WORSHIP LEADERS
YOU CAN ELIMINATE EXCUSES FOR NOT PRACTICING ENOUGH | Jon Nicol
EIGHT GROWTH ENGINES FOR EXCEPTIONAL SUNDAYS , PART 3 It ’ s early Saturday evening . I get this thought , “ Oh crud … I have to lead worship in about 12 hours .” The knot in my stomach reminded me of what I was dreading :
We weren ’ t ready .
We had ended Thursday rehearsal with the set not even solid enough for a run-through . So now , all we had was a 40-minute soundcheck / warm-up to pull it all together before the service . That is if everyone showed up on time . And they won ’ t .
That was a typical , almost weekly , predicament in the early days of ministry . Sometimes I even had “ worship leading dreams ” to boost the dread . ( Usually , the nightmare was some variation of realizing five minutes before the service that there were no lyrics in ProPresenter , and I had scheduled four new team members whom I had never met . And sometimes I was in my underwear .)
While there were musicianship and commitment issues , the big problem with my team in those
days was preparation . In other words , my team ( and I ) didn ’ t practice enough .
Preparation is one of the Eight Growth Engines I ’ ve been writing about for the last few issues . A growth engine is a collection of the systems and processes in each area of your ministry that produce a set of outcomes . Not only do these engines make your worship ministry go , they also make it grow . But progress and improvement only happen when you ’ re intentional . Otherwise , these growth engines just keep producing what they ’ ve always produced .
And when it comes to growth engines , Preparation is a 6.6L V-8 with massive hauling capabilities — if properly implemented . If not , it ’ s a single-cylinder lawn mower engine ( tied to your ankle while you ’ re trying to swim across a lake ).
Preparation is a big deal .
At WorshipTeamCoach . com , we also refer to these Eight Growth Engines as the “ Essential Systems .” But essential is not a strong enough adjective for this system . Preparation is missioncritical to build a team that can make every Sunday exceptional . It ’ s also a key component to both the musical quality of your team and their visual quality – their platform presence .
Even beyond all that , good preparation is a “ keystone habit ” for your team . Charles Duhigg , in his book , The Power of Habit , explains that certain good habits can become the foundation and a catalyst for building other good habits . He calls these keystone habits . For example , if a person develops a habit of exercising regularly , that habit can help motivate that person to eat better too .
As my team developed better practice habits , I saw other committed behaviors emerge : showing up on time , responding to scheduling requests , attending training events , etc . To be sure , I still had to work at cultivating commitment in those areas . But the team members ’ investment in personal practice became a keystone habit ( or commitment ) for other highly committed behavior .
So rather than continue to tell you how crucial preparation is , let me give you two practical tactics you can start implementing — even this