FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everyone -

Welcome to Worship Leader Pitfalls Series, Article #2 - “New Music”. The last WL Pitfalls was posted ages ago, “Lack of CT“, and can be found here. I hope to be a bit more consistent on posting in this series. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog entry - I considered breaking it up into Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 but really want to keep the comments/discussion consolidated into one entry. (you ARE doing to comment and discuss this, right?)

“New Music”

This has been on my mind as a topic for quite a while but I was inspired to blog about this after reading some of the comments on a great post about “New Music” over at MilestoneWorship.Com. Jeremy’s post had to do with the frequency of introducing new music.

A few of disclaimers here:

1. I realize that this topic varies based on congregation, demographic, church, location, and availability/access to great worship music.
2. I don’t pretend to be a super-authority, I can only speak from my personal experience from being involved in worship leadership since I was a teenager (let’s say 20+ years or so!).
3. I absolutely LOVE new worship music!

OK, so now that I’ve given my disclaimers, let me just say this and get it over with. I feel that one of the biggest pitfalls for Worship Leaders is flooding a congregation with too much “new material”. Although there is no set rule for what the frequency of new songs should be (as I said in Disclaimer #1, this will vary on many factors), it’s been my experience that many worship leaders (especially younger ones) have unintentionally overwhelmed their congregations with new music.

Why would we do this?

1. Overwhelming Resources
The record labels, indie artists, worship magazines, radio, iTunes, blogs, etc … all of these great resources are pumping out great new worship music at a pace that would make anyone nearly faint. The larger churches and denominations are also pumping out records, many surpassing the units sold by some record labels. On top of that, there has been a huge trend among CCM artists to sing and record “worship music” so that even your CCM-format radio stations are playing music that could easily be used in a local, corporate worship setting.

2. Peer Pressure
Yep, that’s right. C’mon … let’s be real here. Even if you’re mature enough to not submit to the temptation of “peer pressure”, there becomes a bit of presssure when all your blog buddies, worship leader buddies and the churches across town are already doing the latest, greatest song by the current “famous” worship leader.

3. Boredom
With so much new music coming out, it’s easy to get bored with the songs from last quarter (or even last month). Our playlists on iTunes change frequently, and instead of having your “song for the year”, it’s more like a “song of the week”.

So .. what is the problem?

I think the biggest problem is caused by presumption.

Presumption #1: Everyone will be familiar with the music
As Worship Leaders, we love music … we love worship … we love the artists and the songs. But what we forget is that the average person in our congregation isn’t listening to “worship music” at home, in the car, or on their computers with new the frequency that we are. Sure, there will be a few people out there who are just as crazy about worship music as we are .. but for the most part, they are living normal, everyday lives .. they are rushed in the AM, go to work, come home exhausted, pay the bills, go to bed, and start the cycle all over again.

Presumption #2: Everyone is just as tired of the other songs as you are
This is a biggie. After having the same worship song in rotation for about 6 months, we feel like we’ve worn that song out. We don’t care if we ever sing it again. And guess what? We presume that the congregation is tired of that song, too.

Checkout this concept:
Pre-Band:
Worship Leader: hears song for first time … downloads it, buys it on iTunes, etc … they love it.
Worship Leader: loves this song, listens to it every day .. plays it during their devotional time, shows their friends, blogs it, etc.
Worship Leader: charts the song, makes an arrangement and presents it to the band/team.

Pre-Congregation:
Band/Team: rehearses the song … depending on skill of the band, this could be playing the song anywhere from 1-2 times at a single rehearsal, or working on it consistently for 1+ hour for 2-3 weeks in a row before every playing it at church.

Congregation
Band/Team: continues rehearsing the song, and plays through it once during soundcheck.
Band/Team/Church: hears the song for the FIRST TIME. Since this is probably the first time they’ve ever heard this song they probably listen more than they participate. (remember, the folks in your congregation don’t subscribe to 10+ worship leader blogs, 4 worship podcasts, and they don’t subscribe to SongDISCovery, WorshipTogether, Integrity Direct, or the Vineyard club)

I think you get the idea. Before the congregation hears the song, the WL and Band have already experienced the song at least 5-10 times. Then, assuming the WL/Band plays through the song during sound check, etc., prior to a Sunday, they actually double or triple their exposure to the song compared to the congregation.

Finally, let’s say that you may only have 4-6 songs per week in your lineup (I realize this could vary greatly!), and you don’t repeat the “new song” every week. I suggest that your congregation may never really “learn” the song and get comfortable enough with the melody and lyrics that they can “enter in” to worship without focusing so hard on the musical aspect of the song. Keep in mind … MOST of the people in your congregation are NOT singers or musicians on the same level as you are … or else they’d probably be serving on the team!

I often hear of young worship leaders who boast about introducing “at least one new song” every week. Can you imagine trying to keep up with 52 new songs over the year, including the extra 4-5 songs in the set, some of which were probably “new” a few weeks ago?

There is always the argument that you need “fresh material”. Some insist that if the music is too familiar, people will just sing it out of memory and repetition without thinking of the words. Although this can eventually be true, I think there is no reason to just assume this. On the contrary, I’ve found that it takes an average person in our church at least 5-6 times of hearing a song before they “own it”. Once they “own it” … I see them engaging MORE. I see them closing their eyes, instead of staring at the screen. I seem then physically engaged in expressions of worship instead of focusing intently on the worship leader’s mouth, cues, and lyrics to try and keep up. On the contrary, I find that being FAMILIAR with the song actually HELPS them in their worship.

I don’t judge a corporate worship service by how well the band sounded, or how “cool” the music was. I judge a corporate worship by how engaged the congregation is. Are they singing? Are they engaged? Can I hear their voices loud and strong, or are they just listening to the band?

My Challenge to Worship Leaders:

I am now living what I’m preaching. A few years ago, I radically cut my master songlist. I resisted the temptation to try and keep up with everyone else. Sure, I do plenty of new songs each year - but I do my best to space them out. I committed myself to including “standards” that seemed “old and overdone” to me because I knew the congregation still “owned” those songs and loved them. As a result, I promise that I saw an IMMEDIATE, DRASTIC increase in corporate participation. All of a sudden - it was worth it!

I do hereby CHALLENGE YOU to …

Resist the temptation to introduce too much new music. Furthermore, take up this challenge. I’d like to challenge you over the next few weeks to create a setlist with NO NEW MUSIC. As a matter of fact, go back 6 mos to 1 year and pull out some “old favorites” … “classics”. Pull out some of the greats, such as “How Great is our God”, “Shout to the Lord”, “Holy is the Lord”, and depending on the age of your congregation, you may want to go further back than that. I realize that even songs like “Everlasting God” and “Marvelous Light” may be considered “old” to some congregations … if they were staples a year ago .. come back to them.

After doing so - I want you to observe the corporate participation. See if they are more engaged. Most importantly, on the Chorus … back off the mic for a line or two … and listen … do you hear them? Are they lifting their voices loud and strong? If not … I’d be so bold as to say you’re not serving them as you should.

Try it. Report back. In the meantime … what is YOUR schedule of new music and the rationale behind it. If you are one of those “once every week” worship leaders, don’t be afraid to say so … this isn’t a bashing blog … it’s for discussion.

Let’s talk about it!

For the Kingdom,
Fred

• Comments (31)

Hey Everyone -

Welcome to the 1st entry in my “Worship Leader Pitfalls” series. This series was created to discuss common mistakes that we can easily make as Worship Leaders, Music Ministers (or other leaders). These aren’t posted in a specific order, so it’s not a real “ranked” list - just my thoughts on various issues that can hinder us from being as productive and effective as we could be. I look forward to dialog about it on the “Comments” section and I’ll be posting this series on The Worship Community as well.

Pitfall #1 - Lack of Creative Time (CT)

This pitfall can be a huge issue with both part-time Worship Leaders and Full-Time Worship Leaders. Personally, I struggle immensely with this. “Creative Time” is time that is dedicated to the creative process. I’m assuming that as a worship leader, you are a musician, singer, performer, artist … someone who comes from the “creative” mold. God has given us creative abilities to sing, play, arrange, produce, write, and lead.

In my experience, I’ve found that we can often fall into the trap of spending the majority of our time on administrative and social tasks such as scheduling, filing, and relationship building. These tasks are important and necessary - we have to schedule our bands and singers, music needs to be filed, chord charts need to be created, and we need to maintain a pastoral/shepherding role with those who are serving in music ministry under our leadership. At the same time, we can become very frustrated when these tasks consume much of our time and we’ve not spent time in the “creative” zone.

What are some examples of what I’d consider “creative time”?

• Alone time to just play your instrument in worship.
• Group time (outside of structured rehearsal) to jam with your other musicians. (this pays HUGE dividends)
• Alone time to compose songs. (great worship songs usually don’t come from desk time)
• Writing time to journal, express your thoughts, blog, etc. (a river that is dammed up with no outflow becomes stagnant)
• Devotional time (this will overlap with “Quality Time”, a separate entry), but so often, creative time is inspired by devotional time.
• Restoration/Recreation Time (I was discussing this pitfall with another musician/artist/worship leader who said “Fred, sometimes the best thing an artist can do is leave the office and take a walk on the beach”!) … what inspires you?

For example, in my role as Worship Director I have several objectives and tasks that must be accomplished every week. For example, I need to have my lyrics and arrangements entered into ProPresenter and the .plist file uploaded to the projection team by Wednesday at 4:00 PM. Our team rehearses on Tuesday evenings, so all the arrangements, charts, and rehearsal CDs must be prepared prior to this. I also have staff meeting times, evaluation meeting times, etc. (case in point - today, spent about 2 hours meeting with the Youth Pastor and our Associate Worship Director on some vision casting and practical brainstorming ideas for band rehearsals, mentoring musicians, expectations, etc).

Yesterday, I finished up my “desk jobs” and “tasks” and knowing I had some other meetings this morning and afternoon, I left my office and came back to my home office/studio for some “creative time”. I was able to get my lappie setup on top of the piano, fired up MasterWriter, and finally got to work on a new praise song that was inspired by a passage in Nehemiah that I’d bookmarked weeks ago. I was charged and refreshed afterwards and excited that with some more work and CT (Creative Time), I’ll be ready to arrange/demo/ and teach this song to our congregation and potentially share it with the world.

I’m blessed to be in a position where I can pursue my creative talents while “on the clock”, of course with the understanding that I have measurable goals. I’m accountable to my “direct report” (in my case, it’s the Senior Pastor) and I certainly hope and pray that there is a measurable “overflow” in the anointing on my ministry and leadership to my local church and to the overall Body of Christ as a result of CT.

For the Pastors who read this blog … especially for the ones who are reading this because their WORSHIP LEADERS sent them here (haha!):

Most Pastors I know understand that a worship leader/musician type ministry is one that flows from creativity. My encouragement to you is to bless your creative team with some liberty to “be creative” on the clock. Have measurable goals, deadlines for administrative tasks, and accountability. Granted, some people have proven to be more responsible with their “creative time” than others and that’s why it’s important to communicate clearly about what you are accomplishing. BALANCE is the key. If a WL feels confined to a desk from 8-5 all week with a punchlist of administrative tasks and meetings, it’s not likely they will be as fresh and creative as you’d want them to be. At the same time, the WL can’t just spend all day on the beach “reflecting” on God and “thinking” about worship. They can’t be in the studio “playing” all day, and need to be engaged with the staff, the people, and the plans. Explore some ways that you can engage your creative staff and allow them to flourish.

I’ve been reading “Built To Last“, the prequel to “Good to Great” (which we are reading as a staff). I wish that I would’ve highlighed or marked it as I can’t find which chapter it was in now, but one company had a policy in place where the engineers (maybe they were researchers?) were allowed a certain amount of time to “work on anything they liked” … something that they could take initiative on and pursue. Well, it’s obvious you’d need some parameters around something like that, but I think you get the idea.

WL’s …

If you take an inventory of your work week - how much CT are you experiencing? I recently evaluated this and regretted that I wasn’t getting enough. I was ashamed to see how long it had been since I’d really sat down to compose a new instrumental theme, to compose a new praise or worship chorus, etc. As a result, I could tell how easily I could get into a rut of “familiarity” and not challenge myself. If I’m not challenging myself, how can I challenge others?

Your thoughts?
For the Kingdom,

Fred

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