How to Develop Worship Teams in the Church (10-16-15)

So let’s outline a detailed, step-by-step process for developing worship teams in the church. Here are several steps to consider:

1. Identify the Need: Ministry is another word for service and service is always done in response to visible and identifiable need. This could be people to serve, or a problem to solve. The need for a worship team should be clearly felt and articulated. Ministries should not start just because other churches have one. Neither should they continue just because they have always existed. Clearly identify the need for a worship team.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and others in your congregation to help you assess whether there is a need for a worship team in your church: (1) Do our worship services involve a variety of people? (2) Is there a system in place to assess the relevancy and excellence of our worship services on a regular basis? (3) Have we created ways to nurture, affirm, and develop the budding gifts of our members in our services? (4) Is the planning and leadership of worship in our church done by a few people who may also be burdened with other responsibilities? (5) Is the involvement in planning worship seen to be more of a “task” than a “calling” for some? (6) If we were to raise the excellence of our services a couple of notches, for the glory of God, what plan is in place to do this? (7) Have we thought of the various groups our services may be totally ignoring? Children? Young adults? People from the local community?

Unless there is a felt need to have a worship team, you will meet nothing but resistance. Ponder the importance of seeing how others need to sense a need before change will take place. What may be obvious to you may need clearer articulation to others who are not as passionate about having a worship team. Don’t be surprised if people say things like, “Our worship services are fine just the way they are.”

Develop a list of your own questions that help raise important issues and highlight areas of need. Don’t focus too much on what’s “wrong.” People tend to become defensive when the familiar is attacked. Include questions that raise the sights of others about “What could be.” Then formulate statements that capture the essence of what you hear and are learning. Write them down. Pray over them. If God is planting a vision in your mind, give it time to grow.

2. Gather the People: When a need for a worship team has been identified, the next step is to form a group of people who are interested, appropriately gifted, and exhibit a genuine passion to see that need met. They meet for prayer and discussion. Through wisdom and time these people formulate a clear vision for the ministry.

Passion is the God-given desire to make a difference in the church somewhere. For you or others, it may be to dramatically improve the level of excellence in worship planning and implementation. As you prayerfully think about the need for a worship team, begin to make a list of people you believe are also passionate about this ministry.

If you have any familiarity with spiritual gifts, you may be inclined to think of worship team leaders who have gifts of music, creative communication, leadership, speaking, etc. These are certainly helpful gifts to keep in mind. But don’t limit your scope of who may be involved in a worship team. Some teams are very small and consist primarily of three or four individuals who lead a time of singing during worship. But other teams utilize multimedia, creative drama, and other elements. That may mean there are people gifted in technology, administration, and hospitality who could be a part of a worship team.

God can use a variety of people to accomplish His purposes for your church. You may not think of the gift of mercy as being directly connected with a worship team, or gifts of intercessory prayer, but there will certainly be moments when these gifts need to be exercised on behalf of the entire congregation during worship. Some churches even have a group of members with gifts of prayer spend the entire worship service hour in prayer in another room in the church, praying on behalf of the worship team leaders, the pastor, the church members, and guests.

Start making a list of possible members who are interested in being a part of a worship team. Talk with these people. Don’t ask them to make any initial commitments. Let the list grow as you continue to pray and ask God to lead the process of beginning a worship team. You might ask your pastor for suggestions. Assure him or her that you are exploring the idea of a new ministry and want to work in harmony with the church leaders.

3. Call A Meeting: At some point, call a meeting to discuss your heart’s desire for a worship team. You might meet for a potluck in someone’s home. Invite the pastor. Have someone take notes on your meeting. A sample agenda for your first meeting might include the following: (1) Prayer and praise time; (2) Short introduction to the purpose of the meeting; (3) Invite everyone to respond to four questions: One thing I really appreciate about our worship services is … Something I wish we could improve in our worship services is … I believe a worship team could strengthen our services by … One concern I have about developing a worship team is … (4) Closing comments and discussion about another meeting; (5) Prayer time.

In a second meeting, the group could focus on a vision statement for a worship team ministry. This statement would succinctly describe the preferable future of worship that it sees happening in your church. It “pictures” what could be. That’s why it’s called a vision statement. This statement can become a guiding compass to help keep your future ministry team on track. It should contain at least two elements: How will this ministry glorify God? How will this ministry build up the church?  Create your vision statement to be in harmony with your church mission statement, if your church has one. The more you wrestle with and personalize a vision statement for your team, the more it will truly be a guiding compass. If it is not owned, it will not be used and ownership usually comes from helping to construct the statement.

4. Prepare the Plan: After reaching a consensus on the need and developing a vision to meet that need, it is time to develop a ministry plan for your worship team. Continue to meet together until the strategy and details of a ministry plan is worked through. After a plan is developed it needs to be approved.

Once a clear vision has been articulated, specific plans should to fall into place. Further meetings will focus on preparing action plans that can be submitted to the church board for approval. These can be grouped into three areas: (1) Goals: What we need to accomplish. (2) Strategies: How will we get there? What is our plan? (3) Measurable steps or specific tasks: Who will do each task? How much will it cost? How long will it take?