In other words, this is the kind of impact I'm hoping to have as a worship coach. So if you wondered how it may serve you to have me come and work with your praise team, choir, lead worship, or do a strategy session with worship leadership team, tech team, etc., this testimonial that Dawn sent to her friends at other churches may help.
Hey guys… I normally don’t put in a plug for anything or anyone, but... I’m hoping you’ll take a minute to read this and hear my heart.
We invited a “worship coach” to spend the weekend at our church a couple of weeks ago. His name is Rod Ellis, and he lives in Frankfort, KY. Within the first sentence or two of opening his mouth, you realize how dynamic this man is and that he truly has a heart made for worship and wants to see others get to that same spot! All our praise teams gathered and sang a song each on Friday night and Rod gave us his insight and shared some things we could do differently after each team. It was a time for worship and bonding together as praise teams, but also with some constructive feedback. We were invited to give positive and critical feedback to each other and that has helped so much in our worship with the congregation, to know what we each need to work on as a praise team.
The next morning he attended a choir rehearsal and observed our director interact with us as well as watching us while we sang. Then he directed us in the same music, pointing out ways in which we could connect with the congregation more, challenging us to really listen to and believe what we’re singing about. After a shared lunch, Rod facilitated a working strategy session with the choir, discussing four critical areas... This was an invaluable exercise, with tangible, attainable goals being set for the next 6 months. It provided a setting for the choir to really buy into the ideas because they were OUR ideas and observations with the entire session being facilitated by Rod. He gave us nuggets of gold to think about. Every single word out of his mouth was useful. You know how some people say something in 10 sentences that they could have said in 2? Well, Rod is not that guy! He cuts to the chase and makes the light bulb go on immediately! We are so much closer knit now as a group and are really rallying behind our worship pastor. Words aren’t adequate to describe what he did for me personally and my worship experience, not to mention others.
I had the opportunity to play the piano for him on Sunday night as he led our congregation in a worship set that had me in tears as I played. I’ve been playing the piano most of my life, but Rod pointed out things to me that I had never thought about before, and I was truly able to worship with the congregation!
Rod travels all around, and I wanted to mention this to you guys in case you’re interested for your church or know of fellow pastors/music ministers who would enjoy or benefit from his expertise. This is just what he did at our church. I’m sure his input and plan changes from church to church, depending on what that church wants/needs to focus on. But just know that he’s a real dude doing real things for the body of Christ! If you don’t have a need for his ministry now or know of a pastor or church who does, I encourage you to tuck this information away for safe keeping. God put you guys on my heart to share this with, and there may just be a special reason some day.
Thanks friends (both near and far, new and old) for listening!
Dawn C.
These are the kind of words that make me want to keep serving as a Worship Coach.
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