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What are some ways to work out a worship team schedule with a group of volunteers with business lives
What are some ways to work out a worship team schedule with a group of volunteers with busy lives? I am finding it a bit difficult to plan a worship schedule with group members calling off at the last minute. The great thing about God has been is once one call off someone else volunteers, Now I don't quite know how to fit all of these elements out. I need some help.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Riner on -
When you find out let me know!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Jerry Oldham on -
I used to do a worship team schedule every month for a number of years and always had the same dificulties as you. I finally quit with a schedule and now I pull my team from our Tuesday night practice. I require that everyone be at practice on Tuesdays and if they cannot make it then they know they won't be ministering the following Sunday on the team. If someone can't make it to service on Sunday, then I have 1 or 2 others who can step right on up and fill in. We are such a small congregation and team that this works out well for us.
Now one thing I did with my scheduling, and still require of our team members, was require that if a member was scheduled for a service and unable to serve, they were to ask another team member to fill in for them as well as inform me of the change. That way I had one less distraction/worry as I was preparing for service. There were times that it would slip and I was scrambling for team members, but it wasn't the norm.
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Permalink Reply by Lindsay Freeman on -
I struggle with this area too! What seems to work for us is:
1. I send out an email to all my team members asking them for dates they can NOT play in the next X amount of weeks (usually 8).
2. While waiting for responses I make the schedule. (I will usually get 2 or 3 team members to respond, the other 6 do not.)
3. If necessary I make small changes based on the ones that do respond.
4. I print a schedule for every member and personally give it to each member about a week in advance of the first Sunday on the schedule.
5. When I give them the schedule I tell them if they are not available on a Sunday they are scheduled they need to find someone to replace them. (Something that helps is for the people who respond, I indicate that they are unavailable on the schedule so if someone is looking for a replacement they know the members who are not available)
* Lastly something that really helped our team was making a manual detailing the level of commitment we want for our worship team members. All team members had to sign the manual stating they were willing to commit to our requirements. This has taken some of the "bad guy-ness" off of me and put it onto the members. I'm not begging them to participate and they understand when they back out, they are hurting the whole team.
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Johnson on -
Wow. Very helpful Lindsay!
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Permalink Reply by Dan Camp on -
We also struggle with this a bit...doesn't help that most of our team wear multiple hats around the church, and therefore have committee meetings/youth group/choir, etc. on everyone's calendar. We end up doing a lot of our practicing before Sunday service, and work on new stuff after service but before folks head out. Not perfect, but beats not practicing at all.
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Permalink Reply by David Prentice on -
Here's an axion: "People have lives outside of church!"
Because this is a truth, on my side, I have to make sure that organization and efficentcy are top priorities. This way, volunteers never feel like their time (a precious commodity in todays world) is being wasted.
The next axiom" "Commit to only what you can commit to"
I let my people set their schedules. (I.E. I can be here on this date and this time & I cannot be here at this date and this time.)
However, here's the tough part for you: You must communicate the following; "If you cannot keep the commitments you make ... then you cannot participate.
If my people have to cancel due to a reasonable explaination (I.E. sickness, etc) they are required to line up their replacement from an approved talent pool and confirm with me to recieve permission to run with it. This breeds accountability and ownership in the team.
If you need more musicians ... GROW YOUR OWN!
If you don't know how, email me and I show you how.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Geagan on -
We just got together for a team meeting last week and basically laid out this simple fact:
The purpose we do this is to lead God's people in worship. With that in mind, we need a complete commitment from everyone. I also had everyone fill out a calendar stating the weeks they were unavailable. Obviously, things will come up & change schedules, but this should help.
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Permalink Reply by Doug Lane on -
One thing I am starting to believe - and thank God my congregation believes this too - is that our lives should be CENTERED around the Church. Not in the sense that we worship the Church. The center of our worship is Jesus. But the center of our life activities ought to be the Church. I just don't see in scripture the kind of compartmentalizing that we see in our culture. We ARE the Church. In that sense, our lives should be about being the church and should be committed primarily TO the Church. Soli Deo Gloria.
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Permalink Reply by Gie Blanky on -
I would like to know how to grow our own musicians too! Please let me in on the secret!!
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Permalink Reply by Doug Lane on
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Personally, I have learned that it is better to have a smaller group of more committed folk, than to have a large group that cannot be relied upon.
I'll echo a few of the other posts:
- Make schedules based on their stated availability.
- Make it THEIR responsibility to find a replacement in suitable time.
- Be willing to go it alone
I have fired several volunteers through the years for this very kind of thing. Their lack of committment was a drain on the morale and committment of the rest of the team.
I require anyone who wants to be on the worship team to fill out an application, including a list of requirements and expectations. I interview every one of them to make sure a) they are believers and b) they are truly committed. I also require that they are members of the church. Lastly, I require that if a person wants to play, they need to faithfully attend all of the rehearsals for a few weeks without playing on Sunday so that they can get a feel for us and we can guage where their heart is. If they are just their to play, they will get bored or will start complaining.
Heart over talent.
At my church, we went more than six months with it being just me. I wanted to establish the standards and expectations before we started building the team. Once we began, we laid a good foundation and have built steadily upon it since. In a congregation of around 50, we have a worship team of 10 (including two sound guys!). I've had to train a few.
The bottom line, I suppose is this: If they are not committed, they can not sing. Give all, or go home.
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