WORSHIP LEADERS
8 GROWTH ENGINES FOR EXCEPTIONAL SUNDAYS ( PART 1 ) | Jon Nicol
In the last few weeks , I ’ ve heard these wins from my coaching clients …
Team members taking ownership … “ My sound tech called me on Tuesday and said he couldn ’ t be there Sunday . But he said to me , ‘ Don ’ t worry , I got Mike ( another tech ) lined up to cover for me .’”
A younger leader being more intentional … “ I planned out an entire month of worship sets for the first time . It ’ s so freeing to have that done !”
A leader getting intentional about multiplying his team … “ I just added four new team members this month who are all really qualified and excited to serve on the team .”
Each of these worship leaders is doing intentional work to move their worship ministry to the next level of excellence in some way . And , as they work at implementing that improvement , it ’ ll soon become the standard . What was once “ exceptional ” is becoming the “ new normal .”
Here ’ s the thing — I ’ m not teaching any of these leaders some deep magic from before the dawn of time . ( That ’ s in Narnia .) I ’ m just helping them find ways to improve some specific ‘ growth engines ’ in their worship ministry .
A growth engine is a collection of the systems & processes in each area of your ministry that produce a set of outcomes . Not only do these engines make your worship ministry go , they will make it grow . But progress and improvement only happen when you ’ re intentional . Otherwise these growth engines simply keep producing what they ’ ve always been producing .
To get intentional and improve their ‘ growth engines ,’ I help my clients look at three things :
1 . Desired Results 2 . Efficiency 3 . Sustainability You need all three — results , efficiency , sustainability . It ’ s not enough to just get the results you want in your worship ministry . You have to be able to get those outcomes in an appropriate amount of time ( efficiency ), and without burning out you or your team ( sustainability ).
As I work with my clients , I help them identify the eight ‘ big ’ growth engines in their ministry . We work together to prioritize which of the Eight Essential Growth Engines need the most attention . From there , I help them calibrate these ‘ engines ’ to get the desired results — efficiently and sustainably .
That ’ s what I want to help you with — to grow your worship ministry by identifying and optimizing your Eight Essential Growth Engines . And because of that , I decided to make this a short series . It will allow us to dig deeper into each Eight Growth Engine and talk about some practical steps for improving each one .
Before I tell you what they are , it ’ s important to note that four of these growth engines are “ Sunday-focused .” That is , these are the engines that help you plan and lead powerful Sunday worship gatherings , week after week , without burning out . The other four growth engines are “ ministry-focused .” That is , they ’ ll help you build a team that can make every Sunday exceptional .
For each growth engine , I ’ m going to tell you what it is , why it ’ s critical , and a few practical things you can do to improve that area . And make sure you read to the end , because I ’ ve got something for those of you who are impatient and don ’ t want to wait till next month to learn more .
Let ’ s dig into the first two Sunday-focused growth engines .
GROWTH ENGINE # 1 : SERVICE / SET PLANNING Definition : The process for selecting music and planning a service flow that will lead your church in a powerful worship experience .
As you create meaningful worship gatherings , week after week , your church ’ s anticipation for , and participation in , musical worship will grow . It will help you build a church culture that values worshiping together .
Remember , the three things we want from our growth engines are results , efficiency , and sustainability . So to get the results that you desire from your weekly worship experience , you need more than just a sequence of three or four tunes . To be more intentional in your worship planning , think of your setlist — or better yet , your entire service — as a journey of worship . And that journey weaves through some or even all of these six elements :
Songs - As Dan Wilt says , “ Songs are places we go to meet God .” So be intentional about how and when you ’ ll visit these ‘ places .’ It ’ s not just about the tempo , key signatures , or what ’ s cool . Selecting songs is a pastoral role .
Scriptures - Use the Word of God generously throughout . Isaiah said it best in chapter 40 : “ Songs fade and the CCLI Top 25 fades away … but the word of our God will stand forever .” ( OK , maybe it didn ’ t quite go like that . But you get the point .)
Segues - Transitions matter . Maintain a flow to help keep people focused in the moment , not wondering what ’ s happening next . Or worse , gawking at the band who ’ s awkwardly waiting for the guitarist to stop fumbling through his charts between songs . ( Time to buy an iPad , Rick !)