3 Ways to Help your Worship Leader Succeed (Part 1)

“I want my worship leader to succeed!”

This is Jason Hatley, Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey and and Founder of www.WorshipLeaderInsights.com, and I can’t name a single pastor that I’ve met anywhere that would disagree with that statement.

After all, as goes your worship team, so goes your worship service.

Having personally coached over 125 worship leaders, I can tell you for sure: the pastor plays a vital role in the success of the worship leader.

If you want your worship leader to succeed (and I know you do), there are some things that you can do as the Pastor to help him or her do just that.

That’s what we’re going to spend the next 3 blog posts talking about.  Here’s the first one:

#1 – Clear Expectations

Many worship leaders fall short because they simply do not know exactly what is expected of them.  They keep busy, but they may not know:

• What is the deadline for the worship order to be done?
• Does my pastor want the service to go this way or that way?
• Is it my responsibility to ________________?

It’s frustrating for you both!

When I hire someone on my team I give that new hire a list of 30+ expectations with weekly deadlines and action steps.

I want them to know exactly what I am hiring them to DO.

Here are three quick tips for writing and communicating your expectations:

1)     Be specific.  The clearer you are on the front end, the less likely there will be disagreements or missteps on the back end.  Don’t say, “The worship order needs to be written.”  Say, “I expect YOU to write the worship order.”

2)     Make it measurable.  Don’t just say, “I expect you to write the worship order.”  Say, “I expect you to bring the worship orders for the next two weeks to our Monday meeting.”

Those are very different statements.  It’s hard to measure the first, but on Monday at that meeting you and your worship leader know if the task has been accomplished.

3)     Give a deadline.  Anything that you can put a deadline on… do it!  Deadlines help your worship leader understand how to prioritize their work.

“I expect you to bring the worship orders for the next two weeks to our Monday meeting, to finalize this Sunday’s worship order by Wednesday at 5pm and to have copies printed and ready for the entire team before Thursday midnight.”

Now I know exactly what to do!

Have you given your worship leader a set of written expectations for the job?  Make a list of 20 expectations that you have for your worship leader.

Remember, if it’s foggy in your mind, it’s a blizzard in your worship leader’s mind.

Get clear on expectations.

PS: I have a talk just like this for Worship Leaders as well.  It’s much more in-depth on how they can help you succeed and it’s only available to those in my Tele-Coaching Network.

Not only that, but in the network I will spend one full year training your worship leader on how to double their personal effectiveness, give you what you need to succeed, plan worship services weeks, months, even a year in advance, double your worship team in a single day, and much more.

My next network begins on October 15 and is already 65% full.  Apply at http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com/coaching.

PPS: Each month, I send out a Free Newsletter for Worship Leaders.  It’s a monthly email publication that focuses on leadership, worship planning, effective worship team development and much more!

To sign up your worship leader today, visit:

http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com/newsletter

Sunday’s Coming… [Funny Video]

I thought you could use a laugh this morning – here’s a funny video I saw recently from North Point Media that brought a smile to my face…

I hope it will “growtivate” you to make the most of your church’s worship services:

Have a great Wednesday!

P.S. If you’re seriously ready to maximize your church’s weekend worship services, check out Planning Worship Services for Life Transformation.

FDR on Sermon Preparation…

I ran across this story in a book I was reading recently and I think it has great application when it comes to planning and preparing to preach:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was once asked how long it would take to prepare an address on a particular theme. “That depends on how long you want me to speak,’ the President answered.

“If you want an hour on the issue, I can be ready in two days. If you want thirty minutes, it will take me a week. If you want five minutes, it may take a month to prepare.”

FDR knew that arriving at the essence is one of the most demanding exercises of all.

“…Arriving at the essence is one of the most demanding exercises of all” – Isn’t that true for our sermon prep as well?

P.S. One of the best tactics I know of to get ahead and give myself plenty of time to hone in on the essence of the message is planning your preaching in advance.  To learn more and get started, check out my one hour training called “Planning a One Year Preaching Calendar.”

What are Your Expectations for Your Worship Pastor and Musicians?

This is Jason Hatley, Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey.  Nelson asked me to share some thoughts today on one of the more frequently asked questions in both his and my coaching networks – the question of worship ministry expectations.

Excellence on Sunday begins with excellence in the rehearsal room. And the one person who is responsible for getting excellence from the Worship Team is the worship leader.  Rehearsal rises and falls on the leadership and preparation of the worship leader.

After all, I set the standard for excellence.

• How could I expect my team to be more prepared than I am?
• How can I expect my team to know the music if I don’t?
• It all begins and ends with the worship leader

In terms of rehearsal, I expect my team to put in at least one hour of person practice before rehearsal, and then another hour of practice between rehearsal and the Sunday service.  Our team is expected to arrive at rehearsal fully knowing their parts.

That’s the difference between practice and rehearsal:

• Practice is what I do on my own
• Rehearsal is when I bring what I’ve practiced to the group setting and together we work through the songs

We give the songs to our team one week prior to rehearsal to give them a full seven days to work on it.  That’s 10 full days before a Sunday when they would play or sing the songs – plenty of time for the team to learn the music.

In fact, our team has to memorize all music (always have from the very beginning), and that timeline is plenty for them to do so.

I’d like to invite you to attend the “Leading With Authority In Rehearsal” Webinar on Tuesday, April 13.  Invite your worship leader, and even members of your team to join you.  I believe it will really help your team this year!

Jason

P.S. Here’s the link again to Register Now for the Leading With Authority in Rehearsal Webinar on April 13:

https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p1107

Overcoming Worship Leader Challenges (Free E-Book)

My Worship Pastor here at The Journey, Jason Hatley, just recently released a brand-new Free E-Book for worship leaders called “Overcoming the Seven Challenges of a Worship Leader.”

Every Worship Leader faces challenges – seven major challenges to be specific.

Once you identify these challenges and build a systematic approach to overcoming them, you and your worship ministry can thrive!

In this brand-new report from Jason Hatley, you will discover the secret to building a successful, systematic and God-honoring worship ministry.

Download your copy of this E-Book (in PDF format) immediately by clicking the link below:

Overcoming the Seven Challenges of a Worship Leader
by Jason Hatley

While you’re at it, check out Jason’s brand new Worship Leader Tele-Coaching Network, which starts in only two weeks (Thursday, March 19)!  Click here for more information and to download your application now.

P.S. When you apply for Jason’s Worship Leader Coaching Network, be sure to note that you read about it on my blog and I’ll put in a good word for you to get “priority consideration”

Your Preaching Calendar Questions – Summer Sermon Series?

Q: You mentioned doing a series during the summer that isn’t sequential.  Can you elaborate on what that looks like?

A: The basic concept is to do a number of messages that can be combined under the same title, but that don’t build on one another from week to week.

Essentially, you should do a series that is made up of standalone message topics, with the understanding that people are most likely going to miss church at least a time or two during the summer.

Leadership often involves entering the conversation that people are already having in their mind.  By doing a series like this, you’re taking away the “well we missed last week, so…” reasoning.

Example: We do a series each summer called “God on Film,” where we choose 6 or 7 of the summer’s biggest movies and address the spiritual issues that each one raises.

The entire series is titled and branded as “God on Film,” but we will address 6 or 7 unique, standalone topics over the course of the series.  By doing so, we’re able to attract new people, keep our regulars attending in spite of their vacation plans and help people grow in 6 or 7 different areas over the summer.

P.S. – Still looking for a few series to fill in the gaps in your 2010 Preaching Calendar? Click here for some proven Sermon Series!

P.P.S.- If you missed the “How to Plan Your 2010 Preaching Calendar” Webinar, you can listen to a replay of the audio at: www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/preachingreplay

Your Preaching Calendar Questions – What to Promote

Q: How do you balance promoting a new sermon series with the current sermon series?

A: I use the word “promotion” to refer primarily to external promotion, or promoting a message series to the people in your community. Most of this type of promotion is reserved for your Attraction series (or at least those with attractional titles).

Think from the mindset of the unchurched in your community as you decide which series to promote externally and how to promote them. You definitely want to go all out in promoting the Attraction series that begin on your Big Days (just remember that for Easter, you should promote Easter Sunday itself as the primary draw).

Once you determine which series you’ll be promoting heavily in the community, you shouldn’t have much overlap in your advertising/promotion efforts between current and upcoming series. In any case, be sure that your promotion is focused and includes a clear call to action (what do you want people to do?).

In your internal promotion (to the people in your church), you will need a little more balance. We all let people know what’s going on each week through email updates, before- and after-service announcements, weekly bulletins, etc.

As you build towards a new series, you can use those same means (and then some) to get them geared up for what’s next. You may consider sending a postcard to everyone in your database for each new series.  There’s no reason to choose promoting one or the other – let them know about both.

And don’t forget to look for opportunities in your current messages to get people thinking about the next series. Example: In a message with one point about honoring God with your finances, you should take the opportunity to let your people know about the Financial Freedom series you’re starting on [[date]]. This helps build anticipation.

P.S. – Still looking for a few series to fill in the gaps in your 2010 Preaching Calendar? Click here for some proven Sermon Series!

P.P.S.- If you missed the “How to Plan Your 2010 Preaching Calendar” Webinar, you can listen to a replay of the audio at: www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/preachingreplay

Your Preaching Calendar Questions – “Splitting” a Series?

Q: Is there ever a need to split a series (maybe for a guest speaker)?

A: In most cases I would say no.

Rather than “split” a message series, see if the guest speaker’s message will fit into the series that is scheduled during that time (this may be as simple as changing the title of their message so that it matches the series terminology).

Another option is to utilize your “expansion joints” or open dates on your calendar to shift your series so that the guest speaker can bring a standalone message between two series. For example, move the start of the previous series up a week earlier so that the guest can speak the week after that series ends and before the next begins.

There are some times, however, when God opens up just the right opportunity and none of these techniques will work. In those times, you can hit the “pause” button on a series and consider it a God-inspired audible.

P.S. – Don’t miss the big Church Leader Insights Thanksgiving Sale going on now – click here to see all the deals!

Your Preaching Calendar Questions – Full Church Campaigns?

Q: You recommended doing a “full church campaign” in the fall. That just looks like an extra long series on the calendar – can you explain further what is involved in a campaign like this?

A: I do recommend doing a full church campaign each fall. The concept behind the campaign is to take your entire church through the same study and teaching topics at the same time.

It will be a powerful time of spiritual growth for your people and provides a measure of church-wide momentum that is sometimes hard to come by.

During this campaign the Sunday messages and Small Group curriculum are coordinated, and we typically put together a daily devotional for all of our people, so that everyone in the church is learning, stretching and growing in the specific area that we’re focusing on.

For example, this fall we’re going through “The Relationship Principles of Jesus,” so our people are learning how to apply Jesus’ relationship principles in the weekend service, in their small group and in their daily quiet time. It takes planning and work to do a full church campaign, but the resulting life change that we have seen is worth every minute.

P.S. – Two proven full church campaigns that will ramp up the spiritual growth at your church are The New Testament Challenge and Financial Freedom.

Your Preaching Calendar Questions – Open Dates & More

Last week’s “How to Plan Your 2010 Preaching Calendar” Webinars were a great success and I’ve enjoyed hearing from so many of you about how your planning is going.  Here are my answers to more of your frequently asked questions.

Q: Once I have my preaching calendar together, who should I share it with?  Should I share it with other leaders in my church?

A: You want to share the entire preaching calendar with everyone in leadership that it will help to do their jobs.  In other words, you definitely want to share it with your Worship Leader, Pastors on staff, Creative Team, and anyone else you think will find it helpful in doing their job.

Once you have the calendar together, you can intentionally give your people a sneak peek from time to time about something that’s coming up.   For example, in a message where one point is about dealing with relationships, you may want to mention that they don’t want to miss the _________ series that we’re doing in February that’s all about relationships.

There is no reason to make the calendar secretive, but if you place it in the hands of too many different people too early it can become confusing as blanks are filled in, titles are changed, etc.

Q: I noticed that you have 2 open dates/standalone messages planned in the first half of your calendar, but none in the last half of the year?  How many should we aim for?

A: Really this just depends on how the calendar comes together as you’re planning.  For us, as we looked at our Big Days and the timing of holidays and special weekends, it just so happened that we filled in each week from June through the end of the year.  There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to how many open dates.

The goal in planning the preaching calendar is to seek God’s will about what to teach and when to teach it, and sometimes as you go through that process there will be weeks that just don’t seem to fall into place.  Those are good to leave as standalone messages.

Also, you may consider the weekends before your Big Days (most notably Easter) to be standalone weekends where you can specifically teach about and challenge your people to invite their friends the following week.

P.S.- If you missed the “How to Plan Your 2010 Preaching Calendar” Webinar, you can listen to a replay of the audio at: www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/preachingreplay