Blog note: Consuming Worship will be on hiatus on Wednesday through Sunday of next week (November 21-25) for the Thanksgiving holidays. As a result, the next edition of Worship Leader Wednesday will appear on November 28.

Fred McKinnon

Biographical Information

Spouse's name: Joy McKinnon
Years married: 9 years
Children's names: Jon Michael, Will, Rebekah, and Andrew
Years leading worship: 15 years
Church name and location: St. Simons Community Church, St. Simons Island, GA
Church website: www.sscommunitychurch.com
Denomination: Non-Denominational
Years at current church: I just joined the full-time team at SSCC in March of 2007, so I've been on staff less than 1 year as of writing this. Previously, I'd served at Christian Renewal Church of St. Simons for nearly 11 years.
Instruments you play: piano, keyboards, drums
Blog: www.fredmckinnon.com
www.ac180.com (I am one of many contributors at AC180.Com)
Is your role full time, bi-vocational, or volunteer? I am the Full-Time Worship Director

What are you listening to right now?

Hillsong United
Jeremy Riddle – Full Attention
New Life Worship – My Savior Lives
Brian and Jenn Johnson – We Believe

What are you reading right now?

The Life you've Always Wanted
Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation

What's your musical heritage?

I am blessed to come from a family where music was always present. My Dad is a guitarist and was a worship leader prior to becoming the Pastor of his church. My Mom plays piano and sang in the choir. Both of my older brothers and older sister play guitar and have been active in worship. There was also a huge appreciation for music in general. We had music of all genres and styles playing in our home – everything from classical to southern rock, jazz to classic musicals. I remember hearing records of The Kingston Trio, John Denver, Johnny Cash, and Neil Diamond. My parents were huge fans of Neil Diamond and took me to his concerts everytime he was in Atlanta. I still have a huge appreciation for his music, writing, and production. His concerts were fantastic and inspirational, even at a very young age. As a kid I would replay the Hot August Night album over and over to learn all of the piano solos.

We had an old-fashioned upright player piano in our home and I started plunking out melodies and songs in Kindergarten. My parents enrolled me in piano lessons when I was in the first grade and I never stopped taking – all the way through elementary, grade, and high school. I then went on to college and received a music degree, double-majoring in Piano Performance and Theory/Composition.

Describe your journey to becoming a worship leader.

I was introduced to "praise and worship music" in my last couple of years of high school. Prior to that, all I knew were the hymns we sing in the Methodist church. My first "praise and worship" exposure was the first Integrity Music album, HM003 – All Hail King Jesus, with Kent Henry. I remember being inspired by the songs, the arrangements, and the production. I knew that I wanted to be involved in creating this music and that's how I started moving forward. My entire college experience was targeted towards wanting to produce and record worship albums. It wasn't until my Senior year of college that I decided it may be helpful for me to take a vocal class, just in case I needed to teach some vocal parts. Keep in mind, I never sang out loud in front of anyone … I was extremely insecure about my singing voice (for good reason) and would compose songs, only to plunk out the melody on the piano with my right hand and point at the lyrics with my left hand.

After graduating from college I was asked to consider leading worship for a small church out in Vicksburg, MS. I had never considered myself to be a vocalist, much less a "worship leader". I was very confident in my ability to produce, record, arrange, and "play" the instruments … but singing wasn't my area of expertise at all. The day I led worship at the church in MS for an interview was my first time leading worship in an adult, corporate environment. I was scared to death, but made it through the service and was offered the job.

My passion for leading worship began to grow and my insecurities as a vocalist soon began to fade away … not because I was any better, but because I'd discovered the joy of singing to God and leading others to do the same.

And that's how that journey began!

What's the "DNA" of your church:

Our church has a mixed range. We are on a resort island so there are quite a few people who would be considered "high class" or "middle-high class"; yet the overall vibe is very casual and welcoming. The congregation has about 1,000 adults, 100+ teens, and just as many kids. We have a good mixture of young, middle age, and older, retired people. They come from all backgrounds – non churched, "seekers", traditionalists, charistmatics, Catholics … the list goes on and on. It's a true melting pot of people who have come together to worship and serve Christ. Our church has an excellent leader in Pastor David Yarborough, a great man of God and a super communicator.

Describe for us your church's worship "style":

Musically, we do contemporary worship with some blended hymns. At the same time, many of the songs we sing would be considered "top 100" CCLI list songs, but we don't typically have quite the "rock" edge that you'll hear on most of the albums. Most of our musicians come from Southern Rock, Blues, and/or Country backgrounds and are older than I am … so our main auditorium will have a totally different "sound" and "arrangement" than what our youth are doing, which will have that "U2-ish", rock edge that is prominent in today's worship music.

We experience various expressions of worship in non-musical ways, including the raising/lifting of hands, clapping, and applause. This isn't the majority – but I'm seeing the physical or non-musical expressions of worship changing and growing in our midst.

How has worship leading changed you?

Leading worship has changed me to be more like God Himself. It draws me into His Presence where I'm challenged. At the same time, it reveals tons of sin and wickedness in my heart. It reveals pride and selfish ambitions. It sometimes reveals judgment and impatience. It also has changed me to become aware of the deep responsibility I have, and how I must guard the gift – to see the way I can lead, or manipulate, depending on the motive of my heart. This puts the fear of God in me!

Describe the make-up of your worship leading team:

Our primary band consists of drums, keyboard (sometimes two keyboards), electric guitar, acoustic/rhythm guitar, bass, and 3-4 vocalists. We use PlanningCenterOnline.Com extensively to schedule our band and singers. At this point, we don't use a choir and seldom have live drama. Our Sound/Tech team is incredible – they are present at rehearsals and during the warmup period prior to the main services.

What's the greatest "worship risk" you've ever taken?

The greatest "worship risk" that I took was called "Worship Under the Stars" (www.worshipunderthestars.com). I had a vision to produce a large-scale worship "concert" for our community … outside of the church walls, with a hand picked team of vocalists, musicians, technicians, and professionals. This was a huge risk because we brought together the Body of Christ, in all of our doctrinal and expressive differences in regards to worship. In addition, it was a huge financial risk, as the event cost tens of thousands of dollars. Nobody had ever undertaken such a risk in the name of "worship" before and we watched God come through. The night of the event, our budget was met and thousands of people came. God's glory was poured out in a powerful way and lives were touched and changed. The risk paid off and it was one of the most memorable worship encounters I've ever had.

Any risks you wish you had taken but did not?

The main risks I wish I'd taken (and continue to take) are the risks of trusting God enough to drop my 'tasks' and just get in His Presence. It feels like a "risk" when you have a lot of work to do…that you would stop and pray, worship, and meditate. But I've seen that risk pay off over and over. Sadly, I find that too many times, I don't take that risk.

You speak quite a bit about the production value/quality of music. How do you answer critics who say that church music is becoming over-produced?

Jeff, interesting you should bring this up. I just got back from lunch with several of the men on our staff and I discussed this very thing. I'm seeing more and more of this, and I have to confess that I've seen a few videos recently where they boasted on how great the "production" was, and I didn't sense any worship at all. It was a huge show, and that was about it. Keep in mind, it's impossible to really judge that, and judging it would be dangerous waters anyway. But all I know is one thing – I'm certain that I felt a marked, definitive grief in my spirit.

On the other hand, I'm a producer and come from a production background. I think the value and production IS very important. I do believe that we should give God excellence – not just "of heart" but in the practical areas, too. Once a guy criticized me because I used a "kabuki drop" (a special type of curtain that hides the performers or stage and then can drop immediately revealing the set, stage, or performers) in our worship event. My response was something like this: "You know, when that curtain drops, and all those lights come on, and the music starts to play – it will stir up the people and get them really excited … and let me ask you this … is it easier for you to engage in jubilant praise when you're excited, or when you're bored"? That pretty much silenced that conversation.

At the same time, I think we can over-produce – especially if every instance of corporate worship is done this way. That's why my prediction is that people will get tired of the over-produced scene and start returning to a stripped down, simple way of worship. I think the "produced" moments with all of the technology and fanfare are incredible. I think they can really propel us into a greater time of worship and praise. But I think the concern is when it becomes "all about" the cool production. Once our remembrance is on how "cool" the production was, and not on how "real" the Presence of God was … I think we've missed the mark.

How did you become involved in the AC180 blog?

I don't exactly remember where I first learned of AC180 … maybe through my friend Joel Klampert or Aaron Conrad. I began to visit the blog and leave comments from time to time. Eventually, I was invited by Aaron to become a contributor. I didn't accept right away – I'm already too busy and wasn't even sure if I "qualified", but after spending the weekend in prayer, I decided to join forces with them.

Describe your process for planning a worship service:

We have a weekly planning/creative meeting with our Lead Pastor and SEC (Service Environment Coordinator) and other people, as needed. We discuss the upcoming week(s), series, and purpose of each service. Each of our services has a specific purpose and I try to blend the
worship into the service and choose songs that "fit". Sometimes you can force this … and I try to remember that we can always just "worship" God for who He is without being forced to plan songs that "fit" a certain sermon. We get sermon sketches and ideas in advance and are able to plan songs and the flow accordingly. It's a 100% team-based approach. There isn't any person (including the Senior Pastor) who has full control over this process – it's a creative team. We all bend and yield to one another, and of course, ultimately we'd defer to the Senior Pastor, but I've yet to see everyone being forced to "defer" to anything … we seem to pray, ask the Holy Spirit to help us, and come into peace about what we're doing.

Do you write music for your congregation?

Yes, I've written several songs over the years .. sometimes they just come during a time of personal or spontaneous worship. Other times, I'm intentional about setting aside time to just compose and write. My music and songs can be heard at: www.indieheaven.com/artists/fredmckinnon

When you look back decades from now, what do you hope to see you've accomplished as a worship leader?

At this point, I'd say that my heart is turning more towards equipping and mentoring others to be worship leaders who help people encounter God through worship in spirit and truth. Decades from now, I want to see changed lives – people who have been touched, healed, and blessed by the music I write, perform, and lead. At the same time, I want to see spiritual "sons and daughters" that I've mentored and equipped – either directly in my local church, or even through the process of teaching in blogging, videos, and other resources. I want to be able to look back and see that I've duplicated myself and mentored others.

What are your predictions for the future of worship?

I think that we will continue to see "worship music" in a marketing frenzy … and the fancy "concert-style" performances will become more popular as churches want to look like the other churches and attract people. I love this style, and produced the "Worship Under the Stars" concert. It was heavily produced and marketed, but yielded some incredible fruit. With all of that, I can't help but predict that at some point, this will hit critical mass and people will express a longing to go back to a more simplistic approach. I predict (and hope to see) a return to a more simplistic approach to worship that is accessible to everyone, singable, and corporate-friendly.

What is one thing you wished every worship leader knew?

That we just can't sing notes much higher than D-E …. drop the superstar vocal ranges and arrange songs that normal congregants can
actually sing with passion!

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