I have been on numerous worship teams, attended worship team seminars and participated in the training of worship teams. I have led worship, and my wife Rita and I have led worship as a team. I have made lots of mistakes and seen teams that I was on make numerous mistakes. I have observed my own team and many other teams and made mental notes of the “do’s” and “don’ts” that happen in worship teams. Most importantly the pastor of a church should be intimately involved with the worship team because there are scriptural requirements that those appointed to lead worship be joined and in unity with the pastor. Those appointed to lead worship should meet the Biblical requirements that I have identified in the article; Divine Order for Ministry in the Sanctuary This is paramount to establishing the worship that touches the heart of God. The Bible says much more about praise and worship with music, singing, dancing, making melody, psalmistry and artistic expression than it does about preaching, teaching, and all the traditional things we do in church. While there are churches that seemingly have no concept of Biblical or Davidic worship, there are also many churches that turn the praise and worship aspect into a fetish of sorts. The Wall of Sound Most worship teams create and depend on what is referred to as the “wall of sound.” I call this the “monster you can never feed enough.” Simply put, the “wall of sound” is the conglomerate sound of keyboards, lead, rhythm and bass guitars, drums, horns and stringed instruments and voices that comes out of the numerous speakers driven by multi channel mixers and amplifiers. Of course the more sound going out the greater the need for monitors so the band can hear themselves. This in turn creates acoustical and impedance issues and the need for anti feedback devices. And the list of devices needed to feed the monster goes on and on ad nauseum. But the far more serious issue is the congregation. Most congregations come together for great worship totally unaware they have become dependent on the wall of sound to inspire their souls to really let loose and worship. If you wish to discover the truth of this, sit the whole worship team down one Sunday and lead worship with one acoustic guitar or acoustic piano. Better yet try leading with no instruments. In either case the congregation you are so used to seeing in an elevated state of worship will be all but catatonic. Only the true worshippers will be praising and worshipping. Why? Because true worshippers are not dependent on anything but the Holy Spirit and they will worship and praise God with or without the wall of sound. There is nothing wrong with amplified sound or even electronic instruments, but get rid of the wall of sound. God hasn’t ordained it for worship and you don’t need it. I’ve seen this proven in congregations of more than 500 people. One large church has a worship team that consists of one acoustic guitar, a flute and a djembe (drum) which are miked of course, but they have awesome worship and it’s all so simplified. Electronic keyboards are great because they are versatile, compact and portable. As much as I love playing electric guitar, I’ve learned that a worship team doesn’t need it any more than they need a banjo. In fact the problems created by electric guitars usually outweigh any benefit. Try using acoustic guitars instead. The sound is much more conducive to worship and you are much less likely to have a “cowboy” showman on the team. God obviously has musical instruments that he prefers, why else would he list them repeatedly in his Word? He lists instruments of fir wood. Acoustic stringed instruments in general have fir or spruce tops. God repeatedly lists timbrels (tambourines and drums), stringed instruments, organs (pipes, flutes and wind instruments) cornets, trumpets, (shofar) cymbals (high sounding and loud) harps and psalteries etc. Sure I know the Bible was written long before electric stringed instruments and amplification etc. but I think he was well aware of that. In no way do I say these things are wrong, but I do say with conviction he has a preference and he has given an alternative to the wall of sound. Consider that in countries where believers worship in secret, they certainly do quite well without amplification of any type. Any worship team would do well to add more of the instruments that God likes and become less dependent on electronics. Many worship teams are guitar and/or drum driven. Beware of this. Pride The Word tells us that Lucifer was a living musical instrument of praise. (Ezekiel 28) His downfall was pride. Is it any wonder that musicians are most prone to be proud. Watch the reaction you get from a musician when you say “don’t play on this song” or “you’re out of tune” or “you’re too loud.” Pride is a hard thing for a Christian musician to overcome. Pride will destroy your entire worship team. I can’t judge a person’s heart, but I have learned through experience how to spot a musician with a pride issue on a worship team almost immediately. Sadly enough, I’ve seen great musicians in secular bands who would make great examples for Christian musicians in the sanctuary, when it comes to humility. I’ve been on enough teams to know that the saying “the loudest is the proudest” identifies a prideful musician. With the exception of lead instruments such as keyboards or rhythm guitars played by the lead musician(s), the worship team member who consistently plays louder than the others is either deaf or proud. The same person will be resistant to going through the sound system where they have no control of the volume. If they are forced to do so, they will find other means to control the volume such as independent speakers or amplifiers. A proud musician will resort to visual tactics if they believe they aren’t being heard as loudly as they wish. Another sign of a proud musician is the refusal to bow out even for a moment when they are making musical mistakes. There seems to always be at least one and such a person will become a hindrance to worshippers and destructive or contentious with the team or leaders. Usually the only way to deal with such a person is to remove them. Generally, if the issue is pride, the person will leave the church, because they were there for only one reason, to play music. Unity Successful worship teams must do more than practice together. They must worship together, pray together and minister to one another during practice sessions. You might ask when you would have adequate time to practice. Our experience has shown that teams who place worshipping together musically as a priority over practice are more skillful and cunning during corporate worship times. Worship teams need to practice unity at all costs. There should be and will be times when the Holy Spirit changes the direction or even the song list. There will and should be times when someone on the team may be led to lead out in playing or singing prophetically. A team who is not in unity will be totally handicapped at staying together musically on such occasions. This unity also applies to unity with the leadership of the church and the congregation also. Beware of worship team members who have little to do with the congregation or who don’t routinely fellowship with the congregation. Control
deciding which songs, how long to sing each song and how many songs. This is not the scriptural pattern for New Testament churches as all believers are priest unto God and are instructed to sing spiritual songs, psalms, and hymns to one another as they are led by the Spirit.
hearts of the people and to even use specially selected chord patterns and song arrangements to change the mood of the people and control the direction of their emotions. One of the pit falls the first worship team I was on experienced was the control issue. When the congregation responded as if they were all in a “Holy of Holies” experience, after the service we would feel good about our part in leading worship. But when the congregation responded with less than that “Holy of Holies” response or if they just seemed to “not enter in” we would say “what did we do wrong?” or “What did we do last time that we didn’t do this time?” The Lord showed us that our attitude was one of manipulation and control. Our place was to lead the worship by worshipping with all our might and that was all. Worship teams have no place in trying to create, control, or manipulate the atmosphere or emotions of the people of God. Praise and Worship is Warfare Worship is spiritual warfare. The periods of praise and worship in the church are times for warfare, prayer, intercession, prophetic giftings, and ministry to the body of Christ. Worship team members need to be spiritually qualified and ready to leave their instruments behind and go into the congregation and minister to those in need. If the only ability the team members have is to play and sing, they aren’t truly qualified to be on the team. Silence Worship teams need to realize that leading worship is not always us singing to God. Sometimes God wishes to speak to us or to minister to his people. Worship teams need to realize the value of leading the congregation into reverent and solemn silence before God. Instrument Selection Not all the instruments and voices need to always be playing or singing at all times. It is very OK to arrange songs such that selected instruments and voices are participating while others are required to drop out. Make A Video of the Team Get some one to make a video of the worship team only during 100% of the worship time. You will be shocked at what you see yourselves doing. |