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Three Goals Every Worship Leader Should Have in 2016

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Have you started writing your goals for 2016 yet?

I believe that God is honored when we take time to set goals for ourselves, our families and our ministries. Clear, God-honoring goals will help you and I both make a greater Kingdom impact in 2016.

In fact, I believe that the pastors and worship leaders who are making the greatest impact are the ones who are clear about what God has called them to, and are continuing to dream new dreams for Him.

I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the Harvard Business School graduating class of 1979. They were asked if they had clear written goals upon graduation. 3% had clear, written goals. 13% had some goals, just not clearly written, and a full 84% had no goals at all. Ten years later, the researchers interviewed those same students from that graduating class and what they found was astounding…

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Too soon to sing Christmas music? Not according to this…

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When is it “too early” to start singing Christmas music?

If you ask my wife the answer is, “It’s never too soon!”

But what about in your church?

That’s been a “hot topic” this November as retailers have more than encroached on Thanksgiving and Halloween to put us in the Christmas (i.e. buying) spirit earlier than ever. 

Black Friday is now Black November. Every major online retailer already has ongoing Christmas sales. And some stores and restaurants started playing 24/7 Christmas music as soon as the trick-or-treaters fell asleep on All Hallow’s Eve.

It’s enough to drive the people in your church and mine crazy!

In fact, a recent survey found that 55% of people think it’s too soon for Christmas music.

All of this hub-bub about Christmas coming too soon has many worship leaders asking…

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The Worship Leader’s Guide to Planning (and Surviving) Christmas — Save over 73%

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Does your Christmas Checklist look something like this:

Listen to dozens of Christmas song arrangements… this week!

Select, arrange and chart music that we never sing for four straight Sundays in December

Juggle my volunteer’s holiday travel schedules (is anyone even in town!)

Plan a full-scale production for Christmas Eve

Try to find musicians for above mentioned Christmas Eve production

Buy a Christmas present for my spouse before Christmas Eve (this year)

Attend 15 Christmas parties and my kids’ school Christmas concerts

Try to enjoy Christmas in spite of all the other items on this list

 

Christmas is coming and already the pressure for worship leaders is mounting.

For many Worship Leaders Christmas can be anything but “the most wonderful time of the year”.

Many are hoping to just survive Christmas…

…but what if you could actually THRIVE this Christmas?
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Sing Something Classic this Sunday!

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Halloween is fast approaching, so the topic of conversation with my kids this week is what they plan to be for Halloween.  And strangely enough… this has a lot to do with the worship set at your church this week!

You see, to my surprise, Abigail and Charlie have decided to be Mary and Bert from the 1964 Disney film, Mary Poppins.

The movie is definitely a classic… so much so that you may have never seen it. 🙂

But in a world of “here today/gone tomorrow movies”, films like Mary Poppins somehow have real staying power. That’s why they call them classics!

So, what does this have to do with your worship set this Sunday? I’m glad you asked.

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Last Chance to Grow Your Worship Team This Fall?

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Tomorrow is the first day of Fall here in the U.S., which means that NOW is the perfect time for you to GROW your worship team!

The last two weeks I’ve challenged you to have a Passion for the growth of your Worship Team and to partner with God in Praying for the growth of your team… two very important parts of your team health and growth this fall.

But without this 3rd and final element in your Growth Plan for the fall, the first two will soon fade.

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Step #2 to a BIG Day of Auditions

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The final days of summer are upon us, football season has begun and NOW is the time to plan for your Fall Worship Team auditions!

Recently we kicked off this new series of articles to help you get ready for how God can grow your team through a BIG day of auditions. It’s an important responsibility that we all have. But too many times worship leaders either don’t do a big audition day or don’t maximize their audition day because they haven’t been trained on how to do it.

So, in this four-part push I want to help you plan your auditions and grow your Worship Team this fall. Last time we talked about developing a passion for the growth of your team. And here is the second step…

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The First Step to a BIG Day of Auditions

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School has started back for much of the US, football is in the air and NOW is the time to plan for your Fall Worship Team auditions!

Recently we kicked off this new series of articles to help you get ready for how God can grow your team through a BIG day of auditions. It’s an important responsibility that we all have. But too many times worship leaders either don’t do a big audition day or don’t maximize their audition day because they haven’t been trained on how to do it.

So, in this four-week push I want to help you plan your auditions and grow your Worship Team this fall. And here is the first step…

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Planning Your Fall Worship Team Auditions

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A two-hour school supply shopping trip to Walmart last weekend was all the reminder that I needed that school is starting back, the Fall ministry season is upon us and NOW is the time to plan for your Fall Worship Team auditions!

Growing your worship team is one of the most important responsibilities you have in ministry, but too many times worship teams DON’T grow, not because the worship leader is lazy or short on vision, but because they just haven’t been trained how to do it effectively.So, today I’m kicking off a four week push to help you plan your auditions and grow your Worship Team this fall. The fall is the PERFECT time to grow your worship team and I want to help you do just that!  Why?

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Heart or Talent . . . A surprising answer to what matters most

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“What do you look for in a Worship Team member . . . great talent or a great heart?”

That’s a question I’ve gotten hundreds of times in regard to our audition system here at The Journey.

My answer is simple: BOTH!

I want incredibly talented people who have a heart for God and our church. Yet for many of us, we find ourselves in a place where we feel we have to choose between the two. Read more

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Why Your Worship Set Doesn’t Flow (and how to fix it!)

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For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about the importance of developing your Music Plan… Specifically the FIVE QUESTIONS you should ask each week in preparing your worship set.

And today, we’re going to talk about one of the most important elements of your music plan — one that we ALL DO EVERY WEEK.

But first . . . a quick reminder that selecting songs is only part of the music plan you need to build each week.

We’re talking about creating a plan for how the music that you have selected is going to fit into the overall flow of the worship order, help create moments of life transformation, empower members of your team to step up to new levels of leading, and engage your congregation in passionate worship.

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