We hope that during this busy time of year, you and your family are able to find quiet moments to hear God speak His blessing upon you.
We hope that during this busy time of year, you and your family are able to find quiet moments to hear God speak His blessing upon you.
As promised, we are continuing to improve the WorshipPlanning.com Mobile (WPM) website, which you can access with your mobile browser at http://wplan.me.
The big feature we’ve (finally) added is the ability to add, edit, and delete worship flow elements on your mobile device. Pretty much all the details you can add on the main WP site (save for the extra notes) you can specify on the mobile site…provided you have the right security level.
The other minor but still important enhancement we’ve made on the mobile site is that all connections between your device and our servers are now encrypted and secure. This will make your on-the-go access to WP yet a little safer.
What’s next for the mobile site? Well, we have a few more tweaks we want make on the worship flow (including showing more element details). We also want to give more access to more information about the service, like rehearsals. Our next big updated will likely be the ability to manage teams and schedule people to serve.
(guest post by Chris Gambill)
Think about all the bands you’ve listened to over the years. You probably had a couple of favorites along the way.
Remember when one of your favorite bands broke up or significantly changed its makeup?
Usually when that happened, it was because of a relational breakdown. Maybe that’s not how it was announced, but it eventually was revealed to be the reason.
Or maybe you’ve been in a band. Even though you loved playing music, you hated being a part of the band. It just wasn’t enjoyable and you couldn’t wait to be done.
Why do these things happen? The simple truth is this:
Music making and relationships go hand in hand.
You may be investing time in creating and rehearsing great arrangements, developing amazing visual displays, and recruiting and equipping excellent musicians and techs. But, it will be very difficult to maintain this for the long haul if relationships are dysfunctional and/or non-existent.
As much as we desire to develop good musicians and play good music in the context of worship, we must also have as a priority the development of godly, Christ-centered relationships.
Here are six reasons why.
Developing relationships is a key part of leading a worship ministry. And while it is vitally important, it can also be very hard. I’ve served in a number of different ministries. In some cases there’s been success in this area. In other cases, not so much. When I stop to reflect, the difference between ministries with strong relationships and those without is obvious.
Not everyone will want to develop relationships. Some may already have enough relationships. Some may just be there to play music. Some may not want to invest the time because of busy lives. But as a leader, you must persevere in this area for the health of your team members, the worship ministry, and the church as a whole.
So, what are some practical ways you can work at developing relationships within your worship ministry setting? Here are a few suggestions:
Ultimately, you have to consider the context of your ministry setting. What are the constraints people have on their lives? How many people are a part of your team? Even if your team is small, start doing this now. It’s a lot easier than trying to retrofit when the team gets larger.
The important thing to remember is that this cannot be ignored. It may be hard and there may be resistance, but it is vital to push through. In the end everyone will be better for it.
Your congregation is watching the worship team. It’s obvious when a team gets along and loves each other and when a team is filled with strife. Which type of team do you think will be more effective in leading people to worship Jesus Christ?
And it will be a good way to make sure your team doesn’t become one that implodes on itself and people talk about at conferences for years to come.
If your worship ministry is struggling, maybe it really doesn’t have anything to do with how deep or talented your bench is. Maybe it has everything to do with lack of relationships among the ministry team.
For Discussion: How have your intentionally fostered relationships in your worship ministry?