Travis Motley describes the gear of top worship guitarists:

The church guitar player or the “worship” guitar player has become something very common and similar in the topic of gear. Many are using the same pedals, guitars and amps because of what they hear on albums. It almost seems to be a rule to have a Tele, Fender Deluxe, POG, 2 drives, Volume, (tuner), 2 delays and a heavy reverb.

All of those together sound great, but what you use shouldn’t depend on someone else’s sound. The sound should come from you and what YOU sound like. If you need 5 drive pedals and 3 delays then thats your prerogative.

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Worship leader Fred McKinnon posts about finding musicians:

How do you plan music for a service when the musicians are all on vacation, and the only ones left to lead are vocalists?

Luckily, I’m a musician myself so I’m never totally without any musical help but I can certainly relate to struggling to get a band together. It seems to especially be more difficult in the summer months. I’ve personally felt that gripping fear and frustration that comes when I see nothing but red “decline” signs all the way down my roster in PlanningCenterOnline.

The first thing to do is take a step back, take a deep breath, and relax. As predictable as this may sound, God is still in control.

We can worship Him without music.

Even if no musicians are available, we can still gather corporately and celebrate His kingdom.

Nevertheless, there are some things one can do to prepare for these Sundays. It’s not an exhaustive list but should get you started with some ideas.

#1: Turn on the 911-Emergency Beacon

In Gotham when things got ugly they’d turn on the bat light. In church world we need to find a way to turn on our 911-Emergency beacon. What does this mean exactly? This could be a great recruitment time. If you have enough time to prepare you can make a brief announcement in your church or send out an e-blast. Try posting on FaceBook. Keep it simple.

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Check out this week’s issue of the WorshipIdeas newsletter for a link to some awesome worship freebies – videos and an amazing free ebook on using Facebook for your ministry! If you don’t receive the newsletter, sign up for it here, for free.

Last week Allan Clarke from The Journey in Dayton, OH posted a comment that was so good I asked him if I could make it into an article! He graciously agreed and here’s his vote for clicks and multitracks:

I’m in my 41st year as a contemporary worship leader…. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but I started young and worked hard to stay current. Because I’ve been at it so long, I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go. Nothing that I’ve seen used has done quite as much to make bands sound tight and polished as the use of clicks and loops.

Let’s face it gang, our leaders/senior pastors often don’t know how to make a band sound good… they rarely hear a band except the ones we lead. Most of them rarely attend concerts so they don’t know that the pros, both worship/Christian bands AND the top-tier secular acts use both clicks and loops very heavily.

The artists who make the recordings are working with a click… the styles of music we do are click and loop based. To say no “canned” music is like telling a symphony “no bows!” They can do it… but it’s not the best they can do. Whenever I have a leader lay down the law like that about a tool in our toolbox, I try to take the time to see why… and if it’s open for discussion. If it’s an immovable mandate based on their whim, I start looking for a new gig.

Nobody I know is good enough to make consistently excellent modern music with only the tools of the past. It may be possible… but it’s a lot more work for the same outcome.

Clicks, loops, stems, in-ears and multi-tracks allow us to sync to video, know the exact timing of our service elements (among other amazing feats) and present much more excellent worship moments than would be possible just by “hoping” we could find a drummer with good timing! They also cut rehearsal time and cranky band moments because we have an objective standard for tempo and groove.

Using them well will revolutionize your outcome… It may also cost you a few team members. Usually those are the ones you’ve been trying to redirect into other vistas of ministry, anyway! You won’t believe the difference!