stress of trying to learn new songs on Sunday . But it also gives your team a taste of a non- Sunday preparation event .
4 . STACK THE DECK IN FAVOR OF YOUR VISION . Don ' t be the only champion for desired future . Get a coalition of team members — who are bought into your vision — to influence others .
This happened with my team as we moved towards using a click . A year after I was convinced that we needed to repent of lousy tempo , several of my team attended the next CMS with me , and guess what happened . They were determined that we needed to play with a click — and not for the ' cool ' factor of using tracks , but for the musicianship of playing in time .
Team members will more often buy into a change when their peers are pushing for it . And bonus : those allies will have your back if — scratch that — when the transition gets ugly .
5 . SYSTEMATIZE TO SOLIDIFY . When I was still a young pup in ministry , the back of my head blew out when I heard Andy
Stanley say , " Every people problem can be traced to a systems problem ." Understanding systems was revolutionary for my leadership .
I wish we had more time to explore it , but the simple definition of systems is this : how you and your team get things done . So , if you struggle to move towards a particular vision , your current systems are likely keeping you stuck in your current reality . You ' ll never realize your vision if you don ' t master your systems .
For example , when I moved my team from a Sunday-only , pre-service cram session to a real , mid-week rehearsal , it struggled to take hold for two big reasons . First , we had a floating rehearsal . We kept bouncing between Thursday and Saturday to accommodate people ' s schedules . As a result , the rehearsal was never a fixed priority in someone ' s calendar . Finally , I solidified the day and time on Thursday .
Then , after a season of establishing that night and time , I instituted a ' rehearsal attendance required ' policy : no Thursday , no Sunday . Not gonna lie : the first time enforcing that was painful — for me , for the bass player who kept
shirking rehearsals , and for the band who had to go on without a bass that week . But creating a better “ system ” was a turning point in reaching my vision of a healthy , mid-week rehearsal .
If all this seems like a lot of work , welcome to ministry ! Just because you have a God-given vision doesn ' t mean it will be easy or feel like spiritual bliss the whole time . I mean , does it ever ? Look at Noah ' s vision — forty years building a boat ! Look at Moses — four decades in a desert loop — and he doesn ' t even get to go into the Promised Land . Look at Paul — taking the good news of Christ to the gentiles and lands in prison — among other hardships .
The bottom line is this : realizing future vision always requires hard work in the here and now .
Jon Nicol Jon ’ s the founder of WorshipWorkshop . com and WorshipTeamCoach . com , two sites that help worship leaders build strong teams and lead engaging worship . He lives and serves in Lexington , Ohio with his wife Shannon and their four kids . WorshipWorkshop . com WorshipTeamCoach . com