Kyle O'Neal

1. What worship song are you LOVING right now?

2. What worship song are you SICK OF?

Respond by comment or at Twitter on my profile @kyle_oneal.
I will post the answers I receive below:

LOVING:
Today is the Day (Lincoln Brewster) >from Seth Rice
Jesus Saves (Tim Hughes) > from Seth Rice
While I’m Waiting (John Waller) > from Joel Rainey
Anthem (Kyle O’Neal) > from Joel Rainey
My Glorious (Passion) > from Joel Rainey
Who Am I (Casting Crowns) > Gerald Bergan
How Deep the Fathers Love For Us > from Ashley Loccisano Lee
Glory to God Forever (Steve Fee) > from Ashley Loccisano Lee
Friend of God (Israel Houghton) > @GarryjC

SICK OF:
God of Wonders (Third Day) > from Ashley Loccisano Lee

1. These last few months have been tough.  I lost 3 grandparents to cancer in the last 4 months.  And this past Monday we found out that Melissa’s grandma has pancreatic cancer.  Like I said in my last blog post…I hate cancer.  This is something that is consuming my mind 24/7.
2. This Sunday finishes up our Disciple series.  It’s been a great series that has really challenged our church in different areas.  Then, on October 4th, The Well turns 1 year old!  How cool is that!  Man, God has done some pretty amazing things in 1 year.  I can’t wait to see what He has in store next.
3. I’m 44 days away until I’m 25.  I should blog a birthday list like I always do.  Man, I feel old.  25, married, and a baby on the way.  God, I just pray that you use me with the rest of my life to glorify You and bring people to know You.
4. Life Groups at The Well are about to start up.  I’m pretty pumped about this for our church.  We sorta kinda had some bible studies going on before the summer started but they weren’t official.  Please be praying for us as Melissa and I are trying to figure out what age group to teach and what to teach them.  Although I have a feeling that no matter what or who we teach, we’ll be learning just as much if not more.
5. I’ve really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my buddy Joel.  We were in high school together and played in a band called Dead Man Walking together.  Then after my first year of college, he joined the Navy.  He went all over the country and served our country to the fullest.  He was able to come to our wedding this past December and something profound hit him: He was serving his country, but not fully serving God.  Since then, he is out of the Navy and searching for where God wants him right now.  I love this dude to death and am praying that the passion and fire he has for God will spread like the California wild fires.

So yesterday we buried my grandmother from cancer.  This makes the 3rd grandparent that I lost to cancer is the past 4 months.  And we just found out 2 days ago that my wife’s grandmother has advanced pancreatic cancer.  I hate this disease.  One thing for sure that I can be thankful for is that all of my grandparents were followers of Christ and showed it in their lifestyles.  My Grandpa had just accepted Christ not too long ago and we got to see his last 2 years of a true new creation.  My Papa was the one who always taught me to read my bible.  He must have read it cover to cover 20 times.  My Grandma taught me how to be tenderhearted and loving.  She taught me by her example how to serve others and always put the people you love before yourself.  All of them lived great lives and accomplished great things.  But the best decision they ever made with their life was to follow Jesus and be a light to this darkened world.  I will miss you always Grandpa, Papa, and Grandma!

William E. O’Neal
June 18, 1933 – May 22, 2009
Lost life to leukaemia
Won by Jesus Christ

James W. Carson
December 28, 1933 – August 30, 2009
Lost life to lymph node cancer
Won by Jesus Christ

Emily B. O’Neal
September 11, 1934 – September 18, 2009
Lost life to a brain tumor
Won by Jesus Christ

This will be a new installment to my blog and will be just how I like things…random.  This will be the top 5 things on my mind at the moment…no matter what they may be.  So…here goes:

1. Really enjoying Steve Fee’s new album, “Hope Rising”.  Get your pre-order copy here.
2. Relay for Life is tonight.  This event means alot to me.  I lost one of my grandfather’s to leukemia on May 22, 2009 and just lost my other grandfather from lymph node cancer on August 30, 2009.  Also, my grandmother is losing her battle to a brain tumor.  This is a disease that has really affect me and my family.  Pray we raise a lot  of money at this event to hopefully bring an end to this disease.
3. Speaking of my grandmother, her birthday is tomorrow.  She will be 75.
4. I’m getting pumped about OPEN Night of Worship at Woodstock First Baptist.  It will be September 19th at 7pm and I’ll be leading worship with Matt Tillman, Erica Ambrose, and Lindsey Williams.
5. Never blogged about this…BUT, Melissa and I got to hear the baby’s heart beat this past week.  Man…what an incredible thing.  The miracle of life.  I’m praying that God prepares me to be the best father I can be.

Sites like Twitter and Facebook ask for a 1 line bio of who you are.  I LOVE the simplicity of that, but hey…this is a blog.  So here is that 1 line bio (Christ Follower. Husband. Father. Worship Leader. Church Planter.), defined…

I am a:

Christ Follower
I am a follower of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).  He is my King, my Savior, my friend.  I was brought into this world a sinner (Romans 3:23), Christ died for my sins (Romans 8:1-4), and I am now a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:16-18).  I deny myself, take up my cross daily, and follow after Christ (Luke 9:23).

Husband
I was married to the love of my life, Melissa Marie O’Neal, on December 13, 2008.  We are just now coming up on 1 year of marriage and I definitely married “up”.  Melissa is an amazing wife and she is what drives me to be a better person.  She is my best friend in the whole world and my partner in this thing called life.

Father
I am a father to be.  Our baby is now growing inside my wife (what a miracle of life) and we are expecting March 10, 2010.  This will be a brand new venture that I’m sure will bring new challenges but I can’t wait to strive to be the father that God wants me to be.

Worship Leader
I lead worship in churches all over the country.  I am currently the worship leader at The Well in Cartersville, Georgia and I absolutely love my job.  I work at 1 of the best churches in the nation and I’m just honored to be a part of what God is doing there.

Church Planter
Back in college, I stumbled (full story to come later) into church planting.  I helped start The Orchard in Cleveland, Georgia as their Minister of Music.  Then I went to West Ridge’s School of Church Planting and started Cross View Community Church in Rockmart, Georgia with Danny Echols.  I worked there as their Creative Arts Pastor.  Now I’m working alongside Andy Postell at The Well.  I love the thought of a new birth for a church and giving the people who were turned off by church the opportunity to think about church done differently.

Now…I’ve only designed and helped design a few websites (Kyle O’Neal, Kyle & Melissa, The Well, TenneyTunes Studio), but I in no way claim to be an expert on website development.  But I do have some thoughts on the way church websites SHOULD be.

Every church website should:

1. Have an easy to remember domain name. Your church website’s domain name should be simple and memorable.  When someone is interested in finding more information about your church, you want them to find that information easily without the use of search engines.  Keep it simple and make it easy to remember.  In promoting your web address, leave off the http://‘s and the www.‘s.  This makes your web address easier to remember and easier to say.
2. Be incredibly easy to navigate. People don’t spend a whole lot of time on a website.  They visit your site, search for what they are looking for, and then close the window.  Your church’s website should be designed so that people can find what they are looking for quickly and close out.
3. Have concise and current information. Again, people don’t want to spend a whole lot of time on a website.  No one wants to read a belief statement that they have to scroll down for hours just to read the whole thing.  Be short and concise.  Use the concept of Twitter.  Things should be simple, short, and to the point.  Also keep things current.  Too many times I go to a church’s website and the newest “Upcoming Event” was from 2 months ago.  Once I even saw one that was from 2 years ago.  That’s just insane.  If you are going to have a website that will not be maintained, then don’t integrate things like a calendar or a sermon mp3 player or photographs.  If your church doesn’t have someone to maintain your website and keep it up to date, then I suggest to make your website a simple information only type website.  It looks unprofessional to have old, out dated information on a website.
4. Be a tool to be used by the church. The people in your church are going to your website to find out something or use a tool on your website.  If someone is checking out your website before they visit your church, directions and service times should be easy to be used.  Church calendars should be clean looking and uncluttered for people within the church to keep in the know.  Every program or tool you use should be useABLE!
5. Be accessible on multiple platforms. Whether you’re excited about the change or not, Flash sites seem to be dying.  Flash sites take too long to load and they require a certain plugin to run and be view properly.  The art of CSS web design is taking shape and growing fast in popularity.  CSS  is also mobile friendly so your church members can access your website on the go.

(for examples of how I used this on our church website, check out discoverthewell.org)

I am the worship leader at The Well in Cartersville, GA.

1. My pastor, Andy Postell.  I have the best pastor, boss, mentor, friend in the world.  Andy and I have been working together and dreaming about what The Well would look like since January of 2008.  Very early on we realized that we were almost complete opposites and we teased that he was the old and I was the new.  But we also realized early on that this meshed together so perfectly and we were a great team together.  Not only is Andy a great communicator on Sunday mornings, but he is a great pastor to the church where he truly cares for its people and he is a great leader.  Andy is one of those people who have those deeply “in-tune” relationships with Jesus.  It is incredibly easy to follow him in leadership because I know that he is following Jesus in all that he does.
2. Our Staff.  Where the church is still less than a year and Andy and I are the only full time staff, we have the best volunteer staff in the planet.  Claire Postell, Andy’s wife heads up our kids area and does a phenomenal job.  On Sunday mornings, the kids have their own environment specifically created for them.  Claire is a master at creating a cool set design for the kids and they eat it  up.  Dee Dee Burson assists Claire and also heads up our nursery.  As soon as she came on board she up’ed the game.  She’s really been the key to taking our kids ministry to the next level.
3. The people who come on Sundays. The people who come on Sundays are the coolest people in Cartersville.  About 60-70% of the people who come to The Well haven’t stepped foot inside a church since they were kids.  That’s so awesome to me.  We advertise that we are “church done differently”.  For some reason these people give us a chance and they see that church doesn’t have to be about traditions with lost meanings or all about politics or full of hypocrites.  Church is about the body of Christ coming together to lift high the name of Jesus and recharge us so we can punch Satan in the throat Monday through Saturday.
4. Our Serve Teams.  These men and women are what makes The Well happen every Sunday.  These are the people who come in on Saturday afternoon and setup the building to create our environment for worship.  These are the people who get to church early to greet you at the door with a smile.  These are the people who serve you coffee and breakfast before the service starts.  These are the people who care for your kids in the back so you can worship freely.  These are the people who make The Well what it is.
5. Excel Christian Academy.  I wholeheartedly believe that we have the best portable facility for a church in Cartersville, Georgia.  When we first launched, we met at the Cartersville Library and we out grew it extremely fast.  God opened doors just at the right time and gave us Excel.  We went from a main worship room that could hold 100 standing room only, 1 kid’s room that we have to divide with curtains, and loading everything into trailers…to a building with a main worship room that could hold 500 easy, the possibility of 7 kid’s rooms that most of them we can leave set up, and a storage room that we no longer needed trailers.  This building is going to allow us to grow into multiple services and reach many more people for Jesus.
6. Our Band.  I have the best and most talented friends out there.  I have the pleasure of having my closest friends come and lead worship with me every Sunday morning.  From day 1 of our very first preview service we started with a phenomenal band.  We didn’t want to work up to excellence in our worship so from the start we’ve had the very best.  This was one of the best decisions we made early on as a church.
7. Our Tech Team.  Like my last post, excellence attracts excellence.  When we started off with a great band, people wanted to get involved.  God led some of the most talented people to The Well.  Jacob Burson produces most of our Sunday morning services and creates all of our videos.  From the very beginning stages of the church, our videos looked extremely professional and as if we were a church many years older.  Styx and Todd Green run sound for us on Sundays and we couldn’t ask for better sound engineers.  These 2 guys know their stuff and make us sound incredible.  Greg Henderson, Zakk Nunn, Courtney Smith, and my wife, Melissa, rotate on our lights and video systems.  These guys came to the table with zero experience in lighting or video but I would now rank them with anyone else out there.  They have taken this task and completely owned it.
8. Our Message Series.  We do some of the coolest series at The Well.  Andy and I meet pretty far in advance and look at a calendar and seek God on what kind of series to do make sure they are relevant to Cartersville, the time of the year, and the people that are coming to the church.  I really enjoy doing graphic design so this is where I get to be creative in that area.  I design all of our series graphics.  I also get to work with an awesome lady named Theresa Stevenson and come up with some really cool set designs.  We are slightly limited with the fact that we  have to set it up and break it down every Sunday, but we still do some neat stuff.  Check out our set design at VBS when we DIDN’T have to be limited.
9. LIFE Groups.  Technically LIFE Groups (small groups) haven’t launched at The Well yet, but Melissa and I were already involved in one.  Andy and Claire taught one at their house and Melissa and I taught one at ours.  Also during the summer we had bible studies by the pool called “Dive In”.  These will launch after our current series (Disciple) is over and it will change the church in a incredibly positive way.  LIFE Groups are where life happens.
10. Life Change.  This is the most exciting to me and why I love my job at The Well so much.  God is moving in incredible ways and blows our minds more and more each and every week.  This past Sunday we had 18 people baptized either reaffirming their baptism or as first time professions of faith.  WOW!  Life change is happening and in huge ways in the life of The Well.  I’m so excited to just be a part of it.

This is why, at The Well, we:

• Print bulletins on high gloss paper and in full color

• Change our set design every series

• Place our friendliest people at the doors

• Arrive for rehearsal long before the sun does

• Do a full service run-thru to make sure there are no distractions

• Pay our musicians

• Pray without ceasing

(got this blog idea from Josh Bayne)

So every time I lead worship, I use a little “cheat sheet” on stage.  Most of the time it goes unnoticed, but sometimes people see it.  And when they do, they ask “What is that piece of paper?”  Well, it looks a little something like this:

With most places that I lead worship, the band is different every time and we usually practice a few hours before the service starts.  This sheet is my cheat sheet to help me lead the band and be certain about the arrangement that we are playing the song in.  The big number before the song title is what fret I capo that song at.  But if the song was in D, it would just say D.  The smaller letters in red make up the mapping of the song.  If I know exactly where the song is going during a rehearsal, I’m able to better lead.  I will also make small notes to help me lead different areas of the song.  A star symbol represents a unique part of the song is coming up.  A down arrow represents a soft part in the song and an up arrow represents a loud part in the song.

If you are a worship leader and think something like this could help you lead a group, make it your own.  This is what works for me, but I encourage you to find something that works for you.

At our church, we use the Nashville Number System for chord charts.  This makes chord charts easier to use by making them universal for any key.  For example, a song may be in the key of A. One guitar player might play in the A shape while another guitar player may capo the second fret and play in the G shape.  In using the Nashville Number System, you simply call out the numbers and it is the same to both guitar players.  Another example would be if a musician learned a song in one key and a vocalist needed to change the key.  With the Nashville Number System you can easily change the key while the numbers remain the same. You will no longer have to transpose a chord chart. The Nashville Number System is a universal system for any musician.

To explain things a little better, I wrote an introduction to the system.

For the FULL introduction, click HERE.