I can’t see the future.  I can only prepare for it.  And when your riding a wave of God’s blessing, this can be more difficult that it sounds!

Since the first week of January we have seen a bump in attendance by 50 people each week.  For us the first week of January was a great Sunday as far as attendance is concerned….then they just kept coming!  336, 388, 435?  Are you freakn’ kidding me?  Now our meetings revolve around finding solutions. 

But I believe this – God will continue blessing as long as we continue to expand our capacity.  That is why we are committed to our people to find empty seats for their friends and family.  And we continue to look for a new location.  And I whole-heartedly believe that God WILL provide.  Why?  Because HIS name is at stake.  I believe that God wants to bless us, and therefore will provide room for that blessing.  At the same time we will do our part to find solutions where we are at, systems to take care of the people, and a healthy leadership structure to mobilize an army of volunteers.

Can I see the future?  No.  But I have this book that tells me a whole lot about how BIG our God, how much he loves us, how much he wants to bless, and how much he wants to reach this world.  And this knowledge always makes me have to prepare for more that I could imagine.

• Shadowing – All new volunteers shadow – even on the worship
  team.  They make tryouts.  They then come to several practices.  Then
  they’ll come to a pre-service setup and practice – all before playing
  one note on a Sunday.  This allows them to get comfortable and for us
  to take some time and teach.  Each band has a different style, way of
  working together, and drive.  This way we can ‘show them the ropes.’

• Leadership Structure – Having Matt
  as my Music Director is the best thing that has happened to our team.
  He is able to give much more attention to the group than I would ever
  be able to (I am really the Service Programming Manager: Host Team,
  Media, Worship Band and Vocals, Marketing).  So spreading the
  leadership load is essential.

• Intentional Holes – This one sounds the strangest, but I
  think it is the most important.  A good friend of mine and very wise
  worship leader told me that my ministry was effectively dysfunctional.
  I had the same 3 musicians (guitar, drums, bass) EVERY Sunday.  Why
  would anybody think that we needed their help?  He told me to create
  holes on purpose.  I thought he was nuts.  We started scheduling people
  off once a month – mandatory.  Now we’ve added a keyboard player,
  drummer, 2 guitar players, 2 vocalists, and more inquiries into the
  ministry.

• Consistency – The worse thing you can do, and boy do I know this from experience, is change up stuff all of the time.  Don’t create a schizophrenic ministry. 
  Keep practice the same.  Keep your rules consistent.  Always send your
  schedule and line-up well in advance.  Give them time to prepare and be
  successful.  I’m not saying don’t be flexible.  You have to be
  adaptable!  Our music style has changed considerably in just a 2
  years.  But stick to your guns.  And stick to the vision of the Pastor.

As the saying goes, ‘you never have enough volunteers.’  Well that may be true, but any Worship Pastor can attest, you definitely never have enough musicians.  The problem is I can’t just look at someone and say ‘ope!  Guitar player!’  Then go and ask him to consider joining the band.  And here at Lifepoint we have taken the position of NOT paying our musicians.  They are strictly volunteer.

But lately we have had an influx of musicians and vocalists.  Here are a few reasons I believe that is the case.

• Prayer – My former choir director was short of tenors.  So he said he ‘prayed them in’.  "I needed some tenors.  None were joining.  So I prayed them in!"  And it worked!  Who do you need?  Pray them in!

• Culture of Excellence – We hold high standards.  You don’t practice, you don’t play – period.  The only exception is a last minute fill-in for sickness or emergency.  I think people appreciate that across the board.  They know their hard work is valued.  And besides excellence breeds excellence.  They begin to push each other!

• Culture of Teaching – Just as we value excellence, we also recognize that not everybody is an Eric Clapton or Billy Joel.  So we are willing to take raw talent and develop it.  I’ve done this at 2 different churches.  Watching someone develop and grow over the years really rewarding.  But GROWING is the key.  If they don’t have the drive or desire to develop their talents, then its a no-go for me.  Also along these lines we are beginning our first workshops in February.  They are an intentional step in developing the talent of our team.  Additionally, if someone doesn’t make the ‘cut’ in practice, we will offer the workshops as a place they can hone their skills – then tryout again later.

• Tryouts – Everyone goes through tryouts.  Everyone.  Every 6-months.  And in the literature we give them prior to tryouts we make clear the following: 1. What we are looking for  2. That our primary responsibility is to put them where they are exercising their gifts  3. That we will be forthright in our opinions and to be ready for it!  In other words it does a great disservice to them and to us to let them pass out of pity or fear of reaction.  Then they are frustrated with the level of expectation and everyone else is frustrated too.  Moreover, we set goals for everyone that goes through tryouts – even those who don’t make it.  Why?  Because it gives us a good indication if they are serious or not.  Their goal may be to attend workshops and work on pitch.  But if they don’t attend any and show up for the next tryout, what does that tell us?  They don’t care about developing…they just want on the team.

First week of the new year and we wanted to really come out with a bang.  What a great Sunday of worship God through music:
1-6-08
"You Are" – Fields (Northpoint Music).  Loop is availabe through Northpointmusic.org.
"Everlasting God" – Brown (Northpoing Music version…with Brewster’s Solo)
"From the Inside Out" – Houston (Hillsong United)
"Does Anybody Hear Her?" – Hall (Casting Crowns)

1-13-08
"Point of Difference" – Houston (Hillsong United)
"Give You Glory" – Camp
"Lay It Down" – Lubben (Vertical Music)
"Centerfield" – John Fogerty

What an amazing day!