WORSHIP LEADERS
GOT VISION ? MAKE IT HAPPEN | Jon Nicol
" Look at what I found , gang ! Enhancement tracks !"
It was circa 2013 , and we were just about to get into our new church building . Which meant a new sound system and … wait for it ... personal mixers and in-ears ! Yes !
After playing in a high school auditorium ( with a semi-functioning sound system ) the previous four years , I couldn ' t wait . I had encountered backing tracks in action at a conference ( probably Christian Musician Summit ... you know , the best conference out there ), and I was determined to use them with my worship team .
One small hiccup . We had a lousy sense of time . Our tempo was tied to the dynamics of the song . Big part ? We raced . Soft part ? We dragged . ( Which , of the two tempo issues , is by far the worst . It was like having a backing band of lovable , furry sloths .)
I had a vision ( playing with enhancement tracks ) that far exceeded our current reality ( a band that couldn ' t keep time ). Inherently , that ' s what vision is — seeing a yet-to-be recognized future reality . So , what ’ s your vision for your team ? To
get them to practice more ? Or to help them deepen their love of Jesus ? Or maybe it ' s to write and record an album ?
Let me give you some steps to create a vision that will have a fantastic chance of becoming a reality .
1 . ENVISION YOUR VISION AS IF IT WAS REALITY . I recently wrote three pages ( hand-cramping longhand ) about what an upcoming WorshipTeamCoach . com online event would look like . I pictured it and used past tense verbs — as if it had already happened .
Did it come to pass as I imagined ? Heck no . But a critical thing happened during that exercise . As I pictured the end result , I thought more intentionally about what it would take to get there . And I came up with some ideas and tactics that I would never have thought of had not invested in my imagination . And it ' s important to note , this " imagineering " will help you more clearly communicate your vision with others . Speaking of ...
2 . ASK THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO ASK HARD QUESTIONS . When you have a reasonably clear picture of what you want and how you might get there , vet it with a few trusted people .
Let ' s say you have a plan to move to a mid-week rehearsal . Currently , you ' re only practicing with your team on Sundays . Ask some core team members to poke holes in your plan and give you the kind of pushback that they ' d anticipate from other team members .
However , hang on . This is when you get told your baby is ugly . But you need this critical feedback if you want your baby to grow into a healthy , mid-week rehearsal . These trusted advisors will help you see and prepare for the rough road ahead .
3 . PHASE IT IN WITH PHASES . Big visions don ' t emerge from one or two quick fixes . To make the change easier to manage for you ( and more palatable for your team ), figure out how to break into smaller phases .
Let ' s continue with the previous example . Going from no rehearsal to weekly rehearsals is a tough sell . But what about starting with a once-a-month event where you solely worked on newer songs . This alleviates some of the