Having played on worship teams for close to 30 years I have experienced many highs and lows. I have been a leader - I have been a follower. I have had paid positions of leadership and on other occasions been the lowest guy whose opinion didn't count. Once I was in a church where live music wasn't needed or highly regarded. This was a season of extreme humbling!
I have served under leaders much more skilled and knowledgeable than I. ---Once I was a co-Pastor of music and then another time --a volunteer serving under an inexperienced younger leader .
After all these adventures of serving the Lord on music teams I have learned many things. Here are some of them!
Playing and singing on a Worship Team-
11 positive ideas to focus on
1- We are serving the Lord Jesus - our goal is to bring Him glory and honor. For us musicians this is one of the highest ways we can use our musical abilities.
2-We want to be a blessing to the congregation. Few people have musical abilities so your talents are needed.
3- Even if our talents are minimal, we are still a blessing to others. Let me explain:-- If you doubt your abilities as a musician or singer, you are still an encouragement to others and this is how: You are seen as one who believes in Jesus , trusts him and is in public agreement with what the worship songs say in their lyrics. You never know -- another person seeing you as part of the worship team, may decide to ask the Lord into their heart because they see you singing and playing unto Jesus the King!
4- We are part of a team that loves each other, and prays for each other! We can grow close , build camaraderie and accountability. We also can grow as musicians together . Yes I know we aren't perfect, yet we can work out our salvation together. see Philippians 2:12 .
5- We can lead each other in a spirit of unity as we lift Jesus higher. What a Divine calling. Even if we have differences we can profit from them.------"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" Proverbs 27:17
6- We need to trust that the sound of your team's music will be good enough to get the job done.-- The Holy Spirit draws people to Jesus -- we as a band can't do it in our own strength anyway . We are just tools in the Masters Hands.--- " 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty "--Zechariah 4:6 --Yes we need to prepare our hearts, practice the music and know what we are doing but nothing good will come out of it if the Lord isn't in it!
7-Trust the sound engineer (sound man , women). We can't hear the balance of sounds between voices and instruments, as it is heard by the congregation. From where we stand on stage, we are unable to know know how it sounds out front. We only know how it sounds to us on stage. This may not be the true mix of sound to the congregation.
Getting back to the the sound mix --let it go-- don't tell the sound man what to do . .
8-Understand the difference between stage volume and room volume. The balance of sounds on stage is called the monitor mix or stage mix. The mix of sounds heard by the congregation is sometimes different from what you perceive it to be from your vantage point on stage--don't worry about it. All we need on stage is a balance of sound good enough so we can hear our selves clearly and play or sing well .
Singers need to hear themselves well enough so they can sing on pitch. We need to hear all the musicians well enough so that musical cues can be heard clearly. It doesn't have to be perfect.
It's OK to ask the sound man to make changes in the stage mix to accommodate our own ears. The sound man can't hear what we hear so we'll need to speak up! This can be done during sound check before the service.
( Incidentally even if this was set at band practice on Thursday night, don't be surprised if it needs readjusting on Sunday)
9-Serve the Worship Leader. If we serve (him or her) we are serving the Lord. This builds unity. Even if the leader is wrong, the team will be blessed. We are under the leaders authority. God will correct him eventually. This is not to say we can't disagree and sometimes talk those things out. But in the end submission to authority is a good thing for everyone.
10- Be flexible with everything. Be willing to play or sing in a variety of ways within your musical ability. There is no one right way to do anything unless it is scriptural. Let's avoid seeing things as just black or white . Most things are gray.
11- Make sure praying is an important part of band practice. Pray for everything and everyone ( God's blessing , God's leading, the songs, the people, the message, the Pastor, your skills as a team and so on). Make it the most important part of your meeting. The band that grows together in prayer will grow in it's Divine power to accomplish the work that God has put before them. Having the Holy Spirit work through you as a team is more important than how good the music sounds. Pray also for each other as individuals so that you can develop a spirit of transparency between brothers and sisters in Christ. This will then be something you can pass on to the church body.
May God bless you in your music ministry-- Glenn
