The music minister and church support. Part 1

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My friend Mike just released his new worship CD and wanted to have a free worship event. He got in touch with his pastor and told him about it and the pastor told him the church should be able to support him both financially and otherwise. Two weeks to the event he got a message that the church was not in a position to support him because they don’t have funds for such endeavors. He was left to his fate and quite devastated. The event still held.

This may be a familiar experience or scenario to what somebody or you may have gone through. It seems, the support the music minister needs is not readily available from the church coupled with the fact, that’s where his primary place of assignment is.

 What would have been the appropriate response the church should have offered? Are churches turning away from lending a helping hand to their music ministers?

The music ministry is a calling that is part of the great commission and not just a time in a worship service where songs of adoration to God are sung.

The church has to come to realization that the music minister has a ministry that is of a larger dimension to the four corners of the church walls.

The need to support the music minister now becomes worth considering.

What the music minister can do to effectively live in his/her calling.

1.     Study to show him or herself approved- By understanding what God’s calling (ministry) on his/her life is all about. (2 Tim 2:15).

2.     Pray, plan and organize worship meetings if possible outside the normal Sunday services. With the supervision of a pastoral head if need be.

3.     Work on their art and craft by releasing worship albums, which glorifies God and edifies the people. This would get them invited as guest ministers and can also be a good leverage. Invest in your spirit, soul and body.

4.     Make good effort to network with other credible worshipers. Iron would definitely sharpen another iron.

What the music minister should watch out for.

1.     The temptation of praising himself through self glorifying songs that often come in the form of testimonies- Some people usually fall into the temptation of talking about the material possessions they have through their songs in the name of thanking God but we all know it’s not always so. (1 Jhn 2:16)

2.     Church leaders that usually put restriction on their music ministers in terms of where they can go to minister and how they should use their ministry. This is often because they want to keep them stuck in one place.(Gal 5:1)

3.     Open doors that are traps in disguise. Some opportunities are not what they seem. God’s direction and leading saves the day. Don’t be too quick to rush out and be heard or seen.(Exd 5:9)

4.     Feeling of unworthiness, which robs the music minister of the boldness and strength they need to minister effectively. 

What really defines the limit to which a music minister can operate or aspire to?

Are music ministers designed to function in a particular denomination alone? And how would a music minister prepare for the calling of God on his/her life? What are your opinions?

Do's and don'ts in recruiting praise team and choir members.

Being effective in a job or duty has everything to do with having the needed qualification to perform. In Churches, a great deal of what happens during worship in regards to the praise team or choir basically starts from the recruiting process. In building of the temple in the Book of Chronicles, much emphasis was given on skill and a history of musical tradition, which shows the ability of the musicians to perform or carry out the duty.(2 Chron 34:12, 1 Chron 25:7, 26:8).

I know, some of us have heard of the saying “God does not call the qualified but qualifies the called”. There are professions that would not permit half-baked individuals to be at the helm of affairs. Like piloting a plane or performing a surgery just to mention a few.

What makes the music ministry require much scrutiny in recruiting membership is the physical and spiritual role it plays in people’s lives.

In as much opportunity should be provided for training the basic requirements that fulfills qualification should not be ignored.

Amazing worship services are usually those that have the manifest presence of God’s Spirit. 

Having a wonderful praise team or choir to usher in the congregation to worship should definitely be the desire of any worship meeting.

5 questions never to ask while recruiting praise team or choir members

1.     Have you ever sinned before? – Some have gone to ask when the individual did what and with whom? We all have sinned and were sinners saved by grace. It should not be about the person’s past but where the person is and steps taken to live the life God have called us.

2.     Do you have an album or performed in a major concert? - Albums are not good measurement of a person’s ability. There are many songwriters that don’t have an album.

3.     Do you obey authority or your leader? The answer would always be a yes because they want to join the group.

4.     Can you play or sing and get people shouting, jumping, clapping and screaming?- A genuine desire to want to be a blessing should be looked for instead.

5.     We make monthly donations of $50 hope you can pay that?  For reasons best known to conscience, that’s not a good welcome note. It makes the new comer feel his/her money is needed first.

6 questions to ask-

1.     Do you have other commitments elsewhere? Most issues come from commitments because most musicians get themselves involved with more than one group.

2.     Are you single or married?- This helps in knowing how to handle issues involving relationships.

3.     What do you plan to achieve or contribute?- The individual must come in with a goal In mind either that of wanting to improve or contribute.

4.     Have you participated in any praise team or choir prior to desiring to join us?-This would help in determining the experience level of the individual.

5.      Do you have an understanding of what it means to minister through music?- The whole concept of music in the church is ministering the gospel of Christ.

6.      Are you born again?

These are some questions in addition to many that I believe would help in acquiring and preparing worshipers for the task ahead of them.

Training for Worshipers: Is it Necessary?

Worship as a lifestyle and worship as an obligation (duty) are two distinct but closely related attributes. Music in the church is an act of worship unto God in which the worshiper lifts up his/her heart, voice and body as a sacrifice (Rom 12:1).

A worshiper is naturally expected to live a life driven by worship. A worshiper that leads people into worship is also expected to understand the dynamics of worship, now I am not making reference to the art form, but the life (Spirit) in it.

I have been to various churches where the praise team has individuals that really want to serve God through worship by being in the praise team of choir, but those individuals are really having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that singing or playing might not just be their gifting and calling.

This has created a situation where there are two kinds of music ministers or worshipers.

1- Those that have a heart for worship and want to serve God through singing and playing instruments, but cannot due to a poor sound interpretation skill and a poor rhythmic feel.

2-Those that are gifted and interested in performing (singing and playing), but careless about the lifestyle that worship demands.

In both situation hope cannot and should not be lost.

I believe that training is necessary for worshipers because it introduces them to the concept of worship in understanding that excellence is required, commitment cannot be overlooked, and living the worship lifestyle makes the worship experience worthwhile. 

What should be done to encourage proper and effective training for worshipers?

1.Genuine interest in the life of those involved with worship from the church or leaders of the praise team or choir- They should not be seen as hirelings or the church’s property.

2. A proper evaluation system which examines the effectiveness of the ministration of the praise team or choir: Song effectiveness can be known through testimonies.

3. Musical training should be taken seriously by inviting musical professionals: Bad music during worship waters down the effectiveness of any ministration. 

What has been your experience with training for worship team or choir members?

Worship leaders- Levites or Superstars?

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Leading people into the presence of God through worship is, and would continue to be, a sensitive part of the whole worship service in which individuals that perform such duties are themselves qualified by Grace. It should not be about the vessel, but all praise and glory should be to God (Ish 42:8).

What then should the attitude of the church towards its worship leaders be? Should they be seen as ministers chosen by God’s election (Ish 61:6)? Or should they be regarded as worship celebrities that need to be acknowledged each time after leading God’s people into his presence (2 Cor 4:7)?

There is a sad story of a very anointed and vibrant worship leader that was excellent in taking the people into God’s presence in worship, everyone always got overwhelmed by the grace and gifting of God on his life, he was so much celebrated and talked about that he subsequently decided to expand the scope of his ministry and or gifting. A few years later, he became involved in drugs and started singing at nightclubs.

I believe this may sound familiar to some. There is so much effect that people’s influence can have on a person’s mind, especially if it’s outside the will of God.

Has the church celebrated its worship leaders to the point of worshiping them (Rom 1:25)?

The issue of having the best worship song listed by a Christian magazine or award ceremony usually tends to present a narrow understanding the purpose and scope of worship. Sometimes it appears as if God has approved those singers as the ones he loves the most (Rom 11:34).

Don’t get me wrong.  Recognition of a worship leader’s contribution needs to be acknowledged but when it gets to a situation where it leads to them having so much “power” that they cannot be corrected because the church is afraid of losing them, then that begins to set a negative pattern that can destroy the individual’s life.

 Could it be that most worship leaders that strayed far away from the church were actually encouraged by the church to do so unknowingly? What has your experience been?

What musical growth is and is not for the Music minister, Praise team and Choir-

 

What musical growth is and is not for the Music minister, Praise team and Choir-

Musical growth is an observed process of development that shows an improvement to a desired way of being (singing, ministering or playing).

The musical growth of a praise team or choir is a reflection to the musical growth of the individuals participating in these groups primarily to the skill of the music director (1 Ch 15:22). Which implies “like Music director like Choir”.

Signs of good musical growth for a praise team or choir include,

1 The ability to be creative- Creativity here involves the ability to write your own songs and perform them. This I realize is a major challenge for teams because some feel their songs are not good enough and so rely on the next Christian hit song.

2 Testimonies- Music in the church is a spiritual act. Testimonies or results are proves that musical ministrations are effective. Our songs are supposed to bless hearts.

3 Spiritual singing (1 Cor 14:15)- Spiritual songs are a result of a relationship with the Spirit of God. Where a music minister receives and sings songs spontaneously as he/she is lead during a worship service.

4 A noticeable improvement from what you use to be- It is possible to know if we are better than what we use to be if we take up challenges by doing what we would not normally do.

What musical growth is not?

1 Sophisticated gadgets- Some music ministers gets caught up in the excitement of having good instruments forgetting nice looking instruments is not the same with having a good ministration.

2 Playing and Singing in Mega churches- Small churches are good places to identify and develop your person as a music minister. Mega churches are good places and small churches should not be despised.

3 Singing high notes or playing fast- The ability to improvise on your vocals and play fast on your instrument is good but if not done with the needed discipline might be a disadvantage because the music minister may become too noisy.

4 Winning a gospel music award- Fans voting could sometimes be sentimental and not necessarily prove that the artist is great musically.