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What is Your TOP 5?

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Jason Hatley

I’m not talking about your Top 5 80’s love songs (though I do love power ballads). No – I have something a little more important in mind.

Here’s what I mean: If I were to ask you to write down on a sheet of paper the TOP 5 MOST CRUCIAL activities that you do as a leader in your church, could you name them?

This is a question we asked in a Journey staff meeting years ago and one that I oftentimes ask to the Worship Leaders in my coaching networks.

The question is simple on the surface, but powerfully clarifying when you take time to answer.

The truth is many pastors and worship leaders are more likely to be busy than effective. There’s a distinct difference. As Peter Drucker says, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”

And not because they don’t want to make the biggest impact for the kingdom possible, but because in ministry it is so easy to be distracted by the urgent and allow the important slide by.

So back to this powerful little question – “What are your TOP 5 PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES that make the biggest impact in your church?”

Here are 3 reasons why answering this question (along with your pastor – VERY IMPORTANT) are worth your time and effort, and after this I’ll share a few of mine.

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What You Can (and Can’t) Do to Help Your Team Members Grow, Part 2

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Jason Hatley

Last week we started this discussion on what we can and can’t do to help our team members grow. After all, there are things we can (and MUST) do as the pastors and leaders in this area, but there are also some things that simply CANNOT do for our team members. . . things they have to do for themselves in order to grow spiritually and in their ministry roles.

Today I want to focus on one of the things WE MUST do. Something I consider to be the primary growth factor of your worship team . . . YOU! That’s right – the growth and health of your team and my team is largely dependent on how you and I are growing as leaders.

John Maxwell called this the Law of the Lid saying, “Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower an individual’s ability to lead, the lower the lid of his or her potential. The higher the leadership, the greater the effectiveness.”

We are effective in leading and growing our teams to the extent that we are leading and growing ourselves. I’ve seen this law applied to everyone of the 150+ worship leaders I’ve coached over the last 5 years . . . and to myself too!

As a young worship leader 10 years ago, I didn’t have the skills that I needed to build teams, plan worship services, even manage a task list. There were a lot of books I needed to read, seminars I needed to attend, worship leaders I need to meet and get coached by.

It was work, but it was worth it! I bet you have a similar experience.

I call this the Personal Challenge. The Personal Challenge is the first and most important challenge that you face in ministry. It is the challenge of becoming the leader that God has called you to be.
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What You Can (and Can’t) Do to Help Your Team Members Grow

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Jason HatleyAfter last week’s post on How to Make Ministry Personal, I received a note from one of my Coaching Alumni and friends in ministry. He said that the post had been really helpful for him in considering how he was leading his team, and it launched us into a conversation about just what we are able (and not able) to do to help our team members grow.

I think this is a HUGE conversation for worship pastors because the truth is many of us live with a load of guilt that we are somehow not doing the best we can to help our team members grow in their faith and connection to the church.

There’s always more that we could do I’m sure, but honestly there are some things that we simply CANNOT.

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Ministry is Personal!

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“When is the last time you had a physical?” I asked myself that question as I was setting my goals for 2011 and I didn’t Jason Hatleylike the answer. So I decided to get a physical earlier this year. And not just the basics . . . the works!

Among a litany of tests I received, by far the most important was the EKG. As you know an EKG measures the health of your heart.

An EKG is important because regardless of how well you do on all of your other physical exams, if your heart fails . . . well, the rest of your body will, too.

That principle is true in life . . . and ministry!

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3 Powerful (and Easy) Reading Goals for this Summer

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Jason Hatley

I admit it. I have not always had a love of reading. But it didn’t take long as a young Worship Pastor at The Journey for me to recognize my need to read in order to survive in ministry, much less lead a thriving worship team.

I first started in ministry at age 23. I was fresh out of college. I had been a worship leader, but I had never been a Worship Pastor in the church before. I could stand onstage and lead worship, but I couldn’t write a task list, build teams, lead people . . . you get the picture.

It was at that point – aware of my personal and ministry shortcomings, and certain that I needed to make a change – that I developed a love for reading.

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You don’t need more discipline in your life. You need more . . .

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Jason HatleyYou don’t need more discipline in your life. You need more . . .

I’ll admit it – there are some things in my life that I’m disciplined in and some things I am not so much.

Are you with me on that?

For instance, I feel I have a lot of discipline when it comes to the work of ministry, but I don’t do as well when it comes to showing restraint with one of life’s greatest temptations – Read more

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How to (Exponentially) Grow Yourself and Your Team this Summer – Part 3

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Jason HatleyDid you know . . . This summer is the perfect time for your team to grow?

That’s the question I’ve been asking in Part 1 and Part 2 of this new series on How to Grow Yourself and Your Worship Team this summer.

The last two weeks I’ve challenged you to have a Passion for growth this summer and to partner with God in Praying for growth this summer. . . two very important parts of your growth plan.

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

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How to Grow Yourself and Your Team this Summer – Part 2

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Last week we started a 3-part series on How to Grow Yourself and Your Worship Team this Summer.

As you know, many worship leaders look at the summer as a time to GLIDE . . . to just get through the summer months and pick up where they left off in the fall.

But I believe the summer is a time for GROWTH – both for you personally as well as for your team.

It’s starts with developing a Passion for Growth. But that’s not all . . .

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How to Grow Yourself and Your Team this Summer – Part 1

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How to Grow Yourself and Your Team this Summer  Jason Hatley

A worship leader told me once that the summer was the worst time of year for his team to grow. He went on to explain that because of this, he took it easy during the summer, didn’t challenge his team (or himself) to grow and just coasted through until fall arrived.

What I told him next was hard for him to swallow, but absolutely true.

Because he “took the summer off” from focusing on the growth and health of his team, he stumbled into the fall with the same team, the same challenges, and unfortunately, a full 25% of the year where no growth happened and no one joined the team.

I don’t want to see that happen for me or you this summer.

So, this summer you have a choice to make. . .  Read more

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3 Things Every Worship Pastor Needs from their Lead Pastor

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3 Things Every Worship Pastor Needs from their Lead Pastor

Last week we started a quick 2-week series on the Pastor / Worship Pastor Jason HatleyRelationship by talking about what every Pastor needs from their Worship Pastor.

This week we turn the tables and I want to talk to Pastors about what your Worship Pastor needs from you. If you’re a worship pastor, feel free to print this out and “accidentally” leave a copy on your Pastor’s desk :-).

As I have always said, the most important relationship inside the church is the relationship between the Pastor and Worship Pastor. But it’s also a relationship that can hold a lot of tension. That tension MOST LIKELY comes from one specific thing:

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