Tag: Worship

How Not to Waste Your Churches Money

Managing church finances is a huge deal. People have given their hard earned money to the church so that more people can hear the most amazing story ever told. So for those of us who manage those resources to best tell that story, it’s a huge deal that we get it right. It’s up to us to find the best way to tell the story effectively for the least amount of money possible which with tech is an insanely difficult balance.

So how do we know that we’re making the best decision?

Today we’re going to look at 2 measurements we can look at to help us make the best choices. 

Now before we dig into those it’s also worth mentioning that most production equipment should last at least 10 years (longer in some cases) so we need to be thinking about that kind of life span as we are considering things.

So first…

Only buy it once

Let’s look at video switchers from 2 companies.

Company A – $6000 – integrator warns about reliability issues, marketing makes it look like it’s used for pro events. Switcher and control panel 6 useable inputs

Company B – $8000 – brand is used for Pro events all over the world Switcher and control panel all in one 10 useable inputs

When you go with company A, there is a high risk that the equipment will fail quickly and you will have to purchase it again or that it will only have enough inputs for what you need right now. So as soon as it breaks or your pastor wants to add more function (this will happen) you have to go out and buy something different (or worst case get the same thing again). So now you’ve spent more money than if you had gone with the better solution to start with.

Second…

On the flip side we also have to look at a concept known as:

The law of diminishing returns

The law of diminishing returns refers to a point at which the level of profits or benefits gained is less than the amount of money or energy invested.

What does that mean?

Quality VS Expense 
On the vertical axis, we’re looking at the quality or effectiveness of the experience created, and on the horizontal axis, we’re looking at the cost.

Find the sweet spot

Some of you may look at how much can I afford and stop at that point. The problem is that may mean that you’re selling the story short. Instead of “How much can we afford?” The question should be “What do we need?” Followed by “What do we need to do to afford that?”

Sometimes, when the dollar amount for your current strategy just seems unreachable, you may have to ask yourself “Is this the best strategy, or do we need to look for a totally different way to accomplish our mission?”.

Others look at “What’s the biggest best thing on the market?” And it’s completely overkill for your needs. But it makes your ego feel good because you have the “best sound console in the lineup”.

So find that sweet spot where you get the most quality for each dollar and do your research so that you aren’t buying things multiple times. Talk to someone who has used whatever it is that you’re looking at. Ask them what they don’t like about it.

If you’re interested in talking through specific ways to effectively find the “sweet spot” send me a message, I’d be more than happy to talk with you. 

Written by Chris Eslinger. Chris is from Fairfield, OH where he’s married and has three kids. Chris is the Production and Technical Media Director at New Freedom Church. To learn more about Chris, read his blogs or talk more about how he can help you create quality experiences, visit his site.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

The Value of the Basics

When I first started out, all I wanted to do was run a console. I wanted to program the cool lights or push the faders up on the sound board and make it sound awesome. But the guys I worked with always sent me to clean and rebuild lights, or pull cable or setup microphones. At the time I was really annoyed but now that I look back on it, I’m extremely grateful. Throughout that time, I learned how to get things right where it really matters. I learned the ins and outs of how all the tools worked. I learned how a light works with all the lenses and focus points, I learned how to setup and pin a stage in a way that made sense and was clean and organized. 

Ultimately, the basics makeup the foundation of what we do and without getting it right at the foundational level, the building will crumble.

So spend time on the seemingly small things, focus on the basic techniques. 

When you start running through a sound check, it can be tempting to just start turning knobs but have you thought about moving the mic to ensure it’s getting the best sound at the source?

When trying to improve the quality of the video, have you looked at making sure the lighting is as good as it can be for the camera?

Did you make sure your gain structure was right so the band is able to balance out their personal mixers?

So next time you feel like your stuck doing a basic task, remember, getting the basics right is what makes the “fun” tasks turn out well.

if you like to have a conversation about what basics can impact your experience, send me a message and let’s have a conversation about it.

Written by Chris Eslinger. Chris is from Fairfield, OH where he’s married and has three kids. Chris is the Production and Technical Media Director at New Freedom Church. To learn more about Chris, read his blogs or talk more about how he can help you create quality experiences, visit his site.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Creating Quality Experiences

“Create quality experiences that help people engage with Jesus”. What does that mean? And how do we do that? This is my “why”, its the driving vision behind what I do. Historically the Church was the primary driving force behind art. The Church is where the best artists, musicians, and craftsman spent their lives creating beauty and telling the story of Jesus. Unfortunately in some cases the opposite is true today, The church has become the place where “we get by” because the people involved “have a good heart”. Thats all well and good, but the problem is the Church is called to reach the lost. We live in a world where there is so much other noise and often times when content is presented below a certain standard, people just shut down and or swipe away because it can be difficult to consume. 

Create

In Genesis we see that God created all things and that he created man in his image. It is in our nature to create things. Creativity looks different from person to person, but it is in all of us. For some, it’s painting a beautiful picture, for others its using a camera to capture a moment, and for others creativity is coming up with a solution to the problem in front of them. Creativity isn’t some far out abstract idea, creativity is simply fixing a problem. 

Quality

Quality means a standard of excellence. That means that there is a measurable expectation for the quality level of something. Often times you may hear the word excellence thrown around by itself. Excellence means to do the best you can with what you have. Thats all well and good until it gets flipped and becomes an excuse. “This is what we have , so this is the best we can do.” This can lead to an attitude of “its not even worth trying”. It is also easier to know you have attained a goal when it is measurable. When there is a standard, it’s very easy to know whether or not the goal has been reached, either you’ve hit all the marks, or you haven’t. In the case of the latter you also know what you need to work on for next time. 

Experience

An experience is a specific event that leads to a significant change in someones life. If the event only served as entertainment then it was all for nothing. We need to strive to create events that leave such an impact on peoples lives that it leads to life change. 

People

It’s all about the people. The equipment is cool and the projects are fun, but at the end of the day it’s the people around us that matter and their relationship with Jesus. Don’t move so quickly from task to task that you miss the people around you. 

Engage

To engage with means to join in together. Engaging is working toward a common goal together. For churches with the great commission in mind, this usually means: serving, growing, and giving. These are the things that fuel churches to reach those who don’t yet know Jesus. 

If you’d like to talk more specifically about what it could mean for your church to create quality experiences that help people engage with Jesus, send me a message, I’d love to talk with you. 

Written by Chris Eslinger. Chris is from Fairfield, OH where he’s married and has three kids. Chris is the Production and Technical Media Director at New Freedom Church. To learn more about Chris, read his blogs or talk more about how he can help you create quality experiences, visit his site.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

It’s Too Loud

Many Churches have begun reopening and getting back to live services. People no longer have a personal volume control which will inevitably lead back into volume complaints. While there is no sure-fire way to eliminate them, there are some factors that may be contributing to the comfort level of your audience. Most importantly, there are probably some things you can do about it that don’t involve earplugs. 

Disclaimer: I’m not going to address SPL (Sound Pressure Level) in this post but rather the factors that an SPL meter can’t tell you. I’m going to assume that you are running at a reasonable SPL and still receiving complaints. 

1. “I want to hear myself and the people around me sing”
There is power in corporate worship when the people of God sing His praises together. It serves as a way of reminding each other of who God is and what he has done. 

2. “I want to sing loudly and not worry about others around me hearing how bad I sound.”
There is also a personal side to worship as we each individually praise God for the things he has done in our life or cry out to him for the things we need. 

But They’re Still Coming….

Once you’ve reached a decision and adjusted accordingly. There are some further considerations to make as to why you may be receiving volume complaints.

Often it is a quality of sound and not a quantity of sound issue. Meaning there isn’t too much level but how it sounds is abrasive no matter the volume level. If things are out of balance or hard to distinguish from one another it can be hard to listen to. The average person doesn’t have (and doesn’t care to have) the knowledge to differentiate between abrasiveness and volume so they will simply say ” it’s too loud”. This is even more true in cases where an individual’s ability to differentiate between sounds diminishes like in cases of hearing loss where medical devices are required for the individual to hear. 

In my experience, there are 3 primary reasons people perceive it as being “too loud” (not including if it is extremely loud).

1.Room Issues

There’s an old audio joke that goes something like “In the beginning, God made perfect sound, then man built walls”. While you could easily poke holes in the jokes realism, it gets the point across that reflective surfaces add complexity to the sounds around us that then have to be differentiated by our ears. For the most part in normal circumstances, our ears are very good at doing this and we don’t even have to think about it. Think about when you’re in a crowded space where there are a lot of people talking. It’s usually reasonably easy to hear and focus on the person you are having a conversation with. With music, however, it can be a different story. Drums especially can create additional challenges for intelligibility. When a highly percussive sound bounces off everything and all the new sounds hit the ear at varying times, it makes it hard to understand what you are hearing.

It is also important to note that when this happens our natural inclination is to try and increase the volume level of the “main source” (usually the sound system). To address these issues (once the room already exists), you need to work with a professional. Acoustics is an exact science and requires specialized knowledge to get right. Guessing on solutions can be very costly. The way we have come to listen to music is very clean and processed and when you mix this clean processed sound with a raw acoustic source in the same space, it can greatly affect the intelligibility of the sound if they are not working together properly; which leads to the second factor.

2.System Issues

When a sound system isn’t correctly designed for or installed in a space or isn’t working properly it can create significant discrepancies between zones within that space. A good system should deliver consistent and even sound across every part of the room. When it’s uneven, people can have good or bad experiences based on where they are sitting and how it sounds there in comparison to what it sounds like at the soundboard (where the mix decisions are being made). This is a recipe for bad sound in certain parts of the room and good sound in others which can create additional frustration. This is not something the average person thinks about but instead, they would express that “things are inconsistent sounding from week to week (if they move seats regularly)”. Or they may say “ the bass is overwhelming” when it’s balanced from the mix position. If you are experiencing this, you want to see what can be done to better balance out your room. If you don’t have experience doing this, you may need to call in a professional to help. This is another area where guessing gets expensive. (How Not to Waste Your Churches Money)

3.Mix Issues

Now that we have either Identified a challenge that needs addressed or ruled the hard things out, it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room. What’s the quality of the mix? At the end of the day, it comes down to the person behind the board. Do they know how to mix in such a way that things are balanced well and intelligible or is it harsh and overwhelming? Does it sound like music or noise? (You Don’t Need More Gear) To remedy this, you can either hire a professional to mix every week or get training for your volunteers.

Unfortunately there is no quick and easy fix for sound complaints, so take the pressure off. You don’t have to fix everything overnight. Break it down. Discover where the problems actually lie, then develop solid solutions that move you closer to your goal. (How not to waste your churches Money)

If you are experiencing any (or multiple) of these challenges and want to talk further about specifics of fixing them in your context, send me a message

Written by Chris Eslinger. Chris is from Fairfield, OH where he’s married and has three kids. Chris is the Production and Technical Media Director at New Freedom Church. To learn more about Chris, read his blogs or talk more about how he can help you create quality experiences, visit his site.

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

How to Livestream your Worship Service

Ever think your pastor would come to you requesting a list of equipment to purchase for livestreaming that could cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars? Thanks to the pandemic, this is where a lot of us worship and tech leaders find themselves today. 99.9% of the time, we have been the ones pushing for a few extra dollars to spend on new equipment, but now we are being asked to essentially launch an online campus. So where do we start? In full disclosure, I am not extremely tech savvy but as a worship leader, I have learned my way around the booth enough to make me dangerous. This blog is for those who are just looking for a first step towards livestreaming and hopefully some additional resources that you might find helpful!

  1. Evaluate Other Churches

The number of churches that are actively livestreaming is only going to continue, and most likely, you have connections with other people who are currently doing it. Find 3-4 churches and watch the live stream of their weekend services. Some key factors to be looking for are the amount of camera angles, the quality of the picture, how (or if) they are displaying lyrics, consistency of the stream (does it drop out or lose connection), and the quality of the audio. If you are able to, reach out to the worship leader or tech director of those churches and ask if they can give you a general idea on how much their system costs. This could be a great way for you to approach your pastor with tangibles that can also help you understand what his or her priorities are. 

2. Finalize your Budget

Make sure you and your pastor are on the same page when it comes to finances. It’s easy to spend a ton of money in this area! Most likely, your initial wish list will be a bit overwhelming in cost, so be humble, flexible, and yet prepared and educated on the equipment and the standard of excellence you are trying to establish.

3. Set your Goals

What are you trying to accomplish? Is it launching an online campus or simply capturing and streaming what happens live on Sunday morning? Set the expectations for this ministry and figure out what it will take to pull this off on a CONSISTENT basis. Figure out how many positions you will need to fill on a weekly basis with volunteers, what skill sets you are looking for in new volunteers, and what your onboarding/training process will be. Recruiting the right people to run your cameras, produce, and oversee the livestream commentary is the most important piece in this process. You can have $100k worth of equipment but without the right people to run it, it will not accomplish what you are intending to do.

4. Spec out your Equipment

When going to spec out your specific equipment needs, I would recommend taking a look at what church tech resources have to offer like Churchfront with Jake Gosselin. I have had the privilege to work with Jake in the past and have been following his website, YouTube, and Facebook. He has several blogs and videos that can walk you through what specific equipment you will need to get started livestreaming your worship services on various different levels. 

5. Implement your Plan

This will most likely be the most difficult step since it will likely stretch over several weeks after you receive all of your equipment. If you are installing the equipment yourself, I’d recommend inviting 1-2 tech volunteers to help. If you are the worship leader, it is a bit difficult to lead worship and fix a broken livestream at the same time. Once you are up and running, create a private Facebook page to test your stream. This will allow you to test your stream throughout the week to make sure everything is working properly without broadcasting a video of your empty room and stage to the entire Facebook world. This process can take time so always keep the big picture in mind. Because of the time and effort you are putting into making this happen, more people will be able to hear the Gospel and worship alongside your church. 

6. Additional Resources

If you’ve already started to livestream your services but would like some additional feedback, you can contact us at Froot Group! We are primarily a worship staffing company that serves the local church and we have a Livestreaming Evaluation service that gives you specific feedback on every area of the livestream process from a new perspective. If you are interested in learning more about this service, contact us at info@frootgroup.com and download this Livestream Guide for complete details!

Written by Alex Purtell, Founder and Search Coach of Froot Group Staffing

 

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

10 Questions to Ask a Search Team

Through my years of working with churches and candidates, I have gone over the do’s and don’ts of interviewing more than I can count. There are some pretty common sense questions to ask but candidates always seem to blank during the interview. I get it – you have several pairs of eyes staring back at you, the room is warm, and you’re afraid that the search committee or the pastor won’t get your humor. Here’s my advice: write down your questions! Everyone thinks that they’ll remember their questions but more times than not, they don’t. Interviewing for a ministry position? Here are a few to get you started:

  1. Why do you think I may be a good fit for the position? Some churches have a wide variety of reasons why they bring people in to an interview. Find out what it is that they like about you.

  2. What’s something difficult that I’ll have to address if I end up getting hired? Want to learn a lot about your team or even the church? This may be the time that the church becomes transparent – this is what you want!

  3. Is your church passionate about making heaven full and how do they do that? I don’t know about you but I want to be part of a church that wants to grow not only the church, but the Kingdom. 

  4. What’s the financial condition of the church? This is NOT a question that’s off limits. You want to make sure that the church can afford you and how much money you’d have in your budget if you decide to move forward. 

  5. Are there any people on the team or in the church that I would have immediate issues with? I would want to know who has the most influence in the church and if there are any people that may be a roadblock for me. 

  6. What is something that you would like to tell me but are a little unsure about? A lot of churches have something that they’re not revealing. The reason why they’re not sharing is because they haven’t been pushed enough to share.

  7. Why did the last person that had my job end up leaving? This could reveal a lot about staff chemistry, the pastors personality or leadership dynamics. Whatever it is, get to the bottom of it. 

  8. What is the vision and mission of the church? If they can’t tell you, you might want to run. You want to be part of a church where everyone is in the know with the direction that the church is going in.

  9. What is the staff culture like? How do they work together? Is it a collaborative environment or is everyone on their own? Do they get together outside of work? It would be nice to know how much of a team the staff really is.

  10. How long do you see yourself in your current position? If the pastor is interviewing you, it would be nice to know how long he/she is planning on sticking around. That will tell you a little about the church culture as well. 

These are just some of many really great questions to ask if you’re interviewing for your next position.  Transparency is the key to making a great placement. It’s also the key to ensuring that you end up in a healthy environment. Do your work and ask good questions!

Written by Meggan Jacobus, Staffing Manager at Froot Group Staffing. 

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

Why Churches Need Worship Leaders More Than Ever

Why Churches Need Worship Leaders More Than Ever

Why Churches Need Worship Leaders More Than Ever

It’s been almost 5 months. Nothing could have prepared us for how quickly our weekend services and the method of ministry would change. Overnight, we went from experts to students. Each week has become a learning experience for worship leaders. We are learning how to do things we might have been afraid to learn before. Congregational worship has traditionally been an in-person activity yet it’s a clean slate with where we’re standing today. The music is an integral part of the worship experience. A lot of ministry leaders never would have heard the call to ministry if it hadn’t been through a worship experience. Church members and guests still want music, even if they’re at home. The pandemic has provided challenges and opportunities. For the most part, churches and worship leaders have risen above and are going the extra mile. Many church leaders though are doubting if the worship leader position is really needed for the future of worship. If there is ever a time that a church needs a worship leader it’s now. Here are my thoughts on why we need this position more than ever before.

Tech

For our first weekend of going fully online, we had three days to prepare!  Initially, everyone scrambled. Admit it if you were one of those worship leaders. The technical side of moving the worship part of the church service online is something many churches struggled with. Most worship leaders had to transition from being a worship leader to a video producer over night. Countless churches around the country have moved to online-only events or explored alternative ways to meet. Digital tools and channels that were once considered optional are rapidly becoming essential. This transformation has led to an unprecedented push to modernize the way we do church. Some churches have essentially been forced into being online-only. Others are choosing to do it out of an abundance of caution. Some are simply making live streaming an option. Over the last few years, a lot of churches have used live streaming as a way to serve members who were out of town or sick. Now, it’s a necessity for everyone. What you invest right now and the experience you collect along the way will pay dividends long after the panic wanes. Our main jobs have been helping pastors and church leaders reframe our challenges and utilizing the technology that God has blessed us with to do an even better job and be more effective. As we begin to accept the digital interface as our new medium of weekend ministry, we’ve got to continue to learn how to improve what is presented.

Relationships

Worship leaders all say the pandemic has bumped up the pastoral part of their job. Your ministry thrives on personal relationships. You have an opportunity though to increase your digital touch points. And while these may feel like temporary solutions, this moment has the potential to permanently enhance your ministry. COVID-19 has actually caused us to do a better job of picking up the phone and checking on our teams. It’s an opportunity for greater connection. There are some connections that are probably stronger now than they were before. Right now, you want to give your team as many opportunities to hear from you as possible. They need your wisdom, leadership, and presence. A lot of your work right now should be all about people. If you want to worship together in person down the road, you better have done your homework in keeping the community together while we can’t gather. Worship leaders are also taking this time to improve their musical skills or learn more about making music in a new way with their teams. 

Creative

Your congregation is more primed now than ever before to choose digital experiences. So offer them. Worship leaders are often the most creative thinkers in the building and they’ve had to think far outside the box during this time. While online services have been positive for churches overall, replicating the music portion falls short of being there in person. When we have to do everything online, it forces us to innovate musically. Your congregation appreciates anything that you can do during this time. A lot of people are used to worshipping on Sundays but a lot of worship leaders are seeing that Sundays aren’t the only day that works for people. Worship leaders are creating worship experiences throughout the week to show that worship just doesn’t have to happen on Sundays. Others even have gathered in church parking lots so they could see each other and sing together. Worship leaders are also coming up with creative ways of creating virtual choir videos — videos of members singing from home. These are true labors of love. Bottom line, perspective is everything! I believe this entire COVID-19 pandemic, though hard, has also presented an incredible opportunity for innovation and creativity as we navigate next steps in ministry.

The model of how we do church has changed drastically! As hard as this has been, I believe it has shown us what we’re capable of offering and that we can’t do it without the creative minds of worship leaders. Through all of this, we’ve learned adaptation and perseverance. There is a oneness with our fellow worship leaders. Those of us who compose, conduct, accompany, or provide music for our churches in any way. I encourage you to not only think of this as a season, but as the new normal of our present and future! When you look at what God has given us and instructed us to do when we gather, singing is fundamental. It is a non-negotiable. It’s critical to the gathering and to individual faith. 

Written by Meggan Jacobus, Staffing Manager at Froot Group Staffing

Looking for a new position? Stop by MinistryJobs.com and have a look at the jobs that are available! Ministry jobs are hard to come by and job hunting is no fun. We help ministry job seekers find their ideal role in their next ministry – for free! More than 6 million search for a job every day. Be found! Looking to list a job or an open position? We help churches and organizations get job openings in front of potential candidates. We have several plans and packages available. Today is the day!

10 Guidelines for Paying and Hosting Guest Speakers and Musicians

Money can be an awkward issue for churches and guest speakers.

It’s the issue both parties consider; but it’s often the issue around which both parties tiptoe.

It should not be that way. It’s really a matter of biblical stewardship and hospitality. Over the years, I have worked with many churches and speakers (and a few musicians) to establish some guidelines for hosting and paying guest speakers. Keep in mind, these are guidelines, not rigid rules. There will always be reasons for exceptions.

    1. Pay with a generous spirit. 

      As your church is able, try to abound in generosity to the guest speakers and musicians. Art Rainer actually developed a formula for paying guest preachers specifically. I think his approach is a good starting point for guest preachers. There will be differences for conference leaders, musicians, and others.

  1. Ask the guest speaker for expectations for pay. 

    Don’t be shy to ask guest speakers if they have specific fees or payment guidelines. There is no need to tiptoe around this matter.

  2. Pay promptly.

     Your church should have the check waiting when the speaker arrives. Get the W-9 form and travel expense reimbursement form completed ahead of time as often as possible. You should never tell a speaker you will get a check to him later after he has completed his engagement with you.

  3. Cover all travel expenses.

     Those expenses would include airfare or mileage reimbursement, rental car, meals, and lodging. There is nothing wrong with being clear about what level of expenses you will reimburse, such as coach fare instead of first-class.

  4. Provide reasonable accommodations.

     Most speakers do not like to stay in homes. They are often on the road a good bit and prefer the freedom of being in a hotel and not making up their own beds or engaging the hosts in long conversations.

  5. Inform the speaker ahead of time.

     Tell them clearly what the honorarium or fee and travel reimbursement will be on the front end of conversations with them. Outlining these details in writing is also helpful for both parties. Don’t leave the speaker wondering about it after he or she has accepted the invitation.

  6. Consider the implications of the engagement from the perspective of the speaker.

     From the church’s perspective, the engagement could be as brief as a 45-minute speaking assignment. But from the speaker’s perspective, he may have to be gone two days from his family due to travel time. Be generous from that perspective.

  7. Avoid scope creep and add-ons. 

    Scope creep means you ask the speaker for additional speaking spots after your initial invitation. The church or host often says, “Since you are going to be here anyway . . .” Add-ons refer to other groups trying to get the speaker to do engagements for them since the original host is paying the travel costs. The host church or host should ask for the specific commitment on the front-end and not add to it.

  8. Provide a specific point person as their contact and host.

     The speaker needs one person as the contact person for all aspects of the engagement, from travel arrangements to payments to sound checks to meeting them at the site of the engagement.

  9. Protect your church’s reputation.

     It does not take long for a church to get a bad reputation for how it treats speakers. Travel can be a wearying experience. The speaker needs to know the host has his or her best interests at heart.

Granted, these guidelines are written largely from the perspective of looking after the speaker. In a future post, I will address specific guidelines speakers and musicians should consider. In the meantime, let me hear your thoughts.

Article taken from ThomRainer.com  and written by Thom Rainer. Thom is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, and online community and resource for church leaders. 

How to “Set the Table” in Worship

A couple of years ago on our honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, my wife and I got to do a couple of five-mile hikes in the Smoky Mountains. To save money and time, we decided to fill our backpacks with a picnic-style lunch and some snacks (mostly candy).

It was so much fun eating sandwiches and cheap bags of chips picnic-style because there was a beautiful view, no one was around to tell me to get my elbows off the table, and I was eating with my new wife.

Another memorable meal was when I was in grade school. Every Christmas Eve my family would get out our fine china, light some candles, and have a fondue night. We didn’t get out the classy dishware often, mainly because my mom was afraid we would break it, but when we did, we knew that it was something special.

We would fill one dish with cheese, one with butter, and one with chocolate, and among our assorted hors d’oeuvres, we would make the most out of the special experience.

As worship leaders, we set the mood for what is expected for the worship experience for the majority of the congregation.

Obviously, there will always be those who are bold or mature in their faith who we don’t need to bring to the throne because they are already there. But for the lion’s share of the church, we set the table and the layout for what is generally expected during a worship service.

We can be the examples of whether or not it is OK to be expressive worshipers.

I know that a meal with fine china versus a picnic will have two different moods—both fine and enjoyable, but different. In the same way, a campfire devo with an acoustic guitar and cajon has a much different feel than a Sunday morning service with a full band. Both are great and both can be incredibly powerful times of worship, but they are different styles.

We are called to do the prep work through prayer, devotion, study, and thought to find out what message we want to convey to our congregation.

Josh Huckabay, a wise worship leader that I interned under, once told me, “Worship ministry is not about telling people where to go, but about leading them as you go there yourself.”  Every week I try to encourage this mindset in the way our team leads.

Whether the position is deserved or not, if you are onstage or have a role on the worship team, you are seen as a leader.

What you do dictates to the majority of the congregation what is acceptable or inappropriate for the service.

However, as worship leaders, we can’t make the congregation do anything they don’t want to do. Just like a table-setter, I can bring you the finest dishes and cups, light the table with candles, and set out fancy silverware, but I can’t make you eat the food or even like it, and I shouldn’t try to.

If our goal is to lead people to worship and we begin to judge our services based on how many people raise their hands, we will become very effective manipulators.  If we take a close look at Scripture, however, we can see that isn’t our job. In Psalm 23, God Himself does nothing more than prepare a table for David in the presence of his enemies, and it is David’s choice whether or not he will partake in the “meal.”

Table-setting is about giving people the tools to eat the meal. Likewise, it is our job to prepare the setting for worship and then get out of the way.

I imagine that our experiences are often like Moses’s after he came down from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19. Moses had a literal mountaintop experience with God and was told to go down and tell the people to prepare themselves for worship. Then on the third day, he led them up on the mountain so they might worship God.

As many worship leaders or “creatives” do, we put a lot of time, prayer, and effort into our weekly services. We map out the flow of the songs so there aren’t any distractions, and we tie them together with the topic or theme we are trying to convey.

As Moses did, we lead people up the mountain. But I highly doubt that Moses would have held the trust of the Israelites had he not first been to the mountain himself and stood before God. You cannot lead someone where you have not been yourself. 

It is easy to gauge a service by how well the band played, how the tech team did, and if the congregation sang loudly or only a few people raised their hands. I fall victim to this mentality quite often, but leading worship is centered around trust in God. 

Craig Groeschel said, “If we blame ourselves when things go poorly, then we will be tempted to credit ourselves when things go right.” 

Table-setting can be scary.

But we can do nothing more than that. So as you plan your service this week, think about what table you are trying to set. We lead our congregation to the table, not by pointing a finger, but by saying, “Come alongside me as we go together.” 

Article written Austin Stone Worship by Creighton Tamerius. Creighton serves as the Worship Pastor at First Baptist Church of Sarcoxie in Southwest, MO. 

5 Ways Your Church Can Have A Major Impact as the New School Year Begins

I have always been weird.

While most of my childhood peers lamented the beginning of a new school year, I looked forward to it with enthusiasm. I loved the opportunity to learn and discover new vistas.

As a pastor, I saw the beginning of a school year as an opportunity to try new approaches and to make a statement about the priorities of our congregation. Over the past three decades, I have been blessed to hear from other church leaders on a multitude of topics. Let me share with you what I have heard about great success stories of churches as a new school year approached. They are basic but profound.

Recommit to becoming a welcoming church. 

September could be the month where you see a greater regular flow of guests. Families often move in the summer, so their children can start in a new school at the beginning of the school year. Take a look at two of my books to help guide you in this recommitment. Becoming a Welcoming Church is pretty much a complete guide for your church leaders and members. We Want You Here is a unique book meant specifically for the guest as a gift. Both books are only $5 when purchased in a case of 20 books. Commercial over.

Dedicate a part of a worship service to praying for students and teachers. 

We recently did that at our church. And we followed the service by writing brief thank you letters to the teachers at one of the schools near us. It had a huge impact on both the teachers and on our members.

Adopt a school. 

Request a meeting with a local school principal. Ask him or her what your church could do to best help the school. If it is within the scope of what the church can do, organize a ministry to meet that very need. Some churches paint classrooms. Some churches clean school grounds. Other churches provide back-to-school resources for students and/or teachers.

Revitalize the groups in your church. 

Regardless of what you call them, community groups, life groups, Sunday school classes, or many other names, these groups are the lifeblood of assimilation, ministry, and stewardship in your church. Do whatever is necessary with a new school year beginning to re-energize and grow your groups.

Re-cast the vision of the church. 

Many church leaders re-cast the vision of the church at the beginning of the calendar year. Consider casting the vision at the beginning of the school year. You will likely have more new members and guests in September than in January. You have a great opportunity to ride the wave of freshness that a new school year brings.

These are five of the most effective back-to-school ideas I have heard from churches all across North America and beyond. But this blog has several million faithful audience members. I know many of you have some great ideas. Please share them with our community.

Article taken from Thom Rainer and written by Thom Rainer. Thom is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, and online community and resource for church leaders.