WORSHIP LEADERS
CHRISTMAS IN JULY | Matt Miller
Wow ! I never thought I ’ d be writing an article for Worship Musician Magazine , but here we are - let ’ s go !
Hi , my name is Matt Miller , and I ’ m the new owner of WorshipTeamCoach . com & WorshipWorkshop . com . I met Jon Nicol a number of years ago when I was looking for some training resources for my worship team . I purchased the course Lead Worshiper 101 and I was hooked immediately . You might say I “ drank the kool-aid .” Later on , I became a coaching client , then a coach on Jon ’ s staff , and now I ’ m the Head Coach .
A little about me : I ’ m a sinner saved by the grace of God . My wife and I met at band camp in college , ( yes , “ that one time , at band camp …”) My beautiful bride ’ s name is Kara , and by the release of this article we will have celebrated our 7-year wedding anniversary . The Lord has blessed us with an amazing daughter ; her name is Melody ( yeah , I know , how cliché of us ). Kara and I both have degrees in music education , and we ’ ve been in ministry over 15 years now .
Cool , now that we ’ ve got the bio out of the way , let ’ s get to something helpful for you . I really love how this magazine provides # BetterBySunday content , and that ’ s one of my goals for each article that our company submits .
By nature , I ’ m a planner . It may seem to you like Christmas is a long way away , but it ’ ll be here before we know it and that ’ s why I created a Christmas In July workshop . It ’ s all about how to kickstart the Advent and Christmas season planning , not just for “ Worship ” related activities but also to get the rest of the church staff thinking in advance . Here ’ s a sneak peek and inside scoop of what this workshop will look like :
A few questions to think about : 1 . What worked well last Christmas ? 2 . What didn ’ t work well ? 3 . Are we doing a Kids Program ? If so which Sunday ? 4 . What songs did we want to do last year , but didn ’ t have time to learn ? 5 . Which songs are we repeating ? ( It ’ s good to repeat songs , I prefer having Christmas Eve as a “ December ’ s Greatest Hits ” service .) 6 . Christmas falls on a Monday this year , so are we having a Christmas Eve Sunday morning service as well as a Christmas Eve Sunday evening service ? 7 . What about an “ Acoustic Christmas Set ?”
These are just a few of the questions that can be helpful to think through in July and then present to other church leaders for feedback and / or approval .
You might be thinking , “ Matt , ain ’ t no way this will be helpful , my Pastor is more of a ‘ week to week ’ kinda guy .” That ’ s fine , but the more planning we do in advance the more we ’ ll be able to “ pivot ” when our leadership has
a new idea .
Our worship ministries rely on many volunteers , some of whom serve 53 weeks a year . ( I know there ’ s only 52 , but we always have “ extra services ,” Ash Wednesday , Maundy Thursday , Good Friday , Christmas Eve , etc .) How cool would it be if our team members who have young children didn ’ t serve at the 10pm Christmas Eve service ? Or better yet , which service are YOU not serving in , and just sitting in a pew off the platform ? Again , things to think about now so we can adjust later .
As worship ministry leaders , part of our role is to “ shepherd ” our team . Sometimes that means that we have to protect them from “ overserving ” or burning out- even if that means having a difficult conversation with other church leaders explaining why things might look at little different this Christmas season .
I ’ m really passionate about respecting our volunteers ’ time with their families . By planning out the Advent & Christmas season in July , we can relieve a little bit of stress that some of our
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