Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast

What Makes a Worship Leader Successful?

There is what the ‘worship industry’ would tell us:

Write your own songs. Put out records. Go on big tours. Sell out big venues. Write a book. Repeat.

Those are good things, but it’s possible to have all that with a barren heart and fruitless ministry. And many will never get to do THAT.

So, what does a successful worship leader do? How does a worship leader leave a legacy? In your ministry as a local church worship leader, what are you working towards?

I don’t have an answer…just yet. I’m waiting on YOU. Leave a comment and let us know.

 

Creating Unity on Your Worship Team

How many stories could we tell of rehearsals gone ridiculous? Services gone sour? Worship teams with too much tension? Think about it: many musicians of different ages, different styles, different expectations, different preferences, different spiritual expectancy, different everything? Sounds like a nightmare, doesn’t it?

It doesn’t have to be. How do we create a unified culture in our worship teams?

There isn’t much that could be more important. Unity is essential for victory. Imagine any professional sports team winning the championship while breathing down each other’s necks in anger and resentment. Not gonna happen.

So if unity is so important, how do we cultivate it? What can you do today to make a difference? Glad you asked.

I don’t think there’s one canned answer but here are some quick ideas that may inspire you:

  • Talk about your vision. All the time. People are drawn to visionaries.
  • State expectations up front to potential new members.
  • Have fun together. Laugh.
  • Pray together before, during, and after rehearsals.
  • Confront disrespect (in private) the DAY it happens.
  • Validate everyone’s opinions and thoughts.
  • When you see something good, praise it.
  • Meet periodically outside of church to hang out.
  • Study the Bible together.
  • Earn your team’s respect. Don’t just demand it.
  • Show up prepared for rehearsals and services.
  • Be an encourager.
  • Bring together the old and the young to talk about gear together.
  • Ask for your team’s opinion.
  • Come together, sit in a circle, and have people share what they appreciate about each person.
  • Sometimes you have to let people go who will not submit. Bless them and release them. That is OK.
  • Constantly improve what you do. Team members appreciate that kind of leader.
  • Raise money TOGETHER. Do an outreach TOGETHER. Do something meaningful TOGETHER.

Worship Leaders, I know there’s more. How do you unify your team?

How To Audition Worship Team Members (without losing your mind)

I know you’ve been there. You’re the worship pastor, the worship leader, the music minister, the architect of spiritual atmospherics, and you have some people on your team that can’t cut it. Their attitudes drain the life out of rehearsals, their musicality is poor, they show up unprepared, late, and with a Big Mac, super-sized extra value meal that they proceed to eat during rehearsal. And they just don’t seem to take instruction or work with a team very well.

How did you get here?


I think we’ve all been in this place where we either inherited a worship team mess or we created one ourselves. I’d like to help you with some tips on how to go about auditioning worship team members in a way that will help you, not paralyze you.

1. SET HIGH STANDARDS

It is better for your worship team to consist of you and an acoustic guitar than with a harmonica enthusiast, drunk percussionist, horn section, rain stick amateur, 7 year old drummer, pot-smoking dulcimer player, and someone who likes to sing. OK, that was a bit ridiculous. But it’s better to have a smaller team that is tight than a massive team that doesn’t know what they’re doing. Build your team slowly over time. You don’t need 40 acoustic guitar players like Hillsong. Start small. Create quality environments with less.

2. AVOID MASS AUDITIONS

Now, I know many churches hold auditions. My philosophy here is that it’s difficult to say no to that many people. Rather, engage with your congregation. If you encounter musicians, invite them to hang out at your rehearsals a couple times. Don’t say, “Hey bro come join our worship team. Wanna play next Sunday?” Keep it casual until you know for sure this person is a good fit.

3. ASSESS, BUT BE HONEST IMMEDIATELY

If you assess someone who wants to be on the worship team, be up front immediately about what you’re going to do. Don’t beat around the bush and say you’ll get back to them. You won’t. It’s confrontation we all like to procrastinate on. Just tell them. Trust me, they’ll appreciate your honesty up front. Suggest ways they can improve. Tell them you’ll listen to them again after a few months of hard work. It’s not that you enjoy turning people away, it’s that you want a skillful team that knows how to minister worship music. You need a certain degree of musical skill.

4. SUGGEST OTHER MINISTRIES FOR THOSE YOU TURN AWAY

People are very self-conscious and emotionally attached to their musical skills. You will quite possibly offend some people when you turn them away. Maybe they were the “main drummer” at their last church and feel they should fulfill the same role on your team. Don’t just turn them away but suggest other areas in the church where they could serve. We always suggest the choir for those who want to be on the worship team but don’t have the skills to be that front-and-center.

5. LOOK FOR PERSONALITY, HEART, & HUMILITY, NOT JUST SKILL

You need people who are fun. You need people who have a heart for God and for music. You need people who are humble and can take instruction without ‘knowing it all’. Learn how to see that. I’ve worked with musicians who were a little weak  but because they had personality, heart, and humility, I was able to train them to be better. If someone already knows it all, you probably want to suggest another area of ministry 🙂

WORSHIP LEADERS, What did I miss? What are ‘auditioning practices’ you have tried?

5 Ways You Can Improve Your Leadership

The subtitle of my blog is “Worship. Leadership”. The reason for this is because worship leading is so much more than just singing songs, maneuvering through a worship set, holding band rehearsals, and listening to music all day. Being a worship leader involves leadership. It requires spiritual leadership.


I mean, noboday wants to follow a worship leader who doesn’t worship, right? Nobody wants to follow a worship leader who doesn’t love Jesus, right?

In this post I would like to outline 5 ways to improve your leadership as a worship leader. Or any leader, for that matter. These are things you can start doing now. I have a huge heart for you and believe God wants to use you in incredible ways.

1. IMMERSE YOUR PLANNING IN PRAYER

Part of what we do as worship leaders is plan. We plan a weekly setlist. We plan Easter productions and Christmas productions and scheduling and a host of other things. When you beging to immerse your planning in prayer, it shows in your leadership. It’s not just about getting things done. It’s about the presence of God, discipleship, vision, passion, expectancy. These are the things you want to impart to your team and congregation and it comes through prayer.

2. DEVELOP A DISCIPLESHIP STRATEGY

If you don’t plan it, it’s not going to happen. This is so important. Make your discipleship intentional. I’ve already written a previous post on How to Disciple Your Worship Team, so I won’t repeat myself here. I find it healthy to plan your year out before it happens. Sure, plans may change. But force yourself to get away for a few hours or a whole day and plan an intentional discipleship strategy for those on your worship team. You want your worship team members to grow musically, spiritually, and be sent out to do the same.

3. BE PREPARED

There’s nothing more frustrating than working with a ‘leader’ who is not prepared. Do the work to ‘set the table’ for your worship team. Put front end work into rehearsals, think through challenges you may face, set the stage, plan your devotional, know where you are going. It will seriously improve your leadership and likelihood of people sticking with you.

4. TAKE TIME TO THINK

I know thinking can be scary. You finally have to face the things you failed at. You have confront what isn’t working. But to be an effective leader you need to not just ‘do work’ but you need to ‘think about work’ to ensure you’re doing the right things. Is what you’re doing aligned with the vision of your lead pastor? Are you fulfilling the vision God has called you to? Are you stressed and losing patience with your team? These are the kinds of things you want to face weekly, think through them, pray through them, and come out stronger.

5. CELEBRATE YOUR TEAM

You may not think it’s that important, but taking the time to recognize individual people for what they contribute to your team is so beneficial. Not only does it encourage them but it increases the likelihood of them following you. People love to be recognized and will follow a leader who appreciates what they contribute.

LEADERS, what is ONE THING you have done to improve how you lead?

How Close Should Sunday Morning Worship Reflect the Recordings?

Over the years as I’ve talked to many worship leaders, I have encountered different approaches to Sunday morning worship – some who are vehemently opposed to structure and click tracks and arrangments and others who have their entire worship set planned to the ‘T’ without much wiggle room.

One of the questions that has come up time and time again is how close should Sunday morning worship resemble the recordings? I mean if Chris Tomlin, Jesus Culture, and Hillsong do it it’s gotta be from God’s rulebook, right? Well, maybe not God’s rulebook. But it can be helpful to use what others have done.

I like to strike a healthy balance between personal arrangements, recorded arrangements, and the spontaneous.

Here’s my thoughts:

UTILIZING RECORDED ARRANGEMENTS SAVES YOU TIME

As a busy worship leader, this is great. You don’t have to personally and creatively arrange every single song because someone has already done that work. Just listen in, take notes, and teach. It’s nice to use what they’ve done and build upon it.

UTILIZING RECORDED ARRANGEMENTS IS THE BEST WAY TO TRAIN YOUNG MUSICIANS

Young musicians are not typically honest about how bad they are. I don’t know what it is but it’s easy for we musicians to get an inflated view of ourselves. We easily blame external factors (can’t hear, can’t see the music, use the “it’s OK I’ve got it” comment, etc.) for our mistakes. Maturity is learning to admit when you mess up (maybe I should save this for another post :))Holding young musicians accountable to learning and playing their part of a recorded song teaches them a much needed discipline if they want to be good musicians.

ARRANGE, BUT LEAVE SPACE

At my church we typically do four songs for our main worship set. Not all four of those songs are sequenced and perfectly arranged. I usually leave one or one and a half for flowing purposes and ‘see where it goes’. This keeps the worship time from becoming too mechanical. Listen in to the Holy Spirit and follow Him where he is going.

Worship Leaders: what are your thoughts on the “do it like the recording” debate?