New Small Church Worship Leader

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Permalink Reply by kelly childers on December 12, 2009 at 2:15pm

That is a good way to approach things Gary. There are alot of people leading worship who feel like they must have a full band or, at the least, certain instruments or voices before worship is "acceptable". Ultimately, they end up getting people to play who are not, nor really have the inspiration to dedicate themselves to serving in the capacity needed for worship. Too often the worship leader ends up having more work and less enjoyment because he has to shoulder more burden (and not less) for people who shouldn't be serving in the first place! Time and again in Scripture we see God doing more with less...so let me encourage you in that you never feel like you have to add members to your team just for the sake of having more members or more guitar (or bass, or keys, or an Alto...)! When and if someone comes along who WANTS to do it and God wants them to do it...you'll know it!
You probably already know this (as you've stated as much) but, I thought this post could use a response, sooo...?!

blessings,
~k

Permalink Reply by Daily Faith Music on December 12, 2009 at 6:34pm

Thank you for your encouragement Kelly. We are really enjoying the worship just as it is, though I must admit to having moments when I want a full band and chorus and an audience of thousands. LOL But it's all for Him so our audience of One is the way it should be. And it seems we are perfect for our congregation of 45 or so. Any bigger and we'd overpower the whole mood. Then it would be about us, not Him.

Permalink Reply by Flute Punch on February 1, 2010 at 5:27am

that is the way we were for quite some time. What was hard is that it was taxing on myself and the guitarist. But it certainly is a very good way to strip away everything that can be distracting, for ourselves and the congregation, and force all of us to ask ourselves if we want the music to be cool or pretty, or if we want to worship God. We did pray that more musicians would come and they have gradually. Still if we have a Sunday where some don't show up for some reason, I don't worry, you know? Because i think how we did it before, with just a couple loaves and fish, so to speak - but that is all He needs. :) so I consider that time a gift now. And in some ways you are more free to lead worship, when it's just you and 1 or 2 others. :)

Permalink Reply by Sue on February 3, 2010 at 9:27am

I found a lot of freedom in having a small worship team or even leading on my own. You can be more flexible at times (ie) changing songs mid stream, etc espeically if the others have a thriving relationship with the Lord as much as yourself and you are all listening to him. I remember being at a Christan concert one time and thinking "Lord, if I only had....." then I saw how much freedom this person on the stage didn't have (ie) had a sound man doing powerpoint way in the back of the church whereas I just had a transparency machine that I usually had a person help me nearby - I can change songs and change order of songs without interrupting the flow - the guy at the concert can't.

If you have a small team you get to know the same songs you then know that you aren't the one that always has to lead. You know what you're other team members know.

Permalink Reply by Daily Faith Music on February 3, 2010 at 11:58am

It sounds like both Sue and Flutepunch make the same point - simplicity is flexibility and flexibility allows the Spirit to lead and not the 'band'. As we have progressed we have been adding more and more songs to our playlist. We don't want to get boring, but we also don't want the congregation to feel left out by not being familiar with most of our material on any given day. We try to introduce a new song every third week at the very least. I'm interested in how everyone else sees the issue of familiarity vs. variety.

Permalink Reply by Greg Moore on September 5, 2010 at 6:16am

People laughed at my box of 300 overheads, stored right at the operator's feet, alpha-tabbed for instant retrieval, tucked away out of line-of-sight. When we went ProPresenter, I stayed up a few nights typing in all of the stray oldies (Hillsongs, Pledge to the Flag, etc.); and we got blessed with an operator who understood music, and had a good memory for choruses that didn't start with the title words. Without such a person, powerpoint can be a chaotic techno-disaster, small team or big.

I love the freedom, the personality, and the up-frontness of small. If I had a thousand-person church I'd divide it into ten fellowship halls, and as they grew, build more halls. But that's just me.