In this episode, hosts Jay and Chris discuss how to start well in a new ministry position. They also recap their previous Sunday and review the song, "Great Are You Lord" by All Sons and Daughters. To listen to the worship song before we review it, please go [here][1].
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Jay's Open Letter to Future Worship Leaders
Dear Future Worship Leader,
A few years ago, I left seminary to enter my first ministry position. I was brought in to help transition the church from a traditional/southern gospel style of worship to a more blended/contemporary-leaning style. I lasted 13 months. For numerous reasons, I was taken through the ringer and resigned without a church to move on to. It was a very difficult season in my life and while I could spend what I feel is an entire book sharing all the lessons and pitfalls, I want to share with you a few of the highlights that I hope will aid you in your transition into a ministry position.
1. Do not take a position for money or because you are eager to get into ministry. For me, it was about finding away for me to provide for my family and enter a field that I was eager to be a part of. (Both honorable things in themselves) There were numerous red flags that the Holy Spirit was saying, “this is a bad idea. Don’t do this.” My wife was showing signs of anxiety about the whole thing and neither of us felt comfortable with it, but the dollar signs and ability to serve in a full-time capacity bull-dozed my desire to follow the Lord’s leading and we paid for it. We spent a year within a church community and at the same time feeling more alone and isolated from other believers like never before. I dealt with a level of anxiety and depression that I had not experienced before. My wife and I felt alone and stuck and it was awful. I had taken a position for the wrong reasons and ignored the signs that it would not be a good fit for us. Do not take a position for the wrong reasons.
2. Interview the church. While I felt like I had found out what I needed from the pastor and search committee, I did not realize how much disconnect there was between them and the rest of the church. If possible, find someone who is not part of the search team or pastoral staff and have a conversation with them. Perhaps, the chair of the deacons or a Sunday school teacher would be willing to have coffee or a phone call with you. The main thing is feeling confident that the search team truly represents the majority of the church. That was not the case for me and when I came in and started making changes, the rest of the church was like, “Whoa, whoa. What is going on here?”
3. Before you change anything, get to know the people.
There are many churches that want to “update their sound/style.” You may find yourself serving in a church where this desire is conveyed. I would suggest not making changes right away. This is hard to do for someone like me. I want to fix things. At this time in my career I was a task-oriented person rather than people-oriented. I didn’t naturally engage in relationships. This was a major pitfall for my context and one which I believe is universal in our western church. That cliché phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” as cheesy as it sounds is absolutely true. I would advise not to change a thing in the church for at least one year (unless it is something unbiblical, unethical or immoral). I realize that sounds like a long time, but it is necessary. You need to primarily be about building relationships, loving your people, and helping them learn to trust you before you can lead them anywhere.
4. Your people may have a small picture of what worship is. This is unfortunate, but most likely true. Perhaps you just had your eyes and mind opened to a huge picture of worship as you have studied at seminary or by attending some other type of training. This is not true for your blue-collar worker whose only exposure to worship is the thing which you are now going to change. While this is similar to the last point, it is more than just getting to know the people’s likes and dislikes, where they are from or what they do. It is about getting to know how they understand church. If there was no choir, would it still be church to them? If you add a guitar, will they think it is no longer church? As much as we understand these things do not dictate what is and is not worship, there are people that will be in your congregation that believe otherwise. Getting to know these people and loving them well is a higher priority than adding that guitar or cutting the choir specials. Help them see a bigger picture of worship and help them learn to trust you before making changes.
5. Be proactive in addressing concerns. Do not wait until someone comes to you to talk about why you are making changes. You can state from the pulpit things like, “My office is always open” or “You are always welcome to talk with me about any concerns you have with the worship ministry” but this is more than likely futile. While it seems like you are being proactive, you are not. You are making the dissenters do the work and they will not come to you. Those who do not like what you are doing will stay in their group and the negativity machine will keep churning. You must go after those who disagree with you. I loathe confrontation and I failed miserably at this point, but you can avoid this if you just address the problem head on. Meet with people in their homes or at starbucks. Talk with them about their concerns. Don’t just hear them, listen to them. Listen to their hearts. Learn where they are coming from and help them see that you are on the same team.
6. The vision for the ministry needs to come from the top down. The lead pastor has to be the one who pushes the vision of the worship ministry as it is part of the larger mission of the church. If it does not come from the pastor, it will not go forward. Hopefully the pastor realizes this, but if he does not, you will need to get with the pastor and talk about this. You should constantly allow the pastor to evaluate and inform the direction of the worship ministry since he is the pastor of the flock. Ask for feedback often. If you are going in the right direction tell him you would really appreciate his public affirmation of the changes. Likewise, if you are making changes per the pastor’s request, the pastor must remind the people regularly of why the church is moving in a different direction and why it is a good thing. If this is not happening it will begin to look like the new music minister is changing everything around. That is not good.
7. Remember that while you have the power to sing the songs that you want, you may need to sing songs you don’t like. I remember hearing through backchannels or on comment cards, “I wish we would sing the old songs.” This was code for southern gospel. I do not do southern gospel. I could go the rest of my life without singing “I’ll Fly Away” or “The Old Rugged Cross” or “He Touched Me” and I would be perfectly content. However, that is not the case for many of the older folks in southern churches. These are the songs they sang when they became believers. These are the songs they sang when they experienced revival in their churches. These songs possess a lot of history for certain folks. The songs may not be as meaningful to you but they have meaning for others. Mike Cosper in his book, Rhythms of Grace, talks about preference and deference. This is a point that you may need to defer to others in your congregation knowing that they will be encouraged by these songs. Likewise, you cannot ask a congregation to being open to new music and at the same not be open to doing the old songs yourself. You must be able to defer to your brothers or sisters if you are asking them to defer to you. The music ministry is not about your superior taste in worship songs. It’s about serving your church in its context.
These are just a few of the highlights of lessons I learned from my first ministry position. I hope they help you think about your own ministry and give you some insight into the next steps for you as you go out to be a light for the gospel. Love the people. Help them learn to trust you. Once they have learned to trust and love you, then they will more easily follow you as they know that you truly love them.
Jay
