worship guide · worship team expectations & values reverence worship is an opportunity to...

Worship Guide

Leadership Team’s Heartbeat Our heart ultimately beats for one thing: college students knowing Jesus Christ. We want you to stand next to us with your heart beating for these same things as we partner together to love and serve others to God’s glory, your joy, and others’ good.

Make it better

You have a voice, and College Life needs your feedback and analysis to make this organization better. Your eyes will see things others will not.

What am I doing to help us, College Life, improve organizationally?

Take it personally

This is your home, your community, your church. We want you to think about how you are personally impacting College Life.

How am I personally involved in the mission, activity, and ministry of College Life?

Collaborate

We are the body of Christ and we need each other. We do not want team silos, but desire the utilization of the passions, experiences, and abilities of the entire leadership team.

How am I leveraging the talents and skills of those outside my specific team?

Replace yourself

Find someone to empower, to coach, to mentor, and to raise up after you leave. Investing in people is the most important thing you can do.

Who is my legacy?

Why We Worship We worship because we know, love, and serve an amazing God that is worth infinitely more than we could ever give Him. Our entire lives – actions, words, relationships – are meant to be used to worship Him, and musical worship is only one incredible vessel which we are given to interact with and praise our awesome Creator.

What is this Packet for? We hope these resources encourage you, excite you, and inspire you to be available for the Lord to use you – your time, your talents, your willingness, your journey – to be a part of His work in our lives – His people. We believe in you and Christ in you – who will equip you for every good work.

A Prayer for our Team We will gain nothing from this team without giving and serving before all else. If anyone is to come aboard this team, it is a divine privilege; God has given you a talent or ability that enables you to lead his people in the intimate act of worship.

The prayer for us is that we as a team learn something, or are reminded of something, that we have forgotten about worship. We pray most of all that God is glorified through the leadership on Sundays and the messages written in this packet. Your team leaders are praying for you, and are always available to help.

What’s Inside

Worship Team Expectations & Values 5

Worship Defined 6 Your Role 7 Sunday Leadership Meetings 7 The Worship Service 8 Teams Within the Team 9 Creating a Rotation 10 Planning the Set 11 A/V 12 Practice and Rehearsals 13 Auditions & Recruiting 14 Worship Nights & All-Worship Services 15

Best Practices of Event Planning 16-17 Promoting an Event 18-19 Sharing Ownership 20 Evaluating an Event/Service 21 Important Dates in 2016-2017 22-23 Final Thoughts 24

Worship Team Expectations & Values

Reverence Worship is an opportunity to worship Jesus. To approach it halfheartedly, haphazardly, or jokingly devalues and diminishes the reality of Who we are worshipping.

Purpose Without God at the absolute center, worship can and will bring pride, insecurity, frustration, and exhaustion, along with many other issues. Therefore, allowing Him to move through us and be our purpose and goal is the key to being on this team. Everyone on this team is here for a reason and we cannot say enough how amazing it is to have you, all of you, here and ready.

Intentionality In preparing and organizing for Sunday morning or an event, do not be mindless or obligatory. Mindlessness is laziness; it is auto-pilot and the people you are leading can sense it. Be purposeful in all things: brainstorming, planning, organizing, executing.

Planning Planning is extremely valuable. ‘Well-prepared’ is NOT having your set list written down or even on Planning Center. A well-prepared plan is something that has been thought about, talked about, and practiced in execution. Preparing allows for details and alternatives to be considered and appreciated. This does not mean that everything will go as planned, but being well prepared calms nerves and allows us to focus on the importance of our task.

Growth We want you to stretch yourself, try new things, and improve as a performer. Do not be fearful to expand your boundaries. You should feel pushed and uncomfortable as you try new things. In a personal capacity, leadership and the worship team is an extraordinary opportunity to change and grow in God’s will for you. Each of us here will be pushed to lead each other, to compromise, to solve problems, to work hard, and to celebrate in each other’s successes.

Creativity We want you to be unafraid to suggest songs, ideas, and anything that allows those worshipping to engage and participate with the worship. Elements like scripture reading, praying in pairs, and communion are ways we can be creative. We are here to listen and develop each other.

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Worship Defined It is important for us as a team to understand what worship is in its capacity and how it applies to our lives. The Bible says this about worship:

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

Like the words ‘amazing’ and ‘beautiful,’ this verse has been used so often that its meaning is weakened at first glance. In one simple sentence Paul addresses many different things, and here are some of those:

Who: ‘To God’ as it says. We worship God the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We worship our Creator, Savior, Judge, and ultimate source of abundant life.

What: ‘To offer your bodies as living sacrifices’ This is the goal of worship, both at church, at home, and everywhere else.

Why: The word ‘therefore’ here points to this, because the reason for our sacrificial worship is ‘the mercies of God.’ We worship a God who is far beyond comprehension, and our reasons to worship are infinite, both personal and universal.

How: The question of how we worship is to discover where our motivation comes from. Do we lead with the knowledge and desire to understand that God is moving through us, or do we lead with the pride or insecurity that we are on a stage and others are watching us?

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Your Role When looking at Romans 12:1, singing songs to the Lord seems quite insignificant when compared to the rest of our life and worship through the living sacrifice we must make. This is far from the truth, however, because there are more than 1,150 instances in the Bible of musical worship.

A song of praise often follows major moments in scripture. After the Israelites crossed the Red Sea they sang a song of praise (Genesis 15). The angels praised the Lord after announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds (Luke 2). Scripture constantly calls us and shows us how important it is that we gather together and praise the Lord.

Take a moment: Pray for our hearts, and for your heart. Give honest thanks for all that He has done. This is a small team and a blessed one. Pray that God would use you because your role is important, as is your story and your heart, but only because of what He does through you. Pray for God to allow you to walk the line and to find the safe space within confidence and humility.

Important Note: God allows us to worship, and God allows us to lead. Our talents, ability, charisma, and leadership capability are all completely and utterly dependent on God. Therefore, we must be on guard; sins like pride, insecurity, hatred, sloth, and greed can take out worship leaders without the focus of God on the forefront of our minds and hearts.

Sunday Leadership Meetings We celebrate, learn, we prepare, and we grow in this time. Here are some things to do at these meetings: • Review the Sunday morning service. What went well, what didn’t, and where can we improve going forward? • Pray • Plan out the next month’s bands for each week (use the rotation chart in this packet) • Schedule the next all-band rehearsal (if needed) • Talk about upcoming plans for worship team based on what is going on in College Life,

leadership team, etc.

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The Worship Service The most important thing we do on Sunday mornings is to create an intentional environment so students connect with each other, but most importantly Jesus Christ. Each person walking into the room has a story, and Jesus is a part of that story to an extent we may or may not know. They may have accepted Christ when they were a 5-year-old, 5 days ago, 5 minutes from now, or 5 years from now.

Not everyone in the audience knows you or the Lord, so you must be mindful of what you say and do and how it comes across to them. Take an extra moment to explain a “regular” element in our service, or the ways they might see people respond while worshipping (kneeling, standing, sitting, raising hands, moving around the room), and invite them to do what makes them feel most comfortable.

“The more information and guidance you give your guests throughout the worship experience, the more relaxed they will be. And the more relaxed they are, the easier it will be

for them to connect with [the music], the message, and to the God [we worship].” - Sayge Resources

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Teams Within the Team Leading, playing, or running A/V every single week can be extremely tiring for a student on leadership, as our lives are frantic and busy. With no breaks, worship goes from being a rewarding blessing to something that begins to wear on you. Teams within teams alleviates this tension and will hopefully prevent burn-out.

Short-term Goal Each team will have: 1 leader (vocals/guitar), 1 backup vocalist, 1 percussion, 1 pianist, and1 cellist. Obviously, this does not mean that every week needs to be a full band, and the members can shift if the need arises. Once these teams have been settled into, we will create a rotation, so that each team will lead at their assigned time.

Long-term Goal The eventual and long-term goal is to have each team leading confidently and effectively, working together with minimal assistance and/or guidance from our team leaders. As we’ve said, your team leaders are always here to answer questions and help, but once the smaller teams are in place and working, we want to be able to delegate worship and tasks so that no one is carrying too much.

Purpose Playing with the same or nearly the same people week-to-week will establish a rapport among those people, which creates chemistry on stage that is noticeable. Knowing those on your team well creates a sense of community, and a willingness to bear each other’s burdens, as is commanded by our God. It’s hard to try new things out of our comfort zone; it’s much easier when you can trust that those with you on stage support what you’re aiming for.

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Creating a Rotation Use this chart below to keep track of who is leading and playing each week in CLife!

Date Lead(s) Others Board and slides

August 21

August 28

September 4

September 11

September 18

September 25

October 2

October 16

October 23

October 30

November 13

November 20

December 4

December 11

January 22

January 29

February 5

February 12

February 19

February 26

March 5

March 26

April 2

April 9

April 23

April 30

May 7

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Planning the Set Plan your sets as early as possible in the week, as this helps to ensure no problems arise last minute. The set must be finalized and on Planning Center each Friday.

If you need help planning a set or you wonder which songs feel right, talk to your leaders. Ask Jeremy what the talk is about, and pick songs that fit. Explore your options and be courageous in songs and sets.

1 Corinthians 14:26 “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”

When we come together to praise the Lord we should both glorify Him and build up one another. Each of us has something to give, and there’s power in that. While some songs can have the same key, or some can have the same theme, the most important thing is that we choose songs that we feel called to sing. Put your heart into your week’s set, and the Lord’s glory will show through.

*About Planning Center: Please talk tomCLife Staff if you need help with Planning Center and learning the ropes. We are here to help, and welcome any/all questions!

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A/V The A/V team are unsung heroes. We should be seeking out new people to serve in this area, as those currently on the team are ready to teach and need to be pushed to do so, in order to create new generations of the team.

It is just as important for the A/V team to be prepared and understand what’s going on as it is for the musicians. When the sets go up, A/V should look at who’s playing what, and start keeping track of how the service is going to look. If a larger band is playing on Sunday, we should make sure to have mid-week rehearsal at the church, so that A/V can also practice and ensure that they have a handle on the larger group.

Important Note: It’s important to remember the visual side of things for worship as well. Right now our “visual” consists of turning on the lights, and running the worship slides that CLife staff provides. How can we make this better?

For further information on the technicalities of the sound board and/or ProPresenter, see the supplement A/V guide located in the sound booth of the Fellowship Center.

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Practice & Rehearsals Life gets busy, and sometimes weeks are packed, we must also choose to make the sacrifice and practice during the week, even if the hours are not ideal.

Furthermore, a well-rehearsed team can focus on the true goal of Christ and God’s beauty rather than being stressed and worried because we aren’t confident about the music. Leaders show up, make sacrifices, and don’t complain.

Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

Showing up cold on a Sunday morning is not only a bad idea and disrespectful to your band members, but most of all it’s being a poor steward of the opportunities the Lord has blessed you with. Sunday morning practice is to iron out transitions, and to make sure everyone is on the same page. Everyone should know before Sunday morning what songs are being played and how to play them.

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Mid-Week Rehearsals Mid-week rehearsals are mandatory. The best time to do them would be Thursday, as previously suggested, but any time works as long as it happens before Sunday. Team Leaders will be check up to make sure these are happening.

There are also times where we will have fun and get to know those who are serving alongside us. Here are some intentional bonding ideas for mid-week rehearsals or Sunday mornings: • Getting dinner before a mid-week rehearsal • Getting breakfast in between Sunday rehearsal and College Life • Share high/lows of the week before a mid-week rehearsal • Have a mid-week rehearsal at someone’s house and play games after

Important Note: Pray as a band before rehearsal or Sunday mornings. Prayer helps to calm nerves, relax preoccupations, and re-focus on the purpose of worship.

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Auditions & Recruiting All members of the team will be involved in this process in one way or another.

Make announcements on Sundays, utilize the College Life social media pages, or utilize connections and word of mouth. Get the rest of Leadership Team involved in this process as well. They know people, and of the 40+ people on the team, one of them probably knows someone who plays music. The people are out there; we just have to find them.

When you find someone, set up a time for an audition with the team leaders. This will be a time where we can gauge their abilities and heart for worship. Make it as relaxed as possible, ask questions like:

• How long have you been playing/singing? • Have you served on a worship team before? • Why do you want to help serve? • What is worship to you?

If you feel they need more time, tell them that. Give them resources to improve their abilities, and ask them to join in on mid-week rehearsals so they can learn and grow more. Don’t be afraid to press pause or say no.

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Worship Nights & All-Worship Services These nights are exciting and have been very successful in the past. These are nights like ‘Hallowed’ at Second Wind Coffee, or Christmas services with large rotating worship bands.

Lean on your team and skills during these times of planning. Make sure to ask your team and leaders to assist you on the details (there will be A LOT of them). Do not attempt to accomplish these huge events alone.

Prayer is necessary Seek first the Lord in all that you do, and He will come and answer. Pray over your work and pray for what the Lord is doing in and through you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”

Colossians 4:2 “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”

Jeremiah 29:12 “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

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Best Practices of Event Planning Here are things to especially think about and consider to minimize the day-of stress and important details falling through the cracks.

1) Have enough time for set up Although college students arrive later than event start times, be ready and set to greet and get the show on the road 15 minutes before the event is scheduled to begin.

2) Check the weather / Make a weather contingency plan Have a Plan B in case of weather or other obstacle that will prevent you from having the original event. Have at least the basics of the alternative plan thought through, and as the event gets closer fill in the gaps if it’s looking like Plan B is going to be used.

3) Confirm speakers, guests, performers, catering, etc. Confirm with people or places that are providing something for your event. Call at least a day before, and when you’re making the initial reservation call, be sure to write down the person’s name you spoke to in case problems arise later.

4) Check for competing events Be sure to cross-check the church calendar, OU calendar (athletic schedule), and even concerts/tours that may be performing. It’s best to shy away from the big stuff that is either highly-attended or mandatory.

5) Make a schedule for the event Don’t wing it, assume things will figure themselves out, or let the event “go as it pleases.” We are not hippies. Make a schedule, set time durations for different pieces of the event if needed, and have a team walk through so everyone knows what is going on.

6) Know the costs for your event You should have a budget. If you need help maximizing your budget, talk to Jeremy, Michelle, or Alanna! Prioritize your expenses, get various quotes, and have a 10% buffer on your budget in case you run into unforeseen costs.

7) Ask for help Leadership is not about power and control to run the whole show; on the contrary, leadership is empowering others and developing their skills.

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8) Promote an event after date, time, and location have been set Gather and establish all the basic information (date, time, location and any costs to people coming) before announcing and publicizing. This is for many reasons, but most importantly, it’s so people know that when we are announcing an event, it is actually happening.

9) Thank people that helped People matter, especially people that help make things happen! Never underestimate a phone call or handwritten note! Need thank you cards? Come to our office. We’ll give you one, five, or twenty-seven.

10) Follow up with people that came (especially people that were new to College Life!) If the ultimate purpose of events is to connect students to one another and the multigenerational community at Wildwood, then it would be a huge miss if we simply waved goodbye at the end of an event and went on our merry little ways. Make sure that your team has some sort of tracking/follow up plan in place so you can follow up with people that attended, especially new visitors that have either never come to College Life/Wildwood or have only visited a few times. #peoplematter

11) Think through parking Depending on the location of the event you’re planning, is there a charge for parking? Is there limited parking? Is parking a long distance from the actual place? Is carpooling necessary? Are the church vans needed? These are good things to think through. Also don’t forget signage if parking is confusing or not readily seen. Even a human being could be helpful.

12) Review and evaluate the event afterward It’s important to celebrate the wins and successes of the event (things that you’ll do again next time), and recognize the things that weren’t so hot, or just flat out didn’t work (things you’ll tweak to get better results next time). Evaluation is crucial, and you best believe Jeremy, Alanna, Allie, and Zack are going to make sure you do it!

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Promoting an Event

Word of Mouth People and their mouths are your biggest asset. Use both to your advantage!

Instagram/Twitter • Social media blasts (have different groups of people post something at the same time

throughout the day) • Use pic stitch, flipagram, or other app to show a variety of pictures recapping the event • Make 15-second promo videos • Create a hashtag for the event • Use Repost app as others Instagram about the event (Make sure they mention CLife and

include the hashtag!) • Share planning, set up, or other behind the scenes pictures before the event • Link your Instagram posts to also post on Twitter • RT people, and make sure @wildwoodcollege is mentioned in your tweets • Have people take selfies with posters/flyers that are spotted (if relevant). • Be funny. Humor is always appreciated.

Facebook • Change profile picture / cover photos • Make an event • Share pictures, videos, and statuses related to the event, or share the event itself • Social media blasts (have different groups of people post something at the same time

throughout the day) • Create a shared album for people to upload pictures

Flyers/Posters • Depending on the event, this could be at Wildwood, on campus, or both. Keep in mind if

you’re passing out flyers or hanging posters on campus, you have to have pre-approved permission from the University (see contact page at the end).

• Pass out flyers/posters to people on leadership team to hang in particular places around Norman, campus, greek houses, etc.

• Put flyers on chairs at church during College Life, have them at the nametag table, or have people pass them out as people are coming/going before/after College Life.

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A couple things to think about… • Think about the time of day you’re posting on social media. Take into account the day of

the week, and class schedules. MWF classes end 20 min into each hour and begin 30 min into each hour. TR, however, end every 15 min or 45 min into the hour and begin every hour. It’s best to post right before classes start, or as people are getting out of classes (you know, when everyone’s heads are down in the halls and South Oval looking at their phones). The 11-2 lunch window is also a great time to post, and into the evening when late night study sessions are in full swing.

• Be creative! There are so many ways to publicize an event… have everyone write the event name in sharpie on their hand. People will ask about it throughout the day and is an easy conversation starter.

• Have people wear the event t-shirt (or College Life t-shirt) on the same day.

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Sharing Ownership Collaboration is key, and collaboration means working WITH others to create or make something. Please note: Your team does not exist to put on events that other teams want to do. Collaborating with other teams may include brainstorming, or taking responsibility for specific pieces but NEVER the entire event, or a significant majority of their event. Set boundaries and establish expectations when sharing event ownership among your teammates, or with another team on leadership team.

Task Point Person Others helping Due by

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Evaluating an Event/Service Dividing your event into at least these four categories will help you review and evaluate Sunday mornings and worship events well. Be honest, but don’t be over-critical. It’s even a good idea to get some additional people in the room as you review- and make the review as soon as possible when the event is over. These additional people could be the AV team, people on leadership team, CLife staff, or even some students that came on a Sunday morning.

What was our mission/goal for this event? Did we accomplish this? Why or why not?

Best What were the things that went super well, were really popular/well-liked, or done/executed with excellence? What would you not change?

Do Better What are the things that were good, but need to be done differently or better next time? These are the things that can be grown or developed for the future.

Not-so-awesome What were the things that didn’t go as planned, or took longer/shorter than anticipated? What are the things that were just not good?

Never again These are the things (and hopefully the smallest of your lists) that just didn’t work out. It could be due to unforeseen circumstances, or it was just a flop. Either way, don’t dwell on these pieces of the event— they are typically such a small percentage that are not reflective of the success of the event as a whole!

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Final Thoughts Worship can help us reset, escape, lift our spirits, and bring us peace. Worship can unite, help us let go of weekly frustrations. Worship is amazing.

Worship is about Jesus. Being a worship leader presents challenges that are not often found in day-to-day life. It’s so easy to become prideful in your abilities, or to be insecure after hard sets. But the glorious truth for which we sing is that God is far more powerful than any sin we face.

God will use you exactly as you are meant to be used.

Matthew 6:25-33 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

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