Growth and development – Page 3

Getting Experience Makes You Experienced

Every worship leader has to start somewhere: as a beginner. There’s no secret fast track to become seasoned, no easy way to learn hard lessons, and no short cuts through the long process of maturity. Every worship leader, at some point, is at square one. How does a beginner worship leader become experienced? By getting experience.

The process of becoming an “experienced” worship leader never ends. I do not claim to have “arrived” at some sort of final point of maturity or expertise as a worship leader. Have I grown in the last fourteen years? Yes. Do I still have room to grow? Oh yes.

To a beginner, just-starting-out worship leader who wants to grow but doesn’t know how, I would suggest two simple things:

First, say yes to every single opportunity
If someone asks you to lead music for a vacation bible school, some songs for a small group meeting in a basement, a time of singing at a student ministry bar-b-q by the lake, a senior’s ministry breakfast at IHOP, or a song at the bedside of a dying woman in the hospital, say yes.

It might be the most awkward experience of your life. Maybe no one will sing. Maybe you’ll fail miserably. It doesn’t matter. You’ll learn so many more lessons from leading worship in as many different settings as you can, then you ever will by reading a blog or going to a conference. Seek out as many possible venues, settings, age groups, traditions, and occasions as you can.

The worst thing that can happen is you’ll learn a lesson. That’s called becoming experienced.

Second, have mentors
I remember the time I left a service so frustrated by the congregation’s lack of participation, enthusiasm, and physical expressiveness. That afternoon I shared my discouragement (and how it was all spiritual warfare!) with one of my mentors, a pastor friend who had been in the service the morning. He listened and said to me: “let’s go to Starbucks”.

He then proceeded to, gently but firmly, tell me that I was developing some bad habits as a worship leader that were beginning to grate on people. I was going on for too long, talking too much, demanding certain physical responses, and being more of a “presence” than I needed to be.

Gulp.

I asked him “have I caused real damage?”, and he responded “no… but you might if you keep it up for much longer.” He then encouraged me about things I was doing well, and ways I was displaying maturity and humility. He wasn’t harsh, but he was honest.

If you want grow as a worship leader, you need people who you trust, and who love you, who can be honest with you. They’re not just expressing an opinion or criticizing you for the fun of it. They have your growth and development in mind, and they have been given the freedom to give input into your life.

Seek out two or three people, preferably older than you, and regularly ask them for an hour or two of their time.

These two things: regular hands-on worship leading experience, and honest and loving critique, will, by God’s grace, result in steady growth and maturity.

Do You Despise Instruction?

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

God can communicate instruction to us as worship leaders in numerous ways. Perhaps some of these ring a bell:

An email in your inbox on Monday morning
A church member who comes up to you after a service
A meeting with your pastor
An anonymous handwritten note in your mailbox
An unexpected phone call from a volunteer
Your spouse
Your Mom
A complaint communicated to you second-hand
A meeting with someone who isn’t particularly happy with you
Comments on your “annual review”

As I’m reading through the book of Proverbs this month, I’m struck by how often God commands us not only to receive instruction – but to embrace it. “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (1:8). “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights” (3:11-12). “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (4:7).

My natural, sinful response to correction or instruction is to turn away from it, to discount it as unwarranted, and to justify why I should ignore it. When I receive an email, a phone call, or a handwritten note – instead of seeing it as an opportunity for me to gain wisdom and receive instruction – I think of myself as too good to need it. This is a mistake, according to God’s word.

I will never get to the point, either as a Christian, or more specifically as a worship leader, when I no longer need instruction. There will always be areas in which I need to grow, skills I need to improve, habits I need to break, and ways I can be more effective.

As a worship leader in your church, do you despise instruction? Do you look upon those whom God uses to instruct you with arrogance? Do you roll your eyes as you listen to a voice mail or read an email from a church member who is suggesting ways you could improve? Do you consider your pastor as off-base when he offers examples of ways you could grow?

God’s word says that “fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). But “blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold” (3:13-14).

Do what comes unnaturally – intentionally seek instruction, receive correction, pray for humility – and you’ll grow in wisdom.

Lessons Learned from This Weekend – Pt. I

mirror From time to time, usually on Mondays, I think it might be helpful for me to post some reflections on the previous weekend’s services. Perhaps some ways I could have handled certain situations better, some specific ways God was at work through the music, or various other lessons learned (however major or minor). I’ll get it started this week with some situations that, looking back, I could have handled better.

Memorize the words
You would think that I would follow my own advice (“Put the Music Stand Away”) and spend some time during the week getting familiar with the songs so that I didn’t forget lyrics, fumble for the right chords, and come across as unprepared. I wish I had. This past Saturday night we used Andrew Peterson’s song “Invisible God” as a special song during the collection/offering time, and I mangled the first verse pretty bad. Oops. Lesson learned: I need to practice too.

Multi-tasking isn’t as easy as it seems
On Saturday night, in addition to leading the music, I also opened the service, led the time of prayer, and gave the announcements. The pastor who normally does this was on vacation, so he asked me to step in since I would be at the service anyway. I have to confess that I didn’t prepare for these responsibilities as thoroughly as I should have. At 4:45pm (15 minutes before the service started), I was trying to figure out what to say to welcome people, how to lead the prayers, etc. A few transitions were awkward, especially getting from the announcements to the offering. Lesson learned: Don’t ever wing it.

There are good ways to get your sound engineer’s attention and there are bad ways…
We had a crazy morning at my church with baptisms at both services, short transition times between them, and very little time for a sound check. In the midst of a noisy Sanctuary about 20 minutes before the service, I was having a difficult time getting the sound engineer’s attention, so I thought it made sense to yell “Andreeeeeeeewwwwwww!!!!!!”. There are about eighteen reasons why this is always a bad idea. Lesson learned: Never yell at your sound engineer. Sorry Andrew.

These are just a few of the lessons I (hopefully) am taking away from this past weekend. It’s good to look back and thank God for his guidance, his presence, and his grace – and pray that he’ll keep teaching me lessons each time I lead.

Checking for Ticks

tick You may not know this, but it’s a fact that those of us who lead worship are targets for ticks. Without realizing it, ticks can latch on to us and survive unnoticed for years.

There is a wide variety of tick species to look out for. Check yourself before you lead worship next time for any one of these:

Here we go!
One of the sneakiest ticks around, it causes a worship leader to exclaim into the microphone something more appropriate for the beginning of a road trip to Yosemite than the transition into the bridge of a song.

Come on everybody!
The brother of the previous tick, its victim unwittingly uses a crowd-rousing technique first developed by Richard Simmons in an attempt to infuse enthusiasm into a service.

I just really want to…
Native to youth groups, this tick has spread into a wide variety of settings. The afflicted worship leader begins any personal word with this preface, followed by sentences of varying levels of competency, depending upon the amount of preparation devoted.

Yes Lord!
A difficult tick to remove once it has become attached – the “Yes Lord” tick presents itself before, during, or after songs, oftentimes with a high number of repetitions. While a declaration of agreement and affirmation may be effective and appropriate on occasions, this tick causes the statement to become so common that it is ignored.

Sing it like you mean it
Native to Sunday school and VBS, this tick is able to multi-task by being patronizing, insulting, distracting, and counter-productive all at the same time.

Amen
This is perhaps the most common species of tick to attach itself to worship leaders, Amen?

Put your hands together!
A potentially dangerous tick. An infected worship leader could cause mass confusion. “OK, I put my hands together… Now what do I do with them? Can I take them apart yet?” Unfortunately, the worship leader is not thinking about what he or she is asking the congregation to do. Very sad.

Oh, oh, ohhhhhhh!
Rearing its ugly head in between lines of a song, this tick causes a worship leader to employ a vocal flourish more suited for a 1980’s power ballad. Severe cases have been reported in which worship leaders attempt the highest note they can hit before fainting for no apparent reason.

Mmm, mm, mmmmmm
The descendent of “oh, oh, ohhhhhhh”, this tick has slightly different characteristics. While still rearing its head in between the lines of a song, the resulting vocal flourish is more suited for a 1960’s sappy love song. Most common to worship leaders who forget the lyrics to the second verse.

If you ___ then let me hear you ___
The distant cousin of the “sing it like you mean it” tick – this species causes its host to insert any combination of words, resulting in groans and rolled eyes in the congregation. “If you love Jesus, then let me hear you shout!” “If you came ready to worship then let me hear you sing it loudly!” Swift action should be taken to remove this tick before its host is harmed by angry church members.

Ask trusted friends to examine you for any evidence of these ticks or any mutation. Long-term infection is unwise. Recovery time is quick for the former host and enjoyable for the congregation.

Please Step Away From The Desk

city This past Wednesday I had the joy of eating lunch with one of the piano players on the worship team at my church. He’s a great guy, a godly man, and a good friend. We try to get together every 5 or 6 weeks to catch up, usually near his office in Washington D.C. I managed to find a parking spot downtown and we walked to lunch at a packed-out sandwich shop near the White House. For a politics nerd like me, this was a lot of fun.

We talked about what was going in our lives, and then I asked him how he’s been feeling about how things are going on the worship team and at Sunday services. He had a number of really helpful thoughts, observations, encouragements, and insightful critiques. He even took the time to email me some more detailed thoughts later on that afternoon about some of what we had talked about.

Getting together like this with worship team members who I know and trust has been an amazingly helpful thing through the years for several reasons.

First, it gets me outside the church bubble. I work full-time at the church and am on campus six days a week. It’s good for me to get out and see how members of the congregation and my worship team spend their week. It’s busy and intense where these guys spend their days and I’ll serve them more effectively if I know what they have to deal with. I’ll be more understanding when they’re late to an evening meeting, can’t come to an event, respond slowly to an email, or need some time off. I’ll also be more grateful when I see what a sacrifice they make to give up an evening away from home for a rehearsal or give up a vacation day to go on a conference. If I really want to care for and lead my team well, it’s good to get outside my church bubble and make time to be with them where they are.

Secondly, I need to hear what they have to say. Hearing answers to my questions like, “how have you felt about the last few services on Sunday mornings?” or “do you think we’ve been doing the right kinds of songs?” helps me not become isolated, unapproachable, or prideful. Ask questions. They don’t have to be complex. They can be quite simple. The more input you can receive as a worship leader, from all angles, the better off you’ll be.

Third, your team shouldn’t always come to where you are. If the only place you see your volunteers is at church, you’re missing out on actually having a relationship with your team. They’ll see their role as just filling a slot, and you’ll see them as people who just fill slots. Your team will only invest themselves in ministry if you invest yourself in them.

Finally, it gives you perspective. Hearing what’s going on the lives of people on the worship team, what they’re dealing with at work, how they’re spending their time, and what’s on their minds helps me remember that much of what I stress out about as a worship leader isn’t all that important at the end of the day.

I encourage you to build relationships with the people on your team. Make time to go to where they are and even share a meal with them. Find out what’s going on in their lives and ask them for their thoughts on rehearsals, services, music, worship, etc. You’ll be more effective the farther out of your bubble you can get.