“Lead by example,” however trustworthy and valuable, is an often overrated mantra in church culture. Another easily inflated quote from St Francis is “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
These are admonitions for the all-talk, no-walk. They’re also course corrections for the OCDs, control freaks, and socially challenged among us who are a taco short of a fiesta platter when it comes to empathy or just playing nice. Clearly, they’re not replacements for actually leading people with words or telling our good news in a little detail.
From friendships to marriage to sex, most humans have a misguided hope that these things happen naturally. We’re afraid by nature. When a husband or wife says, “I shouldn’t have to tell you, you should just know!” it looks like unreasonable anger but it’s not; it’s absolute terror. Uncovering our desires with words leaves us uniquely vulnerable and we’d rather avoid any reaction, good or bad. So please. You should just know. And I’m not talking about this any more! Good times of worship don’t happen without a little direction either.
Here are a couple of observations after years of people-watching from my sound booth. I hope they are helpful to worship leaders and worship bands alike.
1. People don’t just worship; they are lead to worship.
A friend who’s off-the-charts gifted at entertaining guests told me, “it’s funny … people need permission to let down their hair and relax … toward the beginning of a party you need to welcome everyone and say, ‘enjoy yourself – have a good time!’ and the tone of the party picks up right away.” You have to drop a verbal cue for what you’d naturally expect people to do. It enriches their experience. You give them a gift they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
It’s true for congregational worship too. A few expressive types will always stand and sing out, a few reserved types never will, but most folks want permission to sing out and engage passionately whether they know it or not. This is new territory for most and they’re unconsciously waiting for a leader to help them take another step.
Cornerstone has some great worship leaders. You will often hear, “sing with us!” right after the build of a pre-chorus leading into an anthemic chorus and the reaction is often stunning. It’s almost like the homerun crack of the bat at a baseball game making an otherwise hotdog-and-beer-sleepy crowd erupt into sudden cheering and involuntary high-fives. With simple, timely, and appropriate verbal cues, they give the gift of a great worship experience, a greater sense of unity as a body of believers, and a greater awareness of God’s nearness.
As an aside, I’m talking about verbal cues during worship here, not preaching. My advice? Don’t preach during worship unless it’s a planned (and brief) element of the service. Don’t recap the pastor’s message after it’s over. Too much of a good thing cheapens it really really fast.
2. Great musicians don’t just make great bands; bands are lead to sound great.
Most people unconsciously assume that any worship band’s performance (or any teaching pastor’s performance for that matter) is generally good enough and bad sound is just the sound engineer having a bad day. Believe me. When the band sounds great, the mix mixes itself. At Cornerstone we have awesome bands, not just great musicians. They work hard too.
1) They spend hours with songs before Thursday rehearsal.
2) At Thursday rehearsal the worship leader lays out clear expectations for parts and playing style. Chris and I also give input because we hear the whole mix.
3) They record a run-through of the worship set.
4) They listen to the recording before Saturday and come back ready to make changes based on what they’ve heard in the whole mix.
5) Not to be underestimated in value: they play to a click! We notice when it’s missing.
Our musicians are hard-working, teachable, team-players who allow themselves to be lead by a worship leader who gives clear direction each week during rehearsal. That makes for great worship bands. This has been the single most important factor in achieving the best sound we can have at Cornerstone.
So all that to say: Want better worship times and better bands? Speak up.
Your thoughts, observations and comments are always welcome!
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