Zimmerman › 2014

Archives for January 2014

January 31, 2014 - No Comments!

Worship Ministry Essentials – Part 1: The Flapper

For the last eight months my wife and I have fallen asleep each night to the sound of our bathroom toilet emptying slowly and filling again. It's amazing how a toilet bowl acts as an amplifier for sound, and how much sound can come from a slow, steady drip.

The only reason I didn't repair it eight months ago, was because I falsely believed it would mean I would have to replace the whole toilet, which would entail ripping up most of our bathroom. That was a project I wasn't financially or emotionally ready to dive into.

I am increasingly convinced that one of the fundamental issues beneath many of the conflicts in worship ministry (and the church at large) is that we all frequently respond with surprise when things get difficult relationally. Despite what we know about ourselves (that we have mixed motives for everything), what we know about humanity (that we are born with brokenness), and what we know about sanctification (it's a crawl on a good day)¹, we still are shocked when conflict arises or a ministry relationship goes sideways.

You may have noticed that we musicians and artists can be a unreliable, self-absorbed, and sensitive bunch. This makes good soil for an emotional outburst or a sharp exchange at your next rehearsal.

Some of the best advice I was given heading into marriage was "to keep short accounts." This means handling conflict as soon as possible in a godly fashion so that it doesn't have time to fester, and grow into something bigger and heavier. For those that aren't a pain in the neck like me, prone to stirring the pot just to keep things interesting, you avoid conflict because you believe the lie that if you don't make eye contact, the problem will grow bored and go away.

Here's the thing.

Bitterness doesn't wear a watch. It's content to hang out as long as you give it free rent. Reconciling with a worship volunteer can be hard work that costs some time and emotional energy. That said, you find out what you really believe about the gospel when someone wounds you.

"Bitterness doesn't wear a watch."

Like any team, you can't have a healthy worship ministry unless you have a culture of gospel-centered conflict resolution. If you're the leader, you set the tone for this. Often, the most important thing you do as a leader, is how you treat someone after they blow it.

Bottom line: if you do life together on your worship team or band long enough, someone is going to hurt you, upset you, and possibly wound you. What if instead of acting surprised when this happens, we instead were committed to seeing each other in light of the good news we already believe about ourselves? Seek peace.² Apologize and own it when you misstep or misspeak. Don't let thoughts about the worst case scenario arrest you from finding a good time to talk it out.

If Jesus really paid for it all, then believe that about yourself and the one you find yourself irritated with or hurt by.³ If you need some time to gather your thoughts and repent of your selfishness then take it...but first commit to talking things out in the near future. Fixing a small rift early always beats crossing a huge chasm later.

"You find out what you really believe about the gospel when someone wounds you."

It's amazing how doing ministry together acts as an amplifier for our character, and how much damage can be done from a slow, steady drip of unforgiveness.

After watching nine seconds of a video on YouTube, I saw that the leak was probably an aging "flapper". The swap took $7 and two minutes. I am sleeping better, the water bill is lower, and now my only regret is that I didn't solve this eight months ago. You might sleep better too if you gather the courage to step out and reconcile your conflict today.

1. Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:23, Psalm 143:2, 2 Cor 3:18
2. Roman 14:19
3. 2 Cor 5

January 18, 2014 - No Comments!

Stripping Things Down

Many churches are led faithfully in worship every Sunday by a single leader or dedicated duo. For those of us leading with a standard 4 or 5-piece or those attempting to best Hillsong United's stage population of 27, stripping things down to a simpler configuration can be really helpful. Below you'll find both the advantages to doing so, as well as some tips to make it work. Let's start with the perks:

1. An opportunity for rest.
This is true especially in contexts when a few musicians carry the lion's share of responsibility for musical worship in your church. Give them a break. Send them to another church in town to observe and learn. Kick them out of town with their spouse. Break up their routine of rising early, doing a sound check, and running a marathon with you every Sunday.

2. An opportunity for teaching.
An acoustic set is a great time to teach that worship is not about style, instrumentation or volume. Lovingly remind your people that remembering and adoring Christ and celebrating His work through active participation is the win for Sundays (as opposed to hearing their favorite song, or just enjoying the band).

3. An opportunity for variety.
Changing things up a bit can be life giving for you if you're feeling excited about Jesus but bored with your presentation. The instrumentation and size of band has nothing to do with whether worship happens or not, but mixing things up can still be a good thing for you, your team, and the congregation.

"Remind your people that remembering and adoring Christ and celebrating His work through active participation is the win for Sundays."

TIPS FOR YOUR ACOUSTIC SET

Now that we've touched on some perks, here's a short list of things to help make the stripped down set work. I would note that if the skill level of your players are through the roof, you have some more flexibility in these things...but I'm guessing that's probably not your scenario.

1. Ditch the instrumentals and the mega-chorus.
Often the instrumentals, bridge or a repeated chorus on a studio recording make full use of all the instruments and dynamics afforded a 4 or 5 piece band. Think through which parts of the arrangement all but require a full band, and then simply remove those parts or simplify your arrangement. If you opt to simplify, listen for the melody lines (vocal or instrumental) and try to keep those intact. Additionally, long instrumentals sound empty/uninteresting when it's just an acoustic guitar and piano, so use this as a time to really highlight the voices of the congregation and the singing parts.
Ex: If there is an 8-bar instrumental after the chorus, skip it and go right into the next verse.

2. Knock it down a step.
Worship leaders should always be listening for whether a song is in a "congregationally friendly" key, but this is vitally important when simplifying the band. I suspect it's because generally people will meet you half-way when a full band is playing over them, but since they can hear themselves 100% of the time during an acoustic set, key selection becomes even more important. I've moved a song in an acoustic set down two full steps when the full-band version is near the top of what we're comfortable playing in a worship setting.
Ex: We play "Sweetness of Freedom" in C with the band (the recorded key) but in Ab when it's just an acoustic trio.

3. Tie a rock on top of your keyboardist's left hand.
Everyone needs to think through what musical space is occupied by the others usually on stage, and play their instruments accordingly. Without a bass player, it's a good idea to have the piano player (if you are using one) play more heavy handed on the lower end of things. This gives some guts to your simplified arrangements.

Hope these tips help you out the next time you cut things back and step on stage. Till next time.

January 9, 2014 - 3 comments

Worship Resources Pt 6: Catalogs

Catalogs

When worship leaders reach out for guidance or input on their worship ministry, one of the first things I ask about is regarding the use of catalogs. Most are familiar with the concept but pick songs for their congregation with little attention to frequency, consistency, or breadth. The top 10 CCM songs are not a thoughtful or even helpful way of choosing songs for Sunday. Using a catalog is a great tool for worship leaders to balance the "worship diet" of their church.

First let's define the term for our use:
A catalog is a set bank of songs used for a set period of time at a set location that balances the worship diet of your congregation. For example, we use a catalog that changes every 3 months, of around 25 songs at our Reno location. Catalogs differ between our 5 churches, and we tend to roll several songs forward each quarter.

Here's a quick rundown on a few of the tested advantages we've seen play out:

1. It's helpful for your people.
Using a catalog is a great way to ensure a "balanced diet" for your congregation. The Psalms are full of a breadth of human emotion. With a catalog in place, it's easier to intentionally have songs in rotation that cover celebration, despair, doubt, gratitude, and confession. Here is a sample of some of the balances we are striving for in our catalogs:

a. Subjective vs. objective (How we feel or respond vs. what is unchanging and true)
b. Indicative vs. imperative (Reminding what Christ has done vs. what we do in response)
c. Celebrational vs. contemplative (both in lyrical content and in musical mood)
d. Individual vs. corporate (I and me vs. us and we)

A warning: many have moralized different categories of songs in recent years, which speaks to both an ignorance of the Psalms as well as church history. For example, in the hymnals I have collected from the 1800s, the most common first word found in the song titles is "I". Balance is key.

2. It's helpful for those you are trying to reach.
Every church has its own culture, and the music is part of that culture. When a new person walks through your doors they will not know the songs you use, which is to be expected, but you can make it easier for them to join in after a few weeks if you use a catalog to limit the sheer volume of content. We say, "a guest should recognize several songs if they spend a month with us".

3. It's helpful for your teaching pastor.
In many churches, the teaching pastor has ten times the theological training that the worship leader does. This is highly problematic, but that's for another post on another day. Giving your teaching pastor a voice into the songs you use for Sundays is a great checkpoint, especially if they aren't musically inclined. Using a catalog can help you work on the worship menu together and gives you a fighting chance at tying in the music with upcoming teaching themes. It also allows for your teaching pastor to request songs more easily when he has the catalog in hand. The same can be said for planning services.

4. It's helpful for you.
Every worship leader knows that you have a certain number of songs you could play at any moment. There are another group of songs that with a quick glance at a lyric sheet you could pull off. Still other songs would require the music sheet to be in front of you and several practices. This is true because depending on many factors, you only have so much memory recall to allocate towards the songs you are playing.

"A guest should recognize several songs if they spend a month with us."

Since a catalog limits the number of songs you play, assuming you go through at least portion of your catalog at practice means you also limit the time that has passed since you have played everything in your catalog. We play our whole catalog every 3 weeks or so. That means it's never been more than 2 week since we played a song we are using for this quarter. I can't overstate how helpful this is.

This saves time previously spent trying to remember that one tune you haven't played for months. It creates space in practices for praying together, writing and creativity with your band or team, not to mention polishing the songs that need a little extra work.

These are only some of the benefits but it's clear to see that catalogs are a incredibly useful tool for worship leaders. Type one up yourself or use PCO, but figure out a way to implement a catalog for greater clarity and intentionality in your worship ministry. You can download a sample of one of our catalogs here.

Anything we missed? Comment below.

Blog Archives

Latest Posts

Monthly

Categories