This past Sunday I asked my worship team a question:
“How can we better connect with our congregation in 2016?”
After the usual sarcastic remarks of getting rid of the stage, passing out tambourines at the door, and inviting anyone on stage, the conversation became beautiful. We began to discuss what it would take for us to connect with people and for our people to connect with God.
Here are some of those insights:
- Having conversations with people off the stage.
- Choosing songs that connect with our demographic.
- Stripping back and simplifying the music.
- Allowing more space to flow.
- Singing more familiar songs.
It was really beautiful. It was less about how can we become more impressive and get more recognition to how we can connect people to Jesus. And for me, that never gets old.
It never gets old to see young people awaken to the glory of God.
It never gets old to see suffering saints declare they will not be shaken.
It never gets old to see a lost soul turn to Christ and find hope.
The moment that gets old is the moment I should stop leading worship. Because worship isn’t about me at all. It’s about people awakening to the glory of God.
Awakening is happening all the time. Everywhere. God is calling. God is drawing. We as worship leaders are creating those environments.
The conversation showed me how self centered I can become. I can choose songs based on what makes me sound cool. I can pick styles that will cause others to think we are “progressive.” It can become a game of drawing attention to our innovation.
Can I challenge you?
Stop wishing you had an audience that appreciated your talent…rather, start to serve the actual people who gather every Sunday. That may be 15 people. It may be 15,000. Honestly, that’s my prayer for you and your team in 2016. It may not be the kind of change that gets a lot of attention on earth but in eternity its echo will be heard forever.
A Question Your Team Needs To Ask
So what does your worship team need to do this year? Ask that same question: “How can we better serve our congregation in 2016?”
It may mean singing Cornerstone again because that’s what people engage with.
It may mean choosing a style that helps people worship rather than makes them watch.
It may mean being less flashy.
Or…it may mean a new progressive idea. Maybe your church is in a rut and new songs and new songs would breathe life into a miraculous experience that has grown dull.
Maybe you need to worry less about how you look, how you sound, and start to worship with a broken heart again. To cry again. To feel again.
I’d love to hear from you. What would it take to connect with your congregation more in 2016? What is holding you back? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Also, we’ve just released a brand new online course for keys players called Learn Worship Keys. To download a few FREE videos, add your email below!
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“Maybe you need to worry less about how you look, how you sound, and start to worship with a broken heart again. To cry again. To feel again.”
B-I-N-G-O
That’s what I’m working on, Frederick 🙂
What a great question to ask! I will definitely take up the challenge and ask our creatives the same question.
Have a blessed year!
Thanks Bren! Let me know how the discussion goes.
I have been thinking after years of enjoying the rock band worship team genre we have here in the US (especially) and for the past odd decades … that with the volume up so loud that a person can only hear themselves sing that we have opted for virtually zero value for the voice of the congregation. We fill the room with the sound of stage voices and instruments and do not even factor in the role of the voices on the floor when we set a room for sound. For the vast bulk of history the voice of the congregation was the essence of worship to God. Now that voice is almost irrelevant to the experience. I’ve been a youth pastor 30 years and been to some awesome big events, had cool and good worship bands in our group, but over all that time most of the top experiences of unforgettable worship have all been when we were nearly unplugged and God played the teens like an instrument. His move in their hearts created the voices of angels. It was so amazing that I stopped singing to hear them… in awe… It’s wonderful. Worship teams need to see their job as not leading an inaudible sea of faces to mouth disconnected words washed out by their own amp-ed up sound, but to give wings to the real centerpiece of worship… valuing again the sound of congregational singing. I think all that “worship loud like a concert” stuff is now passe and the cutting edge is out there now in the corners of the culture finding ways to make unified vocal communion with each other in worshiping God happen in a new way. That’s what I am hungry for for myself and the kids in my group. I’m tired of singing in my own little bubble, only hearing myself to the blare of rock stars. Anyone who says they will not sing if anyone can hear them… should not set the direction of things and hinder the entire group from having an incredible optimal experience any more than a person who thinks sermons should be no longer than 15 minutes should dictate the teaching policy of the church. We are gonna work to find a balance with our youth band toward creating the awesome moments we had last week when we went unplugged…. and are looking for examples that work using fresh music, great sound and artfully, yet humbly done… but in a way the people off the stage are participating in a way we can all hear and be part of. THANKS for the article!!!!
ps… i’m not saying we are going unplugged all the time, selling the drums, or going to hymns…. but, rather lowering the stage sound to the point the crowd is part of the mix in a meaningful way.
Don, I love what you bring up. Some of my favorite moments are when the band drops out and people are singing at the top of their lungs. I love that more than any cool song, arrangement, or band. Thanks for sharing!
It’s is about being broken and letting God just have His way not our way….
And the congregation said “AMEN”.