- WorshipTeam.coach

Worship Song Conspiracy Theories What's the "secret" that will help your team be more prepared every Sunday AND get your church to sing and engage more?? It's not a "secret" in that it's hidden knowledge or something only a few gurus know. Nah, that's nutty.

I've run into a bunch of worship leaders who have discovered this "secret" on their own. But why don't most worship leaders figure this out? Without trying to like a conspiracy theory nut, it's this: because the "industry" is doesn't want them to. And which which industry is that? The "Worship Music" Industry. Or as I like to call it: The Worship-Industrial Complex.

There's a big machine cranking out new worship songs. Every week, another worship leader/church/artist releases their latest album full of songs that might just work for your church. Are there people in the record business who just want to profit from worship album sales? Yes. Without a doubt. HOWEVER—and please hear me on this—I do believe that most of the "industry" genuinely loves local churches and wants to serve and bless them. But that doesn't change the fact that can choose from 9,467 new songs every month for your set lists. (A tad bit of hyperbole, but you get my point.)

Not Enough Space Let me ask you this: Does it feel like you never have enough space to introduce all the fantastic songs to your congregation? It feels that way because it's true! Most worship leaders know this instinctively. They know they have to pick and choose. But even then, there's a subtle pressure for many leaders to… Stay current. Be relevant. And NOT miss out on a fantastic new song. It's one part FOMO (fear of missing out) and one-part "keeping up with the Jones."

So what does all this have to do with getting your team practice enough? You've probably guessed it by now.... Because of the almost infinite number of worship songs available to us, too many worship leaders rotate in too many new songs. The more new songs, the more your team needs to practice. In fact, because of all the songs available to us, most worship leaders rotate too many songs, period—new, old, or somewhere in between. Here's a typical scenario that I see in too many churches.

A worship leader requires his/her team members to... learn at least one new song each week, relearn three to four others they haven't played for six months or more, and then brush up on another one or two songs they "mostly know," That's a ton of practice time! No wonder those team members come to rehearsal without their parts learned! ~Contact.FirstName~, it's OK if you've resembled this leader. I did too! (Not So) Great Expectations Let's face it. The expectations for "modern worship" are little outta whack. Many worship leaders feel pressure to sing the latest songs. The pressure can come from... team members, or... the senior pastor, or... people in congregation, or... other worship leaders, etc.

The person pushing for new songs is well-meaning. He loves the new songs and is blessed by them. He wants these songs to bless the whole church the way they're blessing him. But this guy isn't looking at the big picture. Your team can only do so much. Unless they're comprised of professional musicians who get paid a weekly stipend... They're volunteers giving of their limited amount of time. They're decent musicians, but most can't quickly learn and internalize songs.

(That's why most church musicians have their head buried in their music stands or eyes glued to the confidence monitor.) Rehearsal is when many team members learn their part, because they didn't have time to practice. So Secret #3 to make preparation a (real) priority for your team... Secret #3: Rotate Fewer Songs More Often Rotate fewer songs more often. What does that mean? It means you need to maintain a smaller active song list so each song gets scheduled more frequently. This will help solve the problem of your team members coming to rehearsal without their songs learned. But you know what? That's just the by-product benefit. The real benefit affects your church.

The problem of doing too many songs (and not repeating them enough) is this: Your church sings from the screen and not from the heart. (Read that again...and think about how you see that in your church.) You know the difference between "singing from the screen" versus "singing from the heart." You know what it sounds like. You've heard it. Think about the last time you were leading a set of songs you've introduced in the last twelve months. People seem to be singing, right? But then, you start into an old song that the congregation has sung for years and... BAM!

Suddenly, the roof is blown off by the sheer volume and number of voices singing. It might be an old praise chorus, a hymn, or a modern worship song that has resonated for a long time. Regardless, it's a "heart-song."

Your church knows this one. Intimately. They might still be looking at the screen, but they're singing from their heart. Please hear me. I'm NOT saying… Never do new songs. Or... Always do old songs. What I'm saying is this:

And guess what—your team will have very few songs to learn or relearn. Not only does a limited song rotation allow your church to worship more freely, but it also lets your team members… Invest fewer hours practicing. Come to rehearsal prepared. Play and sing more confidently. Again, that's secret #3: fewer songs rotated more often. It gives you a more prepared team AND a more engaged church. It's NOT Easy I want to warn you, it's not easy,

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