LOOP COMMUNITY
HOW WE MEASURE SUCCESS W / CODY CARNES | Matt McCoy
Cody Carnes sat down with Loop Community Founder Matt McCoy to talk about how worship leaders should measure success , as well as his album God Is Good ! which is nominated for the Dove Award for album of the year .
MEASURING SUCCESS
[ Matt ] It can be so easy for churches to measure success and define what that success is with attendance or with engagement . Did they raise their hands , did everyone sing along , etc . But I think the danger of that is that then you think the opposite is true . If people are engaged and clapping , then it was because of you . How should worship leaders measure success and transformation ?
[ Cody ] I don ’ t think it ’ s about the amount of people in the room , it ’ s about the amount of presence in the room . That ’ s how I would gauge success . I can encounter the presence of God with 30 people , and if God ’ s presence is rich and his manifest glory is in the room , then we ’ re doing something right .
I remember being a worship pastor at a church plant with 40 people in the room . Planting a church is so hard and a test of character of the heart . I remember feeling that I didn ’ t have a gauge on what was happening . And I remember the Lord encouraged me to go find the stories . What I was doing as a worship leader was disengaging from people . I would lead worship on stage and then go hangout with my team in the green room . I wasn ’ t going that extra step of meeting people . But when I started to , often the people that were stone cold with arms crossed during the service , would come up and tell me how they were impacted by worship .
I cannot base my gauge on what God is doing based on the responses of people . It ’ s all about revelation of the Holy Spirit and getting to know the people you are leading . And when you get to know the people , you build a trust with them . Don ’ t be a green room worship leader . You ’ ll build that trust , you ’ ll hear their stories , they ’ ll follow you , it ’ s a win-win all around .
AVOIDING COMPARISON
[ Matt ] The reason that some of these things have been on my mind , is that long story short , my church imploded a few months ago and I ’ ve found myself in a position where I ’ ve essentially planted a church . We have 50 people in a community center with no sound system . Last weekend I was leading on an acoustic guitar and advancing the lyrics in between strums . But it ’ s been great getting to know each other on a deeper level and hearing stories of people building relationships .
[ Cody ] I love that . The only thing that can steal your joy from that , is comparison . If you think , ‘ well we ’ ve got to do this ’ or ‘ we have to grow this much ’, and obviously you want to see growth , but in my mind 10 years ago I would have thought ‘ if it could just hit this mark ’, that can steal your joy in something that is really beautiful . You ’ re seeing the things in this season that you weren ’ t able to do before . If you ’ re encountering the presence of God , it doesn ’ t matter how many people are there .
Click here to watch the rest of the interview !
You can get all the Master Tracks for Cody Carnes ’ s songs on LoopCommunity . com .
Matt McCoy Matt is a worship leader , songwriter and Ableton Certified Trainer from Chicago , IL . He has been using Ableton and tracks in worship since 2002 . He ’ s passionate about creating new products and teaching worship leaders and artists how to use technology in live performance . www . LoopCommunity . com 36 October 2023 Subscribe for Free ...