1.    Evaluate how your relationship with your team is:

a.    What are three words that come to mind when you think about your worship team and your worship leader?

b.    What are three words that you think come to their mind when they think of you?

c.     What do you wish was different about your relationship with them?

d.    What do you wish they knew about you?

2.    Three Principles

1.    Does your worship team feel that you value them as individuals or just what they bring? How’s your personal relationship with them? Do you eat together? Are you abiding by John Maxwell’s Law of Connection or breaking it? (“Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand”) I’ll say it this way: “Your working relationship will fail until you build an actual relationship.”

2.    The worship team needs your voice of clarity, affirmation, evaluation, correction, discipleship, coaching, and collaboration.

CLARITY

Giving us clarity about what a win is is one of the kindest things you can say.

AFFIRMATION

Even capable leaders question ourselves, question what we produce, and question how we lead. When you see something we are doing well, SAY it.

CORRECTION

If all you ever say to us is positive, it’ll start sounding hollow, like you’re blowing smoke. We need to hear (privately) where we’re falling short and where our opportunities to do better are.

EVALUATION

When you evaluate us, it reminds us that we’re on a journey. That we have some skills that are great and some that still need to be developed.

COACHING

A coach helps us see how others see us. One of your greatest gifts to us is that you are someone we can trust, and you give us your perspective on how we lead.

DISCIPLESHIP

Because this isn’t a sales job, but a spiritual role, we need you to help us grow in Jesus.

COLABORATION

We are co-laborers with Christ. It would make sense for us to feel like we’re working together in the Kingdom. Even though we have “different lanes,” we never want to feel like we’re siloed from each other.

3.    It’s personal – it’s your job to disciple the worship team. How are you doing this and how are you failing to do this?

Q&A

Songwriting as a Spiritual Discipline

Where to Begin? Just Start!

1.   Get honest before the Lord. Share with Him what’s on your heart.  

2.   Pray, “Holy Spirit, what do you want to show me? Speak to me and show me Your truths.”

3.   Open up God’s Word and meditate on a passage of scripture.

4.   Listen-what’s God saying to you? Write down anything that God is highlighting or impressing upon your heart. This is usually when I start getting inspired, when He shows me phrases, words, even a melody, and the song begins to take shape

When?

·      Psalm 5:3- “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning, I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”

·      Mark 1:35- “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”

·      Luke 4:42- “At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. 

1.            In the morning, our minds are more impressionable than any other time. There is more focus and creativity. God’s voice can reach our minds more easily in the morning because our minds aren’t cluttered from the day yet.

-                Choose who speaks first- God, your phone, demands of the day? Before you let the world speak, let God speak 1st.

2.            God can speak to us at any time of day! We need to respond in that moment!

             -During the night, God may wake you and give you a Word, or a vision…even a melody…go with it!  I have had songs come to me in the night and I’d get my journal and just write or sneak down to the piano and play a melody. Voice memos on my phone are one of my best friends :) Then I won’t forget!

Be Attentive to the Voice of God

God speaks through circumstances, relationships, His Word, pain, dreams, ideas, etc…

In our trials, trust God has us and is working all things together for our good and His purpose. Ask Him to use the situation to draw us closer to Him. Journal your prayers to Him (Two-way Journaling) and give God space to respond. Write down what He is saying to you. This is a great practice in learning to hear His voice.

As we do life with one another God often impresses a person on our hearts that He wants us to pray for or encourage in some way. One of these ways is sometimes through a song. If the Holy Spirit puts someone on your mind, the greatest thing you can do is be obedient to the Spirit’s prompting!

God speaks through His Word! Will we listen and obey? On the other side of our obedience we will see God move in powerful ways!  

A Life Set Apart

Daily surrender your life to God. Live a life set apart for Him and His glory! Walk in step with His Spirit!

Fruit of the Spirit- the 9 attributes of a person living in accord with the Holy Spirit! LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF CONTROL. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Collaboration

1.  Co-writing

-   Just because you’ve written a song in your quiet time doesn’t necessarily mean it’s finished. Leaning into a trusted friend or partner for honest feedback and collaboration can help take your song to a new level.

-   Sometimes our songs are personal, but with a few tweaks they can become accessible for corporate worship. Collaborating with others can help with that.

2.  Demos

-   If you want to get the song off of your voice memos, and put a little more arrangement behind them, you can collaborate with someone who has gifts in music production

-   Another great arranging tool is uploading your song to

SUNO or another AI arranging app.

Practice

           1. Psalming-  

                  -Pick any Psalm  and sing it aloud. Try singing it word for word and add your own melody. The second time through, don’t be as structured singing word for word but draw things from the Psalm, be repetitive at times (Chorus). If you play an instrument like piano/ guitar, play some Chords and add your melody too!  There is no right or wrong way. Just sing to God! 

 2. Song Mapping-  

                  -Grab a pen/paper. Draw a circle in the middle of your paper. In the circle, write a word or phrase that you want to center your song around. From that circle, you are going to begin writing words that relate to that subject. Draw a line from the main circle and make another circle, adding the new word. I like to just write the first thing that pops into my head. Don’t overthink it! You can even time yourself (2-3 minutes), but you don’t have to. Write questions, bible verses, adjectives, etc.  By the end of the exercise, you will have a page full of words that you can start grouping into Verse, Chorus, and bridge ideas.

Resources 

1.  Bible-Different Translations (The Voice, TPT, God’s Word,

The Message, Amplified)

2.  “Writing Worship-How to Craft Heartfelt Songs for the

Church” by Krissy Nordhoff

                   -Psalming

                   -Two Way Journaling

                   -Songwriting Personalities

Writingworship.com - Songwriter Personality test, 10 Day Songwriting

Challenges(4x’s yr), Songwriting Mentorship

                   “Devoted” by Krissy Nordhoff - great devotional, Two way Journaling

3.  “God Songs”- by Paul Baloche, Jimmy & Carol Owens

                   -How to Craft a song, rhyme scheme, melody, meter, etc…

                   -Dissects well known worship songs-Hook, Melody, lyrics

4.  Ray Hughes(Instagram(Ray_Hughes)— Worship and Songwriting teacher for years. Has an online community, Selah creatives, you can join.

5.  “Writing Better Lyrics” by Pat Pattison (Berklee)

-   Songwriting Exercises

-   Using Imagery to enhance song’s emotional impact                    

- Song Form

1.)   Prayer (and Worship) Defines God’s House.  Matt 21:13, “My House shall be called a house of prayer…”

a.     Prayer is the defining characteristic of God’s House.

b.     We are God’s House.  Revelation 21:2,3;  1 Corinthians 3:16, “We are the temple of the Holy Spirit…”

c.     Worship and Prayer are two sides of the same coin.  In Revelation 5:8 we see these two realities seamlessly joined together. 

d.     Prayer is the Spirit to spirit communication between God and Humanity.  This includes worship, thanksgiving, etc… as well as supplication, meditation, intercession, etc.

                                               i.     1 John 4:8 says, “God is Love” 

                                             ii.     As in any relationship, communication is essential for us to grow in love with God.

                                            iii.     This Spirit to spirit communication is what Jesus bled and died for…making the two, One. 

                                            iv.     Prayer is primarily about giving and receiving love!  This is the greatest dignity that God could give human beings!

e.     This is why our prayer lives, individually and corporately, are the central issue as we walk with the Lord!  WE CANNOT REALIZE THE HABITATION OF GOD WITHOUT A STRONG, HEALTHY PRAYER LIFE IN THE CHURCH!

2.)   Realizing His Dwelling Place in Ourselves. 

a.     Our personal prayer life must become bigger than our worship set.  Prayer was never meant to simply support our ministry goals or aspirations.  It is an all consuming fire that is meant to consume our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength with love for Him. 

b.     We impart who we are.  If our personal worship is alive and active we can bring people along in it.

c.     Colossians 4:2 says, “Continue earnestly in prayer, vigilant with thanksgiving.”  I believe there are two primary pillars for a thriving prayer life.

                                               i.     Giving Thanks.  Thanksgiving keeps us awake in the Spirit! 

1.     Thanksgiving is one of the primary expressions of humility.  James 4:6 says, “God…gives grace to the humble.”

2.     Humility is one of the best ways to receive grace into our prayer lives!

                                             ii.     Praying/Singing the Word. 

1.     Psalm 45:2, “Grace is poured upon Your lips”  The Word of God is anointed with grace.  Just as Jesus’ words are anointed with grace, so His Words in our mouth are anointed with the same grace.  As we declare His Word in prayer, grace is released into the situation we are praying for, AND grace is released into our hearts!

2.     Isaiah 55:11, “My Word…shall accomplish…the thing for which I sent it.”  His Word never fails. 

3.     This combination, Thanksgiving and Praying the Word is the foundation for our ministry to the Lord.  Our hearts are built up and nourished, our vision gets clear, and we can see the Kingdom and hear what the Spirit is saying as we continue in these things. 

3.)   Realizing His Dwelling Place Corporately.  Ministry to the Lord that engages people.  Ephesians 5:18-20. 

a.     This is not a formula, but rather A LIFESTYLE that engage’s with the Holy Spirit

                                               i.     “Be filled with the Spirit…”  Eph. 5:18-20

                                             ii.     “Let the Word of Christ dwell in You richly…” Col. 3:16

                                            iii.     We can go beyond the performance of songs to engaging with the Holy Spirit as we minister to the Lord.

b.     Hymns.  We use known songs to engage people in worship.

                                               i.     Simple arrangements

                                             ii.     Repeatable elements of the song

                                            iii.     Limited key changes

c.     Psalms.  Sing the Word of God.  When we sing the Word… (John 15:7-10)

                                               i.     The Spirit writes it on our hearts

                                             ii.     The Spirit releases the anointing of Jesus

                                            iii.     The Spirit helps us love Jesus

                                            iv.     Practically singing the Psalms

1.     Pick a passage and begin singing it line by line.

2.     Prayerfully isolate a phrase.

3.     Develop the phrase into a repetitive chorus.

d.     Spiritual Songs.  Phrases, chorus’s, or songs inspired by the Holy Spirit.  These “songs” are in agreement with scripture, and are useful for:

                                               i.     Unifying our worship around  a specific attribute of the Lord,

                                             ii.     Unifying our intercession with a specific prayer that the Spirit is interceding with, or

                                            iii.     Declaring a specific Word that the Spirit is speaking.

                                            iv.     Singing in the Spirit…1 Cor. 14:15, “I will sing with the spirit…”

e.     The outcome of putting these into practice is:

                                               i.     “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”  Eph. 5:19

                                             ii.     “singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.”  Col. 3:16

f.      Integrating these elements into your worship leadership to create atmospheres of encounter with the Lord.

                                               i.     We can impart this lifestyle to those we lead by tastefully wearing our private prayer/worship lives on our sleeve.

                                             ii.     We can sing scripture phrases inspired by the Holy Spirit that unify and bring the room into agreement. 

                                            iii.     We can spontaneously sing out our worship and our heartfelt prayers to Jesus. 

                                            iv.     We can skillfully use these elements of ministry to the Lord to help our people grow in this grace of heartfelt, Spirit-led ministry to the Lord.

These 10 ministry shifts changed everything for me and helped my ministry walk in and steward High Production and High Praise

Is a high level of Production important in your services?

Colossians 3:23, 2 Samuel 24:24, Psalm 33:3

Is high praise important in your services?

Psalm 34:3, Psalm 149:3, Psalm 150:1-6

1. Change the focus

·       ‍‍Having a great production can't be your focus... change it to building worship FAMILY and watch what happens

·       A family grows together

·       Make meals together more important than rehearsals

·       Take a family year

2. The greatest place for worship leaders to lead is off the stage

·      How can you have a great production when everyone is jockeying for position

·      There's more on the floor

3.What does High Production look like to your Pastor/leadership team?

4. Growing at your craft is a requirement

·      I've never met a skilled musician that was satisfied at where they are

5. Everyone raises up the next generation

·      It's a requirement that each seasoned musician on my team is investing in an up and coming musician

6. The world needs authenticity more than showmanship

·       God wants your giftedness not just Chris Tomlin's

·       Take a spiritual gifts test and lead from your strengths

·       What unique thing is my worship ministry called to

7. Get on the same boat going in the same direction

·       A lot of problems in building great production are just because not everyone knows what we are building

·       Communicate your/your churches vision to the team so you can build together

8. Do the small things great before you move on to the big things

·       It's ok to take your time

·       Stop measuring yourself against churches that are different and have a different call

9. Stop looking at you team as what they can do for you and start looking at how you can champion the call of God on their lives

10. Build more altars than stages

·       Create more opportunities for your worship team to minister to Jesus than opportunities to lead on main stage

·       Team bonfire worship night, prayer room

“Worship is not an event we attend—it’s a life we live.”

1. What is Worship?

Worship is responding to who God is with all that we are.

2. What is Worship to You?

When you hear “worship,” what comes to mind first?

3. Where Besides Church Do You Worship?

If worship only happens at church, it’s incomplete.

4. Is It Difficult to Worship Alone? What Informs True Worship?
Private worship reveals authentic worship.

If worship depends on a stage, it’s fragile.
If it’s rooted in truth, it’s sustainable.

5. Worship Beyond Music (Leadership Exercise)

How can serving in a homeless shelter be an act of worship?

6. If You Lost Music, Could You Still Worship?

If you could no longer sing or play, what would your worship look like?

Worship must outlive your platform.

7. True or False Discussion

“Today’s modern worship services are a modern construct that sometimes feel more aligned with pop culture than God’s culture.”

What are the benefits of modern worship styles?

What are the dangers?

8. Foundation of Your Worship “Stage”
What should you build your worship life on?

9. Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31–46)

Jesus separates people based on how they lived out their faith—especially in serving others.

How does this challenge our definition of worship?

Are we more focused on performance or compassion?

Do we care for people off the stage as much as on it?

Are we building spiritual depth or just musical excellence?

10. Spiritual Formation & Team Culture

How does your personal spiritual life affect your team?

You can’t lead others where you’re not going.

Closing Challenge

What needs to change in how I view worship?

Where can I begin worshiping beyond music this week?

How can I serve someone as an act of worship?