48. Don't let musical shortcomings discourage you. Balance the last point Maj. Russell Chun's (Turkey) observation that in some settings, it's okay to start out with raw talent and "grow in front of the audience. Making a joyful noise is what is important." Paul David Cull (Brazil) echoes this: "To us at the moment musical excellence isn't the priority. It's amazing how much the Holy Spirit can 'show up' when we're using such simple equipment (no band, a CD player etc). I'd love to have a professional quality worship group but not having one certainly hasn't prevented the Holy Spirit from moving powerfully among us during our worship times."
49. Make the hard decisions about worship team members. Sinful attitudes such as pride short-circuit worship. If a leader won't confront sin and deal with it, the worship will be hindered.
50. Practice as a band enough to where you know, trust, and understand one another musically. Like any other worthy endeavor, leading in worship requires much hard work.
Dress Appropriately
51. Make sure that your clothes communicate what you want to communicate. Again, ask your youth what they think of the way you and other leaders dress. Like it or not, we make statements to them with our clothes. A worship team dressed in black, complete with eyebrow rings, colored hair and tattoos would certainly distract a traditional adult church crowd on a Sunday morning.
Has it occurred to you that a worship team dressed exclusively in the latest preppie Ambercrombie clothes could be just as distracting to alternative kids? The leaders' outfits shout that this youth group isn't for alternative, or perhaps even that Jesus isn't for them. If you minister to a mixed group, you may want band members representing different subcultures.
52. If you're doing a performance to communicate truth, outlandish dress can communicate positively to certain crowds. In my opinion, it's appropriate in certain performance contexts. If you're leading in worship, you'll want to dress in such a way that your appearance doesn't deflect people's gaze from Jesus to you.
Pay Attention to Musical Technique
53. In a band, sometimes less is more. When solo keyboardists join bands, they must realize that they no longer have to carry the entire musical weight. On many songs they may need to play only simple chords or a simple melody line to blend with the other instruments.
54. If you have more than one vocalist singing in unison, choose voices that blend over voices that are uniquely solo.
Experiencing Worship, The Study
Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
One user said..."Your 5 week study course has made a tremendous impact on my life in the study of worship... I would like to express my thanks for a well written study course that leads into a higher realm of praise and worship."
Experiencing Worship, The Study