What You Can (and Can’t) Do to Help Your Team Members Grow

Summer can be a dangerous time for spiritual growth! 

Summer brings with it a tendency to glide, to take it easy and not work too hard at anything. Unfortunately – that can be true for the spiritual growth of our worship team members as well. 

As worship leaders the spiritual care of our worship teams is central to our calling, and to the health of our worship team members.

Let’s face it . . . We all want to see the members of our team walking closely with God, making wise decisions at all times, never falling into sin, and overall just being 100% holy in all they do this summer. 

Want? Yes.  Possible? Of course not!

I can’t do that, you can’t do that, and neither can our team members. 

Sometimes as Worship Pastors, however, we live with a burden of guilt because we feel those expectations should be met and it’s up to us to make our team members meet them. 

Let me share with you one of the most powerful secrets of Spiritual Growth. 

Ready? You can’t force anyone to grow spiritually.  It’s true.  By God’s design it’s up to each person to decide to grow. 

So take that weight off your shoulders and let’s talk about what we can do to help your team grow spiritually this summer.

Here’s my Top 3: 

#1 – Demonstrate your own pursuit of God.  Just as Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ”, your team needs an example of what it means to grow spiritually.  They need you to lead in this area. So – let your team in on what God is doing in your life this summer.  Share with them your Bible study plan and what books you’re reading.  Remember, we don’t reproduce what we want; we reproduce what we are. 

#2 – Teach spiritual disciplines.  At The Journey I take time to teach on expectations for spiritual formation to our team as a whole twice a year in our New Season Kickoff.  But that’s hardly enough.  Look for opportunities (especially this summer) to invest in their spiritual growth. Send an article for your team to read.  Raise the value backstage on Sunday. During one-on-one’s ask how things are going in their spiritual life.  Look for ongoing ways to challenge them. 

#3 – Ensure they sign up for a Small Group Bible Study.  This is one of the expectations of serving on our Worship Arts Team at The Journey.  I know I can’t personally mentor the spiritual lives of everyone on our team, so by making sure they are in a Small Group Bible study I know that they are making their spiritual lives a priority.

BONUS – Ensure they are attending services, even on the Sunday’s they aren’t serving.  And make sure that they don’t just hang out backstage, but that they hear the message on Sundays when they are serving. Remind them — “God doesn’t just want to work through you.  He wants to work in you!”

There are a lot of things you can’t do to make your worship team grow spiritually.  But by working on these areas, you can create an environment for growth, and inspire your team to deepen their commitment to Christ this summer.