Worship Leader Lessons

Taking Time to Learn, part 2 - Are you taking time to read and process other creative outlets? I read a statistic that over 10,000 films were submited to sundance film festival this year. 200 were selected for screening, and of those, only 3 were given distribution deals. That's quite a bit of creative that's out there that won't be seen by the large masses.The internet is an incredible tool to hear, see, and experience the creative. Are you spending time seeking out creative work? Watching film shorts, reading blogs about new ideas, expanding your imagination, and your view of…

What are you learning new? Are you writing music? Are you spending time sifting through new music on a regular basis? One of the most baffling things to me as a worship leader is the CCLI top 25. CCLI is "Christian Copyright Licensing International," and is the organization that ALL churches should be paying a yearly subscription to, unless you're solely using original worship songs - and you don't want the use of those songs tracked and available to others.Anyway - the "top 25" is the list of the top 25 songs used in churches across the country for any…

Respect the time of a volunteer.We've got a simple schedule during the week. Choir meets from 6-7. I try to split the time of the choir between preparing for the next Sunday that we'll lead in worship, and working on seasonal material. I'd say that our rehearsals are fairly fast-paced, and if you'll engage, you'll pick up a lot of music in a short amount of time. I stand in front of our choir room at a small console-piano, and teach mostly by repetition and rote, as the majority of our folks are not readers (music that is). I supplement…

You WILL offend . . . I could write a book. I won't, but I could write a book about the offenses that people have taken to ministry decisions I've made in 15 years.I'm a people-pleaser, and it took me a long time to realize that there are and will be people that are offended by something I do, or don't do. Think about it for a minute. If you've got 500 people coming to church - all 500 of those car stereos will have a different set of radio presets. Musical preferences are subjective, and nothing gets people's passions…

Be Consistent.Find a way to provide some consistency to your weekly ministry, which gives those that want to get involved something to count on. For me - the same guy sits at the piano every week. And whether some would think that's a good thing, or a bad thing - it provides vocalists and instrumentalists a consistent musical presence each week -which allows for various drummers, guitarists, bassist, and vocalists to rotate through and learn what to listen for when matching up strumming, beating, and singing.The downside? It's difficult for a pianist to get involved unless they want to play…

This blog stinks. It's been treading water since the beginning of the summer, where it's only consisted of weekly recaps of Sunday morning tunes - not even a new ridiculous video . . . I'm initiating a new attempt at adding some content.I've been having an email exchange with a friend over the past few days regarding how I do certain things in the worship ministry. Which got me thinking - maybe this same info would benefit others. So i'm starting a new series on this blog . . . little lessons I've learned. Personal policies i follow. Weekly procedures…