Field Trip with Praise

I currently direct a praise band with 15 members named Monumental Praise. It is a fun, dedicated group who is finding its way to the current praise music scene. We only took a year to refresh the bands' repertoire, which used music from 1970. Now we use praise music from the SongDiscovery CD's for instance and secular selections for the offering when desired. In the last year, it was also important that we learned to "read from the same page" by placing ourselves in the current worship atmosphere; listening to Christian radio, reading articles and taking field trips.
Each member of the band knows how to check the next Sunday's set by using http://www.planningcenteronline.com/, a new site for church music groups. Most of the instrumentalists choose to get their music from the site before rehearsal, transpose it (if I specify) on the http://www.ccli.com/ web site and meet us all on Wednesday night.
This Sunday, we will go on a "Once a Month Together" field trip to enjoy another praise band in their natural habitat. Each month, we worship with another church community in order to see the band from another angle, gather ideas, listen to a different sermon and see how the rest of the Church is doing it. We get great ideas and meet other musicians and volunteers. We will usually grab dinner if the trip is on a Saturday night or breakfast this week.
It is important to me that my volunteers see other approaches to their musical task. It is important that we encourage the Church beyond our own walls. And it is important the praise band worship together without an instrument or mic in their hands.