Tag Archives: worship leader

The 5 Myths of Worship

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The 5 Myths of Worship

When you think of the word worship, what comes to mind? Most of us think of church, but worship is much more than that. As we’re developing the worship cultures in our churches, it’s important that we address the stereotypes of worship. Many believers don’t know what worship looks like because worship isn’t being taught. If worship isn’t being taught, there’s a good chance that it hasn’t been experienced. Here are my thoughts of what worship was before I realized what it is.

1.Worship is music, particularly slow music.
I’ve thought this for most of my walk with God! When we understand that worship is a lifestyle, we recognize music as a way in which we worship (Psalm 28:7).

2. Worship is a gesture (lifted hands, running, shouting, etc.).
Worship is more than an emotional response. Worship is a posture; posture is defined as “the attitude a person or group has toward something or someone”. As we endure different circumstances, we develop a confidence in God because of his history of deliverance. The more we walk with Him, the better we know and trust Him (Psalm 103).
Worship requires a gift (“I have nothing to offer God”). If God blessed us by the types of gifts we gave, many of us would be out of luck! Worship requires a sacrifice and that sacrifice is us! God created us, His gift, to worship Him (Psalm 141:2)!

3. Only “good people” can worship God.
God is not pleased by our works. He’s drawn to the hearts of His children. Those who are willing to be used by God are lead by their “yes” to God, yielding to the Holy Spirit and obeying the Word (Ephesians 2:8-9).

4.Worship is an event on Sunday.
Can you imagine going to the same place and doing the same thing over and over again? As exciting as the church service is when you first visit or become a member, eventually the excitement wears off. If you’ve felt like this, then your focus was in the wrong place. Worship isn’t about a program. Worship is an encounter with God that grows into a fruitful relationship. The Bible states that God rewards those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6). The more we seek God, the more we experience new characteristics of God’s nature.

5. I have to feel good/be happy to worship.
Worship is not about emotion, but about personal choice. Choose to worship God in your pain because you know who He is; if He is your Savior, then you know that your pain isn’t permanent. We serve a High Priest in Jesus Christ who has experienced humanity, so He knows about worship and suffering (Heb. 4:15).
I challenge you to write down your thoughts of worship and allow God to reveal His thoughts through the Word. Your seek of true worship will allow you to experience God on a deeper level.

Sonja R. Jones is a wife, mother, educator, author, and a Virtual Worship Pastor. Her assignment is to spiritually cover music ministry leaders, help churches develop and retain music ministry leaders, and equip and send music ministry leaders to churches. Connect with her online at www.sonjarjones.com

Music Ministry 101: Music Ministry Administration

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Merriam Webster’s definition of administer is to manage the operation of something.

Ministers of Music, how are you managing or operating your ministry?

In many situations, pastors quickly hire musicians based on musical skill alone and assume that they will adjust to the administrative responsibilities or don’t believe that the administrative tasks aren’t important enough for development and training. You can’t be an effective leader and lack the ability to manage your responsibility. It hinders the church to have Ministers of Music who are really musicians that are inappropriately titled because they don’t have the gifts of administration, leadership or service (loving people).

So, what does music ministry administration look like? I’ve organized these tasks into two areas, internal and external ministry affairs. If I’ve left anything out, feel free to add in the comments section of this post.

Internal ministry affairs (responsibilities within your church)

Rehearsal-Connect with the bus ministry for choir members who need transportation. Prepare songs for your choir/worship team and chord charts for musicians.
Announcements to congregation and choir-Write announcements using appropriate grammar and spelling. Give announcements early enough for ministry members to prepare.

Service planning-Communicate with your church secretary about congregational songs to include in the church program and provide the hymn/song. Communicate with the media ministry about announcements and lyric slides.

Uniforms- To avoid discord in your ministry, use robes or colors that don’t have varieties of shades. Collaboration with other ministries in the church-Be willing to suggest appropriate songs and keys to the youth leader about songs children can sing for Christmas and Easter skits. Leadership meeting with other church leadership (deacons, pastor, auxiliary heads)-Learn from your elders and be willing to share words of wisdom as well.

Budget-Communicate with church trustees about budget updates. For financial transparency and integrity, keep a duplicate budget book for the music ministry.
Fundraising-There must be a “why” to your fundraising. Plan your ministry needs before you begin selling items.
Management of equipment-Have a working knowledge of how your instruments operate. Develop a relationship with instrument vendors and sound technicians.

External ministry affairs 

Professional development- A workshop is not a rehearsal with a guest choir director; that’s a rehearsal. What can you provide your ministry members besides new songs to learn? Read a worship book together and study. Invite a clinician to discuss vocal techniques or a ENT (ear, nose, throat) physician to talk about throat care. As a music ministry leader, you need separate development for yourself. Don’t be afraid to include this in the ministry budget.

Outreach (How can your choir minister outside of the 4 walls of the church?)

This doesn’t have to require singing! Think of unique ways to bless your community. There are international music ministries who are looking for financial support to equip musicians for world-wide ministry. GTM ministries (Gospel Through Music) is one I personally support.

Ok, so I’ve given you all of these wonderful tasks, now how will you get these things done? Well, we’ve all met members of our congregations who love the choir and wished they could participate but “can’t sing.” These are great people to ask for help; it’s a great way to activate the gifts in your church.

Remember that no man is an island. Don’t be afraid to ask for help in areas where you lack knowledge. God is pleased when we share our experiences with one another. Be intentional in serving God with excellence!

To listen to this topic on the Worship Builders Podcast, click below:
Episode 38: Music Ministry 101-Music Ministry Administration

Sonja R. Jones is a wife, mother, educator, author, and a Virtual Worship Pastor. Her assignment is to spiritually cover music ministry leaders, help churches develop and retain music ministry leaders, and equip and send music ministry leaders to churches. Connect with her online at www.sonjarjones.com

The Music Ministry Coach.com Releases A “Training Manual” For Praise Teams

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Ever since I started this ministry in 2011 one topic has always gotten way more engagement, shares, likes and comments than any other topic I write about. That would be praise teams, or worship teams. Well after writing articles about them for a few years I’d accumulated quite a few of them. So I asked the fan page community one day if they thought having them in one place would be helpful. The response was unanimously yes.

So I decided to create an e-book compiling several of my most popular and useful articles on the subject of praise team ministry. One thing my followers told me I must do to make this book useful is to organize the articles into categories so they’d have some continuity and be easier to use. I listened intently, and after many hours and many hurdles, it’s here! Praise Team 101 is a reality and it’s available for purchase right now.

Praise Team 101 is a collection of articles offering practical advice for common challenges most all praise teams encounter. I’ve assembled the top 13 articles from my blog- 42 pages in all-into 3 main categories to help you take your ministry to the next level. In fact just to show you how much great content you’ll get in this book and how well organized it is I put together a short video for you that actually takes you inside the book and shows the entire table of contents.

So many of you have been asking for more help with this subject, and I’m really proud and excited to have it ready and available for you. I really believe this product has the ability to have one of the most profound ministry impacts of anything I’ve released so far. To watch the short video and pick up your copy, just click on the link below.

Introducing Praise Team 101

5 Tips for beginner Worship Leaders

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Today’s Music Ministry training resource comes to us from DevelopingWorship.com . I love it when an instructor or coach can break a process down into simple, easy-to-understand steps that are easy to jot down and refer to. If you’re new to the position of Worship Leader you’ll be encouraged by this video. The instructor lists  5 tips for beginner worship leaders and goes into a detailed explanation of each one. Awesome training! Be sure to subscribe to their channel and visit the website. As always, tell them you heard about them from The Music Ministry Coach.com!

 

5 Tips for Beginner Worship Leaders

To join in the discussion, simply go to www.developingworship.com/forum. Registration is free an only takes a minute to complete. To join in with worship leaders, worship musicians, worship technicians, and worshippers from around the world in this co…

 

 

How to deal with difficult members as a music ministry leader

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181/365 We Are Not AmusedI was just asked this week by one of family members on my Fan Page about leading through difficulties. Now, I’ve been in music ministry for over 30 years, but whether or not I’ve actually been a “leader” is debatable. I’m often referred to as one of the leaders because I’m always up front teaching songs and such. So while I’ve had my share of experiences and encounters with personnel challenges (both as the leader dealing with the challenges and the person creating the challenge,( lol) I wanted to be sure I gave my friend the best answer I could.

The first thing I do when I’m about to write a blog is draw from my own experience. Often that’s enough for me to write an article I think has enough real, relevant content to be a blessing to the reader. In this case I didn’t think I did, so I wanted to do a little research before I answered my friend. What I came across was a great article on the subject that I was really encouraged by. I’d like to share that with you today.

The author’s name is David Santistivan, who writes a blog for worship leaders and musicians. David wrote a blog on the subject entitled Rudeness In The Ranks:  How Do You Handle Difficult Worship Team Members?  In the article David offers 4 great tips for dealing with difficult team members. Not only is the article a great read, but other readers have added even more great content to the conversation via their comments.

So be sure to click the link above and head on over to David’s blog. If you leave a comment be sure and tell him you learned about him here on The Music Ministry Coach.com. For even more help with your worship/praise team check out Praise Team 101 .

Be blessed!