Six Lousy Methods to Get More Musicians, Part 1

Photo: Flickr, kanyjaxx//CC

One of the most often asked question I get as I talk with pastors, worship leaders and volunteers is “How do I grow my team?” What they usually mean is, “How do we find more musicians?” Here’s six ways not to do it:

1. Rely only on Sunday morning announcements.
This is the “shot-gun” approach or the “let’s throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks” method of recruiting. It’s OK to use your church’s forms of “mass marketing” – Sunday morning announcements, bulletins, website – but recognize this type of passive promotion works best to just raise awareness or pique curiosity.
Here are a few tips for using mass-market advertisements to grow your team:

• An Opportunity versus a Need. Announce the desire for more musicians/techs, etc. as openings or opportunities – avoid the needy plea. More on that in a moment...

[read more]

Canceling MySpace

I just canceled my MySpace account. Did you feel the earth tremble?

No, I didn’t either.

I hadn’t logged in for at least a year. Every so often I’d get an email telling me some doorknob from a “cutting-edge” hip-hop/emo/jazz/metal band wanted to be my friend. Other than that, it was off my radar. I initially created a Myspace back when it was THE thing for musicians and bands. But since then, I’ve shifted my focus and Myspace tanked - the perfect combination to warrant an exit.

There are a couple good principles here:

1. What’s tanked in your worship ministry that needs to be cut loose?
The choir? Certain songs? Someone’s attitude? Some conference you go to year after year?  Every earthly thing will deliver ‘diminishing returns’ eventually. Who’da thought we could ever get sick of Shout to the Lord when it first came out? The diehard proponents of tanking things are emotionally invested, so that makes change tough. But at some point, everything needs to be tweaked, overhauled or dumped.

2. Has your focus shifted right, but your practice still to the left?
To give you an example from my own life: at one point, I tried to focus on pursuing professional songwriting, blogging/writing, teaching and developing seminars/workshops, dabbling in some graphic design, teaching private guitar lessons and being a gigging musician. Oh, and a worship pastor and husband/father.

Outside of my family and ministry job, I decided to shift my focus to only blogging/writing and seminar/workshops. It’s been tough to say ‘no’ to the things I like to do. And when I have a “moment of weak-yes” to the other stuff, I get twitchy in the middle of those projects as I realize how much time I’m robbing from my primary objectives.

So much of being able focus and find success isn’t in working harder. It’s in ruthless eliminating the bottom two-thirds of our “What’s Important” list. Just make sure the right stuff lands in the top third.

(This post first ran in the newsletter. If you'd like to keep up with articles like this and new resources, sign up for the e-updates here.)

8th Grade Odor and Sucking Out Loud: 17 Ways to Build a Better Youth Band, 4

Read Part 1
Read Part 2
Read Part 3

15. Leave them wanting more. Don’t expect a weekly band--especially at first. You don’t want your band burning out or your youth group growing complacent.

16. Foster Creativity. As your kids get to know the songs, they may have ideas for new arrangements. Let them run with it. And consider starting a songwriting group for your teens. You might have the next Chris Tomlin sitting on one of your broken couches just waiting to be encouraged. 

17. Teach bite-size biblical worship. Don’t force the kids to read Piper’s Desiring God. (You should, though.) Instead, teach as you go with small sound-bites. Use memorable phrases backed up by scripture. E.g. “This is not about us” (Psalm 115:1).

Bonus: Demoting Your Adults. The adult leader’s role should start and end with mentor/teacher. While she’s developing the students, she may need to be the lead musician carrying the band, or even the upfront worship leader. But the goal should always be to move them down the ladder to support musician and eventually cheerleader. I know this seems like a no-brainer. But remember, even though these full-grown musicians may look like adults – they’re still “musicians.” That means there’s an 8th grade ego that can emerge from time to time. Just gently remind them of the goal: STUDENT-led.

8th Grade Odor and Sucking Out Loud: 17 Ways to Build a Better Youth Band, 3

Read Part 1
Read Part 2

11. Make it fun. Recently, I became the subject of the youth band’s joking – actually, my mother did. Somehow ‘your mom’ jokes started flying and stuck to me. Soon a theme song emerged: “Jon’s mom is greater, Jon’s mom is stronger…”. I’m not sure if Chris Tomlin intended that song to be used in such a way, but it made for great bonding.

12. Create a community. Beyond 'your mom' jokes and having fun at rehearsal, create a sense of belonging (without malignant exclusivity). Start and maintain a Facebook page, Google+ circle/hangout, etc. Post pics and videos of rehearsals and worship times. Go hear local bands together. Watch a U2 concert DVD some night with lots of junk food on hand.

13. Multiply/subdivide as soon as possible. I know, I just said create a community. But your band can only get so big. And students (like their adult worship team counterparts) will get possessive of their spot. Your team won’t grow if you don’t open it up and shake it out a little. Here are a couple ideas:

• Create two or three teams. Combine your best players for a once-a-month, A-team band blow-off-the-doors worship time. Then create one or more teams with less experienced players, supplemented and led by your A team players. But don’t call them your A-team, B-team, etc. Create fun names for them – like “Jon’s Mom’s Band” or something.
• Create a middle school farm team. They might not be ready to actually take the stage, but invest time with them. Encourage your high school players to mentor them. Jr. high kids with loud amplifiers and drums? Yeah, it’ll suck at times and you won’t see immediate pay-off. But you’ll be happy you did all this in two or three years. 

14. Consider your space. 20 kids singing in the 200-seat sanctuary = crickets. 20 kids crammed in a classroom = awesome energy (and jr.high boy-odor, but you’re gonna have that anyway). And for what it’s worth, electronic drums stink. But when it comes to a youth band and smaller rooms, even a cheap electronic set will make life much more bearable.

Next up - leave them wanting more and demote your adults.

8th Grade Odor and Sucking Out Loud: 17 Ways to Build a Better Youth Band, 2

Read Part 1 (#1-5)
6. Create a standard form for each song. And don’t deviate from that form (at least until #16 starts to happen). By a standard song form, I mean the order of the verse, chorus, bridge and other parts of the song. Use the original recording arrangement when possible. (And check out www.Transposr.com for changing mp3s to more student-friendly keys.)

7. Practice to improve. This generation of students has epic amounts of confidence infused from helicopter parents and school-sponsored self-esteem programs. You may have to yank some chains occasionally to help them to realize they are NOT yet the legends they think they are. Create the expectation of personal practice and continual improvement. Encourage and love them, but don’t coddle them.

Photo: Flickr by Josh Delsman

8. Rehearse to relate. I have a mantra with my adult team: “Practice is personal. Rehearsal is relational.” Rehearsal is partly about getting better as band. But for a youth band, it’s the perfect chance to make deeper connections with your kids. It also gives your students a greater sense of belonging to and purpose in your ministry.

9. Let them make mistakes. Stress doing things well, but don’t be that perfectionist youth leader. And you’ll have to keep an eye on your mentors/teachers from the adult team. Remind them the goal isn’t to create Jesus Culture-Cleveland or Hillsong Toledo. Also…

10. Encourage the students to make mistakes. The aforementioned self-esteem and confidence also cuts the other way – some students are paralyzed at the thought of making mistakes. I like tell my musicians: “Suck out loud. It’s the only way you’ll get better." 

Cued up for Part 3: Jon's Mom's Band. Stay tuned for that...

8th Grade Odor and Sucking Out Loud: 17 Ways to Build a Better Youth Band, 1

I've been working the youth band at our church for last couple years. As a former youth pastor, it's fun to mix it up with the kids and NOT have to plan lessons or participate in lock-ins. Over the next few days, we'll look at some things I've been learning.

1. Start with who and what you have now. If you’ve got an 8th grader who can play three chords on the guitar, great! Don’t wait till you’ve gathered enough for a full band. Just start. Don’t have drums? Spend 100 bucks on some basic percussion instruments and enlist a kid who plays percussion in the school band.
2. Aim toward what you want: a student-led band. At first, you might need to supplement the band with adults. But always keep in front of the youth (and adults) the goal to be a band of, by and for the students.
3. Recruit mentors from the adult worship team. It’s OK to have them participate in the band at first, but don’t let them take over. And move them out of the band as soon as possible. This is about teaching and guiding the students. Not another opportunity for the adult to play.
4. Enlist lost kids. This can be muddy water, but it’s definitely worth wading into. Here’s my suggestion: the singers’ primary job is to be the lead worshipers. So they need to be Christ followers. But when it comes to instrumentalists, find some pagans and let them play. What a great chance to build bridges into their life. A lot of these types of kids aren’t going to come to your youth ministry without a connection like this. And besides, I find pagans practice more than my church people. 
5. Create an ultra-limited song list. Start with 2 or 3 songs max. Encourage the students to memorize these songs. Their confidence will soar. After the initial 2 or 3 are down cold, introduce songs one at a time, just before they’re completely sick of the other songs. Give time for the students to memorize and internalize before introducing more into your repertoire. 

part 2

Getting Kicked in the Teeth?

A month or two ago, I wrote a piece here at WorshipMinistry.com called How to Dump Your Worship Pastor. It was my (therapeutic) response to another Dear Jon email I had just received from a team member (a drummer, no less – it always hurts more when it’s a drummer. Amen?). Apparently, you’ve had those emails/phone calls too. To date it was the most response I’ve received on a post here at WorshipMinistry.com.

We’ve been talking about current reality these last few posts. The “I’m outta here” email is an example of how, at any moment, our current reality changes–often trying to kick us in the teeth.

We seem to have two responses that naturally occur: complaining or fantasizing...[read more at Jon's WorshipMinistry.com column. This article includes a free download of a Current Reality Assessment Tool.]

Remove

I'm in the middle of an interesting read: Untitled: Thoughts on the Creative Process* by Blaine Hogan. Blaine is a professional actor and the Creative Director at Willow Creek. I bought the book because, a) I like anything about the creative process and b) it was only a few bucks on my Kindle.**

Early in the book Blaine talks about restraint in art. He says this:

The tendency when trying to explain ourselves (through words or art) is to add instead of subtract. Instead of adding more words, or images, or lines or verses to clear things up, we should be thinking about what can we remove.

Blaine goes on,

Subtract until you have only the pieces necessary to tell your story. Remove everything but the essential bits.

The idea behind restraint confronts the age old phrase, "bigger isn't always better" - a phrase which, for me, is incomplete.

Bigger is what people expect, and bigger doesn't always surprise.
Why? Because it's obvious.

Subtract until you have only the pieces necessary to tell your story. How often do we tell our story on Sunday morning with every instrument playing every beat of every measure of every song?

Try this. At your next rehearsal, pick a song and play the intro with the entire band. Then start removing one instrument at a time. Try different combinations of two instruments. Three instruments. No instruments. Encourage players to vary their rhythms. Play single notes at times instead of chords. Get your team in on suggesting what combination or removal you should try next. And listen. Really listen to the different story each adaptation tells. (By the way, if you get pushback from your team, tell your band it's an exercise you read about from a worship blogger. Blame me. Call me an idiot if it doesn't work.)

Keep going and try it on the verse. Then the chorus. And figure out when to add more. When to get big. When to reign it in after getting big. A phrase I use a lot with my team is "don't give it all away until...". I learned to add the until, because my teams would often hold back the whole time, even in the parts that call for us to let it loose.

The only way for us and our team to learn restraint is to practice it intentionally. Do this with one song each week, and after a while, you'll notice your team is starting to implement it on their own in on other songs.

**From what I can tell, it's only a Kindle release at the moment. But don't let that stop you. Download the Kindle app to your computer and read this book if you don't own a Kindle. Better yet, buy a Kindle.

*Full honest-Abe disclosure: this, and the Kindle link, are affiliate links. That means if you buy it after clicking through this link, I will be able to buy my private island. Of course, you'd need to buy 348,000,000 copies. But I'm ok with that.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #27

In these last few installments, we're looking at how to transition to the message. One simple way to segue to the sermon is by using scripture text the pastor's message is based on. I touched on this segue last week by suggesting using video to present the scripture. That's one option.

Another option is a "worship team reader." Don't discount the power of gifted readers. They often will do a better job than the pastor at reading the selected text for that morning. Just like having team of talented vocalists who sing, build a team of talented readers who, well, read.

Here's what to look for:
A good sounding voice. They don't need to sound like the movie trailer announcers (unless you're reading from the book of Revelation). But they do need to have pleasant sounding voices.

Expressiveness in reading. Look for people with acting experience. Or people who enjoy getting up at poetry readings. Just make sure they're not over-the-top and dripping with too much expressiveness.

A love for scripture and a respect for this position. This person might have the ability to read it well even if they see it for the first time that morning. But your congregation will sense it if the reader has been soaking up that scripture during the week.

Here are some ways to facilitate this:

Communicate the passage as early in the week as possible. Be clear on which translation you want. And by the way, pastors: consider using a different translation than what you're preaching from. Especially if the passage is familiar. A paraphrased Bible like the Message can shake people from autopilot listening. But if the Message sounds too wonky ('cuz let's admit, while we love the Message, it does sound wonky in places), try something like the New Living Translation or Contemporary English Version.

Be clear on when the reader is to begin. And give instructions on moving into place before the previous element finishes. The ending of a song can provide a good starting point; the piano or guitar can just continue to underscore the reading. Coming out of this reading, the pastor can simply start his message or pray.

Be clear on where. And which mic. And does he need a music stand? Does the sound tech know this is happening?


Reinforce the scripture with visuals. Many people love having the scripture read to them. They likely are audible learners. Me, I'm checked out within two sentences, unless the reader is especially engaging. I'm a visual learner. And there's a lot of people like me, so put the text on the screen. You can also invite people to follow along from their Bible, unless it's a not-so-common translation for your church. Then people think more about the difference between the two versus what's being said. By the way, kinesthetic learners, I'm not sure what to tell you in order to pay attention. Maybe you need to be the upfront reader and do interpretive movements while you read.

Just a suggestion.


For more ideas for scripture reading, see segue #12 part 1 and part 2.

Whining, Dreaming, and Just Dealing With It

[Jon's latest article at WorshipMinistry.com]

Last week we talked about getting real with our current reality. Jim Collins in his business book, Good to Great illustrates this idea with Admiral Jim Stockdale’s story. Stockdale was the highest ranking US military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton,” a POW camp during the Vietnam War. He was there from 1965 – 1973 undergoing torture and not knowing if he and his fellow prisoners would ever get out. In a conversation with Stockdale, Collins asked him, “Who didn’t get out?”

His answer: the optimists.

[read more]

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #26

Connecting to the Message, Part 2

A few segues ago, we talked about the ins and outs, literally, of using videos. In that case, the clip was the service element we were transitioning to and from. But now we’re using a video to get us to the next thing: the message.

Since the decisions for this segue are up to the preaching/teaching pastor, I’m going to direct my comments directly to the him. The rest of you can listen in. (And you may want to remind him of a few things as you’re planning next week’s service. Just a suggestion…) There are a few different kinds of videos you could use to transition:

The Movie Clip – hopefully you’re showing this because it illustrates a main point or application of your message. Remember, only youth pastors have the luxury of showing movie clips that are completely unrelated to their talks. (But at least you get the chance to show movie clips. The only videos worship pastors get to use are swirly motion backgrounds behind the song lyrics.)

For this to be a true segue to the message, you’ll need to run it between your message and the preceding element. You might need to set it up, but sometimes it’s better if you don’t. Keep us guessing while we watch it. It’s creates a little positive tension and anticipation.

The Sermon Illustration Video. You usually have two choices on these kind of videos. The first is a light-hearted, humorous sketch that gets a point across with some laughs. The second, some sort of emotion-tugging vignette that evokes either guilt or tears (or both) and usually has Casting Crowns playing in the background. Go with the laughs. None of us are ready for “Every Man” right out of the chute.

The "Man on the Street" Interview. Just make sure the question being ask actually applies to your message. Even though you like watching Kirk Cameron going all "Ten Commandments" on some pagan, that really won't segue us to a message on tithing. Unless, you promise to never to show Kirk Cameron videos again. Then we'll put more in the offering.

Testimony/Faith Story Video. This could range from some personal stories in your church, stories from the mission fields you support, or even faith stories are resonating around the country/world. That latter you can find on SermonSpice.com, etc. 

Scripture Video - This might be something produced by one of the worship video production companies, or you can go homemade. Record the scripture read by a good reader. Add some background music and text for visuals. The video part could easily be accomplished by your projection software. And if you don't have a reader, use a clip from an audio Bible - but just not that version that sounds like Vincent Price read it. There's several audio Bibles out there now that have been read by celebrities. So you could actually have Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Paisley's wife or Bo Duke reading your passage for next Sunday.

As with any videos, apply same good practice of fading in/out and setting up the clip (if needed). Go here and here if you don’t remember.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #25

For our last four segues, we'll be looking at elements we've already discussed, but using them to transition to the message. #25 is prayer.

Prayer before the message does a few things: 1) it gives time for people to prepare, both in their hearts and head. 2) It invites the Holy Spirit to work through the text and message. 3) it helps the pastor center in on what he's about to do.

We've used prayer a few times to segue between various elements. And that almost sounds crass -- no, it does sound crass. I'll just admit that writing through a series like this I've had to ask myself more than once, "Am I more concerned about segues or the Savior?" Am I using prayer - communicating with a Holy God - just to connect to the next thing in the service?

And that's something we all have to wrestle with. I go back to what I wrote in the introduction: transitions will happen whether I plan them or not. But good transitions move the congregation along from one segment to the next, hopefully without detracting from what the worshipers just experienced, or are about to experience.

With that considered, prayer (as well as reading scripture, etc) is an act of worship, something that can stand on it's own as an expression of corporate worship. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be woven in to the tapestry of the gathering in such a way that it moves our hearts and carries our attention to another moment of worship. And that's what prayer does here.


Consider a few things as you use prayer to segue to the message:

1. Who prays? Is it the preaching pastor? Or worship leader? Or does an elder get up to pray? Regardless, have a plan. As the previous element is ending, the person prayer, needs to be getting in place before it concludes.
2. What is prayed? Is this the lengthier "pastoral prayer" that some churches practice, a time to pray for missionaries and the head deaconess's sick cousin in Akron? Or is it simply an "open the eyes of our heart" kind of prayer to prepare for the message? It's good to define this, especially if you've got someone other than the preaching pastor praying. The pastor will start to get a little twitchy if the prayer starts rambling into the message time.
3. What else is going on?
   
   • Whenever you move from a musical element, I'd say underscore that prayer with soft keys or acoustic guitar. That adds another layer of connection in the segue.
   • Is this a time for the music team to quietly exit the stage? Some churches are into this. Some aren't. But regardless, have a plan to get the team off the stage with minimal distraction.
   • If the teaching pastor isn't the one praying, he/she should be moving into place.

This transition to the message might seem like a something that can just be done on the fly. After all, it's a time that everyone knows is coming. But the movement to the message is a turning point in the service. We are deliberately opening God's word to hear what He has to say to us. So a segue of prayer is a fitting preparation for this.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues: #24 - Videos, part 2

In segue #23 - Videos, part 1, we talked about how to keep the beginning and end of video clips from boogering your service. Part two is a discussion on the DOs and DON'Ts of verbally transitioning the video.

DO: If it is a movie clip, give enough background for people to understand the context.

DON'T explain everything they will see—let the clip do the work. And don’t explain the entire plot of the movie. If they like it, they can get it from Netflix.

DO intentionally create anticipation. If you're going to talk about it, find some way to whet people's appetites for what their about to see.

DON'T set the clip up as the “funniest”, “coolest”, “most incredible”, etc., etc. clip they’ll ever see. Because, it just might not be. And make sure you know if it really is a hip, cutting-edge video before saying so. You might just have discovered the Numa Numa kid five years after it went viral.

DO work hard on the verbal segue into and out of your video. A little thought into our talking transitions goes a long way.

DON'T give away the “tie in” or lesson before you show it. People are smart. Most of the time, they’ll connect with the point you’re trying to make before you make it. And if you have to work that hard to explain the connection, is really the right video? Or just something you like and want to sneak in the service? C'mon, admit it...

DO consider not talking at all. A lot of videos won't need a set up.

DON'T forget to tell your tech that you won't be introducing the video. (This is one of those hand-offs we talked about earlier in the series).

Before we move on to other segues, a few parting thoughts about segues to and from videos:

Lighting - If you have the capability to dim your lighting, do so. Sometimes, that's all the cue you need to get people to look up at a screens. Hopefully the same people that dimmed your lights will bring them back up for you. If you have to ask, you've got some work to do this week.

Sound - If you're sound tech is "muter," make sure he/she unmutes the audio channel for the video BEFORE it starts. (Btw, muters are those that mute every possible channel at every possible moment because of an irrational fear that someone may grab a mic and launch the equivalent of a Red Dawn invasion on our service. Relax, I tell them. They don't.)

Simple Seating Segue - If you're finishing a song and going into a video, say something simple like: "You can be seated now as this clip begins." This does a couple things. It seats our people (who, 6 days a week, know how to sit and stand without being told, but somehow we suck that decision-making process from their prefrontal cortex every Sunday). And it gives a not-so-subtle clue to your tech to start the video.

People know what dead air is. We've been trained by our TVs to squirm after 2 seconds of undefined time. The moment we direct people to the screens and nothing happens, they begin to unconsciously disconnect from the journey we've invited on. And of all the ways we hope to encourage people to express worship to God, squirming is not high on the list.

RadioShack Sound Systems & Faith-Infused Realism

Most leaders (volunteer or paid) find it easy to think about what they want to do and have and be after their ministry or organization grows. A preferred future is fun to think about. The current reality, especially for those in small churches, well, not so much. Here was reality at my first church:

• My annual worship budget: less than my current Wii bowling average.
• My band: Me. And occasionally Lori, a pianist who couldn’t read chord charts or leadsheets. So when she played, we had to do everything from the Maranatha! Green Book.*
• My sound system: Two words, squished together–RadioShack.
• My video tech: an 80-year old gentleman who sat 3 feet to my left and moved the transparency up and down (quite rapidly) on the overhead projector.

We can dream and scheme and spreadsheet our preferred future all we want. But no plan for future growth will succeed without faith-infused realism. Here’s what faith infused realism is NOT: [Read the rest at WorshipMinistry.com]

28 Ways To Create Great Segues: #23 - Videos, part 1

At my first full-time ministry job, I was the youth and worship guy at a two-pastor church. By default, that also meant I was the substitute sermon guy. (Have you ever noticed senior pastors aren't into quid pro quo. They never act as the substitute youth-talk guy. Studies show this is actually is a relief 4 out 4 students.)

So when my senior pastor was gone, I'd phone in my youth lessons for a couple weeks while I prepped a message. At that time, only the young, hip preaching pastors used movie clips. I was young and cool, so it was a no-brainer. And since Lord of the Rings was up for canonization just behind the Narnia books, it would have pretty much been a sin NOT to use them. Plus, I figured I had a better chance of escaping church discipline with a title like Return of the King versus Bruce Almighty.

After sermon subbing three or four times, I had an elderly lady approached me and said, "If you keep preaching, I'm going to end up seeing that entire film, aren't I." Point taken. Cue Bruce Almighty.

Fast forward almost a decade and video clips are as common today as bad bulletin clip art was in the 90s. We have video coming out our ears: There are at least a dozen different worship video ministries in the vein of Sermon Spice. Publishers and other ministries crank out promotional clips to hawk everything from Beth Moore Bible studies to building orphanages in Haiti. And don't forget the amateur Spielbergs in our own pews. You might even be one of the churches that have the sermon on video, taped at previous service on a different campus.

Here's one thing to remember: there's nothing so high quality in your service that can't be at least partially ruined by a bad segue.

Videos are no exception. If you ripped the final race scene from Secretariat the moment it hit Netflix, Big Red might as well have lost at Belmont if the transitions in and out booger'd the moment.

If the pictures lurches in or the sound starts at 100 dB, it will take people several seconds to get their mind on what's being shown. The same goes for a poorly executed exit. Whatever point is being made will get bumped from their brains by a bad ending.

So this segue is simple: whenever you pull clips from movies, youtube, or create your own videos, take the extra time and edit a fade to either end of the clip. And make sure you apply it to the audio as well. Windows Movie Maker is about as simple as they come and can get the job done easily. Adobe Premiere Elements will run you the better part of a Benjamin, but it'll give you more editing power than the average church video clip will ever need.

Does video editing freak you out? Here's the best news of the whole post: projection software (like MediaShout, ProPresenter, EasyWorship) can transition your clips to black or crossfade them with the graphics on either side. No editing required. This alone should make it worth upgrading to a projection software. Not to mention that PowerPoint for lyric projection went out with neck-ties for pastors. Just speaking truth in love...

There's one more segue for videos that is worth talking about. And that's talking about them. So that'll be the next installment.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #22, Pre-Service: A Preparation Time

I once attended a Sunday evening service at Parkside Church near Cleveland to hear Alistair Begg preach. A Scottish accent always makes a sermon better. It was a typical traditional pre-service time with soft music, dim lights and people chit-chatting with folks they hadn’t seen for at least a week. Pastor Begg got up and said, “It sounds like your voices are in fine shape tonight.” Folks gave the usual polite chuckle. But before the obligatory laughter died down, the Scotsman shot out a firm, “But you'd be better to prepare your hearts before the Lord.” The place got real quiet, real quick.

A quiet preparation time before the service is likely a thing of the past for many churches. But it might not hurt to implement it occasionally. And I say occasionally just because anything that’s done weekly runs the risk of losing its effectiveness.

If you’re church wants to try to create the pre-service preparation time, consider what you need to create that environment.

• A sign outside the worship center encouraging people to enter quietly.
• Doors closed to foyer/lobby. This will create a feeling of “entering in”. It also cuts the noise from the yakkers in the lobby.
• Soft music – it could be canned music or live acoustic guitar/piano playing softly.
• Dim lighting – quiet and reflective times aren’t encouraged by bright overhead lighting.
• Scriptures or short devotional quotes looping on the screen.

Consider other elements that might help create an environment of quiet preparation: candles, pictures of nature or people in prayer/worship, a written “guide” in the bulletin or on-screen to help people know how to use prepare for worship, etc.

Here are a few things that you should consider with a pre-service preparation time:

• You’ll always have the chit-chatters in the foyer, so you’ll still have to figure out how some way to bring them in. (Besides wishful thinking that they're conscientious of the time and care when the service starts.)
• This time could be off-putting to guests, especially non-Christians. But it also might be just what they’ve been looking for. You can’t please everyone. Just be clear about what you want. Don’t try to make it conducive for preparation and chit-chatting. People won’t know what to do. My two cents: if you’re not going for quiet preparation, I’d always go for the other end: a bright and celebratory environment.
• Your service may need to begin differently. Jumping right in with the typical upbeat opener will be a little jarring to those who have been in there. Consider starting with a quieter slower song, and building up. Or sing the chorus of a faster song in a “worshipful” manner. Then build tempo and volume to move people into the song as usual.

As we wrap up the segues that deal with the pre-service time, here's a last thought as you think through this stuff: Whatever you find that works to bring your people in at the beginning will most likely not work next month or even next week. People will start ignoring that countdown after they’ve seen it a few times and the live music will become background noise. That’s just how it is. So it’s up to us to be creative and segue people into worship.

Forget Excellence...

...think "remarkable" instead.

Excellence is subjective and overwhelming.

Remarkable is doable: a small tweak and improvement to the “normal” that surprises people.

The pursuit of excellence feels like a never-ending journey.
     How do we know we've arrived?

The pursuit of remarkable is done in incremental steps.
     Success (and failure) is easily measured.
         Each failed step teaches.
         Each successful step builds momentum and creates a new (and better) normal.

You can pursue excellence and never be remarkable.

A steady pursuit of the right kind of remarkable will always equal excellence.

- - -
Want to know more about being remarkable? Read Purple Cow* by Seth Godin.

Want some practical ideas for pursuing remarkable? Here are ten.**

What's one thing you you've done (or thought about doing) to make your worship gathering more remarkable.

Drop me a note in the comments section or shoot me a quick thought on Twitter (@jonnicol). 
Thanks! ~jon

* Full disclosure: this is an affiliate link, meaning that if you buy it through this link, and I make untold riches (about 85 cents). I only endorse a product that I love and think you might too.

**This one is free!

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #21: "The Herding Song"

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We've been talking about the "pre-service." I suggested in the last post that the pre-service time is one big transition time - comprised of several of small segues - that moves people into our worship gatherings.

We can try to spiritualize this time, but let’s just be honest: it's sometimes like herding cats to get our people into worship. We're competing with coffee and chit-chat in the foyer, people catching up at the kid check-in and the culture of the chronically late. Often our opening song feels like a sacrificial lamb—it gives its life to bring people into the worship center. And while changing the culture of lateness in our church might be achievable before Jesus returns, it's not the point of this series. We're dealing with current reality at the moment.

So rather than fight it, or get mopey about the fact that our first song is a musical martyr, let's just re-frame our thinking and call it the herding song - as in, it herds people into the worship center. Here are a few options for the herding song:

The Pre-Service Song: Time this song so it ends right at the beginning of the service time. Make it more of a "sit and listen" song for those already in the service. Also, give people something to look at: put the announcement graphics on the screen, or a countdown (or both, if you've got the technology). The one big issue with the Pre-Service Song is that people are still in your parking lot at "start time." So many aren't even there to be "herded." 

The Opening Song: Again, get over the fact that this is a sacrificial lamb. But don't overlook that there will be people worshiping with this song. So pour everything you've got into this one, but don't throw your "high impact" song here. You know - that song we don't want people to miss. Save that tune for later.

By the time you’re done with this song most everyone will be in except those with pathological tardiness and your youth pastor. I think Celebrate Recovery is developing a program for them - youth pastors, that is. Nothing can be done for the certifiably tardy.

Photo from stock.xchng

The Hybrid – Use a Pre-Service Song, but begin it about 2 minutes before the posted service start time and let it spill into your service. This means your service will actually start 2 – 3 minutes late. (Which actually might be early for some of you.)

"But," you ask, "isn't this enabling lateness?"

You betcha. But remember, we're dealing with current reality.

And this is my church's reality. At some point, we’ll need a course correction. But it will probably require more than moving our pre-service song back a couple minutes. I'm thinking there'll need to be at least one or two good shunnings. At least that’s what I’m voting for.

Before we wrap up this post, let me throw out a few options for your pre-service (or hybrid) song:

• Use a familiar, upbeat song that the worship team can play in its sleep. That way there’s not extra work for the team. Plus they can relax and have fun with it. People will be drawn by that.

• Introduce a new song. When I introduce a new song, I'll run it 3 - 4 weeks in a row as a live pre-service song. This sounds like a lot, but the average church attendee will likely hear it twice. At best. And it gives my team the chance to play/sing it at least once, depending on rotation.

• "Pre-prise": Use a song that you’ll be doing later in the service, especially if it’s a new one. That will help get it in people’s heads. Just don’t do the opening song, or it will feel really long if you play it twice back to back.

Again, each of these pre-service segues are best used in conjunction with others. Try different combinations. And remember what works now, won't work for long. People can become as conditioned to a pre-service song as they are to Muzak in a department store. When's the last time your heard the music in JCPenney?

They Need Me, They Really Need Me...

They need me every hour, most gracious Lord
To lose talent like mine, the team can't afford

They need me, O they need me
Every service they need me
I'll bless them with my presence
Until eternity

I think this bastardized hymn sings in the brain of every worship leader - full-time, part-time, volunteer - it doesn't matter.

I tweeted on Saturday: A first - not scheduled to play or lead worship this Sunday. Not sure I remember how to sit still in church...

I had taken two weeks off and decided to schedule myself off at both campuses for the third Sunday as well. I was returning late in the week and didn't want to have to rush back to leading. I figured I'd just jump on electric guitar at our Lex campus. But then this still small voice cut through my inner song of self-delusion: they don't need you.

Sure they do.

No. They don't.

But I'm just going to play electric guitar. I'm not taking over or anything.

Electric guitar would be nice. But do you really think you need to be there?

Aw, crud.

Too often worship leaders, especially us "professionals," only give up leadership when we're on vacation. It's a disorder called LIDs. "Leadership Insecurity Disorder" makes us think we're indispensable. Don't get me wrong, working towards indispensability should be the goal. But am I indispensable because I work to make the team better, stronger and deeper (musically, relationally and spiritually)? Or because I'm the only one who can quarterback? And don't make me mad, because I'll just leave and take the ball with me.

So figure out a way to take a week off without being gone. The perspective from the pew will recalibrate your leadership.

By the way, the team did great without me. And while not leading or playing guitar in a worship service was a little weird, I think I could get used to it. Once a month. Maybe. (I might not be entirely sanctified in this area yet...)

###
What would it take for you to NOT lead/play on in your situation?

What has been your experience when you have delegated leadership?

Leave comments here, or tweet them to me @jonnicol.

28 Ways to Create Great Segues - #17 - 20

Segues #17 - 20: The Pre-Service, Part 1

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I look at the pre-service time as one big segue: it's a sequence of elements used to transition people into corporate worship. The issue with most churches in American culture is this: the majority of people don’t actually come into the service until right at the start time, or likely a few minutes later. We can use a few segue elements to help move them into the flow of worship. But honestly, none of these techniques will change the culture of lateness in your church, or mine. But these transition elements can help. And while each can be standalone tools, they’ll likely work better when creatively combined with other elements.

#17 - The Countdown Video. This won’t really help if only 15% of that week's attendees are in the worship center when the last 30-seconds tick off. Consider running a feed to a monitor in the foyer or the kid ministry drop-off area. If running video feeds isn’t in the budget right now, just run a countdown off of an independent monitor in the high traffic areas outside the sanctuary.

#18 - Lighting. You know what will get people’s attention? Flipping the foyer lights on and off like they do at the end of intermission at the theater. OK, that's a little crass for our setting. Save the flicking to cue the pray for the potluck or to start the next congregational meeting.

But subtle lighting changes can be an effective way to move people from pre-service chit-chat to worship. Most often, house lights (the lights above the seating area of the worship center) are bright during the pre-service time and then are dimmed noticeably as the service begins. Inversely, the stage lights brighten and bring attention to the beginning of the service. Even if all you have for lighting controls are the switches on the back wall, you’ve got someone in your church who’d love to serve as lighting tech.

# 19 - Pre-service Music. Play a CD or iPod during the pre-service time. Make sure you create a CD mix or playlist that fits the mood you’re trying to create. And don’t be afraid to push up the volume. Just keep it comfortable to talk over. Most people won’t even be thinking about the music, until you fade it down quickly. That will grab people’s ear and help move their attention to the front.

Couple the music fade-down with a lighting change and you’ve got a strong transitional element to draw people’s attention. Some will still ignore it and keep talking. They need to be shunned like a poker-playing Amish woman.

#20 – Video Element. Dropping the lights and starting a video will move people in. Most don’t want to miss a good video. It could be a funny sketch from the Skit Guys, a thought provoking vignette that will tie in with the theme of the opening worship song, or a fun promotional video for a ministry or event.

In the next two installments we'll look at two more pre-service segues.