articles

Five Common Areas for Surprises 1. Last-minute requests Conversations concerning last-minute requests can get into debating whether we “allow” these or not. For example, if a musician came up two minutes before the service and said, “instead of in-ears, I want to use a floor monitor.” Let’s push that conversation…

If your drummer refuses to use a click track give him or her this article by Josh Ebersole. I first started using a metronome about 2 years ago and at first I was completely against it. The thought of having something dinging in my ear for 30 minutes didn’t sound…

Before you jump at that new leadership position you’ve been offered, consider three reasons you should consider staying right where you are. You see, there are certain elements in a leader’s development that only accrue when one has remained in the same organization for six, seven, eight years or more. When you…

Rick Muchow answers the question: “Do you think it’s wise in a “small” church to have such a diversity in musical style like you do at Saddleback or should the Worship teams try to be aligned and consistent in the same style?” Continue reading.

Alan Danielson on ministry expectations: Most people, pastors and laypeople alike, become disappointed with their church. It’s inevitable. People are flawed and since churches are made up of people, churches are flawed. If we’re not careful, though, this disappointment can turn into discouragement, frustration and anger. So if disappointment is…

Dan Leverence on crafting your praise set: Several months ago, I attended a large gathering of worship leaders and during one of the sessions, someone introduced themselves by saying, “Hi, I’m __________ and I’m a recovering thematic worship planner.” I didn’t realize that thematic worship planning had become taboo and…

Jon Nicol on starting your services promptly: We aren’t naive about what it takes to change something that’s not only ingrained in the culture of our church, but in the broader culture of our community. So we’re taking a long, slow, multifaceted approach to changing our culture of tardiness. 7…

David Manner on part time worship leaders: Now that I have your undivided attention, I do believe that full-time worship ministry is indeed a worthy calling and vocation that requires preparation, education and skills. And yes, it is a real job. But what if opportunities were no longer available for…

Bob Kauflin on choosing popular worship songs: If you’re a worship leader or music minister there’s a good chance you’ve heard another leader talking about the new song they just introduced. They describe it as the most “incredible, life-changing, awesome, heaven-releasing, God-calling-down, what-you-haven’t-heard-it-yet” song they’ve ever done. You heart sinks…

Thom Rainer on ministry growth: Few people will argue that church attendance in many churches in America is declining. Our own research indicates that the majority of churches in our country are not growing. Most of us have our own ideas why attendance is declining. Many have suggested that our…

The state of the contemporary church 2013: I wrote an article last week encouraging churches to use church music in church. This week I’m on a campaign to encourage churches to use Scripture in their worship. I played for a few years at a local megachurch and my parents attended…

A seminary student arguing for shorter, more viral sermons, in the area of 18-minutes long, claimed that pastors are not following Christ’s most famous example in the way they preach, pointing to the Sermon on the Mount. But three pastors remain unconvinced, and denounced the argument as unbiblical and misguided…

Jamie Brown on letting your songs speak for themselves: Good news for worship leaders all over the world: there’s no reason for you to do much talking. Seriously. You really don’t need to talk that much. Ask yourself: how many times per month/per Sunday/per service do I interrupt the flow…

Here’s an excerpt from an article by John Flowers and Karen Vannoy that addresses an issue many worship leaders struggle with – why you shouldn’t let just anybody join the praise team. I was taught to cook at twelve years old, and was allowed to “practice” on my family. Everyone…

Kevin DeYoung on contemporary service orders: Every church has a liturgy. Traditional congregations have a general order to worship. So do contemporary congregations. So do funky, artistic ones. Church leaders do not have time to reinvent their services every week. Congregations are not capable of learning new forms, new songs,…