A Letter to a Young Worship Leader (aka 'The Stakes Are Too High')

As I was writing the letter that follows--a long time back--I kept thinking, "I wish all of our worship leaders knew this." Then I thought... maybe it would help some other worship leaders to read this. So I removed all hints at who the letter originally went to so I could share it with you.

Maybe it would serve you to read it as if addressed to you. Or maybe you can adapt it and send it to folks in your worship ministry. As always, I'd love to read some comments about how it helps OR about how you might disagree or say something differently.

So here it is...a letter to a young person, a new believer, who had been invited to play in the worship band for a Sunday. They had responded that it didn't seem fair that they couldn't play if they had to miss "just one rehearsal."


I'm sorry you won't be able to play.

As far as missing "one rehearsal," we only get one rehearsal. I know you're still learning this whole God/church thing, so I hope you will benefit from this...

1) God deserves our best. Not "good enough." Not "we'll get through it." Not, "I won't mess up." He deserves our best. That only happens we we are all really well prepared.

2) The church deserves our best. People come into church (and sometimes you and I are those people) hurting, frustrated, hopeless, and in need of something good, powerful, beautiful, etc. When we craft our music well, we give those things to our church.

3) Those far from God deserve our best. As you know, if someone doesn't believe in the whole "God thing" or doesn't buy into the "church thing," they will be skeptical. It's normal. When we make GREAT music--well planned, well prepared, well rehearsed--both individually and together--we earn credibility with those far from God. Our excellence gives them a chance to hear the life changing news of the gospel.

So we only get one rehearsal to do all of that. One. Thursday night is all the time I have to help between 5 and 12 people feel fully prepared to give their best. For us in the Sanctuary, coming early on Sunday morning is a time to sound check, run-thru, and "remember what we did at rehearsal," as well as fix anything that just isn't working out.

That's why I, as the worship leader, require everyone to be at the "one rehearsal" we have. The stakes are too high. The honor we give God, the encouragement we give the church, and the hope we offer those far from God matter too much for me to "just get by" without rehearsal.

My friend, I don't mean any of that to be "coming down" on you. I just want you to know my heart. This is why I value what we do so much.

On a recent Sunday we had a "Night of Worship" with 12 songs in it. The rhythm section practiced 4 times for a total of more than 7 hours, and then--on top of that--we did the sound check/run through thing on Sunday afternoon before the service.

It was amazing.

We were well prepared. We were together musically, but also relationally and spiritually. That should happen every time a group of people lead worship together. That's what I'm after.

Hope that helps you understand. It helped me to remember, even as I wrote it out.

I'm really looking forward to the next time you get to play with us in the Sanctuary!

Grace. Peace.
Rod

"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." - Job 8.21