YOUTH WORSHIP TEAM
POLISHING IT UP | Vance & Michelle Shepherd
Whether your student band is providing worship for your home church or leading as a guest worship [ team in another church , it ’ s great to instill in them the importance of knowing the order of songs and topical theme of the service , as well as the pastor ’ s vision for that service , including the style and flow . As teachers , we ’ ve found it very effective to incorporate this into their rehearsal time , especially during run-thru on Sunday morning , just exactly as if it were the real service . It can be a very effective way to getting the team polished up and ready to lead .
One of the churches our student band leads worship at is more charismatic in style . In this church , it ’ s standard in the flow of service that the worship team plays one song at the beginning , thenthe pastor comes up and greets everyone with a short , inspiring word . Nearly every time towards the end of his greeting he gets fired up , there ’ s excitement in his voice , and he gets an energetic response from his congregation . This church ’ s regular house worship team usually waits until he ’ s done with his greeting , and then ( after a bit of awkward dead time ), continues on to play 3 more worship songs after he leaves the stage . Not a crime by any sense , but it could flow better and be a more seamless , less awkward transition . As a worship team , we have a unique opportunity to set the tone for what ’ s to come in the service .
Here are some helpful tips that we use to train our youth worship bands in how to create an effective , smooth and polished service flow :
TIP 1 : We like to paint the picture to our students that they can think of their band as providing the church service “ music soundtrack ”, like a movie score . We encourage and train them to listen to and engage with what ’ s going on , to what is being said , and to build musical dynamics with the pastor . A helpful thing to do is to make sure that every band member has the pastor ’ s voice in their monitor so they can feel and flow dynamically with him if they ’ re on stage with him during any part of the service . During their rehearsal time , we have them plan ahead by playing a musical bed in the key of the next song in the worship set , having the drummer doing cymbal swells and kicks , with the keyboardists and guitarists holding sustained chords , etc .
TIP 2 : We make it a practice of videoing our students when they lead worship , and it ’ s been an extremely great tool for them to learn from . After videoing our student ’ s Sunday worship sets , we then give them classes based on what we saw on the video , praising them for things done well and giving them tips for improvement . As the students each watch the video , they all agree where their worship set could be better .
In one particular instance , as the pastor was giving his inspirational greeting after the 1 st song , the band ’ s underscore sounded great , and the pastor ’ s energy was really high . But at the end of his greeting , when he turned it back over to the worship team to finish their worship set and walked off stage , he said excitedly , “ Come on , let ’ s worship !” And then … there was 5 seconds of dead time as the drummer stopped cymbal swelling , the musicians stopped sustaining their chords , and the drummer fumbled to start the click track to the next song . We explained to them how they should have kept holding the chord and the cymbal swell until the count-in to the next song came in , eliminating all the dead space between the pastor leaving the stage and the band starting the song . That would have been so much more effective .
TIP 3 : We ’ ve also found it helpful to contact the church a few weeks ahead of time and ask what will be preached on and the scripture passages highlighted , striving to design the worship set or at least a song to fit in with the theme or
accompany the message .
This can get the worship leader or leaders thinking ahead about how to tie the worship songs to the flow of service , set up the next song thematically , or introduce the pastor , announcements or offering time .
Whatever type of church your youth worship team is leading at , it ’ s great to practice , plan and rehearse the dynamics . It adds so much to the service , and makes everything feel seamless , smooth and cohesive . And like anything , the more they do it , the better they will be at it . And it has immediate pay off , getting your team better by this Sunday !
May you be blessed as you pour into or become the next generation of worship leaders !
Vance & Michelle Shepherd Founders of The Shepherd School of Music in Las Vegas , NV , where they work with youth to raise up the next generation of worship leaders and musicians . facebook . com / shepherdschoolofmusiclasvegas www . ShepherdStudiosLV . com
38 August 2024 Subscribe for Free ...