Run a Worship Team
Running a worship team can be a joy but also a headache, especially if it is your first time around. It doesn't have to be though! It is something that makes someone's heart so happy and can be so life giving to the soul. Worship is fun, soulful, and meaningful. As the worship team leader, you are leading your team to help those around you connect with God. This can be achieved well and much better when the team is lead well. Remember that these steps are not the important thing. None of this can be done without trusting that whatever happens, however rehearsals go, your team is in God's hands. This all is for his glory and you are just his instruments.
Steps
- Announce auditions at your church for the worship team to put yourself out there. Stir up some interest. Consider putting the announcement in your church bulletin, sending it in a weekly email, have the host talk about it on stage, or even film a promo video to show during service.
- Begin to hold auditions. Have those auditioning play in a group. This is to see who can be flexible and if they can adapt to working with different musicians. Make sure to conduct a short interview with each of those who auditioned as well as check that they are a good candidate and fit for the worship team.
- Compile a group of people to join the worship team from those who have auditioned. This group should consist of a variety of different talents. You will need a vocalist, guitarists (acoustic & electric), keys (piano), bass guitarist, drummers/Cajon players, and violin players.
- The types of different musicians will depend on what your church's set-up is capable of supporting and the equipment you have available.
- Have each member of the worship team fill out a schedule of when they are and are not available to play. This will help you to create a schedule
- Create a schedule that goes about three months in advance. Make sure that each member of the team is not serving more that twice a month and that they are not serving two weeks in a row.
- Appoint worship leaders for each week. These should be extremely responsible people who have a huge heart for worship. They will be responsible for contacting all members of the team and song selection for that week.
- Find songs that you would like to play and put them into a Spotify playlist. This can be a collaborative effort from the whole team in order to get a diverse variety of different songs and different genres.
- Create a song schedule that features one new song, two familiar songs, and one repeat song from the last week. You will want to introduce one new song each week to keep up some variety, two familiar songs that the audience has most likely hear before to make them feel included, and the new song from the week before so that it can become a familiar song.
- This number of songs may change each week depending on the length of service.
- Make an announcement at church that the worship team needs volunteers for set up and clean up as well as the tech team. Your worship team will not survive without a strong set up and tech team so make sure to establish a dependable one early.
- Have a day of training once a month or once every two months on how to run set up for all of the sound equipment. This will train all of the new members of the worship, set up, and tech teams how to properly set up, tear down, and take care of equipment.
- Schedule prayer meetings with you worship team once a month. Prayer is an important part of worship, and your ministry will not survive without it.
- Prayer meetings are also a great way to spend time with those on your team and grow in fellowship.
- Be in constant prayer that God will be moving with your team. Prayer is what moves God's hand. Prayer is you surrendering your control and surrendering your ministry to God.
- As a leader of your team you will need to be a leader in prayer for your team. Be praying that God would be moving in the hearts of those you are ministering to, that he would use it for his glory, and that he would surround your church family.
References
- https://churchleaders.com/worship/worship-articles/300550-guidelines-strong-worship-team-mark-cole.html
- https://www.musicnotes.com/now/tips/music-directors-lead-your-worship-team-effectively-with-these-10-tips/
- https://www.praisecharts.com/blog/ten-ways-to-improve-your-worship-team/
- https://hillsong.com/collected/blog/2015/06/10-practical-ways-to-grow-your-worship-team-that-anyone-can-do/#.Xlws2jfYrnE
