A good friend has just written to me from Sydney.
He said he’d been asked to do a seminar for church music leaders. He asked me what I’d say. Actually, I’d like to go to his seminar and learn myself, as I’ve got a huge amount of respect for the way he moulds his music around the proclamation of the gospel. But Sydney’s a long way away, and I’m not due a sabbatical for another 20 years.
Key points
I’ve never written anything down formally. So this is a good opportunity to have a go. Here are the points I’d put on the handout:
1. Read your Bible.
2. Say your prayers.
3. Pray for your pastor to teach the Bible faithfully and confidently.
4. Obey your pastor.
Service, love and style
I reckon those are the key ones. After that, the following should happen relatively naturally, barring the wanderings of a sinful heart, of course:
5. Make sure your music serves the Word of God, and not the other way round.
6. Win battles early: first, get to know the congregation so that they know that you love them. Then when you make unpopular changes, they know that it’s not personal. Second, make sure that all the musicians who serve in the church are in a regular Bible study group (preferably not together, but that’s for another article). This will provide the church with musicians who know how to serve, because they know how deeply Jesus has served them. Third, make sure that musicians know that it’s you who rings them, and not the other way round.
7. As far as choosing a musical style is concerned, constantly review the demographic of the church. Listen especially to those who regularly bring non-believers to church and to those you respect as godly brothers and sisters. We want to serve real partners in the work, and not those who shout loudest.
Humility
8. Listen with humility to any harsh criticism that starts with ‘I’ (e.g. I hate… I think … I want… ). Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry (James 1:19). If someone has a strong criticism, always direct them to the pastor.
9. Say sorry, even when you feel you’ve done nothing wrong.
10. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
11. Have the humility to learn from other musicians.
12. Don’t dismiss or ignore people’s suggestions about new songs – you don’t need to promise to sing them, but it’s important to take time to listen to the songs so that you’re ready to give a reason for any concerns you might have.
13. Thank not only the musicians after a meeting, but also those who have helped with the coffee, welcoming, cleaning the toilets or anyone else who has been as important a partner in corporate worship.
Bible and excellence
14. Play an active part in leading Bible studies, doing talks from the Bible, reading the Bible one-to-one with Christians and non-believers, so that you’re not always focussing on music issues.
15. Do things well. If that means just you playing on your own, or using very small forces, then that’s fine. People are much more forgiving about a musical style they dislike if it’s done well and sensitively.
16. Rehearsals aren’t simply rehearsals. They’re times when you can teach key principles of service, humility and discipline.
Communication and nurture
17. When booking in musicians, talking (face-to-face or on the phone) is much more personal than texts or emails.
18. Think about succession. If you were run over by a bus tomorrow, who would take care of the music? If you can’t think of anyone, then it’s clear that you have built the style of music around your specific gifting and stylistic preferences. Keep things sufficiently simple so that the music can be taken on easily when you move on. It won’t help your successor if the first thing he/she has to do is dismantle the musical infrastructure of the church.
19. Linked with the last point – always look to train others up to do your job.
20. Write articles like this to remind yourself what you should be doing, but probably aren’t!
