Don't worry be happy

This past Sunday I woke up in excruciating pain and ended up at Urgent Care. I texted my praise team to let them know I would not be in church and low and behold I heard that they did a great job. So happy.

As the worship leader, I always get nervous when I'm not there because all but one of my praise team works periodically on Sundays. It's a bit of a crap shoot figuring out who will be there and who won't. Ahhh, the joys of living in the 21 Century. (It's still the 21st century, right?)

I think one of the milestones of a praise team is that they can carry on seamlessly when someone isn't in attendance. Obviously this encompasses a few changes. Someone must act as the leader if the leader is out and the team might have to adjust who is singing a certain part. (e.g., someone who is a soprano might need to sing alto) Someone might have to be in charge of song selection if this wasn't worked out before hand. But most of all, the team must work together to keep the praise experience pleasant and usher in God's presence. When the team can do this, you're making major headway!

What I Know I Know

It's been a minutes since I've posted something so I thought I'd get back to it.

I may not know a whole lot about P&W, but there's one thing I do know. As the P&W leader, you've got to be aware of a few things if you want to ensure a good worship experience for the people.

1. Song Selection
1. What type of event is it? This might dictate what type of music is appropriate.
2. Who's in the audience? If your audience is homogenous you may have less room to sing songs certain songs. E.g., if your audience consists mostly of seniors, you might not want to sing more traditional types of songs and fewer songs with strong, hip-hop-like influences.
3. I find it's always best to start or end with a song almost everyone has heard. 
4. Good flow from one song to another is really important.
2. Audience Participation
1. Is the audience singing loudly? If not, you might want to think twice about having the music break and background singers drop out.
2. Can you see mouths singing the lyrics or other signs of worship like hands raised? If not, the song might not be a winner and you should think about cutting it short. The goal is that people are engaged and that is more important than getting all the way through a song.
3. Encourage people to sing, waive their hands, clap, etc. by instructing them to do so with phrases like "Come on, let's sing it out now!"
3. Technical Aspects
1. It's best if you have a technical team deal with PowerPoints/song books, etc. If not, make sure you're prepared before service begins. If you don't have song books or lyrics on display, it might help to pick songs that are easy to catch on to or don't have a bunch of words. 
2. Use spell-check for your lyrics. I've learned this the hard way. E.g. one of my lyrics has "break the yolk..." it should say "break the yoke." Huge difference! Although I'm sure God can break a yolk too. (Note to self - I need to revise that page right away.)
3. Don't make a big deal out of it if the microphones malfunction. Try to be discreet and continue if possible.
4. Have a Back-Up Plan
1. What do you do if the audience isn't feeling the songs you rehearse? Have a cadre of good old stand-byes. These are songs your praise teams knows well and would have no problem singing in a pinch. Suggestions include your praise team warm up song, your Pastor's favorite song that everyone knows, a classic praise song, or a good congregational song.

So that's what I know for sure. It's funny, the more I read and write, the more it sounds like I may know something.  LOL

Blessings!