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About

LoopingWorship.com is a site dedicated to using and teaching others how to use loops in worship. There are some sites that teach, some that serve as loop repositories, and some that are blogs on loop ideas–LoopingWorship hopes to be all of these things and more.

We’re hoping to set up LW to become the one place you need to visit if you’re new to contemporary worship leading, using loops in a church setting, or just want to explore some of the cool equipment and music tools that are out there.

What’s the deal with all the little loops icons everywhere?

So far, we have implemented a blog that features new loop additions, and a page showcasing all the loops we’ve received and reviewed. You can search for loops by artist, song name, and even key, and every loop will be displayed with options to download the Reason (rns), mp3, or other file, and a five-loop rating system will be used to rate the quality of the loop:

“Playability” of a loop means how easily the loop can be followed; if the song follows the structure of the recorded version or not, and how easy it blends with a standard 5-piece worship ensemble.

“Creativity” of a loop means how much poetic license the creator of the loop has taken; how different the instrumentation is, and how unique or different it sounds overall.

Finally, an overall review based on experience with the original song and the loop will be written in paragraph form–use these opinions as you see fit.

Having a “higher” rating does NOT mean the loop is better than another. The review is simply of how easy you can expect to follow the loop, and how much it differs from the original recording. We advise using these ratings as a guide to get an idea of how much rehearsal time with a certain loop you’ll need. If the loop is super-creative and has a low playability rating, you might need a few weeks “woodshedding” with the band before you can use it in worship!

Who runs this place?

Glad you asked. We’re a group (sometimes two, sometimes more) of dudes who love God and love worshiping Him in new and exciting ways through music. We built LoopingWorship to help others find creative outlets for their ministry as well. LW is run by:

Nick Thacker is the founder of LoopingWorship.com, and he’s a worship leader and music director at The Journey UMC in Kyle, Texas. Yes, they use loops in worship.

A graduate (in Music) of Texas State University in San Marcos, he also works at a faith-based church marketing company in beautiful Austin, Texas. He’ll be getting married to the love of his life in July, 2011, and will most likely need to stop hanging out on LoopingWorship.com after that, for fear of getting in trouble.

Nick likes Mountain Dew (but not Mtn Dew–that’s weird because he doesn’t know why he can’t just text “Mountain” instead of “Mtn”), playing Halo: Reach, most music that doesn’t sound awful, and working out while reading books. He also likes hanging out with his amazing fiancee and watching The Office. He does not like traffic, and dogs smaller than guinea pigs.

Will Flora is an active church musician and minister. He has been a youth pastor and a worship pastor and is only 24. Meaning he still has a lot to learn and a lot he already knows. He is also a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a graduate of Texas State University. He enjoys playing and writing music, preaching, and throwing discs at goals. He and his wife Karen are happily married and can’t wait for whatever God has in store for them next.

Will is also an advocate of reading the Bible. He encourages worship leaders to not think worship is just singing prom songs to Jesus. He also thinks loops aren’t an excuse to suck at an instrument. He is a very good singer, his wife told him so. And also other people. He enjoys listening to worship artists such as Ascend the Hill, Jesus Culture, and Hillsong United. He also enjoys listening to metal. Yeah, metal. He’s that guy. His favorite instrument to play is his blue Les Paul which he has affectionately named “Shiela Jo.”

Some of his favorite preachers are Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan and John Piper. He also like Jewish things and owns two prayer shawls. And he loves Jesus and wants to glorify Him in everything he does.

Can’t find something you need or want?

If you have or know of a loop that you’d like reviewed, send it to us! We usually review loops and tracks every day and will be able to post yours within a few days’ time.

If you would like us to post on a topic you’re interested in, let us know! You can email Nick at nick (at) loopingworship (dot) com.

Also, if you have something interesting to add, write it up as a guest post, and send it over. We love hearing others’ opinions and takes on using loops, and would be happy to post great content from other worship leaders.

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. –Psalm 33:3 NIV