Leadership Points for your worship team

One of my favorite things about my job is I get to recruit, love and send
out worship leaders. There are many ways we all try to measure the
success or failure of our ministries. We all want to bear fruit. For me it
is a blessing to count the young men and women who came through
Foundation Red or the Believe tour and left as worship leaders. It is
always fun for our staff to frustrate them just a little bit in the
beginning. We get such a great opportunity to pick really good players
and they come in chomping at the bit to make music for Jesus. We
spend the first talks and meetings talking about leadership,
relationship and if I was a preacher I would find something else that
rhymes with ship . . . I’m not! Austin is an intern right now with us and
we have not had a conversation yet about music or gear. We have
already had countless of talks about leadership in specific situations. I
love that; because so many times our giftedness is capped by our
willingness to lead . . . which most times is really translated “serve”.
Today’s article is on Leadership Points for your worship team. I
venture to say that if you are actively incorporating these things in
your worship ministry that your ministry cup is overflowing. Most of
this comes from the worship conference we have done in local
churches. I pray that it blesses you and you comment with some more
stuff for me to add to it!

Plan some “just kicking it time”

I was a young leader in the local church. Most of the people on my

worship teams were highly educated professionals in their field. I was
afraid to say the wrong thing the wrong way and the mistake I made
was to say nothing. I robbed my fellow team members with the best
gift I had to give them. (It was not my musical talent or my wisdom
from the scriptures.) I robbed them of relationship. And because I was
the leader I set the pace for the team. I set the culture for the team.
Nobody else formed meaningful relationships either. We marched in,
had our chit chat around the water cooler and then did our business
because after all we had other places to go. The culture of any group
of people can be tested by ending whatever function it is and timing
how long it takes members to file out. My file out time was about 5
seconds. Spend time with your team and set a culture of relationship.
Chances are it would make you sound better than another practice
session. I would start with some Brian Reagan. Trust me!

Get out of Jail Free cards

I have a problem with churches trying to emulate what they see at
some conferences for worship in their local churches. Our services
should not look like a Matchbox 20 concert because we have so much
more to offer – that is more people! The best way I have ever found to
attract new members is to open up the prison doors and set the
captives free. That’s right. You most likely have some people who
have been serving in the worship ministry in your church for so long
that children in the church think those people live in the choir room!
There are people in your ministry that need to take a break for multiple
reasons. One reason is because there are others who never volunteer
because you have “so and so”. Some of these people that need a
Sabbath enjoy being the victim and turn others off to the ministry.
People who need a break may not be serving out of joy but rather out
of guilt. When this happens creativity in your community is killed.
Also, there are people who would be more than willing to volunteer if
you didn’t suck the blood out of every volunteer you get. Do you want
to have more people involved in your ministry? Then set up a culture
where it is okay to take a break every now and then.

Don’t stink

Do you remember the cute kid in that movie I’m sure none of you saw
who said, “Do you know dogs and bees can smell fear?”. Well, along
those same lines, Church people can smell dissention. Watch your
tongue. You are a bigger influence than you probably realize. Your team
will sniff out how you really feel about the church, and its leadership.
More dangerous than that they may adopt those opinions.

Model growth

• Musically – If God is creative and the giver of gifts then why do

we not pray and ask him to bless us more! We have an
advantage over the musicians who are practicing for other
things. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and that should
make it’s mark musically as well as spiritually.
• Professionally- I’m proud of my kids’ backstage behavior. Of
coarse there are times when we are fellowshipping and laughing
way to loud at inappropriate times backstage; but more than that
they have their noses buried in books. It is awesome. I try to set
the pace for a culture that values growth. That means I hand
books out. That means we expect creativity. We , talk about
history, art and other big people things. It is contagious! You
would be blown away at how my history books and Jon’s physics
books play into our conversations having an effect on our craft.

Bear Fruit or die!

A mother bird kicks it’s baby’s out of the nest and they have to learn to
fly or they die. I have never seen one not succeed. I imagine if the
little bird before me hit the ground and didn’t move I would be more
motivated to flap my wings. This was not adapted from a children’s
story. Be a mother bird and allow the people around you to lead. If
you are a gifted worship leader I am congratulate you. If you are not
training up leaders around you then I rebuke you. Leaders kill their
ego daily and allow those they lead to spread their wings and fly. It
can be scary; but not as scary as not bearing fruit! Always be on the
lookout for future worship leaders!

Evaluate where the ideas come from

When was the last time you had a random idea from a volunteer and
acted upon it? If you can’t think of anything recent I would guess you
have a culture where it isn’t safe to dream, participate and create.
Most people on our teams have different perspectives on all the
aspects of our ministries. The professional term for this is a consultant
agency. You usually have to pay for that type of thing. Build an
atmosphere where people feel comfortable in sharing ideas and you
can get some good ones for free! What a bargain. An additional
benefit is that your ministry won’t be a one man show. The best way
to change your culture would be to ASK people what they think.

Open your office door

I am a busy guy by nature. I don’t know why (other than I need

counseling); but I am a fidgety busy guy. Teams that communicate
produce results. It is hard to communicate with ministers who are
always plugging in and copying (fill in the blank). If you get your work
done before other team members arrive then you can have a cup of
tea in your hand when they arrive. I started walking around and
visiting with a cup of tea in my hand (find what works for you). This
subtlety communicated that I was approachable to my team.

Turn off your preacher voice

People know authenticity. They can smell this too. Being transparent
with your team will set a tone of sincerity in your group. We come to
church initially because we want community. We desire interaction
with people. We ultimately find Jesus and he satisfies all our needs . . .
sometimes he uses other people. So listen and lead.