Leading a congregation – Page 9

When You’re Out of Ideas

What do you do as a worship leader when you’re all of ideas? Particularly when picking songs for yet another service seems to be next to impossible? Here are some suggestions:

Take a vacation
One sign of burn-out is mental fatigue. Take a break. Take one or two Sundays off in a row. Do whatever you have to do to get away. Visit a good church. Or (gasp) sleep in.

Buy a bunch of new worship CDs
Have you listened to Matt Redman’s “Your Grace Finds Me“, or The Gospel Coalition’s “Songs from the Book of Luke” or Keith and Kristyn Getty’s new live album, or Dustin Kensrue’s “The Water and the Blood“, or Sovereign Grace’s “Grace Has Come” or Indelible Grace’s “Joy Beyond the Sorrow” (from last year), or Paul Baloche’s “The Same Love“? Even if you listen to all of these and only take away 2 songs you could teach your congregation, you’ll still have a lot of new arrangement ideas, and melodies floating around in your head that help you feel more fresh.

Find time for personal worship
When I’m feeling all out of ideas, many times that means I need to sit down with my guitar or at a piano and just begin to play music and articulate praise to God. Your public ministry has to be an overflow from your private life or else you’ll be operating on fumes.

See/hear/ask what other churches are doing
If you know other worship leaders at different churches, send them a note and ask them what they’ve done recently (songs, or other ideas) that’s really clicked with their congregations. Maybe it’s a terrible idea. But maybe it’s a good one. And you should’t be ashamed to use it and adapt it in your setting.

Stretch your brain
Go to a conference, read a theological book, or take a seminary class (there are a bunch of options online if you don’t live near a good one). Ask if your church will pay for this out of their continuing education budget. They should! You being out of ideas is an invitation to fill your brain and your heart with a new supply of concepts, techniques, history, terminology, and bible.

Lean on your team
Invite your worship team over to your house for a half-day retreat on a Saturday. Feed them breakfast and then come together for a couple of hours before adjourning at lunch. Laugh, worship, and pray together, and then put some huge white paper up on the walls. Have a group conversation about where your worship ministry has been, where it is now, where it’s going, and what God is saying. You’ll get some tangents and some random comments, but you’ll also get a lot of good insight from people who are a bit more able to look at things from a 50,000 foot view than you.

Take a deep breath
An awful lot of worship leaders feel a pressure to perform, to be super creative, to be edgy, to be relevant, to be hipster, to be up on all the new stuff, to be musically inventive, and to get results on Sunday mornings. It’s not that being any of those is bad, or that hoping for fruitful worship leading is wrong, but when we allow the pursuit of creativity or ingenuity to have power over us, then we’ve gone too far. Focus on being faithful to Jesus, faithful to the proclamation of the Gospel, and faithful to your congregation. Sometimes when you think you’re out of ideas all you actually need to do is keep drawing from the same well again and again and again.

Not Guilty

intersection It was a normal day at my job at my church several years ago, and at the usual time I packed up my things to drive home. I got in my car parked along East Fairfax Street and proceeded to the stop sign at Lee Highway where, like I did 5 other days a week, I waited for traffic to clear before I turned left across traffic.

I got to the stop sign, which was set significantly set back from Lee Highway, where I stopped behind an SUV who was stopped in front of the stop sign. When traffic cleared, he turned left, and then I turned left. And that’s when I saw the flashing lights in my rear-view mirror.

I pulled over, curious as to what I had done wrong, and the police officer informed me that I had run the stop sign. I was shocked. I was sure I had stopped, and I told him so. He was not convinced, and proceeded to accuse me of lying to his face and misrepresenting the truth, and encouraged me to just admit I was guilty and pay the (substantial) fine.

So I sat there feeling guilty and accused and confused. Should I just pay the fine and admit my guilt? Or should I wait two months, with the accusations hanging over my head, and go to court to fight the charge? I chose the latter option.

So a couple of months later I went through the humbling ordeal of giving up an entire morning, sitting and waiting in court, surrendering my cell phone and keys (like a guilty person) at the door, and waiting for my chance to defend myself.

One by one, person after person approached the judge, pleaded their case, offered their defense, and were turned away with the pronouncement “guilty” declared over them. They turned and walked out, defeated, deflating the spectators hope of having any better luck.

Finally my name was called and I proceeded to the bench. My accuser (the police officer) went first, declaring my guilt for all the room to hear, describing my (alleged) offense, how I had insisted I hadn’t done anything wrong and how he was certain I had. He was convincing.

The judge turned to me and permitted me to speak.

“Your honor”, I said, “as you can see in this diagram”, (I had brought a diagram of the intersection in question), “the stop sign at East Fairfax Street and Lee Highway is significantly set back from Lee Highway. And as you can see from Google Street View”, (I had brought print outs from Google Street View), “there is substantial room in front of the stop sign before a car enters Lee Highway. Your honor, when I approached this stop sign, I obeyed the law and stopped. However, an SUV was stopped in front of the stop sign. When traffic cleared, the SUV made a left hand turn, and then so did I. I will remind you that I had indeed stopped at the sign. However, I didn’t stop after the stop sign”.

I proceeded to drive the point home: “Your honor, I am not aware of any law that demands that a car must stop after a stop sign if there is a car stopped after a stop sign. I believe the law states that you must stop at a stop sign not after. So, if I am guilty of any crime, I would be guilty of not stopping a second time after having stopped at a stop sign”.

The room was silent. The judge looked at my accuser and asked if he had anything to add. “No, your honor” he said.

I asked if I could add one more thing. (I was going to ask if the police officer had been moving or stationary when he observed my alleged crime). “No, you may not, Mr. Brown!” the judge roared. “Case dismissed. Not guilty!”

It took a few seconds for my brain to process what had just happened. Then I began to realize that the impossible had happened: I had been declared innocent. My shock gave way to deep relief and giddy joy. The silence in the court room turned to enthusiastic chatter as the onlookers were amazed at what had just transpired. It was possible to be found not guilty! Amazing! Their faces were hopeful and the mood in the room had changed as I turned and walked out a free man.

I was the king of the world for the rest of the day. I shared my innocence (and my brilliant legal prowess) with anyone who would listen. I was euphoric. The burden (and several hundred dollars and points on my license) had been removed. I felt free.

Is there any better pronouncement in the world than “not guilty“? Is there anything more freeing? In a world full of accusations and burdens and law, the sweet sound of grace, the relief of mercy, and the joy of pardon is unmatchable.

Our services should shout this good news of the gospel over people Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. In Christ you are not guilty, in Christ you’ve been lavished with unlimited grace, and in Christ you have been pardoned and declared innocent. This is the sweetest pronouncement our ears can ever hear.

If our worship services, if our worship leading, if our song selection, and if our music doesn’t point clearly and consistently to the final verdict of “not guilty” pronounced over us because of Jesus’ work on the cross in our place, then we should just close up shop. Not every song should say it the same way, not every service should emphasize it identically, and not every worship leader will communicate it like the other. But, for God’s sake, use your platform, use your microphones, use your fancy graphics, use your organ, use your choir anthems, use your bell choir, use your electric guitar solo to highlight, underscore, emphasize, proclaim, repeat, and declare the good news of the gospel: your accuser is a liar, you are not guilty, and you’re free to go.

Make it clear. Don’t make people have to search for it hidden in a vague reference or mumbo jumbo or small print. Let it be known clearly and powerfully and unmistakably what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

Selah (Oh No. I Just Broke a String!)

Here’s a story (and audio clip) about how I broke a string in front of 1,400 people while recording a live CD and used a joke I stole from a worship leader’s Facebook group to salvage what could have been a really awkward moment.

First, the background:

About a year ago I joined a Facebook group called “Liturgy Fellowship“. It’s a group where a bunch of worship leaders who lead in contexts where some sort of liturgical structure is employed and/or valued share ideas, ask questions, and stay in touch. I’m not terribly active in the group, but I do check in from time to time since I’m curious about what other worship leaders are up to and dealing with.

A few weeks ago, a worship leader in the group shared that he had broken a string and used a joke Reggie Kidd had shared that the word “Selah” in the Psalms actually meant “ah shucks, I broke another string”. Reggie Kidd commented that the joke actually came from Eugene Peterson in his book Answering God where he wonders if “Selah” was actually a cuss word David used when he broke a string.

I thought this was really funny. So I made a mental note to tuck this little joke away in case I ever needed it in the future.

So, finally, back to the live recording in front of 1,400 people when I broke a string used the joke.

Last weekend we devoted our worship services to an extended time of worship and celebration of God’s faithfulness and goodness to us, after a year of considerable upheaval and change for our church. We recorded a live album last year before leaving our campus of over 275 years, and this year we wanted to capture our congregation continuing to proclaim God’s faithfulness and the power of the Gospel. (This is why this blog has been so quiet for a while, by the way).

On Thursday, the first day of our rehearsals, I put new strings on my guitar. I used those strings during all-day rehearsals on Friday and Saturday, and a recording on Saturday evening. That’s a lot of play.

So, on Sunday morning before our big combined service with everyone in one room, I wondered whether I should put new strings on. Nah, I thought, I’ll be OK.

Not so much.

We opened with three songs. A call to worship, Matt Redman’s “How Great is Your Faithfulness”, and “Crown Him with Many Crowns”. During the last few measures of “Crown Him…” I felt the dreaded pop. This wasn’t good. We still had about 12 more songs to get through. Oh. No.

Thankfully, after “Crown Him”, our pastor, John Yates, was supposed to come up and welcome people, pray, and lead us the prayer for purity. I thought that if I moved at lightening speed, I could replace the E string in that time. I wish.

So I rushed over to my case. No strings. I rushed back to where I thought they could be. Not there. Asked one of the electric guitarists if he had any. He said no. I run back to my case. I find them. I get back to my guitar just as the prayer for purity is ending and my pastor is walking back to his seat.

Then I remember. The Facebook group. The Selah joke. I can’t quite remember how it’s supposed to go. But I use it. I try to tell it as well as I can. Please work. Help me Lord.

And it works. They laugh. So I ask John to come back up and “share something from his heart” for 2 minutes. He plays along. People laugh. And I change my string faster than I’ve ever changed a string in my entire life.

Then we keep on going and record 12 more songs.

So, thanks to my friends on the Facebook group for sharing that excellent joke. Thank you, Lord, for in your providence pointing me to that joke weeks before I’d need it because you knew I’d need it. And thanks to my congregation for laughing.

I will likely use this joke again. And you should too. It’s a good one.

Here’s how it sounded, from the last sentence or so of the prayer for purity, during which I was running around on stage like a mad man.

Making Adjustments For One Person

Let’s say you’re leading worship and you’re about to wrap up a chorus, when you notice a guy who had been sitting on his hands for the whole song just start to stand up and put his hands in the air in worship. Is it OK to make an adjustment in your leading and extend the song just for that one person? Yes it is.

Why do you think you just happened to look out and see that guy about to stand up just at the same time you were about the stop the song? Do you think that when you prayed before the service that God would guide you that he actually heard you prayer? He’s answering it by directing your gaze to someone in the room who’s counting on your sensitive leadership.

It’s one thing to learn how to scan a room and read a large group. It’s another thing to look at individuals in your congregation, each of whom is dealing with a wide range of swirling emotions, pressures, physical ailments, fidgety kids and text messages all in the course of a 75 minute service. Your job isn’t just to aggregate all of these different people’s responses into one stream of input and then based on that one stream of input decide what the Holy Spirit is saying. Your job is also to have the presence of mind and sensitivity to adapt to individual promptings the Holy Spirit provides through directing you to look at a particular person.

I find myself, when leading worship, expecting the Holy Spirit to give me direction in powerful, thunderous, unmistakeable ways. But he doesn’t often do that. More often, his direction comes through a gentle whisper, an impression that I know came from elsewhere, or a very down-to-earth source like a dude just about to stand up when I’m about to stop, or communion taking too long so I can’t get loud when I planned to, or a missing slide so I have to skip a verse, or a comment from a parking volunteer about a song he really wishes we’d sing again.

Be on the lookout, the next time you lead, for ways God might be sending you signals through one person in the congregation, or one situation you can’t look past. If you catch these simple signals, the result just might be you making some adjustments that end up serving the whole congregation better.

Ten “Always Bad” Worship Leader Ideas

Us worship leaders are the creative types who like to think outside the box, like to do things artistically, and like to have new ideas. Some of those ideas are good. Some of those ideas are terrible. Here are some “always bad” worship leader ideas.

1. Spur-of-the-moment modulations

2. On-the-fly worship sermonettes in-between songs

3. Eating 2 greasy pizza slices right before (belch…) leading worship

4. Attempting water-skiing or rock-wall climbing just a few hours before trying to play guitar. Good luck with those forearm muscles

5. Agreeing to sing at a wedding before specifying you don’t do John Tesh ballads. (First hand experience on this one)

6. Asking the groom at a wedding if he’s the Father of the Bride. (Again, first hand experience here)

7. Making fun of an old worship song that you think is terrible when it turns out that song is your Senior Pastor’s all-time favorite song because he used to sing it to his youngest daughter when she was a little. (You guessed it)

8. Pranking your drummer. He’ll get you back when you least expect it

9. Giving the projectionist a dirty look when they don’t advance the lyrics. The congregation is thinking the same thing as you, but when you make that mean face you look like a jerk

10. Purposefully playing too loud because “it’s good for people”. Wrong. Check your bravado at the door. And avoid the pizza