In Worship- Part 2

Posted by: Jeff on Friday, April 11th, 2008

In the first article of this series, I discussed “what is worship, what is a worship team”, “why should a church have a worship segment”,  and “what are the qualifications to participate”.

Once a person has taken that first step to join a team, they will most likely have a few expectations, as will the the music directors or worship leaders who have signed them up. Todays article will focus on some of these expectations, how to to reach and exceed them, and a few pitfalls along the way to watch for.

Topics will include:

The morning finds me here at heaven’s door
A place I’ve been so many times before
Familiar thoughts and phrases start to flow
And carry me to places that I know so well
But dare I go where I don’t understand
And do I dare remember where I am
I stand before the great eternal throne
The one that God Himself is seated on
And I, I’ve been invited as a son
Oh I, I’ve been invited to come and

Believe the unbelievable
Receive the inconceivable
And see beyond my wildest imagination
Lord, I come with great expectations
                   

        - Stephen Curtis Chapman

The Audition/ Interview process

In some churches, there is a formal audition and/or interview process to select members of the Worship team. The reasons are obvious. The church leadership needs to insure those who stand before a congregation are capable spiritually and musically of leading. That’s right, “leading”. Not hiding, or just playing some cool chords, or running around, swinging their arms about in a wild frenzy of reckless abandon; Actually leading people into the holy place of worship.

When a music director or worship leader asks you “So why do you want to be on our worship team?” you really should be aware of the gravity of the question. I have heard some great answers.

1) I really don’t “want to”, but I think I am supposed to.
2) Because I don’t know how to do anything else.
3) Because I have been training for most of my life for this opportunity to serve.
4) Because your team sounds really bad and I can help.

It’s great, all these answers seem completely crazy for anything other than joining a worship team. When taken in context, understanding the condition of a persons heart at the moment they give the answer, they make complete sense.

In my church, there is a formal audition and interview process. Auditionees are asked to play/ sing sections of three or four different types of songs. Charts are put in front of the musician. If they read, they read, if not, then they use their ears. It’s not a requirement to read, but it really, really helps.
Typically directions are given during the process to see how a person reacts to change and to see how flexible and skilled they are.

In between songs, questions are asked to get a feel for the person, where they are in their walk, how they might interact with others on the team etc.

Some smaller, or new churches don’t have an audition process, they have a guy that plays some guitar, and you are the only one that has a decent voice. Congratulations, you have been chosen.
Does that make it less serious? Nope.

A word about “who’s the best” on the team.
I am putting this up here in the audition section so you see how far back you should be thinking about this point, don’t wait until it has become a problem.

This is important: You are human, so am I, we are different, this makes for great worship teams. It also makes for conflict.
There will always come a day where someone comes into the team who has more skill, ability, talent, good looks, whatever. If you are on the team, you are doing God’s will, in service to him, not in service of the girl with pretty hair or the Diva voice.
If you place yourself in competition with someone on the team you automatically reduce your effectiveness. Don’t go there, train yourself to appreciate the talents and abilities of everyone. Improve yourself to honor and please God.

There is more to talk about on this subject and it’s connection points, but that will happen in the next part in the series.

So you said “yes”, now what?

So, you passed the audition, or someone hunted you down and told you were on the team. The journey is about to begin. Are you ready?

“What do you mean Ready?” you might be asking.

Well, do you know what is expected of you? Do you know what you expect of the experience? If the answer is no to either one of these questions, you should try and get a clear answer before you get rolling. Knowing what you expect and what is expected of you will allow you to interact with everyone comfortably and perform confidently.

Expectations are largely dependant on the environment. Do you have a small worship team, and a small church?
Is the church just starting out, and it’s a new experience for everyone?

Or, are you a member of one of the multiple teams at a very large, well established church?

The expectations placed on you will be different for each of those situations, as will your notion of what it will be like.

In a small, or newly forming church, the expectations placed on each team member will probably extend beyond music. Equipment setup, music copying, setting up chairs, basically whatever it takes, are all part of the expectation. In that kind of situation, the team member usually finds a disconnect between what the church expects of them and what they envisioned they would be doing.
Identifying key tasks, accepting responsibility for them and communicating clearly when your plate is full will help everyone. Don’t fall victim to overcommitment-itis.

The advantage here is you gain broader insight into how a church operates. You also build character.
You might even have fun stories to tell later on like “I remember when I had to clean the bathrooms and all I could find was an old toothbrush and a half a bottle of vinegar in the fridge…”
In a larger church, the tasks will be targeted better towards your talents and abilities. Instead of handling 5 things, you handle 1 or 2. These will revolve around preparation and delivery of the worship service, rather than insuring the toddler room has a fresh stack of number 3 Huggies.

The advantage here is the individual can devote the same amount of time just towards improving the music.

Is one situation better than the other. No, they both require exactly the same thing, doing our best to help the congregation connect with God.

Finally, a word about time. Rehearsals, practice, and performances all take time, and they are all expected. I devote on average, sixteen hours of my weekly available time to deliver our weekend performances. Make sure to cover the time committment requirements up front before getting too far into the process.

Ask your worship leader or music director to discuss the expectations with you. If you ARE the worship leader, make sure you are doing that for your people, it will help everything settle in and make crunch time a happy time.

What is your church’s style, what is appropriate for you to be doing.

Every church is different and has their own “style”, even within the same denomination. The demographic the church serves, combined with the denominational influence and the Pastoral direction all have an impact on the “style” of worship.

You need to figure out what your church’s style of worship is, and then adapt yourself to (get good at) that style.
Some churches have a very outwardly expressive, energetic “open to the spirit” form of worship. Pentacostal churches, for example, are known for their “Charisma” and congregational participation. Improvisational call and response worship is an experience not soon forgotten, it stays with you long after the song has stopped. Can I get an Amen!

 In contrast, you might be attending a church who’s style is very laid back. Acoustic guitar and 3 or 4 singers. If this is the case, and the church has been there for a while, with a fairly large membership, then there is probably alot of intent behind the style. Find out ”why”. 

Two of the most contentious instruments in worship are Drums and Electric Guitar. If your church uses either one, then musicians need to be especially sensitive to context and congregation expectations. 
 I remember when I started playing on my first team, everybody was fearful. Fortunately, I held the attitude that I was only going to play what needed to be there. People were surprised that a drummer could play so quietly. I then had to explain I wasn’t playing all that quietly, I was just leaving lots of space for the music to come through, and using a lot of dynamic control. Their perception of the instrument was changed. But to help that happen, I had to understand what the context was, and then play to that context.

To this point, I worked with a guitarist who used to take ripping solos in places I wouldn’t expect. When I asked him why he did that, he said he believed he should play what the spirit leads him to play. Well, that’s a tough point to argue with on one hand, but on the other, the worship was not about him, it was about the people in the congregation, who were uncomfortable.

To me, the needs of the congregation always should be the priority.

To close the topic, try to understand the context and boundaries established, and work within them, as a team. It makes for powerful, unified worship.


The first performance – How to prepare, what to expect

This should be a quick answer: Learn the music, expect joy.
If you have an organized team that provides recordings and sheet music for you to prepare yourself, listen and practice beforehand, a little every day is better than alot the day before.

Find out about other details of the service beforehand as well, like dress code. In some contemporary church services  it can be fine to show up with Jeans and T-Shirts. This would be a problem for others. Fitting in and showing respect is important.

Rehearsals are important, don’t miss  them, and come prepared. They don’t only help you, you help others with your presence. Remember this is about service.
My favorite worship situations are ones where there is a requirement to attend rehearsal to particpate on the worship team that week. It fends off alot of problems. It also makes the music the best it can be.

When something goes wrong, or does it?

Imperfect!

This is exactly what we are, and how we have been borne into the world. God created us, he loves us, and wants us to show him we love him too. It’s that simple.
I have to remind myself every single rehearsal and performance that it is all about him.

I make horrible faces when I play, and that’s when things are going really well (just look at the header image of this blog to see me in my happy place, that is onstage in worship). I want the music to be great, I know my capability and I always want to push the music beyond that, this is how I am wired. This leads to internal conflict. For me, it’s not hard to be completely fine when I do my absolute best and fall short. It is torture.

So, what does a person do when things aren’t going the way they would like, or when mistakes happen. Remember in that moment that God created you, he knows all about you, he sees your heart, and he doesn’t care about mistakes, he cares about the condition of your heart. Relax, breathe, look for an opportunity to make music. Some of my most inspirational playing has been borne out of error recovery.
One of my favorite quotes is “when in doubt, sit it out”. If you aren’t sure what you are doing, stop. There are other people on the team, they are your friends, they are in this with you and they will help.
When you know what you are doing again, join the group in a musically appropriate way. observe phrases, and sections, don’t come in at the last line of the 2nd verse, wait to come in until the chorus.

What if the power goes out?
Well, that’s a perfect time for a drum solo in my opinion.

If the power goes out as you are mid song, look to the worship leader for some direction. If they wish to continue,  see if there isn’t a way to transition everyone to an “unplugged” rendition. The chorus is a nice place to do a breakdown section with acoustic guitar and vocals. In most cases, if the worship leader wants to continue, the drummer and other electric instruments should stop playing at the end of the phrase or section they are in, allowing all acoustic elements to be heard without amplification.

Although in these situations, context and variables drive decision making, most worship teams prefer to keep on going.

The “Do Over”
What if a song is an utter train wreck from the start?
Start it over. I think one of the most engaging things to watch is our humanity unfolding on stage. Acknowledging this for the congregation and simply saying” Well,  that wasn’t what we expected, let’s try that again” can be amazingly powerful. It can draw everybody together and create an intimacy in the worship that makes it seem like it’s your living room.

Thanks for reading today. The next part in the series will focus on topics related to the congregations perception of you and other worship team members and how to handle them appropriately.

Topics: Articles, In Worship

2 Responses to “In Worship- Part 2”

Anne Bosworth Says:
April 11th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

Jeff,

I’m really glad you are exploring the “writerly” arts. It’s a great way to reflect and process. Keep up the good work.

Anne

Galo Says:
April 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Was that guitar player me? Just kidding…dude, I feel a book coming…
Great job.

Adios
Galo

 

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