3 Ways to Step-up Your Sunday Focus Time, Part 3
A few years ago I had the opportunity to attend a 3-Day story-writing seminar taught by legendary Hollywood screenwriter and professor Robert McKee.
During the 14-hour a day, 3-day seminar McKee said something that resonated with me then and still does today, especially when it comes to leading our Worship Teams.
He said, “Storytelling is the most natural form of human communication.”
Think about that… if you want to communicate an idea or principle to a member of your team and you want them to remember it, tell them a story about it!
For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about how you can step up your Sunday Focus time… those golden moments you have with your team on Sunday morning to pray with them and make a personal (leadership) investment. And today, as we conclude this series, we’re going to talk about one of the most important ways that you and I encourage (and teach) our teams each week.
#3 – TELL STORIES OF LIFE CHANGE
Every week — in your church and mine — God is transforming lives. Marriages are repaired. Forgiveness is offered. People decide to follow Christ. As pastors and worship leaders, we share these stories of life-change with each other in Monday morning staff meetings and celebrate them during the week.
But for the members of our Worship Arts Teams… they don’t hear these important stories. That is unless we tell them.
Ask any member of your Worship Arts Team why they show up early, work hard, practice for hours, and go home tired at the end of Sunday, and they’ll be quick to tell you it’s because they want God to use them to change people’s lives. But when the service ends and their gear is packed away, oftentimes the only measure they have of how successful the service had been is how they did during the worship set. They saw people raise their hands and sing, but they didn’t see the life-change that was taking place in their hearts.
One of the BEST ways to encourage your team members each week is to share with them a story of how God is working in your church. And more specifically, how God used them and the song they played, or the lighting cue they called to create the environment where someone’s life was changed.
Recently we had a BIG day at The Journey. The kick-off of our GOD ON FILM teaching series across all of our Journey locations. It was a great day, and there were A LOT of significant spiritual steps taken. So this past Sunday, I wanted to make sure that I carved out some time to share with our team all that God has used them to do the previous Sunday.
In fact — on the back of our Worship Order every week is a box that includes our Memory verse for the week, a prayer focus, and either a Core Value (remember those from last week’s article) or a Story from last week’s service (see below for an example from our South Florida campus).
So, this week as you prepare for your Sunday focus time, think about how you can:
#1 – Celebrate – whether it’s singing happy birthday or welcoming new team members, find a way to celebrate this Sunday.
Download the Leading with Authority in Rehearsal seminar and discover the secrets of:
- Removing the fear of how the worship set will go this Sunday
- How to bring the best out of the musicians on your team
- Where your authority comes from in rehearsal, and how to use it to create a culture of excellence
- How to develop your vision for the worship set and inspire your team to embrace it
- The 4-Step process that will radically transform the culture of your team, create accountability and ensure everyone lives up to your expectations
- How to create your Music Plan for maximum impact each week
- How to invest personally into the lives of your Worship Team members at rehearsal and the weekend service
- The Journey’s Nine Core Values for Music Planning and how to begin writing your own
- How to lead a music planning meeting, and the Five Questions you need to be asking every week to get ready for rehearsal!
- Avoiding the #1 mistake that keeps your Sunday worship set from being incredible!
- Building momentum, removing distractions and leading your church into powerful worship this Sunday!
- Cutting your rehearsal time in half and creating more time for personal investment and vision casting
- How to turn “difficult” team members into your biggest allies
- The one rehearsal principle that will dramatically reduce your stress on Sunday (Hint: it’s not what you think!)
- How to guarantee that every team member arrives on-time, prepared and knowing their parts
- Plus much more!
This 3-CD resource also includes a Full Resouce CD complete with:
- A fill-in-the-blank printable notebook
- Expectations of The Journey Music Team
- Real-life examples of emails and communication that Jason uses to prepare his team for rehearsal every week
- Notes from recent Music Planning Meetings with The Journey’s planning team.
- Worship Orders with in-depth notes and instructions to help you communicate with your team.
- The Journey’s “famous” Top 10 list for new team members PLUS The Journey’s Sunday Dress Code for Music Team Members
BONUS RESOURCES
- 2-hour mp3 of Jason teaching values and expectations to The Journey Worship Arts Team that you can use to teach your team as well.
- FREE Download of the “Creating Servants, Not Superstars” audio resource (a $23.95 value)
- FREE Download of “Run to Conflict” audio resource (a $23.95 value)
Immediately download the complete 3-hour training and Bonus Resources and SAVE!
OR
TUESDAY MORNING INSIGHTS is Jason Hatley’s free weekly training resource specifically designed to provide you as a worship leader with proven principles, tips and practices to help you lead a healthy and thriving Worship Arts Team.