I find that if you are doing something that does not work, taking twenty years, or even one year, to change it noticeably is likely a very bad idea. If something is broken and you know what needs to be done, make a clean break and fix it as soon as you can. If it is not actually broken, continuous improvement that lasts throughout your service to God is an excellent idea.As a musician on a praise and worship team, I have seen this problem dealt with both ways. Very slow change tends to have no momentum and rarely has any staying power. You be back to where you started in no time, only more discouraged this time. If you choose this path, have clear goals laid out on a timeline. Reach your goals in a timely manner.
When change is made more swiftly, it is more inclined to be permanent. But you have to first find what to do. The best way to do that is to attend praise and worship seminars and workshops – and not just the ones put on by your church-branded district or headquarters. Also, you may find it helpful to attend a few services at churches that already have awesome praise and worship. If things are really bad now, missing a few weeks of praise and worship to study the subject properly is not only excusable, but needed. When you finally find where you need to be, find out how to get there and go.
No matter what you do, make sure that your pastor is behind you all the way. If you do not have your pastor’s blessing for changing the praise and worship service, you are defeated before you begin. No matter how much change is needed, and how wrong the pastor may be (in your eyes), if you try to change things that your pastor does not want changed, you are walking on a cursed path.
Also, if you haven’t prayed sincerely about changing praise and worship, you missed the first and most important step. This is the part that may take a while. If your ideas are solely your ideas and not God’s ideas, forget it. It is hard to kick against the goads! Besides, if your pastor does not see eye to eye with you on this matter, through prayer God can change his outlook… or yours.
This is an unpopular idea: you need to pray to make sure that you are not in the wrong church for this change. When I prayed to God with all my might that I would be involved in awesome praise and worship that would envelope His thrown with a sweet fragrance, God gave me the desire of my heart. He sent me to another church where the congregation wants the same thing I want.
I am nearly out of space, so this is all you get for now. I hope this is at least a little helpful to at least one person. Thanks for considering my thoughts.
Submitted by: Lee D
Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Date Added: 2005-09-26
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.