Building A Worship Team - part 2

Okay, now that you and your Senior Pastor are best of buds...
I can hear the excuses now - But Karl, I don't get to do it the way I want to do it! I NEVER get to be creative! I, I, I... tell your ego to shut up!

Did you ever stop to think that maybe he/she knows something you don't? Did you ever ask them why you weren't allowed freedom and flexibility? What have you done to show them that you can be effective if you do it your way?
Yes, you are supposed to be the "expert" in this area. That may mean that you need to educate them on why you want to do what it is you want to do. Soooooo, INVEST IN TIME WITH THE SENIOR PASTOR AND SPEW SOME OF YOUR VISION! They very well may surprise you - but you won't know until you spend time with them!

Okay, now that you and your Senior Pastor are the best of buds...
It's time to start building the team - almost. I'm going to assume that you already know what style of worship music you want to use. If not, see the first part of this rant!

Even before you put instrumentalists' and vocalists' in place, you need to have a clear expectation for the commitment level.

• What will the spiritual maturity 'level' need to be? If you have a membership class process, how far in the process should they need to go before they can serve? {Our requirement is that they complete CLASS 201.}
  
• What will the regular attendance and support requirement be? Will they be required to be at all of the services throughout the year, even if they aren't on every week? [We require 80% for the year, whether they are on or not.}
• What will their commitment OUTSIDE of rehearsal be? Will they be expected to practice on their own? If so, how long each week? Will you provide the tools to make that possible (i.e. practice CD, jump drive file, etc.)? {We require 2-3 hours of personal practice time each week to work parts, rhythms, etc.{}
• How will you handle sin issues when they come up? And they will - some more evident than others, but they will come up. Will you allow them to remove themselves when they have an issue they can't discuss? Can you be okay with that, knowing that it may mess with the plan for Sunday? {We have a regular discussion about knowing where we are. If there is something that will hinder them leading, they can - without question - sit out until they are back where God needs them. They also know that if I'm aware of unconfessed, unrepentant sin, I will ask them to sit until they are back where God needs them.}
• Here's a fun one, but one that needs to be a part of your commitment - are they financially supporting the ministry of the church? Are they committed to the vision as seen in the churches budget to do ministry in your community? If they aren't giving, they aren't being obedient. Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will obey my teaching." (John 14:23)

One more thing I've learned over the past 18 years is to have a system in place for them to evaluate how they think they are doing. We just started doing 'self-evaluations' here and I love what it's doing already. They get the chance to 'grade' them selves on spiritual and commitment issues, as well as skill issues such as pitch, rhythm, tone, musical style, etc. This evaluation is taken directly from the commitment covenant, so nothing is a surprise.

When you put people on the team, they need to know CLEARLY what the expectations are and how they are going to be measured. This will take care of a lot of the prima-dona junk that comes up before it has a chance to surface. And yes, you will have people accuse you of asking for way too much commitment. Good. You don't want them on the team. Trust me, you'll find the ones you need just in time.

So, once again I have to go. I'll finish the rest of this up - maybe - on Friday. It all depends on how long it takes me and my (college age) daughter to shop.

In the meantime, have fun building the commitment covenant and hanging with your Senior Pastor. Take them to lunch on Friday - just don't order the turkey!!!

K

Building A Worship Team - part 1

I don't hesitate to brag about the people I have the privilege to serve with at FBC, Pocatello. We have been blessed with some very talented, gifted musicians. For example, if I want to change a song or do a small piece just a little different, no problem. We walk through it, get the changes, do a little practice and off we go. It's like we've worked it all along that particular way and it either rocks or brings us to the moment we were looking for. We did a little of that tonight in rehearsal and it was cool. WAY COOL!

But it goes way beyond just skill and giftedness. I am blessed to be surrounded by artists who love God first and foremost, and who desire to put Him first in their lives as well as their ministry. This group of people struggle like everyone else. They deal with sin, relationship issues, joy and sorrow and all the other things that life throws our way. But they know that they have been blessed with the ability to share God's truths and His Word through song. They get that this is the place God has called them to, and they strive to please Him. And it gives me GREAT JOY to serve them!

How did we get to this place? How did we find such great, talented and focused people? Simple - they just fell out of the sky! (Sorry, too easy to let that one just sit there!)

Here's a couple of key steps that I think God wants ALL of us who lead worship teams to weave into our ministry:

1. Have a clear vision for what you want to accomplish, both in the worship service itself, and the ministry beyond the walls. DUH! But really, do you have a clear vision beyond this weekends service or the next series? If you do, great. What are you doing to take the ministry beyond the walls to the streets? What does your community need? You have to have a vision that includes your community or else you will stay inward focused.


2. Have a clear, Biblical understanding of what worship is. How does that fit with the vision and ministry of your church? If it's out of alignment, sit down with your Senior Pastor and understand what his/her vision for worship is. Your job, lead worshipper, is to make that vision a reality. If you can't, leave your position so the church can find someone who can. Read Become A True Worshiper, Tom Kraueter.
   
3. Know who the REAL Worship Leader is. (By the way, lead worshipper, it's not you!) Your Senior Pastor is the Worship Leader for the church. You just get the honor of leading that portion of worship with music. Do so in such a way that honors God and supports your Senior Pastor!
   
4. Senior Pastor and Lead Worshipper - spend time together getting to know each other. If you can't build a relationship with your leader, how can you hold your team accountable to relationship building? This is the NUMBER ONE problem in staff relationships still today and it pisses me off! I am sick and tired of Satan getting between the two most visible leaders in a church and causing the crap he causes. Listen, Senior Pastors and Lead Worshippers - you're not in junior high any more! Be a man/woman and own your junk and find a way to work together for the good of the Kingdom! Your church needs you; your community needs you; and I believe the local church needs you to be a good example of how to work together! So - DO IT!

Notice I haven't even mentioned the key players yet - the Worship Team. That's because without the foundation that I'm talking about, it doesn't matter what you do next, it will not work. It will not be successful because God is not honored, God is not central in the relationship - simply put, God is not in the details because your stupid ego is on the throne!

So, I'll continue this rant tomorrow after I've calmed down. In the meantime, as a Lead Worshipper, ask yourself the following:

• Do I have a clear vision for the worship ministry? Both inside and outside the building?


• Do I have a clear understanding of what Biblical worship is? How does it align with the understanding of my Senior Pastor?


• How is my relationship with my Senior Pastor? Am I open, honest and real? Do I allow him/her to hold me accountable? Do I see him/her as the Worship Leader? What will it take for me to get to that point?


• Where is my ego in all of this? Who will help keep the ego in check?

I am blessed to be serving with Pastor Bill McCready. He and I have spent countless hours together, as well as with our families. Building this relationship has been and will continue to be the most important relationship I work on in the church next to God. He makes it easy, 'cause he's a wierd dude like me. Pray for him, though, cause he's a big Seahawks fan.

Do we always agree? No. Do we always see eye to eye? (Did I mention he's a Seahawks fan?) What we DO is work things out, talk through them, get to the heart of things. And in the end, he's my Senior Pastor. When we walk out of the office I am 1000% behind him and the diretion God is leading - cause he's the Worship Leader. Get it?

I'll be praying for you...

What's Your Part?

Sunday was one of those days you live for in ministry!

• 5 baptisms between the 2 services! How cool is that? Talk about a party in heaven...
• Baby dedications are always special - and Arwin was a real cutie. Congrats to Chris and Margaret S.
• God called out to a lot of people to step up and serve. We have had a HUGE response to ministry opp's over the last several weeks. Keep looking and serving. God will be praised!

Pastor Bill had a good challenge and a tough challenge all in one sentence. If you can't find a place to serve here, if you can't find your passion here then maybe this isn't the place. (I'm paraphrasing)
That's a tough thing to hear - but one that needs to be heard and we need to do something about. If you look at what we've been called to, nowhere does it say we're to be complacent. Nowhere does the Bible say that we get to sit on the sidelines while others serve. Jesus himself came and served - hmmm...

So what will your part be? If we don't have something you have a passion for, perhaps God has put that in your heart to start that something! We have people all around us, both in the church and in the community, who need help. As His church, our job - our calling is to help. But we need people with a heart for Jesus to make it available. Will you step up? Will you allow God to break your heart for those in need? Will you rend your heart, bow your knees and just say YES to what God wants to do in your life?

My prayer is that you will hear God's call and answer it right away. Whatever I can do to help you make that become a reality, come find me at the church or email me at karl@fbcpoky.com.

Let's do our part - together - and see what God does with us!

See ya in church...

Refreshed Vision, Renewed Calling!

Back from Seattle and the Christian Musician Summit. Had a great time of connecting with God's vision for ministry, as well as learning some new stuff.
Have to give a big shout out and thank you to Mark Nelson and the team for leading out on Sunday. Heard it was a great time, despite the evil technology demons in the system. I have confidence in Mark to lead, or else I wouldn't have had him in that spot to do so (DUH!). I appreciate his heart and willingness to get out of God's way (which is big for us musicians) and lead God's way. It was just what we needed! Thanks again, Mark.

As for the summit:

• Brian Doerksen reminded us that our calling is NOT to awaken worship. It's to redirect our worship onto the character of God; to model His character.
• We were reminded that we need to be pleasing the Audience of One. If people come on Sunday and don't 'get something out of worship', good. It wasn't for them!
  
• I don't want people to get the idea its really all for them, because it's not. It is about us giving our hearts in worship and service to Him - period.
• Heard a lot about the need for personal practice time, separate from our weekly rehearsal time. Musicians should be spending time personally learning their parts, understanding transitions, knowing key changes and where to come in or sit out - all the stuff we've been expecting! But now that someone else said it, I hope it really sinks in.
• As a musician, how are you using the 'talent' that God gave you? Look up the parable from Matthew 25:14-30. Look at it from the standpoint of the gifts/talents that God has given you. How are you using yours? Are you investing or hoarding?
  
• Picked up a few pointers on keyboard. Some simple ways to transition songs in different keys using the same tag line in both keys. Will be sharing this with our keyboardists' this week. Got to share the wealth! (Matthew 25 Parable!)
• Was also able to speak with some key people about new building design and steps to take to make that process less painful, more efficient.

The other BIG thing that I really walked away with was the need to give more of what we learn away to other churches. Many of us in the ministry know how hard it is to take people to these kinds of events. It costs a lot of money, requires time away from real jobs, and doesn't guarantee that what we learn will ever be implemented when we get back to our churches.

One of the foundations of my ministry has always been to give away what we learn. We need to develop a platform on our end to be able to do just that with these resources.

So here's what I'm going to ask of you, especially those of you in the Northwest (Idaho, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon):

• If we could bring in some of today's leaders in our fields - worship leaders, vocal coaches, guitar and bass players, drummers, sound techs, etc. - would you be interested in coming to an event in Pocatello or Twin Falls?
• If we could bring such an event, what would be a 'doable' cost for you? At the LEAST, it would cost $100 and at the high end $199. Pick a point and let me know.
• Who would you bring? It can't be just you - that's not fair to you or your team. How many would you like to bring? (YES, there would be a group discount)

Please email me at karl@fbcpoky.com with your feedback, or post it to this blog. I know that I am being called to be this resource, for whatever reason, here in the Northwest. Pray for me and my team as we put some of these things together. I can tell you that we are already working with some 'key people' to do an event in May. You'll hear about it here when we get some details nailed down!

I'm EXCITED for what God is doing in my life and in the life of those around me. I'm grateful for those who got to go with me to Seattle, and what that will do in their own personal lives as well as the lives of the others on the team. And I can't wait to see what our God does with us here in the Gate City over these next few months. God Is Good!

See ya in church...

Goin' To Grow!

I'll be heading out on Thursday for Seattle with 6 of my team members for the Christian Musicians Summit. It will be a great time for some intense learning, off the chart worship, and hopefully some connection with old friends and colleagues. We'll be back in town on the evening of the 17th.

Here's what I hope to see us get done...

• Crab Pot for dinner on Thursday night - YAHOO!!!! (Hey, a boys gotta eat!)
• Clarification for how to reach this culture in the worship arena.
• Skills to bring back to assist the rest of the team - i.e. vocal technique, various instrument tips, media and sound tips, etc.
• Ideas on how to begin the design process for a new worship/multi-use facility (technologically speaking).
• Some new song ideas!
• Recruiting tips/ideas for worship leaders of the future (don't forget, I've got to replace me!)

Would you do us, those that are going, a favor? Pray for us to have open ears and hearts, to hear what God wants to say to us. And pray we can bring it back to the team the same way we heard it and not let things get lost in translation.
Pray for Mark and the team that will be leading in our absence, that God would work through them all and that the body would be connected to God through the worship music as well as through the spoken Word.

I'm looking forward to letting God continue the work in me that He has already started. Can't wait!

See ya in church next week...

Sunday Done...

WOW! What a day! I love being in that place where God uses me and I don't remember much, if anything, of what I said. Just a great reminder that, when we get out of His way, He will do wondrous things in and through us. Yes, He'll even use broken people like me to point people to Jesus - who knew?

• Hey, 9 a.m. service, way to be awake and with it! It was fun to be on the floor and visit with you. We'll have to do that more often...
• Don't know what all the buzz is about, but we have seen an incredible increase in the number of college students over the past couple of weeks. NOT COMPLAINING!
  
• As a result, church, we need to be thinking about how to make these students fell welcome and help them not miss home so much. Sounds like some ministry opportunities for people who have the gift of hospitality!
• In case you're wondering, we've been averaging over 350 people the past several weeks, and the numbers are creeping ever so slightly with each passing week (Sunday was 362). Could we be on the verge of REAL REVIVAL at FBC-Pocatello?

Are YOU on the verge of revival in your personal life? I challenged you yesterday to surrender your sin to God and turn away from it and to run hard after God. The exercise of writing that sin down on paper and then watching it dissolve in the water was/is a great picture of what God wants to do in your life.

• He desires to make you clean and holy for His purposes.
• He desires to forgive your sin and toss it as far as the east is from the west!
  
• He desires to see you live the life He planned for you. That life is a life of hope and promise, not a life of hurt and depression and pain. See Jeremiah 29:11.
  
• He desires to see you become His creation, that which He planned long before your birth. See Ephesians 2:10
• He desires that you reflect His glory, His character in your day to day life.
• And He desires to bless you!

Is God FIRST in your life? If not, what do you need to do to give Him that place? What sin do you need to repent (turn away) from? Deal with it today and watch what God does in your life. Trust me - you won't be disappointed in any way!

See ya in church...

Quality Time

Sue and I have traveled north to Post Falls, Idaho for a meeting. It's actually a meeting that Sue gets to attend, but I took the opportunity to get away for some personal time and work on my sermon. But the main reason I came along was to spend some quality time with my wife. And here's how our day went up to this posting:

• Spent most of the morning in some form of transit - car, train, elevator...
• Spent the rest of the afternoon SHOPPING! Love it!
• Got to check out the hot new store in Coure d'Lene - Brody Mack! Spent too much money, but OOHH! was it worth it!
• Fellas - you've got to check out what Katie has at brodymack.com!

Did I mention, I got to spend some quality time with my wife?

Not that we don't love our kids - we are crazy about them! But if Sue and I don't take time regularly to get away by ourselves and 'reconnect' to some degree, our relationship will suffer. We need each other in order to be complete. I'm man enough to admit that, without Sue, I'm not much on my own. (I think she would say the same thing about me, only she wouldn't call herself a man!). Not because we're weak, but because we are incomplete without each other. It is an amazing thing to have someone in your life that you just can't live without!

That's really how it should be with us and God. We should have such a relationship with Him that we couldn't imagine a day without connecting with Him. We would feel empty, incomplete, even alone.

But look at what we do with Him. He gets whatever time we have left in the day - the scraps. He gets the pain and the anger in our lives, seldom the joy and praise. He is treated as an afterthought at times. How would your best friend feel if that's how they were treated? How would YOU feel if it was you? Folks, this is not the kind of relationship that God had in mind when He sent His Son to the cross for our sins.

His desire is that we pursue Him much like He pursues us. We start each day WITH Him. We continue through the day WITH Him. We end our day WITH Him. Talking to Him, laughing with Him, thanking Him, praising Him and yes, letting Him know our hurts and needs. But we have to GIVE Him something more in return. And yes, it will cost us all. He wants our lives - all of it. No holding back, no excuses, no bargaining. ALL to Him. The Bible says to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength. As I read it, nothing is left out.

So let me challenge you - this week - get away with Him for just a little while. Spend some time in prayer, away from all the noise and just listen for Him. Get to know God again, like you did when you first met him. Trust me - you're going to love it, and you're going to love Him more!

I'll be praying for ya...

This NEVER Gets Old!

Week in and week out, for the most part, I can say that what I do never gets old! I serve a HUGE GOD who has blessed me with a GREAT CHURCH! Sunday was no exception to the other Sundays where we got to encounter God in all of our worship.

• We got to celebrate how God used over 100 volunteers to help serve over 5000 people on Friday at Trick or Treat the Old Town Streets. You guys ROCK! And for those folks who sat in and around the businesses that needed help - what a blessing you were to them!
• Sunday was a blast for me, because you guys were in a place to worship through music and through the spoken Word.
• Pastor Bill was bringing a tough message about confession. And he nailed it! Way to go, Bill!
• And, big surprise, we had over a dozen new faces AGAIN this week. I have never been a part of a church that brought so many people with them to worship. AWESOME IS OUR GOD!

Pastor Bill reminded us that God wants to forgive us, but we need to own our stuff and follow through with what He wants us to do. I really appreciate the reminder. We can no longer wander around thinking all is well when it really stinks. We can't turn our back on the sin that is festering in and around our lives. We've GOT TO OWN IT and deal with it, much like King David had to when he finally owned his sin.

Yeah, it's gonna be painful. Yeah, it may hurt other people when you finally confront/deal with it. And yeah, it is going to leave a mark on your life for others (those who you let know) to see. BUT...then there's the forgiveness part.

Please, hear me on this. ALLOW God to forgive you. RECEIVE His forgiveness and don't let anyone tell you different. God wants to and DOES forgive when we confess our sins to Him. Trust me on this one - His forgiveness is incredible and real.

Once you're free from that bondage, that sin which has held you captive for so long, then God will begin to use you in ways you never even thought possible. You will begin to SEE THE LORD and understand His plan for your life. Get out there and live for Christ today like you've never lived before. "In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:6)

God said He'll do His part and you'll need to do yours - so GO! Don't wait. Get after whatever it is that He has for you TODAY! I'll be here for you if you need anything - encouragement, someone to pray with, a swift kick in the butt, a listening ear - whatever, I'm here to help you move closer to Christ in your journey. You know where to find me...

See ya in church...