There’s a big difference between the Record and the Room.

YOU WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUITARS

That final chorus-into-bridge is a real goosebump factory, ain’t it? But it absolutely will not sound that big with your one electric guitar player. Guitar overdubs are awesome, but they are not your friend when you’re doing these songs live. And throwing more players up there isn’t always the answer, either, unless you got a sound engineer who understands EQ and panning. If not, you just added two more layers of overdrive and that’s about it. Always remember that amplified sound and monitored sound are two different things. It may feel weak on the platform, but that doesn’t mean it’s not strong in the mains. Trust the PA.

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Greg Simmons says there is no special bubble of protection surrounding churches that protect them from disasters.

Disasters happen everywhere. There is no special bubble of protection surrounding churches that protect them from disasters. The key is planning for and responding to disasters instead of simply reacting to disasters when they occur.

But how?

Planning. Many people focus on the first two words of Disaster Recovery Planning and focus too little on the last. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to recover from a disaster without proper planning.

Seriously, though, what disasters do churches face? These range from the simple to the complex.

• Power loss
• Tech Ministry equipment failure
• On-site accident or serious injury
• Missing child
• A person presenting a threat on campus
• Loss of life
• Building loss
• Natural disaster affecting the entire community

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Shane Heilman encourages the use of prayer during your planning:

I began incorporating prayer of different kinds into my worship planning in a variety of ways. Here are just some of the ideas I began to implement:

– Hearing from God during the week and composing a Biblical, timely prayer (like a modified, personalized version of Ephesians 3, for example) that would minister to, reassure, and challenge the congregation and the individuals within it, and reciting or reading that prayer during a strategic point in the worship set. These prayers really “opened things up” in the worship gathering. It created freedom in the room for people to engage God more personally. The personal, individualized nature of the words made the gathering feel more “real,” more organic, more vulnerable.

– Asking congregants to pray for each other. Often people need a little direction, such as what to pray for, but getting people outside their comfort zone to pray and minister to the people right next to them is what the church is all about!

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Chris Denning says serving your Pastor is paramount to your ability to serve God in your role.

Worship Leaders have an especially important role in serving our Pastors because we work so closely in helping them in one of their main tasks of leading the Church on a weekly basis. Knowing how we can specifically serve our Pastors well will not only help us to be more effective, but will also make our jobs even more enjoyable.

1. Be On Their Team

I mean, yea, you’re physically on their team already, but are you REALLY on their team? My wife and I use this phrase a lot in our marriage. How you act, what you say, the way you do things, and more can VISIBLY show someone that you’re REALLY on their team.

Learn what that looks like for Pastor, as its probably different for everyone. Does that mean helping them develop the sermon series they have in their brains, or does that mean doing a song you’re not crazy about but they know ties in really well with their message? I don’t know, but you NEED to know how to show you Pastor that you’re on their team.

2. Be Completely Honest With Them

A yes man is no good to anyone. Agreeing with every idea that comes out of your Pastor’s mouth may be great for their ego, but its crappy for their ability to grow and make good decisions. Holding back your opinion, especially when asked for it isn’t helpful either.

Always err towards honesty, even when you don’t think it will be popular. You need to know what’s appropriate for your position (i.e. Youth Worship Guy, don’t go ranting to your Pastor every time a song is done on Sunday that you don’t like) and how to communicate with honesty RESPECTFULLY. Humility goes a long way when being honest with your Pastor.

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Jed Smith finds ways to be confident on Sunday morning:

Nothing is worse than not being confident.

Turning the key not knowing if your car is going to start. Showing up to work not knowing if you can rely on your coworkers. Walking into a class room for a final you haven’t studied for.

Yeah. It’s the worse.

If you’re a member of a worship team, you know what it’s like to be up on stage in front of friends and strangers about to start the first song and you’re not sure how the service is going to turn out.

If you’re like me, you want do whatever it takes to get rid of doubt and uncertainty. When it’s time to worship, it’s time to worship, not wonder if you’re going to nail a riff or a chord change.

You want to be able to know you have what it takes to execute the parts and still enjoy the moment. You want to be able to help facilitate worship while still worshiping yourself.

Here are some steps you can take to gain confidence on Sunday morning.

Identify Exactly What Is Making You Nervous

Fear is most powerful when it’s unnamed. Once we have identified what is making us nervous we can look at the situation with new eyes. We might find out that what we were so worried about isn’t as big of a deal as we first thought.

Spend some time with a pencil and paper and replay the scenario in your head that makes you nervous. See if you can identify what is making you nervous. Write it down. Give it a name. The more specific you can be the less power the fear has.

If you feel comfortable, write down what makes you nervous about Sunday mornings in the comments below. You may realize you’re not that different from anyone else.

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