Would you say that your worship team has a healthy culture? Does the team arrive early? Do they show up prepared? Does your team encourage each other and serve one another? What are they passionate about? What makes them tick? How do they react when there’s a setlist change? What do they celebrate?
Every team has a culture whether it was created intentionally or not. Setting the culture of your team is one of the most important jobs of a worship leader because the culture will impact the health and growth of your team.
It has been said that everything that happens under your leadership was either created by you or allowed by you. If you lead a worship team, there are likely several things about your team’s culture that you wish were different, but don’t be discouraged. The good news is that it is not too late to create the culture you want, but it’s not going to take some effort and intentionality.
How Do You Create a Healthy Worship Team Culture?
1. Define the culture you want.
How do you want your team members to interact with each other? How do you want your practices to feel? What do you want your team to value or not value? What are some things that you wish were different? Write them down. Define the wins and the target. Have a good old fashioned brainstorming session on a white board and then whittle them down. There are many tools and methods for achieving this such as core values or culture statements like “we honor each other” or “we are always prepared.”
2. Cast vision.
After you have defined the culture you want, you need to communicate it to your team. Start with the leaders and ask them to help lead the way as you cast vision to the rest of the team. Casting vision is about getting your team to see where you are going and why it is important. If you want a culture where your team prays together before each service, then you need to tell them where and when to meet for prayer along with the reason that it’s important. If you have team nights but only see 10% of your team show up, then you need to make some phone calls explaining that you’d like to see them at team night and why it’s important.
3. Celebrate the wins.
Celebration is cultivation. In other words, what you celebrate will be repeated. Everyone wants to make the leader happy, and when they see you get excited about something, they will want to do it again. What you get excited about is noticed and most-valued. If you as a leader always celebrate riffs and runs, then you will eventually have a team full of players who do lots of riffs and runs. If the first words out of your mouth after the worship set are about the congregation’s engagement, then your team will measure the wins based on engagement. So be mindful of what you get excited about and celebrate, and use this to your advantage.
4. Practice what you preach.
The only thing that speaks louder than your words is your actions. If you tell people that you want a culture of honor, then you need to demonstrate what that looks like by being the first to show honor. On the flip side, if you speak poorly about team members, then you shouldn’t be surprised if and when “a culture of honor” doesn’t stick. Modeling the culture you want communicates that you truly believe it, and if you believe it, the team will believe it. If you want your team to be growth-oriented, then always be reading and learning from someone else. Lead by example.
5. Confront issues early.
My pastor always says that the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the next best time is today. The same goes for confronting issues on your team. Just because someone has been showing up late for practice for five years does not mean you shouldn’t address it this Sunday. The best way to confront issues is to pull someone aside and assume the best, and confront the issue. A good formula for this is “I know you did not mean to X, but when you did Y it does X.” Here’s an example: If your keys player shows up to practice five minutes late holding a Starbucks, you can pull him aside and say, “hey, I know you don’t intend to be dishonoring, but when you show up late to practice it communicates that everyone else’s time is not important to you. I know you don’t believe that, but that’s what it communicates. Do you think you could try to be five minutes early next week?”
A healthy team starts with a healthy team culture, and as a worship leader, it is critical to set the culture that is going to best serve your team and your church. What are some other things you would add to this list? Please share in the comments.