhesitated, but they always felt
you know, I just I'm, I don'thave enough foot, I don't have
enough voice.
How do you tell that personthat they need to be singing?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
Oh, Wow, you know, when I was thinking about that
like one of the questions of whydo we sing?
And and there are so manybenefits to Singing period,
which is why we sing throughoutthe day, you know, people calm
throughout the day, it's, it'shealthy for your, your emotional
well-being, you know, it's goodfor your, for your mental
(35:55):
health and it just, you know,being in a choir, I, I was
talking to some friends theother day who we were in it and
the choir together at FaithWorld, and I was a worship
pastor.
They were in the choir and itwas, you know, 15 years ago and
we still, and they still, havethese relationships.
So you talk about community,yeah, like when you're in a
(36:16):
choir, you develop Relationshipsthat are sometimes for a
lifetime, you know.
But then also, singing givesyou the opportunity to express
feelings and things that maybeyou can't put words to.
But You've you hear this songthat said exactly what you're
feeling and you're able toexpress that, whether it does a
(36:40):
Christian gospel song or, youknow, just a good feeling, happy
song.
You, you find these songs thatbring meaning or express what it
is that you're feeling and itgives you that opportunity to
say Out of your mouth and out ofyour soul what you're feeling,
and so singing is good for yoursoul.
Speaker 1 (36:58):
Soul and body.
Yeah, you know, a few episodesago we looked at a growing body
of research that points to thephysical and mental health
benefits of singing with others,and it concluded that, you know
, singing in a choir reducedstress hormones and increased
what was called cytokines, whichis a protein that boosts the
(37:19):
body's ability to fight offserious illness.
Now these are cancer patientsand doctors and practitioners.
The study also found thatsinging in a choir generally
lessened anxiety, stimulatedmemory for those with dementia
and increased lung capacitywhich of course is physical and
we know that and that lessenedpostpartum depression and a host
(37:40):
of other things.
And so we know that singing isgood for the mind, body and
spirit.
You know, I'm convinced thatthose formative years, those
years in high school choir, wewere benefiting in ways that we
didn't even realize.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
Yeah, you know that that's interesting that you say
that about even just beinginquiring just how how special
it was, and you, you kind oftalked about it too when you
said it.
You know, for for some peoplelike being in choir, that's
their getaway, and and Iremember when, uh, our pastor
made the decision to do awaywith choir- and this was.
(38:16):
This was at the time when a lotof people were, they were, they
were doing away with choirs andthey were just having the praise
team, and the impact that wasfelt From the people with it was
just, it was devastating, youknow, it was just like losing,
losing family.
And so, yeah, you're so right.
So many people would come andit was their time of of solace.
(38:38):
It was your time of of justgetting escaping, you know, the
cares of the world because theywould just get to come together
and just sing and so, yeah, it'sso important, so, so vital.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Let's shift a little bit more toward the coaching.
Okay, you were a teacher, youare a teacher, yeah and uh,
you're still teaching.
Speaker 3 (38:55):
you're teaching right now, so you're able to sing
comfortably without strain orstress.
When the exercise ascends, onlygo as high as you can without
feeling any strain or stress inyour throat area.
The goal is to have your vocalcords warm, lengthened and
flexible at the you had to giveour listeners a really quick
(39:16):
vocal tip.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Oh, tip number one.
Choir members have been singingall day, sunday.
Oh, and it's monday morning.
Now the season has changed, theleaves are falling.
What does the coach tell herchoir and her student?
Speaker 3 (39:30):
monday monday morning monday morning, after singing
all day.
Sunday Rest your voice.
You need to rest your voice,you need to rest.
You know vocal folds are very,very small, they're very tiny
but they're super powerful and alot of times people don't
realize the importance ofresting your voice in order for
(39:54):
them to heal.
You know you can't go from justuh, you can't go from just like
singing all day, all day, andthen Sing it to be okay If you
continue to use it.
But you've got to, you got torest it.
So that would be my, my numberone vocal tip for monday morning
.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
It's about all I was looking for sound effect.
They go ding ding, ding, dingding.
Because, uh, I asked thatquestion intentionally which is
why I set it up with sundayBecause a lot of singers today
will continue to sing withoutrest in order to impress.
So let's talk about tuesdaythen, okay.
So how do you then vocally prepyourself for what?
What you now have to do as avocalist?
Speaker 3 (40:35):
So tuesday, after the , a day of just resting, um, you
know, I would say that's whenyou can start doing some light
exercises, so simple things likehumming, simple things like um,
you see, on my website I have asinging straw so you can use a
singing straw to do, like, somestraw phonation exercises and
(40:56):
the benefit of that is reallyjust to strengthen those muscles
that you're going to use Onthat heavy vocal day.
So you know, I liken it to toworking out.
You'll see vocal athlete allover my website.
But you know you are um, ifyou're going to the gym or if
you're, you know you want tomaintain a healthy lifestyle.
(41:16):
They tell you you're supposedto work out three to five days a
week, right?
So it's kind of the samethought process with your voice.
You should do some type ofvocal exercise every day that's
intentional about strengtheningthose muscles, strengthening
your vocal folds and the musclesthat are connected to them
every day.
So, like I said, some type ofum straw phonation or humming or
(41:40):
lip trills in the morning whenyou're getting up, just to get
those muscles working, leadingyou up to your sundae.
The other thing is hydration alot of science.
People don't like to drinkwater and they will wait until
sundae morning to grab a littleeight ounce bottle of water,
take two sips and they thinkyou're good.
Absolutely not.
(42:00):
Vocal folds are surrounded byum, mucosal lining, which is
mainly mucus, but it's that isuh, sustained by by water and um
.
So drinking water every day,you know, will allow you to be
hydrated on sundae.
I have a saying that saystomorrow's hydration starts
(42:22):
today.
Tomorrow's hydration startstoday.
So you can't wait until Sunday,you can't wait until Saturday
night to say, oh, I've got todrink water because I'm going to
sink tomorrow.
No, drink your water all weeklong.
So that way, when you get toSunday, you're not struggling
with being thirsty or dry at theroad or dry mouth or any of
(42:42):
those things.
So definitely warming up, doingsome type of vocal exercise
every day and drinking yourwater every day.
Speaker 1 (42:50):
There you have it from the coach.
If you're coming off of astrenuous singing day, you need
a time of rest, and then youmove to light vocal and
breathing exercises and, ofcourse, the entire time you need
to be hydrated.
All right.
Now, finally, you have on yourwebsite the vocal athlete spray,
something you know I'm veryinterested in for a number of
(43:10):
reasons Because, to my surprise,it's made up of pure essential
oils.
Now, I am a skeptic by nature,and so this was a surprise to me
, almost as surprising to me asit was when my wife first
introduced me to these essentialoils.
Now, these are not the oilsthat you get from Walgreens or
(43:31):
Walmart or CVS or your localcorner store.
Now, if I hadn't traveled andseen the fields, the distillery,
the processing of theseessential oils, that is so cool,
that's so great.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
I wouldn't be talking about it today.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Now, that's all the marketing I'm going to do for YM
.
Speaker 3 (43:50):
Our circle is is tighter than we thought.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Taller than we thought.
Now I can vouch for theingredients in the vocal athlete
spray.
Tell me about the spray itself.
Speaker 3 (43:59):
Yeah, man, the vocal athlete spray.
It does have five, sixdifferent essential oils on them
the cinnamon, clove, rosemary,eucalyptus, peppermint, I think,
lemon.
But, all of these oils are inthere.
(44:20):
They are oils that are microbial.
They're antimicrobial,antifungal, antiviral.
There's also raw honey that'sin there.
That is great for soothing yourthroat, it's great for cutting
down on coughs.
And then there are a couple ofother ingredients that just
(44:41):
binds all of those thingstogether, because we know oil
and water don't generally mix.
So there's glycerin and thenthere's also a green alcohol in
there that just kind of helpseverything to emulsify and get
through the sprayer.
But it is amazing on those dayswhen you have excess phlegm in
(45:01):
your throat Maybe you wake up inthe morning and you just got
some excess stuff and you don'twant to cough.
You know, a lot of times we'llclear our throat and that's so
bad for our voices.
So you know you're doing yourwarmups, you were drinking your
water, you're trying to, youknow, not to clear your throat.
You got your spray that'llclear out some of that excess
mucus.
(45:22):
Maybe you've just finished alot of singing or your voice is
tired.
You use that spray and it'llreplenish and just nourish those
muscles that are in your throatarea and it is just a great
opportunity that you have to usethe spray.
It just gives your throat somelove.
That's what I like to say.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
Yeah, Well, I've already told our co-hosts, dory
and Mieta and Coleman, thatwe're going to be picking up
some and trying it ourselves,and then we're going to come
back on the podcast and talkabout it.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Now, since we haven't tried it yet, I'm still going
to offer my congratulations andkudos to you for all that you do
.
Speaker 3 (46:01):
Thank you, thank you so much.
And you're right, you know, alot of people are like what oil?
Like we're not supposed to.
Are you?
You know?
Are we supposed to drink?
You said we'll put essentialoils in our bodies, and it is.
You're right, it's it.
These are oils that are 100%pure oil.
There's nothing else in them.
And what?
What it says on the bottle isin the bottle.
And the same with my, my vocalspray.
(46:23):
What it says is in the bottleis what's in the bottle and
that's it.
There are no chemicals, noadditives, nothing.
Speaker 1 (46:30):
So yeah, you know, and I think our listeners should
know, that as a singer, youdidn't have to create a product
just for the sake of creating it, correct.
You saw a need to fill yeah, andyou created this product from
products that you already had,right, and so you can vouch for
the fact that it works.
We're going to get it and we'regoing to talk about how it
works for us.
Now, I acknowledge thateverybody's body is different,
(46:54):
and so everybody's going torespond to it differently,
absolutely so, dorian MietaColeman, get ready, because
we're going to be sending you abottle and once we've done that,
larue, we've got to have youback.
Wonderful, wonderful.
All right, do me a favor beforewe leave, encourage that
listener who's in the car orstanding in the kitchen or at
the water cooler at the officeand they've lost their song,
(47:14):
they've lost their fellowship,they've lost their community
with their choir.
Maybe the church got rid of thechoir, maybe they felt that
after the pandemic they justcouldn't go back, maybe they
hung up their harp.
Would you encourage thatlistener today and tell them why
they should be singing?
Speaker 3 (47:31):
Yeah, so to encourage that person.
You know, the scripture thatcomes to my mind is, you know,
to make a joyful noise into theLord.
You know, and so many otherscriptures that encourage us to
praise.
And you know, being a worshipleader, worship pastor, that's
that's kind of my foundation ofit all.
(47:51):
You know, god created us.
He put breath in our body andwhen we have the opportunity to
return that breath to him is away to say thanks, thank you for
creating me, thank you for mylife.
And so you know, I want toencourage you that whatever
you're, wherever you are in yourstages of life right now, don't
(48:15):
stop singing, always sing, sing.
Singing brings joy.
We talked about it earlier.
Singing is great for your soul.
Singing is great for yourmental health.
Singing is good for yourphysical health.
Singing gives you access toyour creator when you put your
(48:35):
heart in a place and a postureof gratitude and appreciation to
him.
It opens wide thatcommunication with your creator.
And so, wherever you are, don'tstop singing.
If you're in a bad, bad mood oryou're having a tough day, find
a song that will bring and liftup your spirit, that will bring
(48:57):
and lift up your heart and yoursoul and find the strength to
sing a song.
It will change your day.
It'll change your day.
It'll change your day Wonderful.
Speaker 1 (49:08):
LaRue Howard, thanks for joining us.
Thanks for your.
Yes, it's been a wonderful time.
Tell our listeners where theycan find you.
Speaker 3 (49:14):
Absolutely so.
I'm laRueLivecom.
If you forget the LaRueministries, you can always go to
LaRue Live.
It'll take you in the sameplace.
Larue Live on Instagram, larueLive on TikTok, doing a little
bit of that, but on my YouTubechannel it's LaRue online, so
(49:36):
it's L-A-R-U-E online,o-n-l-i-n-e, but everything else
is LaRueLivecom.
Speaker 1 (49:44):
Thanks again.
We'll be sure to put thatinformation in the show notes.
Coleman is going to take us outwith the thought of the week.
Speaker 5 (49:50):
Thanks so much, greg.
It's so great to be back in thechoir room with you.
So this is a really gutsy thingfor me to try to preach or
share, as someone who's just afew months into being the new
worship pastor at a church.
Right, well, perhaps it's areminder even to myself, as I
share it with you.
But here we go.
(50:12):
You are you, others are whothey are.
Your church is who your churchis.
Other churches, others churchesare who they are they are.
I'm not saying that you can'tever change or you can't make
improvements.
What I am saying is not everymusic department is the same.
(50:33):
Not every church is the same.
Not every music pastor is thesame, nor do we all even have
the same calling In a day, likethose that we live in.
It's so easy to play thecomparison game.
What we ever see is 30 secondreels or tick tocks of people's
highlights and best angles, andrarely do we want to advertise
(50:54):
the things that our programstruggles with.
This isn't necessarily meant tobe a thought about comparison,
but comparison is the enemy ofwhat I do want to talk about,
and that's faithfulness,faithfulness Just think about
that for a second.
Faithfulness is what you and Iare called to and you know what
(51:16):
that looks very differentdepending on where we are and
what we're doing and who we'resurrounded by and what resources
we might have.
Let's face it the mega churchin a suburb in the Bible Belt of
the South is a differentinstitution than a storefront
church of primarily immigrantson the west coast.
The cathedrals and basilicas ofthe northeast are different
(51:39):
institutions from the smallcountry churches tucked in the
hills of the AppalachianMountains.
All of these are different fromthe various expressions of the
faith outside of North Americaor, even more broadly, the west.
And our greatest desire oughtto be faithfulness to our
Heavenly Father.
Whether at the end of the day,that looks like leading the
(52:02):
biggest and most highlyresourced music program in the
country or consistently showingup prepared with spiritual
nourishment to offer to astruggling church that
desperately needs yourconsistency.
There is one thing that wedesire to hear at the end of
life's journey and that is welldone, good and faithful servant.
(52:25):
It's easy to lose sight of thatwhen all the time we're told on
this side of eternity well doneyou, pastor a mega church.
Or well done you have the bestmusic program in your
denomination.
Or well done you got a recordlabel or well done.
You led worship in a room ofthousands of people For a few
(52:46):
people out there.
Some of what I just said is whatfaithfulness looks like for
them, and that is to becelebrated.
But for most people it's not.
It looks different, and guesswhat that's to be celebrated
just as much.
If every member of the body ofChrist were an arm, we'd be in
(53:06):
pretty tough shape.
We all serve different purposesand those are equally valuable,
and it's what and what we'reall called to is faithfulness to
our Father.
So I hope this is encouragementto someone.
I hope this is even freeing tosomeone.
You don't have to feel bound tobeing like the church down the
(53:27):
road.
Your desire for improvement isgood.
Keep improving.
Don't ever feel like you haveto be something that you're not.
All that is required of you isthat which makes you faithful
unto God.
Speaker 1 (53:43):
And remember, if ever we put the messenger before the
message, we have failed topresent an unblemished gospel.
I'm Greg Thomas.
Join us again next week righthere in the Choir Room.
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