How To Establish A “Team Culture” With Your Worship Leaders
Do the worship leaders at your church meet together regularly? Oh, they see each other at church. They may occasionally play on each other’s teams. They might even be a part of the same small group.
But do they actually journey together as worship leaders?
There is something so powerful about getting together regularly. Sharing meals. Sharing ideas. Sharing struggles. Sharing joys. Life is so much better together.
Just imagine what it’s like to have a team culture (rather than a solo culture)…
You won’t feel alone as a leader
You won’t compare yourself to them as easily (because you know each other!)
You are friends with the other people who are doing what you do at your church
You talk through which new songs all of you are excited about teaching (rather than there being “so-and-so’s songs”)
You receive ministry from other worship leaders and can minister to them as well
You feel like you’re all pulling in the same direction, even with your individual diversity
So, how do you establish a team culture with your worship leaders?
There’s not a magic formula, but there are key elements:
Regularly scheduled meetings
It can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, whatever. I recommend starting monthly for 6 months and then reevaluating. Talk about what recurring dates work, get them in the calendar at the beginning, and then you can flex if you need to. But you can’t build relationships (which are the foundation of this team culture) unless you invest the time.
Provide value
Nobody likes meetings that don’t feel valuable. Ugh. What a waste of time, right?! Have a simple plan and communicate it. You could go through a book together like Zac Hicks’ book “The Worship Pastor.” Lead the first one or two, and then begin having other leaders lead them. You don’t necessarily need to have a meal together, but I highly recommend it. At least Oreos or carrots. Once you get into a rhythm, you can do a rotation like spending half of each meeting doing: new song selection, deep worship, prayer for the church, in-depth personal sharing, bible study on worship, recruiting ideas, vision casting, tech issues, etc. (each time, you’d do just one of those)
Go overboard with encouragement
We all have areas of insecurity. Especially as artists. There are these unasked and unanswered questions we carry about “Am I good enough?” “Do they like me?” “Do I belong?” “Is it ok that I’m a different leader than they?” So what we want to do is dispel all that upfront. At every meeting! You can start with each person saying something they appreciate about the leader next to them – something specific. You can begin with affirmations, like all saying to each other together, “I have your back. I like you. You are valuable to the team. I am for you. You belong here.” That can be very powerful!
Learn the art of feedback
There is transformation and growth that you can experience as a team if you reflect well, communicate clearly, share honestly, and love intentionally. Something as simple as “Tell me two things you liked best and two things you suggest I’d do differently next time” can draw out such helpful feedback. Take the time to get really good at giving and receiving feedback. It may take time to build trust, but it’s so worth it!
Get started
Schedule a kick-off meeting today. You can say something like this:
It’s fantastic to see the team of worship leaders that God is raising up here! I couldn’t be more excited than I am at the way you have each responded to God’s nudging.
Even though there are several of us who lead worship here, I know that it can be easy to feel alone when it’s your week to lead. I want to establish more of a “team culture” among us as leaders. I think the benefits of getting together regularly will be:
You won’t feel alone as a leader
You won’t compare yourself to them as easily (because you know each other!)
You are friends with the other people who are doing what you do at your church
You talk through which new songs all of you are excited about teaching (rather than there being “so-and-so’s songs”)
You receive ministry from other worship leaders and can minister to them as well
You feel like you’re all pulling in the same direction, even with your individual diversity
I’d like us to consider committing to meeting monthly for the next six months. There may be one that you can’t make, and that’s ok, but I’d like us to make this foundational time a priority.
When we get together, we’ll eat, share, pray, learn, and be encouraged.
Is there any way you could make our first meeting on Saturday, May 20, from 9:00 to 11:00? We’ll share a little brunch together.
I’m curious to know...what is the culture among your worship leaders like?
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
How To Establish A “Team Culture” With Your Worship Leaders (Nº 114)
