Trying to grow a worship team can be like nailing Jell-O to the wall.

It’s nebulous. And frustrating. And can even be demoralizing. But I want to encourage you and help you get your growth-mode juices flowing.

Contained in this list are some ideas, strategies and tactics. But remember: what works to in one church may fail miserably in another. You are the expert on your team and your culture. Adapt and rework these to fit your ministry.

Secret #1: Make it tougher to get in.

“Make it – what?!” I know. It doesn’t seem right. But the idea is to create a qualification process that does it’s job: truly get to know the potential musician’s skill and heart, and also gives her a chance to know what she’s committing to.

Continue reading.

Worship leader Jon Nicola is right on in this article:

I always like to hear the bad news first. Don’t sugar-coat it. Just lay it on me so I can deal with it. So for those of you who are like me, here’s the bad news about small church worship ministry:

People aren’t coming to your church because of the music.

Typically, if your church is less than 200 people, you’re in what’s called a “relational church.” (For more on this concept, see “Taking Your Church to the Next Level” by Gary McIntosh). While there might be a variety of things that get people in your front door, the glue that keeps them coming back is the relationships with others. Continue reading.

This blog post by Bill Blankschaen has lit up the Internet for the past few weeks. In it he talks about why he’s sick of contemporary praise songs:

I love music. Truly I do. I love to sing. But you wouldn’t know it on Sunday morning when I’m visiting your church.

I’m not talking to all of you, of course. I’m sure many churches, maybe even yours, get it right. I just haven’t been there that often, I guess. My experiences with modern worship music in evangelical Christianity often leave me not just silent, but wondering if I should be joining George Bailey in making a quick exit from the agony. Continue reading.

Pastor Jeff Mikels counters:

Earlier this week, a discussion among the worship band members at my church pointed to this article where Bill Blankschaen describes his frustration with worship songs sung in churches on Sunday mornings and tells us “Why I’ve stopped singing in your church.”

As of this writing right now, he has 241 comments, and he only wrote it three days ago (July 15). Clearly, he has struck a nerve—a nerve deep enough to get my worship band talking about it, and a nerve deep enough to make me blog about it. Continue reading.

Indian worship leader Gangai Victor discusses worship leader traits:

1. Be a friend of God: Great worship leaders are God-lovers first and foremost. They love the Lord so much that they ensure to start every day with Him. They do this by maintaining strong and consistent personal prayer lives. They can pray without guitar and song. They are comfortable being still and silent before the Lord, with His Word.

2. Depend on the Holy Spirit: Accomplished worship leaders don’t bank on their own talent and experience as much as the Holy Spirit. Whether it’s putting together a set-list or delivering a session on stage, their ears are constantly open to listen to the Holy Spirit’s promptings and their hearts stay in a disposition of obedience.

3. Love WORSHIP – not just a way of worshipping: Put simply, fantastic worship leaders don’t believe that worship happens my-way-or-no-way. They do not cause or participate in worship wars. They respect liturgy and don’t consider it inferior to contemporary worship. They appreciate “When I Survey the Wonderful Cross” as much as they enjoy “Everlasting God”.

Continue reading.