3 Keys To A Transformative Worship Rehearsal

As a worship leader, we’re juggling thousands of details in preparation for our worship services. Between requests from the pastors, sound engineer, and the worship team and knowing our lyrics and the music, it’s a wonder that we have a life outside of church. 

By creating predictable and repeatable systems for yourself and your team, we have the ability to cut down the team’s preparation time for each service and in turn help them focus their preparation time and attention on what matters most to execute a successful worship service. 

When I first started in leadership on the worship team, I had no clue what I was doing on the leadership side of things. However, I did know how to get a good “performance” from a group of people. And I knew I could teach the spiritual reasons for worship. 

The team I was working with had very little training in the area of music so I created repeatable systems (i.e. writing charts, recording music parts, etc) for the team to use to learn the music. 

Here are the 3 Keys to Leading Transformative Worship Rehearsals.

#1 - How You Prepare for Rehearsal Makes a Huge Difference

Have you ever had to sit through a presentation of someone who hadn’t prepared? It was painfully obvious they didn’t know the material and weren’t confident in what they were saying. You sat there thinking about all the ways you would have done things differently had you been in their shoes. 

Now put yourself in their shoes. But you are leading worship. Have you ever felt underprepared and nervous? Or it seemed as though the team wasn’t yet confident enough to lead the congregation? 

Many times worship leaders inherently believe this to be because of the overall skill level of the team. “I have a bunch of teenagers on the team with no experience.” Or, “all my volunteers are working professionals with families with no extra time to prepare.” 

I thought this way for a while. But I shifted my perspective, engaged with the problem, then saw a solution. The problem was in MY preparation. It wasn’t “I need to prepare.” It was in HOW I prepared myself and the team. 

Rehearsal doesn’t begin at 7:00 PM on Thursday evenings. It begins a week or two ahead with preparation. Depending on the skill level of the individual, they’ll need 3-7 days of preparation time before rehearsal. Every team member must prepare (practice) for rehearsal ahead of time. Rehearsals are not “practice time.” Rehearsals are for bringing together what was prepared (practiced) at home. But in order for team members to prepare effectively, worship leaders must prepare as well. 

Choosing a song list, a roadmap for each song (form/structure/arrangement), and as many details figured out ahead of time will help your team to better prepare for rehearsal. 

By making these decisions and communicating them ahead of time, you give your team the opportunity for questions, therefore clarifying your vision for the worship service and allow the team the time necessary to prepare. 

The results of preparation dramatically impact various parts of the ministry. You will inadvertently communicate to your team that you value their time. By leading your team in how to prepare for rehearsal you are helping them focus on what to prepare which shortens their preparation time. The opposite is true, when you don’t give them enough time or even what to prepare, you’re communicating to them that you don’t value their time. 

#2 - Evaluation is not a Bad Word

Once I took the time to prepare and communicate my intentions for the worship service and rehearsal, I went a step further. I recorded rehearsals and the services. This gave me and the team the opportunity to evaluate our performance from the recording. Immediately after each rehearsal, we sent out the recording to everyone involved. The production team, which included the sound technician, lighting director, lyrics and all the band and vocalists involved. Myself and each of the heads of the production teams instructed each team member to listen and evaluate themselves and make mental notes of changes they could make before the service on Sunday. Then each of the team leaders sent their respective notes to their teams prior to the service. This worked because the team members had already evaluated their own performance. Hearing from their leader confirmed what they heard in the recording. If there were any drastic changes that had to be made by the worship team, I would communicate those changes with the heads of production. These changes could have been the form of the song, the key of the song, who would be leading the song, or even changing a song altogether if needed.

Side note: Leaders, be sure to point out your own mistakes and/or changes to the team as well. Doing so communicates that you are not above being evaluated.

Another time where we would evaluate was between services. We had several services on Sunday, so we took the time to group as a worship team and discuss two things. 

  1. What was your “moment?” For example, did you have a moment where the Holy Spirit was speaking to you? Or did you see someone raising their hands that normally doesn’t? We would take a couple of minutes to talk about it with one another.

  2. Are there any changes we need to make for the next service? These weren’t major changes, just little tweaks where there may have been confusion on the stage. 

#3 - Remember to Have Fun

Remembering to have fun was very hard for me in the beginning. I was all business all the time for awhile. But at some point I began to put more trust into the team which caused me to relax more. One thing that helped was having several fun personalities on the team. I didn’t have to bring all the energy (fun and business). On occasion I would need to help focus the team, but most of the time it wasn’t necessary. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, these three keys are essential for leading transformative worship rehearsals. Firstly, the way you prepare sets the stage for success, emphasizing the importance of meticulous planning and effective communication with your team to maximize their preparation time. Secondly, embracing evaluation as a valuable tool for improvement can significantly enhance the quality of worship services. Recording rehearsals and engaging in constructive self-assessment fosters growth and refinement. Lastly, while professionalism is crucial, don't forget to inject fun into the process. Trust in your team and embrace the energy of fun personalities can create a balance that ultimately enhances the worship experience. By implementing these keys, you can lead your worship team to greater heights and create meaningful, transformative worship experiences for your congregation.

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