Building up a Worship Team

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Permalink Reply by Chris Johnson on February 23, 2010 at 1:12am

First of all, check with your senior pastor, make sure he has your back (you didn't say what your relationship with him is).
Never ask any of your team members to do anything you would not do yourself. Always accept the blame for anything that goes wrong, and always give praise out for anything that goes right. This will create confidence in you from your team members. Next ask yourself if the changes are what is right for your church, your community. After making sure that all of these things are in place and in order, announce your changes to your team, in private, and tell them you need their help. If they have your back, and God is the initiator of this, it'll happen!

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Permalink Reply by bet nich on February 23, 2010 at 5:08am

I would amen this, and add that any new rules be presented as guidelines - give yourself some wiggle room for the rare exception - and discussed directly with the group...

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Permalink Reply by Andy Bartlomain on February 23, 2010 at 3:26am

Hey Marisol. I completely agree with Chris about being on the same page with your pastor. At the end of the day though it's going to come down to you effectively communicating vision to your team. I have started a couple of discussions about vision in the Worship LEADER group that I think could help. One is Driving Vision All the Way Down and the other is Casting Vision Convincingly. As I shared in the Casting Vision Convincingly discussion, you have to PRESENT THE PROBLEM. That's going to be so key for you, even when talking with your pastor. If you are simply throwing out ideas without the people you are talking to (including your pastor) having a real sense of a problem that your ideas are designed to solve you may not get very far. I hope this helps and good luck. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Stevo on February 23, 2010 at 5:20am

What are the general expectations that your church has on any ministry? We treat the worship team the same way. Worship team members are to be mature believers with the ability to carry out their duties and be depended upon to be on time and enthusiastic about what they do - as if doing it for the Lord.

I'm not sure how many rules you need - I have a mature (in age) group of folks who don't need to be told what to do, so I have no rules. Some teams have younger folks with more energy and rebel spirit. I suppose they need more rules.

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Permalink Reply by Ariel Salazar on February 23, 2010 at 8:08am

First, I think you have done well to root yourself into the leadership role for a solid year before making changes. You should now have a firm grasp on the true state of your team. By now, the team has either bought into you as the leader, or it has not, and with change you are sure to find out.

I think that you have to move forward knowing that change is almost always met with resistance. I would limit the amount of change by categorizing my priorities. What must change now, what needs to change, and what changes are just preferences of mine? The 'must changes' would be those that largely affect the over-all health of the team. This could be negative policies, guidelines or even people. These are generally easy to implement because most everyone can see the benefits.

The 'need to changes' would be things that I feel will propel the team forward. This could be a change of music style, implementing a try-out policy for all new additions to the team, reconfiguring the band and/or stage area, implementing or dismantling a choir, and such. These changes require me to have a clearly defined vision, plan of action, and answers for nay-sayers.

Then there are the cool changes that I just want. These are my preferences, but are not deal breakers for me. I find that once the team is healthy and progressing with forward momentum, these changes come much easier, not only from the team, but from my pastor, as well.

I think that the most critical thing that you must have with your team, is 'by in'. I remember working with a young lady that could not build a team. She had been trying to for about a year, but had dwindled down to only two musicians. Once I started working with her it became painfully clear that she did not know how to motivate a volunteer staff. At her job people listened to her, but their paychecks depended upon it. That is not the case with volunteers. You have to motivate them to change, and I would use my 'influence' instead of 'rules'. Your influence will do more to keep your team from being offended.



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Permalink Reply by Andy Bartlomain on February 23, 2010 at 8:44pm

This is great advice! I really like the word "motivate" because that's what you need to do as a leader, especially when casting vision. I would also suggest involving as many people as possible into the discussion. That is to say, try to find a way where you can involve the people (especially those most impacted by the changes you want to make) in a conversation about the possible changes without empowering them to make a decision. Generally, if people feel like they have at least been heard they are less resistant to changes that affect them. This is going to be a HUGE step for you if there is someone on the team who has a pretty big following, or influence over others. Just because you are the leader doesn't mean that people are not looking to someone else for their reaction. Maybe it's someone who has been there longer than you, someone the other team members look up to. DO NOT fight this, USE IT to gain leverage in your leadership. I would start with that person, especially if you know they are resistant to change, because if you stand up in front of your team to cast vision and try to motivate them, and that particular person does not have "buy in" you may not be very successful getting people on board. Overall though, trying to involve people in the discussion WITHOUT giving them the power to make a decision helps provide "buy in." Employers give orders to employees, leaders give a voice to a team.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Klosiewski on February 23, 2010 at 2:42pm

I totally agree with Ariel. Knowing why you're making the change and how it effects the team and ministry is so very important. As you express your heart in regards to the changes your team should hear your love for Jesus and your love for them, and if their heart is to truly "serve" then they will "buy in", which really is important. Remember to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and remember that you are there to "serve" as well...not for the mere sake of others but for His sake and glory alone.

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Permalink Reply by Peter Park on February 24, 2010 at 3:32pm

I totally agree with talking with your pastor, at least to keep him in the loop. Also, deciding on some rules as a team is a good idea. That way when you have to enforce something it's not a shock.

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Permalink Reply by Dave Hartwell on February 27, 2010 at 7:15am

Hi Marisol.

That's a kind of nebulous question. What kind of changes are you thinking about?

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