10. Ask For Short Term Commitments
Do the opposite of making promises. Call it an experiment, and welcome people into 4-6 month opportunities. Running auditions is a must, right from the gate. Playing with a band is different skillset than many grew up with. It is always easier to appoint than it is to disappoint.
11. Get A Great Small Sound System
Great sound brings in great (called) musicians. I’m a huge fan of the Bose L1 series. In my view every church, whether it be church plant or otherwise should have at least one. The sound is perfect for smaller venues. Other systems work as well. Producer and Trainer Mike O’Brien has much wisdom in this area.
12. Borrow Under-utilized Musicians
You’re setting the tone for the dynamics of corporate worship that you want to become the environment of the church. Draw in solid musicians and make it fun. Some of them stay, but for the right reasons. If not, help them figure it out. (Thanks to pal Mark Young for reminding me of this one.)
13. Coach And Mentor Your Worship Leader
As good friend Ted Kim says, don’t set worship on autopilot. Sow into that leader; you’re already coaching them by example, so do it intentionally. Coach values, not skills, unless you’re a worship leader. Have them meet all your friends and heroes.
14. Create A Culture Of Worship Mentoring
If you don’t invest in this, the process will struggle from the start. Every worship leader, every musician, every tech leader – must have a sense that there is a development expectation and provision in the culture of the church. If it’s just about playing Sunday mornings, there will be a loss of enthusiasm. Everyone wants to grow, to be mentored and developed, in some way.
Any church that wants to plant churches must prioritize this, so when the time comes to plant there is already a vibrant community of musicians, techs, and growing worship leaders from which to draw.
Other Ingredients There are a few other things you can do to get things strengthened more quickly as well in your worship ministry.
- Host extended worship nights (it helps team and church culture)
- Do Worship Circles (again, instructions and a vid are in here)
- Get good tech without extravagance (visuals and sound matter today)
- Train visual techs (they need input, a great 50 min. free video with guru Nate Ragan is here)
- Optimize worship environments (small, resonant rooms for smaller groups)
- Be prepared to start over (sometimes a clean slate helps)
- Don’t get discouraged; get help (invite it in)
Bless you as you develop your worship ministry with these ingredients and more.
This article on worship ministry from scratch originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
