Church Politics: How to 'fit together' in a new Worship Team

Prayz Hym · 06-15-2007, 12:07 PM

This may take some ground laying, so please be patient. I would appreciate some advice on how to 'fit in' on a new worship team. I've been playing guitar for 22+ years, P&W for the last 11. Being a military family, we move often (10 times in 14 years). I've always found it easy to help in any music ministry, in any church we attend, until recently.

We are attending a Presbyterian Church and really are getting good 'spiritual meat' from the Pastor's teachings. So, we like the church. When we got to the new church, I introduced myself as a guitar player and was invited to play with the contemporary Praise Team. One thing I noticed quickly, I don't recognize ANY of the songs on the play list. There not hard to learn, so I pick them up quickly from week to week. My wife asks, "Where are the songs we know?" "I would like to Worship, too." Small sample size around the conrgregation leads us to believe there are others who feel the same way. I approach the worship leader. He states the song lists are selected a month in advance and there is no way to change them at this time. He askes for a song list I would recommend (2 months ago) but has not included any into practices.

His methodology for selecting songs is what really threw me for a loop. This Worship Team doesn't play the top 25 CCLI because "there are so many good new songs out there." "We are tired of playing the old ones". My own internal survey of the Worship Team (6 members) indicated an even split. Three want the older songs, 3 want to stick with all new stuff. I really believe this method of selecting songs leaves the congregation out of the worship experience. The music director has been told about these concerns (but not by me).

Crux of my post: How does a new member effect change within the format of a Worship Team? I'm dealing with a volunteer Worship Leader who is a skilled musician and I believe has a wonderful heart for God. But I think this team is missing the mark and should be 'serving' the congregation instead of 'performing' new worship music.

Advice?

gtrdave · 06-15-2007, 12:24 PM

Hmmm, there's so much I could pick out to discuss in your post other than the main question you asked but for the sake of time and typing, I'll try to stick to your question.

A new member affects change by serving God and serving others, thinking of them first and thinking of "worship" outside the context of music most.

In my opinion based on what you wrote, you seem to be stiring up division more than supporting an atmosphere of unity. Which one do you think is more beneficial to the team? the church? to Christ?

I'm not saying that there doesn't need to be change on your team or with the songs or with the method with which they're picked, etc...I have no idea of knowing that at all. I don't follow the top 25 songs or whatever hogwash that is (yes, I said hogwash. this is Christ's church, not CCM top-40 radio...) but, again based on what you wrote in your post or maybe it's how I'm perceiving it, there seems to be a heavy dose of "me" in the issue you're having that's outweighing the "others" and "Jesus".

My apologies if I've misinterpreted your case.

Prayz Hym · 06-15-2007, 12:37 PM

Not trying to cause division. Just simply asking questions.

My heart is how to best serve. I'm just trying to determine if this Praise Team is serving themselves or the Body of Christ. What I've been able to determined so far is comments made about song selection even before I arrived have gone unanswered, no action taken.

gtrdave · 06-15-2007, 01:03 PM

Gotcha.
Maybe the leader is a bit narrow focused on picking songs...but maybe he doesn't see it that way?
Maybe because he's a volunteer he doesn't put too much effort into his position...or maybe he's doing all he can in the time he has?
Maybe a bunch of other stuff...regardless, the best I can offer you is to just show up, be encouraging, try to get some time together to get to know each other if possible, pray for the guy, pray for the team, and continue to humbly offer suggestions and assistance when appropriate.

I know that I really appreciate when the folks on my team offer song suggestions or want to help out in some way. I'm totally blessed by that. Although I can't accomodate everyone and everything, I do my best to let them know that communication is always open and I'm not some rigid unbending tyrant who has to have his way 24/7 (regardless of what my wife would tell you...)

**thesteve** · 06-15-2007, 01:45 PM

here's something I'm wondering, and I don't know if you've been at the church long enough to know...

is the worship leader constantly adding new songs and dropping old ones? on the teams i've been on, we brought in new songs as they came along but didn't flat out ditch old ones. I definitely understand getting tired of playing the same songs over and over and the want for "fresh meat", but I also understand that from a congregational standpoint familiarity is friendly and inviting and doing six songs that the congregation has never heard of tends to be disastrous.

I guess what I'm getting at is this...you said that this is a new church for you and they don't do any songs that your old church did. Could this just be a difference in churches? I just looked at the top 25 CCLI as of February, and I definitely understand a worship pastor wanting to steer clear of a majority of those songs as more than a few of those songs are close to ten or more years old. There's definitely some good ones on there, but there's also alot of songs that may just be old and tired out at your new church.

Jaymze13 · 06-15-2007, 02:35 PM

I've been on our worship team for a few years now and I've come to the point/place where I go "I'm here to just try and do the best I can whether I like a song or agree with how things are done" and just go with that.

It's hard sometimes because I feel like I might have a good idea now and then. Most ideas I've had since I started have been shot down or put aside, so I quit trying basically.

If you've got more than one person, you're going to have differences of opinions. We have a pretty good sized department that includes many singers and several musicians that change from week to week and a 5-6 member sound booth team. So in our case you're going to have a lot of different feelings on different matters. Like I said, whether I agree or not, I just try and do the best I can with what I can.

Joe F · 06-15-2007, 06:51 PM

When our church first went contemporary, our Worship Leader was a former high church choir director. She was very good at leading a choir, but didn't have a clue how to work with a praise band and modern music. She picked all of her songs from the CCLI Song Select top 100. We were not allowed to change keys, or deviate in any way from the Song Select version. As the guitar player and co-lead vocalist, this sometimes made me crazy. I often had ideas on what songs we should try, what key would make them work better, what kind of changes would make them flow better etc... Sometimes I would give them to her, other times I would just bite my tongue. Sometimes she used my ideas. Sometimes she did not. What I had to keep in mind and pray about however was that SHE had been placed in the position of leader, not me. When I sat down and contemplated what she needed from me most, I realized it was not my ideas, suggestions, or constant harassment about how I thought things should be done, it was prayer, so that's what I did, even though our arrangements sometimes made me queasy. We worshipped, we survived...and when she stepped down due to pregnancy, she recommended me as her replacement, and thanked me for all of my patience and support. Now I am in her shoes, and I have a ton of people telling me what THEY think I should be doing. She gets quite a chuckle out of this.

trpullen · 06-16-2007, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prayz Hym

Crux of my post: How does a new member effect change within the format of a Worship Team? I'm dealing with a volunteer Worship Leader who is a skilled musician and I believe has a wonderful heart for God. But I think this team is missing the mark and should be 'serving' the congregation instead of 'performing' new worship music.

Advice?

Advice?

The leader is the leader. Submit. You are welcome to give suggestions but keep in mind that the worship leader is the final say. When a final decision has to be made, it is their responsibility. If you have that great of a concern, maybe you need not be part of that ministry.

How do you ensure your ideas are heard? Work really hard and become a trustworthy and faithful member of the team who gives 100% every time they show up, gives NO ATTITUDE, and is respected by the team. Having your advice heard will come in time.

bobthecockroach · 06-19-2007, 01:31 PM

You've been playing guitar longer than I've been alive, so I don't want to sound presumptuous. It sounds like you are definitely trying to be respectful and a good team member. The problem with a situation like this is that EVERYONE is being influenced by personal biases in music preference. There are quite a few good arguments for both doing new songs and sticking with old ones. By no means does playing all new songs mean that a team is simply performing. When I was playing with my brothers in church, we would frequently do new songs, and some of them quickly became favorites. You can miss a lot by not introducing new songs. At the same time, if you are doing all new songs all the time, you'll lose everyone. Also consider that songs that aren't familiar to you may be familiar to members of the congregation who have been there longer. There's a lot of different factors involved here.

everyman · 06-19-2007, 06:39 PM

Your question is "How does a new member effect change within the format of a worship team?" I think that first the new guy needs to learn whatever songs the worship leader picks and play them really well. In this way, you'll earn the worship leader's respect and trust. You also need to develop good relationships with the worship leader and team members. They need to feel comfortable with you -- that you're not there to challenge how they've been doing things, but that you truly want what's best for the worship community. Then you can start making suggestions on how to make things better.

nate95366 · 06-20-2007, 03:38 PM

There's a lot of good stuff here.

From my perspective as a leader, I probably don't introduce quite enough new stuff. It's mostly a having the time to arrange the song(s) for our instrumentation, but it's also that I don't have a lot of time to listen critically to new stuff. I get lots of suggestions from people on my team and I file them away. Every so often, I'll have a "listening session" where I'm paying unusually close attention to every word in context as well as the musical feel of the songs and the "adaptability" of this song to new styles. I try to communicate with the people who are always offering up suggestions, but honestly I often lose track of who recommended what. In the end, I'll end up listening to it and giving it the thumbs up, down, or sideways and then I'll either walk away, save it for later, or sit down and sketch out the arrangement.

When someone shows up brand new (even if they've been playing for a long time or have a lot of experience), I take their suggestions the same as I take anyone else's. Everyone's got their favorite style and favorite songs, and everyone has their songs that we "already do but I don't really care for" list as well. It's my hope that the group of us can work together through those things and not let the selection of songs itself become a distraction.

Nate

trpullen · 06-20-2007, 04:04 PM

Good point there Nate.

I have many suggestions that are simply "not us" musically. People think the band is really good (and they are) but I chose music very carefully to make sure it is within our wheelhouse. I am not going to put a song out there that will make us look foolish. A new person on the team brings a new skill set so our wheelhouse needs to be constantly evaluated BUT...it is not individual strengths that are important, it is how they all fit together in the band and make a "band skill set".

guitarduck · 06-25-2007, 11:32 PM

Being a worship leader, I can understand both sides. Those who want new music, because the old stuff really does get boring, doing Chris Tomlin's "Holy is the Lord" more than once a month gets old, really old, fast. Doing the top 25 songs really is repetitive and from my own experience at one of the churches I play at, results in the congregation getting bored and not really singing. On the other hand, I know the feeling of having to learn new songs every week and you might not play them the best and/or the congregation will not understand or like the song, but that's the risk you have to take. It seems to me that this worship leader is trying to keep the music from getting stale and boring, but at the same time shoving so much new music at the congregation is not a good idea either, they won't have time to digest a new song before another new one gets thrown at them.
Perhaps you should talk to the leader telling him to incorporate at least one "old" song into the mix every week, while he may not like the song personally, I'll bet there are people in the congregation who love it and while the leader has some weight on whether or not they like the song, they should ultimately decide what songs should be played based not only on their opinion, but the band's opinion, as well as the congregation's opinion.
Just step back for a while and try talking to the worship leader again later, you could get the pastor involved, having him talk to the worship leader about the music may help in getting the music changed, but you should be careful to not just have "the music that I like", but remember the feelings and opinions of the congregation, the band, and most importantly, God.

Prayz Hym · 07-13-2007, 01:14 PM

Thanks, All. This has been a real encouraging thread. I've appologized to the Worship leader for questioning his leadership and stirring up controversy. I've prayed about my place on the team and, with patience, thought all would work out well. But, (you knew this was coming didn't you) when the leader chose 'Life is a Highway' for Sunday service I wasn't comfortable with it as a worship song. When I questioned its applicability, I was brushed off with "It will work cause everyone knows it and it has positive lyrics".

Long story short, we are looking for a new church. I'll file this experience away for 'how not to do it' in the future. Thanks again.

**thesteve** · 07-13-2007, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prayz Hym

Thanks, All. This has been a real encouraging thread. I've appologized to the Worship leader for questioning his leadership and stirring up controversy. I've prayed about my place on the team and, with patience, thought all would work out well. But, (you knew this was coming didn't you) when the leader chose 'Life is a Highway' for Sunday service I wasn't comfortable with it as a worship song. When I questioned its applicability, I was brushed off with "It will work cause everyone knows it and it has positive lyrics".

Long story short, we are looking for a new church. I'll file this experience away for 'how not to do it' in the future. Thanks again.

I'm glad you came to this wisdom. There are definitely things not worth dissenting over, and I really feel like through this experience you've seen a good pictures of what's not worth dissenting over (new church not doing the same songs as old church) and what is worth it (I'd say that using a song like that for worship is a bit questionable...especially just on the basis of "positive lyrics"...)