Biblical Worship

When I was called to my second full time ministry position, I was relieved that a couple of people in my first church who were a source of difficulty or conflict would not be in my new church setting.  What was rather funny now that I look back on serving in these churches is that there are difficult people in every ministry setting.  They are there in your next church but with different names.  One wise minister once said that ministry would be easy if it weren’t for the people.  That’s an interesting thought but a little unrealistic.

Randall Bradley in his book on music ministry makes some insightful points on dealing with conflict and difficult people in ministry:

“If you find yourself dealing with many difficult people, you should examine yourself, especially if these people are not considered ‘difficult’ by other persons. Perhaps you are the one that is difficult.”  Bradley goes on to suggest:

• Many criticisms have a spark of truth.
• Receiving criticism goes with the territory of being in a position of leadership.
• When you receive criticism, resist the temptation to deal with the issue then.  Tell the person thanks and that you would like to take some time to consider what they are saying before responding.

Bradley says that when you are confronted in a more hostile manner, you should:

• Never interrupt, listen to the very end, and respond with clarity questions.
• Don’t attempt to reason with an irrational person.  They probably do not want to hear a logical argument.
• Be gracious.
• Attempt to love difficult people.
• Work at forgiveness.
• Don’t answer at the same emotional level (a gentle answer).
• Refuse to take everything personally.
• Choose your battles carefully.

Randal Bradley speaks from experience having spent many years in music ministry.  I’ve found that one of the best ways to deal with conflict is to make sure you are spiritually prepared and to do your best to be rested before you arrive at church on Sundays and Wednesdays when most people are present.  When I am tired I usually do not deal with conflict very well.

Bradley’s book, From Postlude to Prelude: Music Ministry’s Other Six Days (MorningStar Publishers, 2004, ISBN 0944529364) has an excellent chapter on this topic of conflict (chapter 5).  I have found  the whole book to be helpful for beginning music ministers as well as seasoned ones. 

Last week I shared 4 guiding principles that I think should characterize an effective worship/music ministry.  An effective worship/music ministry will:

1. Exalt the Lord

2. Edify the Saints

3. Equip for Ministry

4. Evangelize with the Gospel

(for more detail on each of these points click here: http://biblicalworship.com/?p=340)

How does one do all of this as a part-time worship leader?  This is a great question.  I have served as a full-time minister of music for a number of years and also as a part-time minister of music.  For the part-time leader, planning, rehearsing and preparing for the Sunday morning worship service is so overwhelming time-wise that there is not much time (or energy) left for investing in the worship ministry of the church.  Here are some suggestions on how to get started on these principles.

1.  Be vision-oriented.  Your church may not be where you want it to be today musically, but where do you see it going in 10 years?  Set clear goals for 5 years and 10 years.  Plan to stay at your church for the long haul and work towards these goals.  Without a vision or plan, most likely the music/worship ministry of your church will not change from its present state.

2.  Be realistic about how much you can accomplish by yourself.  How can you train and equip others to come along side you and assist with the ministry?

3.  Consider forming a music or worship team of several willing lay people in your church who can take responsibility for carrying out different areas of the music ministry of the church.

4.  Delegate!  Who can help you to reach your goals?  Consider this:  What things are you doing that your church expects only you to do?  What things outside of this expectation can you give to someone else?  Train your lay leaders to do these other things. You equip others when you train them and allow them to be a part of the ministry - one of the guiding principles of an effective music ministry.  Work yourself out of your job.  What happens to the music ministry at your church when you leave?  Will it carry on with trained lay people or fall apart because all of the ability in the ministry left when you left?

Why don’t we delegate more when we know this will help to grow the ministry?  Sometimes we think no one else can do the job like we would like it done.  This is a control issue that is not conducive to effective ministry. Yes, sometimes the person may not do the job exactly like we would do it, but we can continually work with the person so that he/she does do the job in a way that is helpful.  When I delegate I’ve often found that the person who is helping actually does the job better or in a more creative way than I would have done it.

Another reason we do not delegate is because we do not plan enough in advance to bring others alongside and instead we end up doing all of the work by ourselves.  Delegation requires planning months and weeks in advance.

Worship Leaders, let me encourage you to put some goals in place for your ministry for the near future and for 10 years from now.  Pray that the Lord will send you willing lay people who will step up and join the work.  Take time to train and equip these lay people.  Watch the music ministry/worship ministry of your church grow in spiritual depth, effectiveness and in musical skills.

Many of our churches today cannot afford to have a full time staff position devoted to worship leadership and music ministry.  Often times the person leading is a layperson who is gifted musically but who also works full time at another job.  For that person it can be difficult to develop an effective music ministry at the church mainly because of lack of time. 

What should a part-time or volunteer worship leader be doing in the local church?  The most obvious thing is of course worship planning, preparing music for worship and worship leading.  I have been a part-time worship leader and know the frustration of seeing things that need attention and not having the time to give these things a priority.

I would like to offer my thoughts on what a worship leader/music minister should be doing in this article and then next week offer some suggestions for how a part-time or volunteer leader can carry out these objectives.  It is my contention that there are basic principles of worship and music leadership in the local church that should occur in any size church whether the leader is a full-time vocational worship leader or a volunteer layperson assisting where needed.

What the guiding principles for a music ministry in the church?

1. Exalt the Lord – our first priority in life and worship as commanded in the Scriptures is to Glorify our Great Lord.  Whatever we do in music ministry it should first bring Him glory.  We constantly must model this in our leadership and teach this in our rehearsals and worship services.  Exalting the Lord involves a striving for excellence and an acknowledgement of our own humility before the Lord when we lead.  Musicians need a strong dose of humility and a constant reminder of who gets the glory in music ministry.

2.  Edify the Saints – music ministry should encourage the Body of Christ.  Our people are bombarded all week with discouraging words and events.  We need to build them up with songs that remind them of who they are in Christ. 

3.  Equip for Ministry – this principle has at least two aspects.  First, we want to use our music to teach our people.  So much of our faith can be taught through our songs.  Second, we need to be training others in our church to do music ministry.  What are we doing to train our children and youth to participate and perhaps lead in worship?  This involves not only singing but providing instrumental training as well.  Consider one or two young people to mentor in this area of worship leadership. Who will be the next generation of worship leaders in your church? 

4.  Evangelize with the Gospel – music ministry should support the overall vision and goals of the church.  How can we as worship leaders help to share the Gospel with the lost community around us or in mission settings around the world?  One of the best tools for spreading the Gospel is using Gospel-saturated music.  We need to be sure we are proclaiming a clear biblical Gospel story in our songs.  Use our seasonal musicals as an outreach to the community.  Look for opportunities to take a musical message of the Gospel beyond the four walls of the church. 

I would challenge every worship leader to consider these principles in your music ministry work.  Are you accomplishing these principles regularly – week to week?  How can a part-time or volunteer worship leader carry out these principles with a limited time schedule?  I will discuss this in next week’s article.

Bob Kauflin in his new book on worship discusses the importance of selecting worship songs with thoughtful biblically based lyrics.  He states that at his church – “we’ve taken to heart Gordan Fee’s comment: ‘Show me a church’s songs and I’ll show you their theology.’ Kauflin says that “people need songs that feed them, not simply songs that feel good….The words to our songs should be as strong and memorable as the tunes we set them to or the arrangements we put behind them.  At times I’ve chosen not to do a well-known song because I thought the music was more impacting than the lyrics.  The catchiness factor surpassed the weightiness factor. . .  When in doubt, leave it out.” 

Kauflin continues “…if our primary criteria for using a song has to do with whether it’s popular or enjoyable to sing, we’re going to have a hard time persuading anyone that truth matters more than music.”  (Kauflin, 101)

I would encourage you to pick up a copy of Bob Kauflin’s book, Worship Matters, (Crossway, 2008, ISBN 1-58134-824-x).  It is an outstanding resource for worship leaders and pastors.