Worship services. They happen all the time, week after week.
How do you know your team is hitting the mark?
How do you know Sunday morning was a successful worship service?
I’ve found that my list of success is far from what God prioritizes. This is usually what I focus on:
- My voice was strong and on pitch
- The band was kicking
- I received lots of compliments
But the more I lead worship, the more I prioritize different things. My list is different now.
It’s less about me and more about what God is doing among His people.
Here is my new list:
1. God was glorified – Nothing matters more than the glory of God. It’s all about His fame, His praise, His renown. At the end of the day, the question of God’s glory matters more than anything.
2. The people engaged – Worship services are successful when people worship. When you do a good job as a leader, it should happen. Part of that is choosing songs they know, in keys they can sing. If people were disengaged and watching you the whole time, you may want to reconsider your strategy.
3. The band was worshiping – Not only is it important for the congregation to engage, but it’s important for your band to pour their hearts out. Just because they are musicians doesn’t give them license to look bored.
They need to express their worship, even if they don’t feel like it. They are leaders. It’s about serving the people and it doesn’t serve worship when they look like their about to die.
4. We sang truth – Corporate worship is an activity in proclaiming truth. It’s saying, “We were once dead but now we’re alive,” and “Christ is risen from the dead”, along with many other declarations. Truth transforms. Success is re-aligning ourselves with the truth of God’s Word.
5. We left changed – You, your congregation, and your team should never leave church the same. The presence of God changes everything. Anything is possible. This starts with your decision. It’s about leaning into the sermon a little more. It’s being attentive to God’s voice. It’s a choice to lose yourself in worship.
6. The band engaged with the entire service – As a leader, I know I haven’t lead well if my worship team never attends church. Sure, they are a part of the band. But if during the rest of the service they are merely hanging out, I’ve failed.
A great worship service is where the team not only engages with worship but with the entire service, listening to God’s Word, praying for the lost to be saved, sitting under the leadership of the pastor.
Where do you go from here? Define what success is for you. Then write it down as part of your strategy. Work it into your rehearsals. Work it into your devos with your team.
Don’t leave it to chance. Make it happen.
Question: What defines success for you and your team? Let’s expand the list. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Dave Helmuth says
Those are some really helpful “metrics!” I especially like the first one, and I’d love to hear you expand it…what does that look like, how do you know when it happens?
I have a process of list of things that I process with leaders when giving feedback after a service. Of course, knowing what we’re going to talk about helps shape the planning for the next weeks.
Here’s a sampling of what we process. I call it “Broccoli.”
A mark of true friendship is to discretely, lovingly, and quickly tell your friends if they have broccoli in their teeth, right? In the spirit of “Do I have broccoli in my teeth?” please take a moment to reflect about this week’s worship rehearsal and Sunday morning gathering. This doesn’t have to be major introspection, just jot down what stands out.
What are 2 things that I liked best about the experience? (what success can I celebrate?)
What are 2 things that I’d suggest be done differently next time? (what didn’t go well this time?)
Answer at least one question in each of the following categories to help you think specifically. Be sure to list any tangible, descriptive, concrete, specific details.
Congregational Engagement
~ What songs were meaningful [or flat]?
~ How did it require participation – was it an All-Play? Was everyone asked/invited to contribute something? Did the worshipers offering cost them something? (2 Samuel 24:24)
Leadership
~ What was one thing that you learned about worship leading?
~ Was it clear that the worship leader and band was leading worship versus just performing?
Broader service
~ How did your parts fit in and support the rest of the service?
~ How effective were the creative elements? What made them work? How could they have worked better?
~ Were there any cringe/awkward/confused moments? How were mistakes handled?
Artistry
~ Where was the band in the scale of “making it through the music” to “actually making music?”
~ Did the music breathe? Did it have space or did all the band play on mostly every part of every song?
~ Did each player use their instrument as their worshiping voice, a very personal, emotional expression offered in the creation of a space for a community to worship?
Christ at the Center
~ What/Who seemed to be the primary focus of the gathering?
~ How did this actually help us become more like little Christ’s? (aka Christians)
Rehearsal
~ Did I/we feel prepared after rehearsal [and did I/we come to rehearsal prepared]?
~ Did we connect more than just musically at rehearsal [relationally, spiritually, etc.]? Did the techs and the band feel like one worship team?
~ Was there a moment where the band was able to push themselves past what they’re comfortable with and already know?
There are more questions we ask, but this gives a feel for what I have leaders focusing on.
David Santistevan says
Dave, I appreciate you sharing all this. Super, super helpful.
For me, glorifying God has to do with the state of our hearts as worshipers. When we come together for the purpose of making his name famous, he is glorified. It’s all about treasuring Jesus.
Brian Davis says
Great practical questions that need to be considered while at the same time keeping the focus where it should be. Great comment.
Josh Taylor says
Hi Pastor David. Nice blog, I found you on Twitter. My type of leading is to teach young musicians and help them grow. And so success for me is seeing their success. When I see them leading, singing, or playing, and the presence of God comes, that’s exciting to me.
David Santistevan says
Josh, I really resonate with that. Awesome. Thanks for sharing.
carolyn kamau says
its not only for worship leader, but also for every worshipper who wonna do it in spirit and in truth
Josephat Mutale says
For successful praise and worship leading starts with you, a worship leader should have time to pray and worship God at individual level, its those personal encounters with God in the closet which culminates in to the glory of God coming down or that intense presence of God that brings healing, deliverance and lifting of burdens. Its important to prepare good songs and having nice voices but most importantly prayer, and holy living are recepies for effective worship leading
Brian Davis says
Helpful post! Thank you. We are just rebuilding our worship team. We are a small church but have lots of talent. Hopefully we will be able to find these talented people with the desire and time to be able to commit to the important work of leading Gods people in corporate worship.