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3 Steps to Successfully Add New Worship Team Members

Jul 13, 2015

Kade Young says we have all encountered those people who want to be on the worship team but don’t have what it takes to fulfill the commitment.

It may seem impossible at times, with such a small group of people to pull from, but a small church still has the potential to offer excellent sound quality in their worship services. I am not just talking about what type of equipment you have, because an excellent sound starts with the people on stage.

I was brand new at leading worship full-time when I had a guy, who had not been coming to the church for very long, approach me about playing guitar with the worship team. At the time, it seemed like such a god-send because I was in desperate need of an electric guitarist, so I enthusiastically brought him onto the team! As you can guess where this story is going, it ended up that the skills were not quite there. His heart was pure, and he was a really nice guy, but the whole band struggled with this one member that was out-of-sync. Then I was stuck trying to resolve the situation without hurting his feelings. Yuck – I am sure you have found yourself there as well.

A 3-Step Process for Adding New Worship Team Members

I let many years go by before I finally developed a process for introducing new members to the worship team. Without a refined process, you are in for a bumpy ride! I will now outline the process I use, and you will also be able to download the application I use. Feel free to use whatever will fit your needs, but don’t be afraid to add your own touch.

Step 1 – Complete an Application

It may seem silly, especially in a small church, but an application is the first step in weeding out those who are just looking for a ‘platform’. An application should be used to answer two main questions: ‘can they accept the commitment’ and ‘do they have a heart for worship’.

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Vacation Tips for Creatives

Jul 13, 2015

Summer is off to a great start and many of you are going to get some holiday time to get rested and rejuvenated. If you’re anything like me you struggle with the tension of connection while you’re on a break. How “connected” should you be or should you allow yourself to be while you’re on holidays? Especially if you fall in to the camp labelled creative you may find this to be a difficult transition from work to vacation.

Some people are able to drop their phone, social media and digital connections for a couple of weeks and feel no desire to stay in touch whatsoever while they’re on holidays. Some (and I’ll put myself very much in this group!) don’t necessarily want or feel the need to be technological hermits while they’re on a break from work but may not know how to balance those two things.

How can I rest my mind, body and soul while still taking advantage of the things I enjoy about technology?

Is that you? Ever ask a question like that? Maybe you’ve had to justify your use of technology while you’re on holidays to a boss or co-worker and never really been able to explain how you’re able to set some clear boundaries for that.

So let me share with you my process and maybe there’s something here which could be helpful for you. Let me be clear, this is my process and this isn’t mandated to me by anyone and I’m not mandating that this is how you should do this. I’ve learned three easy steps that I can do to be rested, to be not distracted by work and at the same time to stay engaged with the great things I love about technology.

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5 Steps for Introducing New Praise Songs

Jul 13, 2015

Carly Voinski says we aren’t called to lead our favorite songs:

If you’re serving on a Worship team, chances are you love new music. We are musicians, the desire to sing and play new songs seems to have been established in our DNA. We are constantly looking for new music and perhaps even writing our own. This is great. It shows passion, desire, and yes it’s even biblical to sing new songs unto the Lord. But all too often we realize that the rest of our congregation just isn’t quite on the same track as us. The people we worship with each Sunday aren’t all musicians. Some are unable to hold pitch while others struggle to clap on 2 and 4. However, they are the people we are called to lead into praise and worship of our awesome God. If we can help them do that by being a little more intentional when introducing new music then I say we should do so joyfully.

How do we do this?

1. CHOICE

Sometimes it really is all about choosing the correct music for your congregation. A current example of this comes from Hillsong United’s new album, Empires. One of the songs on the album, “Even When it Hurts”, has a line that says … “Even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise You.” I love the music that Hillsong United puts out, but I also know that the congregation I lead is not ready to shout that out on a Sunday morning. We could have debates and discussions as to why the song is great and truthful and real and relevant and honestly I agree, it is all those things. But, I know the people I lead. Introducing this song from the platform on a Sunday would just not work and the church I serve would not be worshipping through it. We aren’t called to lead our favorite songs.

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POLL: Will Your Church Sing “Hurts Like Hell?”

Jul 13, 2015

Hillsong United’s latest recording “Empires” features the song “Even When It Hurts” which contains the lyrics:

“Even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise you.”

Hillsong says they don’t care if you sing the song or not and stand by the lyrics. Will your church be using the song in your worship services? Vote below:

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Hillsong Pastor: If You Don’t Like Our Song, Don’t Sing It

Jul 13, 2015

Hillsong Church’s Pastor Robert Fergusson has committed to praising God continuously even when it hurts, and he candidly explains why.

In Hillsong’s new album called Empires, there’s a new track with lyrics that go: “Even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise you.” Fergusson and his wife Amanda’s job is to check all the songs published by Hillsong before they are released, and even though he suspects a lot of eyebrows will be raised due to that line, he is standing by it.

“We live in a desperately broken world. Occasionally, it feels as if hell itself has been unleashed. Of course, we know our victory and safety is in Christ, but it still hurts,” he explained in the Hillsong blog. “The psalmists were never afraid to express their true feelings to God in their laments and and I don’t think we should be either.”

Fergusson said that their hearts have always been in the right place – that is to help people worship God and enable them to sing the truth. And that is exactly what they hope to achieve in the new album Empires.

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How To Perfect Your ‘Verbals’ From Stage

Jul 13, 2015

Jason Yost says public speaking doesn’t always come naturally for anyone, let alone musicians:

One of the things that has the potential to make or break a worship experience is your verbals from the stage. If utilized correctly your verbals can enhance the experience. However, if you do not utilize them correctly they can cause your worship experience to take a sharp right turn into a brick wall.

Public speaking doesn’t always come naturally for anyone, let alone musicians. It’s definitely worth taking some time to invest and train yourself so you can facilitate the best possible worship experience. Below is a nifty little acronym that I formulated to help you perfect your verbals from stage.

T.O.N.E.
The first step is the word itself, TONE. It is very important to be cognizant of your tone while you are speaking from stage. You want to soften your voice to make it easy on the ears with more of a welcoming tone. You do this already when you talk on the phone to someone you do not know or when you meet someone for the first time. You change your tone to sound more welcoming and inviting. It’s the same while leading worship. You want to speak in a way that draws people in and doesn’t push them away. Make sure it sounds genuine as well and not fake. Give it a go with your friend and change your tones as you speak to find the best welcoming and inviting sound that you have.

Truth
Your goal as a worship leader is to use truth to affirm God and your congregation. The best way to do that is to verbalize scripture. You only have a few moments to lead them to get their minds set on Christ. There is no better tool to use than a double edged sword that pierces through any distraction, the Word of God. Go over your song lyrics in preparation for the weekend and find two to three scriptures that exemplify them. Use these scriptures in your prayers and verbals to encourage your people. There is no better source of truth and encouragement.

Open Your Mouth
You have no problem opening your mouth when you are confident in what you are about to say. It’s when you are not so confident that you tend to not speak and enunciate properly. Practice your verbals ahead of time. Go back to the basics. Open your mouth wide and speak with confidence so that the congregation can hear and retain what you are saying. Consider rehearsing them in front of a mirror so you can evaluate yourself.

Never Negative
In my years of experiences speaking to large crowds I have always found it best to never speak in the negative. It is way more efficient to use positive reinforcement to lead a large group of people in the same direction. For instance, if you feel like the congregation is not singing, do not say something like, “Come on church! If you love God, you would sing with me!”, or “Why aren’t you singing today?”. Rather you should inject verbals like, “Let’s lift our voice together”, “sing this with me”, or “that’s right, you got it, let’s give it our all”. You only have a specific amount of time to lead them so it’s best to focus on the positive and not the negative. Continually give them opportunity to sing and engage with positive reinforcement and encouragement.

Efficient
I can’t stress this enough. You only have a certain amount of time to lead your people in worship with the living God. It would be advantageous of you to make sure you are organized and prepared during that time so you can be the best steward of your people’s time possible. Remember, excellence is reverence. To help with this, consider scripting out your verbals ahead of time. This can help with time and content management to ensure you share your best content in the exact amount of time you have. You can also rehearse your verbals during your actual band rehearsal. If you feel comfortable, get some feedback from your band to make sure you’re on point.

As I mentioned, your verbals can be just as important as the music you play and the lyrics you sing. It’s of upmost importance to you as a worship leader and worth your investment. The great thing is, like most things we learn, the more you practice, the more natural it becomes.

The Impending Death (and Rebirth) of Cool Church

Jul 13, 2015

Carey Nieuwhof says the time of reaching people by simply being a cooler church than the church down the road is over:

Everything has its season.

And the season of the cool church is, in many ways, coming to an end.

There was an era when simply being a cooler church than the church down the road helped churches reach unchurched people.

There was a day when all you had to do was improve the church you led to gain traction.

Trade in the choir for a band. Turn the chancel into a platform. Add some lights, some sound, some haze. Get some great teaching in the room. And voila, you had a growing church.

But we’re quickly moving into a season where having a cool church is like having the best choir in town: it’s wonderful for the handful of people who still listen to choral music.

Somethings changing. And a hundreds of thousands of dollars in lights and great sound gear are probably not going to impact your community like they used to.

So what’s changing? Plenty.

You might think I’m against churches have bands, lights, and creating a great environment. Not at all. In fact, as we speak, our team is building a facility for the church at which I serve that facilitates all of that.

If you are going to gather people, gather well.

My point is not that you shouldn’t. My point is that it’s no longer enough.

And maybe it never was.

The mega-churches many of us watch today didn’t get to be as effective as they are simply by being cool.

If you really study how most large churches have become effective in leading people to Jesus (and yes—haters step aside—many large churches are effective in leading people into a real relationship with Jesus Christ), they have always been about more than just lights, sound and show. There’s substance. More substance than critics would ever give them credit for.

Are mega-churches universally healthy? No.

But neither are many small churches. In fact, sometimes the dysfunction in small churches eclipses that of medium sized or large churches.

As Geoff Surratt has so helpfully pointed out, you can’t say that just because a few mega-churches have collapsed that they are all the same. Churches like North Point, New Spring, Cross Point, SeaCoast and Life Church, to name a few, have developed great leaders on their local campuses and across their teams. They’ve moved far beyond a structure based on one ‘famous’ name.

So why would cool church be fading into the sunset?

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Seven Key Reasons Your Church Attendance May Be Declining

Jul 13, 2015

My five-year old grandson asked me how old I was. When I told him I would turn 60 in a few weeks, he responded: “I didn’t realize people got that old.”

Indeed, in 60 years, like any of us who have lived a few years, I have seen change, lots of change. And I am seeing change in local congregations faster than any time in my lifetime. One of the most disheartening changes I am seeing is the declining attendance in a majority of churches. I am asked repeatedly to diagnose and help with these challenges.

Though addressing the issue of declining attendance cannot be covered in a brief blog post, I hope it will be helpful to share some high-level perspectives. See if any of these seven reasons apply to your church.

“Cultural Christians” no longer see the need to attend church. “Cultural Christian” is really an oxymoron. I refer here to those men and women who once attended church for social, political, or business reasons. Most of them no longer feel it is necessary to be in church to be a regarded citizen in the community.
Church members are attending less frequently. I have noted in other articles how I see this development as potentially the greatest contributor to attendance decline. Three decades ago, a very active church member attended three times a week. Today we call those who attend three times a month an active church member.
Expectations are lower for church members. One of the reasons church members attend less frequently is that very little is expected of them in many churches. If we expect little of our members, that is exactly what we will get.

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