What You’ll Learn:
- Three critical mistakes to avoid during the demanding Christmas season
- How to maintain perspective when ministry pressures intensify
- Why timing matters when implementing changes to worship systems
- Ways to celebrate with your team despite the chaos
Christmas hits worship leaders like a freight train. Extra services, recordings, rehearsals, decorating, meetings, new arrangements of old songs, scheduling nightmares, sound checks, and endless conversations. The to-do list multiplies daily. It’s overwhelming, and that’s putting it mildly.
Here’s the tension: Christmas offers incredible opportunities to reach people searching for hope. Music is critical to the season’s impact, so all that work matters. But the combination of packed schedules and growing demands creates a dangerous environment for three common mistakes.
First, don’t give up. When you’re drowning in responsibilities and schedules are spiraling, it’s tempting to make rash employment decisions or abandon healthy rhythms. Push through the valley. Once January hits, there’s a good chance you’ll be energized to refocus and regroup. Don’t sacrifice your devotional life, prayer time, healthy eating, sleep, or exercise just because December is crazy. And definitely maintain an easy-going spirit with your pastor and team, even when opinions and desires collide.
Second, don’t tweak systems now. Christmas stretches every worship planning structure to its limit, but this isn’t the moment for big announcements about restructuring your ministry. Keep notes for later. Focus simply on leading great music and investing in relationships with your team. January is soon enough for strategic changes.
Third, don’t forget to celebrate. Get creative about marking milestones and acknowledging God’s faithfulness this year. Maybe it’s a team newsletter highlighting wins since March. Maybe it’s intentional time with friends and family. Whatever it takes, find joy.
Advent kicks off the Christian year! Sing loudly, lead joyfully, and lift up Jesus’s name with patient, kind, fun hard work.




