Dear Chapel Family and Friends,

 

Happy Winter!  I used to read words like “snowmaggedon” and “snowpocalypse” and think they were a funny and clever blend of words.  Not anymore.  Thank you to those who helped keep our facility safe and cleared.

 

A group of leaders and volunteers recently met to debrief our Christmas season worship ministry.  We are so thankful for a great season and the many people who helped with the set-up and breakdown of decorations, next-level hospitality, and leading our worship services.

 

The Christmas season also highlighted a rekindling of in-person worship music leadership.  This has been something we’ve been working toward for quite a while, and it went great!  Again, we are so thankful for the ministry of these friends.

 

Moving forward, our desire is to continue in-person worship music leadership.  However, this takes a significant investment of time and energy from our volunteers and staff.  Here is what goes into a typical week of preparing for and leading the music portion of worship:

Pre-planning collaboration meetings with pastors to discern themes, song choices and how they connect to the overall message of the day and season.

Monthly worship team meeting(s).

Recruiting and training team members.  This includes emails, phone-calls and one-on-one meetings.

Coordinating support ministry volunteers like sound, video, and projection.

Coordinating musician’s scheduling and availability.

Choosing music

Which version, verses and arrangement is appropriate for our context and our musician’s abilities?  This also includes adjusting music according to which team members and instrumentation are available on certain weeks.

Creating slides with lyrics and necessary documentation.

Distributing music to the worship team in a timely manner so they can practice at home.  Did you know it is expected that worship music leaders spend time at home practicing the songs before they come to rehearsal?

Rehearsal (Pre-Sunday)

Pre-rehearsal communication with musicians, sound and projection volunteers so they know what is needed for rehearsal and Sunday worship.

Set up equipment and instruments.

This requires our sound system volunteers to be at rehearsal.

Lead devotional and prayer.

Practice songs of the week and any new songs being introduced in the future.  It is rare that the music rehearsed is only the music of the week.  New songs often take several weeks of rehearsal before they are ready to come to the congregation.

Practice projection flow and accuracy.

 

This means our projection volunteer is often at rehearsal.

Break-down of equipment.

Rehearsals usually require 2 hours on-site.

Sunday morning leadership

Music, sound and projection team usually arrives 2 hours early.

Set-up sound and music equipment.

Practice music, projection and sound adjustments.  On a good week, everything flows like it did in rehearsal.  Sometimes day-of adjustments are required.

LEAD WORSHIP!

Break down instruments and equipment.

Sunday morning requires 3.5 hours.

 

A typical week requires 5-7 hours of time for the music leaders and sound/projection volunteers.  Every week!  Plus, so much extra during special seasons like Christmas, Lent and Easter!  For the ministry leader, it requires 12-15 hours, which is why Chapel historically has (at least) a part-time staff person to lead this important ministry.  Some have suggested something like “we just need to find someone to play the piano for worship.”  I hope this article gives all of us insight into what in-person worship leadership requires.  In addition, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, please give grace and patience during this time of rebuilding.

 

Our desire is to move forward and grow a vibrant, healthy and exciting ministry.  Please pray for this often!

 

In His Peace,

Tim