Category Archives: Worship Leading

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A Worship Leader’s Guide to Not Leading Worship

5 Big Ideas

ON STAGE

Whether you are a volunteer or paid worship leader, your influence within the community is operating both on and off stage. What you choose to do and don’t do will impact your teams, future leaders, and your own family. Let’s consider a wider realm of influence for our key leaders, one that takes into account more than just the “worship leading” role, which is vital. Leaders, consider these questions:

  • Do your teams get a chance to see you follow or are you always the boss?
  • Do you intentionally plan time away from the stage?
  • Does your church culture reward rest and simply being present?
  • When was the last time you took communion or received prayer at the altar? Are you always playing music or fixing issues?

NOTE: Although, this article is worship leader focused, these concepts can work across the board in kids ministry, preaching teams, and any conceivable team in the church.

Here are 5 PLACES you can lead, by not “leading”:

1. On the Stage, co-leading 

This is all about developing those around you. Train others to do everything you do. You could ask up and coming leader to run the rehearsal, lead the opening prayer, or facilitate the communion invitation. If you are interested in growth and discipleship, there should be several weeks throughout the year when you are simply supporting someone else who is leading. If music is your thing, form disciples as you make it!

BIG IDEA: Always be training someone to do everything you do. 

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Winning the Volume War for Drummers VIDEO

Drummer Volume WareYour drummer and the drum set together make up one of the most critical variables in the overall sonic landscape of your gathered worship space. Many of us struggle from week to week and drummer to drummer to get the right balance.  This quick video will give you some tips to achieve the volume and velocity from the drummer that is best for your room.

You might want to check out the Introduction to Winning the Volume War HERE

Winning the Volume War for Drummers gives 4 simple tips on how to help control volume and perceived volume in our services:

1. Tune your heart
Drummers, know the power you have to make the sound beautiful or brutal. Lay down your preferences (and your heavy metal cymbal set) and be a team player. You have been given incredible influence.

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What is Your Investment in Worship Training?

Worship Leader Bootcamp: Nashville TN June 14-17 2016

As a worship leader there are many things I learned in the local church by just faithfully showing up. I was the the guy who could just make it happen every week, and I did it for years. Ultimately, I realized that my call to worship ministry was more than just putting together 5 songs. I had to recruit and grow a constant stream of musicians. I had to choose accessible songs for teens, parents, and retirees simultaneously. I had to ask musicians to practice. I had to deal with a legacy church member who didn’t let anybody (including me) touch the soundboard. I had to learn how to care for my soul. I was expected to do the work of a shepherd, knowing only how to hold the staff, not actually knowing how to lead a flock.

REGISTER NOW

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Desperate to overcome the challenges, I attended conferences, seminars and began to read more. My most significant leaps forward in worship leadership came from learning environments outside my church. Specific worship leader training did things that immersion could not.

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Dear Pastor: Here’s Why Worship Leaders Struggle to Play Fast Songs

Worship Leaders Struggle to Play Fast Songs

 

Dear Pastor,

I get it. You want an engaging and energetic service. You don’t want to ignore the pain and depression of this world, but you don’t want to contribute to it. Musical worship takes up a significant portion of our services and sets the pace. When the Church gathers, those that are leading and the worship band should be hopeful and expectant. For the record, the Bible backs up your desire, continually telling us to worship with fervent hearts:

Psalm 100:2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Somewhere along the way, many musicians in the church thought that if we desired to be “real” or “relevant”, we should only show fear, shame, or melancholy on our face! See Dan Wilt’s post on Smile. Because of this, our songs started to match our emotion – all in the name of authenticity. We watch perfectly edited mega-church videos full of exuberant congregants clapping and singing; yet, we hang our head knowing that it’s what you want, but we can’t deliver.

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Designing Goals for Worship Leaders

Goals for Worship Leaders

God is very kind to build seasons into our lives. Every new season is an excellent time to recalibrate and make new what has become tattered and worn.

For many, our worship ministries and personal leadership have plateaued. Sure, we get the weekly worship set out and go through the motions, but there is something deep inside that says there could be more. The non-stop voice in our head says, “I wish….”. For years I wanted a better voice but I was too embarrassed, broke or distracted to take a voice lesson. I also wanted a real Hammond B3 Organ. I wanted to get high quality counseling… and the list went on and on. All these dreams (and more) connected with my calling went nowhere year after year. In 2002 I started making a list and a plan of action for everything I could dream in the area of worship leadership and our team. That year, by March – EVERYTHING had already been accomplished! Needless to say every year since I have continued to pray, dream and designing goals for that next year.

We so easily discount these goal making sessions as RESOLUTION PLANS that will only fail. But let me say this: You will inevitably begin and restart cycles of sin this year without a list or a plan. I promise. Knowing that the one who comes to steal and destroy is always working, we need to take the time to listen to what God has for us. There are more tools today to help us succeed than ever before.

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5 Hacks for Attracting Worship Team Musicians

HACKS

Many churches have a serious problem attracting and keeping volunteer musicians. Let’s face it, getting a team of musicians to show up to church and play music at 8AM on a Sunday can be a challenge. Usually there is sub-par monitoring, messy stages and lots of mind numbing songs to boot. Sometimes there are a series of unclear religious rules for stage and life we have to follow. Musicians can be under challenged or over challenged. We just can’t seem to convince people it’s worth it! For years I struggled as a worship leader making it happen every week. About 10 years ago we made some significant changes in our worship culture. Now, in our church (125-175 attendance) we have 4 bands, 4 sound techs, 6 main stage worship leaders, and waiting lists for all positions. It’s a wonderful blessing! Here are 5 quick hacks for attracting (and keeping) quality volunteer musicians at your church:

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Fire Your Worship Team

Dialing Down the Sonic Madness

when and how to

Last Monday I sent out a text to my worship team. It read as follows: “Hello Worship Team 3. This might excite some of you and bum some of you out, but I sense I am supposed to lead with one guitar and one vocal this Sunday. No band. We will resume the following week. Please come early and sing with vigor as I lead!” One by one, I heard back from my team with texts: “I’m in!”, “Sweet!” “Word” and “Praying for you”.

Our church has loads of musicians and it’s wonderful. We have an overflowing waiting list for every spot on our team! For a sanctuary that holds about 150, we have an amazing sound set up with vintage Rogers drums, Hammond Organ and top of line guitar amps. We pretend we are a much larger church when it comes to a quality live band experience. Most of our worship ministry’s 25+ musicians only play 2 out of 8 weeks. That being said, we often times intentionally dial down the production. Why?