have a Kingdom mindset . We are preparing people to go out - not building our own worship team empire . And sending / going can mean many different things :
Planting . Your church may plant another church or start a new campus . It ' s not fun to intentionally release a fourth of your team to go elsewhere . But if you don ' t grow to prepare for it , it could be half your team .
Leaving . Life changes . People move on and move away . There are dozens of different churches that have benefited from the work I did to develop leaders and team members . I didn ' t want to ‘ send them .’ But life circumstances dictated the scatter . Team members went to college , took jobs in other cities , or got married ( and the spouse ' s church won ... dang it ).
Helping . When your team is blessed with numbers , you can bless other churches in your area . As your ministry grows , you ' ll be in the unique place to let other churches ' borrow ' your musicians . Smaller churches can be a fantastic place for less experienced leaders and musicians to get more experience and playing time .
It ' s a win-win-win . That smaller church is ecstatic to have someone fill a need . The team member gets experience she / he might not have gained otherwise . And you ' re able to use that situation in her / his growth as a lead worshiper .
7 . CREATE MORE PLACES TO SERVE " We have too many people serving in this church ." This quote is attributed to ‘ No One . Ever ’.
Actually , that ’ s not quite true . Too many worship team members have an " us four and no more " attitude . For selfish reasons , they only want someone who can fill their spot when it ' s a need . " You can have my spot … when I ' m on vacation ." Or they errantly think adding musicians will wreck some musical chemistry they have with each other . I hate to break it to these people . Longevity isn ’ t a requirement for playing tight and together . It ’ s about playing in time and listening to each other . Crazy notions , right ?
When we allow that exclusive , non-growthfocused mentality to grow , we ’ re doing a disservice to your church . First , it cultivates inward-focused , selfish attitudes among the team . But second , and worse than that , it keeps you from doing everything we just mentioned above .
Now , this reason - creating more opportunities to serve - can morph into a not-so-great one . In fact , this reason can be toxic to your team . So what ' s the Not-So-Great Reason # 8 ?
8 . THE SHOWCASE The worship ministry does not exist for people to ‘ showcase their talents ’ or to have a ‘ platform to share their gifts .’ That ' s just code for , " I ' m really good , and people deserve to hear me sing or play ." Talented musicians can get a sense of entitlement , almost like they ' re
doing the church a favor by ‘ sharing ’ their gifts .
We need to help all our singers , techs , and instrumentalists see the worship ministry as a place for people to offer their gifts and talents to serve the church and worship God . Sunday is not a weekly talent show .
NOW FOR THE TOUGH PART I know learning all these reasons doesn ' t actually help to bring new team members in . I wish it did . That ' s the tough part . But when potential musicians express interest , you ' ll invite people in for the right reasons if you ' ve embraced this philosophy of healthy growth . And , you may even say no to a few . Again , for the right reasons and the health of your worship ministry .
Jon Nicol Jon ’ s the founder of WorshipWorkshop . com and WorshipTeamCoach . com , two sites that help worship leaders build strong teams and lead engaging worship . He lives and serves in Lexington , Ohio with his wife Shannon and their four kids . WorshipWorkshop . com WorshipTeamCoach . com