Worship Leadership Lab Reflection

INTRO One of the things I was excited about this semester was getting some hands on practical experience with other worship leaders trying to do the same thing I am doing. Learning the how to approach rehearsals better to be able to teach the volunteers at my church, not just how to play music, but how to be better worshippers through the music. I also was looking forward to getting my toes in the sand with some choral reflection too. Being I am very green in this aspect I was intrigued by that opportunity. The third aspect of this class was the leadership principles that were discussed to make us better, not just better worship leaders, but better leaders in our church. WORSHIP BAND REHEARSAL PREPARATION One of the most important times during the week is getting to spend the two hours with the musicians that volunteers at my church. Not only is it a time for me to pour into them spiritually but musically as well. Each week our responsibility is to play music to the best of our ability and lead people to a greater knowledge of God through our music. I think one of the most important parts as the leader is being able to aurally listen to songs to pick out parts for the band members to play. It is my job to know what they are to be playing to help them if they have any questions as to the part played. Also effective communication prior to the rehearsal night is essential to each person knowing their part. If I am clueless as to each part of the song then I can not facilitate an effective rehearsal. Each rehearsal has to be fluid and each musician has to be prepared so I am not wasting our musicians time. We also had to design an outline of the way we teach a new song to our band. Most of this was done with a hands on approach during the workshop, where we got to give feedback to each other on what we may change to make it better. I found this very useful to introduce new ways to rehearse. CHORAL REHEARSAL PREPARATION The choral rehearsal was great for me because I have little to no experience in this setting. I was able to take aspects of teaching the parts of the song in my own studies of musical scores. I have not had many opportunities to be in a choral setting. As a matter of fact the only experience I have is two years in high school choir. For me the challenging part of this is getting over the fear of being in the choir and not being the best sight reader. This section of the class challenged me to change my ideas on the complete worship leader. I now know that I have to include some of the choral exercises in my daily routines to get better as a leader and musician. I do believe that this aspect is lacking in the church today. That the new generation of worship leaders, including myself, have over looked the importance of knowing the score. We have gotten by on chord charts. Shame on me and anyone else that does that. I found that actually having to participate in choral concert was good for me cause it made me realize how much I needed to learn. It was a very humbling experience to say the least. As I have said before if I do not broaden my musical ability I will have a short shelf life as a worship leader. No one wants a 50 year old worship leader wearing skinny jeans trying to sing to 20 somethings. LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES One of the best aspects of this class, if not the best, was being able to learn how to be a better leader to the people. I think the leadership principles discussed in this class started from the beginning with our leadership taxonomy. There are three different areas of leadership that we looked at: spiritual, practical, and personal. The spiritual aspects of leadership were pretty basic ideas of what is expected as a biblical leader. For a better list of qualifications for a biblical leader we can look at 1 Timothy and Titus. The more focused discussions on leadership was on the practical side. Being a lab class this was more of what we do on a day to day and week to week basis. This is what I would say we are paid to do. Preparation for the leader is essential being able to lead the band or choir effectively. If we are entrusted to lead people to the next level and are not prepared then we have failed our team and our church. Organization is another practical leadership tool that we need. If our desks are not organized enough for someone to come in and find what they need when we are not there we are not organized. Organization is simple and is key to getting the correct charts to the musicians. Time management is also a key to being a good leadership. Since I am using mostly volunteers who work 40-50 hours a week at their regular job, I owe it to them to be a good time manager. Too many times I have wasted the time of my volunteers just cutting up or not being prepared. I believe that if we waste the time of our musicians they will not be our musicians very long. CONCLUSION This class has been one of the best classes during my years at NOBTS. I love the hands on approach and being able to interact with classmates and get feedback on what I can do better. The feedback I received from Dr. Woodward, Dr Jenkins, and James Tealy during the workshop was valuable to me in my current setting. Learning the little things that I have the freedom to deviate from the mp3 and the original recording. We do not have to play the song exactly like it is recorded, use my own musical expression. Another aspect that Tealy taught that I have taken away and used in my band is the ambient noise in the same key of the song of course. That allows for the noise to fill in some of the bare spots during our worship experiences. I enjoyed my time with everyone in New Orleans and wish we had more time to spend with each other to learn more from each other. The main tool that I have implemented is being able to speak to my band members in a way that everyone playing the instrument can understand. One big thing from this class is facing the band members during rehearsals so they can see me and know where we are going by giving them facial expressions or looking at someone and winking at them, or anything that will let them know we are changing things. I would also say one of the best moments of this class was hearing Dr. Woodward rap at Cafe Du Monde.