Category: Tales From The Worship Trenches

Evaluating Volunteers

Posted on by Bill Kirkwood

The Story

When I arrived at the church in Ohio for my first full-time worship position, I inherited an amazing team of musicians. Most of them had been playing together for several years. As I became familiar with their abilities and personalities it quickly became apparent that there was one person, Kevin, who was going to be difficult. The most polite word I could use to describe him is dour, an Eeyore personality. A very good player, but he was not good at taking direction or participating in the spiritual discussions of the devotions I initiated with the team. 

Let me pause here and say I that when dealing with difficult people I tend to err on the side of grace and patience rather than harsh judgment. I figure they are at least involved in the church, hearing the sermons, and God is in the process of sanctifying them like he is with me. I just needed to give God time to work in Kevin’s life. He stayed on the team for several years, but always seemed to rub people the wrong way. 

A few years later another player with a very similar temperament came on the team. Sean was also a very good player, and I also showed grace as he seemed to be growing in his faith.

After a couple more years in mid-November the church elevated a long-time staff pastor to become lead pastor to fill our vacancy in that position. Sean and Kevin were opposed to this move, and began to make their feelings known. They never talked to me about how they felt, but I always heard from others. 

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? People say things to us about someone else and expect us to act on the information. We cannot go back to the person involved without betraying the trust of the informant. And we must decide if the informer is gossiping or not. At first I told the informer to go back to the person and help them understand if they’re going to be involved in church leadership on the worship team, they must be able to support the leaders of the church. If they could not, they had a duty to step down. Of course we all know how that goes!!

Fast forward to December, a week before our big Christmas production called WinterSong. Sean and Kevin had come through all the rehearsals and were ready to play next weekend, but their attitudes toward the new lead pastor was spilling over into the rest of the team. I had to act!

At that time I was blessed to have at least two very capable players at each position. I called the two who were not on the WinterSong roster and asked if they would be willing to jump in at the last minute. They both agreed. I ended up releasing Sean and Kevin six days before WinterSong. The two new players jumped in and learned their parts in record time. WinterSong was a beautiful experience with everyone understanding the impact of what just happened, and all pulling together to make it succeed.

The Moral of the Story

When deliberating whether to add a new person to a team, or whether to retain someone already on a team, I consider three levels. This philosophy was actually forged during this incident described above. First, I determine if this person is committed to the church. Not only if they have an active faith, but do they support this church, its leadership and its ministries. Second, I evaluate the chemistry of the person with our team. I never bring on a player or front singer without having them participate in at least two rehearsals. I observe their interactions with other members, their ability to take direction, their comfort on stage. After each rehearsal I’ll ask a couple key team members what they observed in this individual. In this way I avoid being the sole arbiter of whether or not to accept a new person onto the team. 

Finally (and lastly) I try to determine whether this position is good for that individual. Will they thrive spiritually on this team? Is their motive for participating proper? Will they improve on their instrument? 

Three levels to consider: commitment to the church, chemistry on the team, and benefit for the individual. I thought for a while that Sean and Kevin were okay with these, even though the team chemistry was off. But when they could not get on board with the new lead pastor, they had to be released. 

Another moral of the story is that it is better to have fewer people that fulfill those criteria than more that are not on the same page. We often think that in order to achieve the sound we want we have to have so many members. We have to have at least a drummer, bass player, keyboard, one or two guitars, and a couple singers. Yet the friction on your team from having even one difficult person will bring down the whole team and will be observed by the congregation. Better to have three good players and singers who love worshiping Jesus than seven who are there for the wrong reasons.

I admit I am sidestepping the whole discussion on bringing unbelievers onto the team as a way to expose them to the gospel. I’ve experienced that (I’ll write that in another story later). My philosophy is to make sure everyone who is on my church platform under my leadership does so from a place of belief and commitment to Jesus. 

As a worship team leader you are responsible for using your gifts of leadership and discernment and your team’s Spirit-given gifts to lead your church before the throne of God. Be sure everyone is on the same page.

It WasDestiny

Posted on by Bill Kirkwood

The Story

Growing up in Waukegan, Illinois my family attended the Lutheran Church nearly every Sunday. Although I remember going off to Sunday School, I guess children also attended the worship service. I vividly recall the sights and smells, the stained glass, the candles, the organ and choir leading the traditional liturgy with the pastor, including all the responses from the hymnal. Even at the young age of seven or eight I imagined myself being the one up front leading the liturgy. Sometimes at home I would pull out my parents’ hymnal and read through it. 

One Sunday somebody at home must have been sick because we did not go to church that Sunday. After breakfast when the kitchen was cleaned up I brought all the kitchen chairs into our tiny living room and set them up in rows. I then stood in front and began singing the opening hymn, then launched into the liturgy. (By the way, decades later I still can sing most of that liturgy from the Lutheran Service Book and Hymnal, second setting, page 41.) I don’t recall anyone being in the room with me, maybe mom or dad stopped in. I just remember that event and how I had dreamed for many weeks that I could be the one leading the church in worship.

A few years later in eighth grade I became an acolyte, a young assistant helping with the liturgy by lighting the candles. Most of my friends thought that was a drudgery they had to endure as part of confirmation class. I loved it! My alb (acolyte robe) was beautifully white, I was particularly keen to make sure that little flame at the end of the candlelighter would not blow out. It was a highly developed skill for a twelve-year-old!

The Moral

I believe God planted a delight in me at a very early age to be in front of his church leading his people. I don’t even know if I would call myself “saved” at that point in life. To be honest I was also involved in activities of which I am not proud today. But God was keeping hold of me. He had his eyes set on me.

Looking back today after being a (real) worship leader for almost fifty years, the seeds were planted on that Sunday morning in my little living room. I was fortunate that I did not have parents or siblings that would make fun of me. It probably would have devastated me. 

In fourth grade my parents encouraged me to learn an instrument. I chose the guitar. They also gave me a little record player and I would spend hours listening to records we’d bring home from the library. From these I learned to sing and to naturally sing harmonies.

I believe children can begin to sense a calling in their life very early on. Parents should watch for signs of this. What do their children like to do? Sing? Read? Tell stories? Write? Talk about what’s happening in their life? How can parents and children’s church leaders incorporate these young ones into the life of the church?

My own children each learned to play musical instruments. James learned piano and violin, I taught Joel guitar, and Caleb learned drums. While Caleb had an immediate outlet for playing drums in his school’s music program, the older two began to lose interest until I formed worship teams in the high school and middle school ministries of my church. Suddenly they had an outlet (other than twice-a-year recitals) for their abilities. A fire was lit under them as they learned to play in a band and lead worship for their peers, and lead worship on Sunday morning a few times a year. All three boys are involved in the worship ministries of their churches today twenty years later.

Parents, watch for how God is giving your children a gift and enthusiasm to serve him even at a young age. Church leaders, look for ways to allow children to participate in worship (beyond listening to a children’s sermon). Let them read a story, a poem, a Scripture, sing in a choir, dance (see the previous article on my church’s dance ministry). Be creative. There’s room for everyone to serve in God’s church.

Step-By Step Dance Ministry

Posted on by Bill Kirkwood

The Story

Two sisters stood before me in my office at church. These two had grown up in dance studios, and their dream was to begin a dance ministry at our church. Their pitch perfectly aligned with my philosophy of worship ministry: find as many ways as possible to use as many of the arts in worship. There are dozens of dance studios in our area, each of them churning out young dancers who perform in their recitals a couple times a year. Why not offer these young dancers an opportunity to direct their enjoyment of dance to serve the church?

The sisters recruited three other leaders, and we promoted this new ministry in the church for several weeks. At their first meeting they had about a dozen young dancers between grades 1-8 in the church foyer after church. Each rehearsal began with lunch and a devotion. After about 2 months they were ready to dance for the Lord on a Sunday morning. We pushed the band off to the side to allow space and let them go. I honestly do not remember the song they danced to, but I do remember the tears in my eyes watching these excited young ladies experience the joy of using their talents to serve their church. A whole new world was opened up to them. I was so moved I could barely speak as we all met to pray before the first service. 

The response was almost unanimously positive. The parents were thrilled to see their children learn what it means to participate in church, and not just attend Sunday School. The congregation appreciated this new form of art added to our services. Only one person pushed back, saying they “did not get” how this experience enhanced our worship. It only proved the diversity of opinions in the church, not an entirely bad thing I guess.

The Moral

Too often worship leaders are just song leaders. They only see music as the art form approved for worship. My philosophy (thanks to my early exposure to Willow Creek Church outside of Chicago) is to look for ways to bring as many artists into the worship service as possible. Musicians, singers, and sound techs are not the only people with artistic abilities to participate. Future stories will tell about adding middle school and high school worship teams, visual artists, poets, and Scripture readers to our worship. The younger the better. At an early age we can find ways to incorporate children into Sunday worship. While Sunday School is great for learning and forming friendships, using their talents to serve the church can build a bond that lasts past their school-age years. 

The other moral is that you can’t please everybody. Some in our congregations just like to sing and hear a sermon. That’s it. No frilly stuff like dancers or poets. While I attempted to explain why we had young dancers in our worship service, it was clear I was not going to change their mind, and that’s OK. We’re all different. 

The moral is to do what you believe God is directing you to do. (That’s not to discount legitimate pushback from your pastor or elders. Not every idea is a good idea.) For me, God led those two young ladies into my office with a vision to help children learn to love Jesus by dancing. When it came to fruition the whole church was better for it.