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