Next week, I fly to Columbus, Ohio, to encourage a worship and creative team. I’ll be rehearsing them and leading the Sunday services as part of the training weekend. In preparation, I’m sending them notes on one of the songs we’ll lead.

Imagine this: the students who bravely stepped into high school amidst the whirlwind of the pandemic are now on the verge of graduating. Wow!

I was speaking with a church that has been without a staff worship leader for nearly a year.

I’ve been a church musician for 40 years. (since 1984)

Leadership is creational, meaning you create who you are and replicate what’s inside you.

When I was a kid, I hated tomatoes.

We have lovely conversations around our dining room table. And not a small handful of odd ones. This Monday’s breakfast was no exception.

I recently learned a new word in Spanish. It’s “desahógate.”

While I was growing up, on many Sunday mornings, my family would eat coffee soup.

Maybe we feel disoriented because God is trying to reorient us.

As churches, we’ve been forced to rethink virtually everything about our weekly gathering rhythms.

I took stock. I noticed. I paid attention. I realized that I’ve been leading three to four Sundays a month over the past twelve months. That was okay then.

But it was time to change.

Maybe you’re a worship leader who is caught in the unrelenting cycle of leading weekly worship gatherings while managing songs, arrangements, schedules, teams, relationships, and life.

You feel the need for... 

• A deep walk with God (Intimate, Consecrated, Scripture-soaked)

• A deep love for people (Shepherd, Launcher, Encourager, Leader)

• A deep understanding of music (Listener, Craftsman, Fluent)

As we approach the end of the year, I encourage you to take a moment between sips of 'nog (stay tuned for a killer recipe) to reflect on the state of your team's relationships.

My pastor was a college professor who had just finished the semester.

What’s your worship team like? And by “worship team,” I mean the musicians and techs together.

Are you like a Worship Family? A Worship Indie Band? A Worship Elevator? Let me describe each one.

Did you ever wish you could teach your worship team to have better musical instincts? You can!

Every week, when we make music together as worship teams, we have essential musical decisions to make. So here’s a humorous yet insightful story of what it takes to make music together.

Today, I’m giving you an outline rather than paragraphs. That’s obvious.

But what’s not obvious is how much what you do impacts congregational engagement. I want to challenge us, as leaders, to grow in BEING:

How modest is modest enough? The most common internal answer is “the same as me or more modest than me.”

Have you ever wished your teams, pastors, and congregation were great at giving each other feedback?