Worship Ministry Training Podcast (for Worship Leaders)

  Transitions between songs are one of the most important, and often the most overlooked, part of crafting a great worship service. Today, Brenton Collyer and I discuss why transitions matter, and give some very practical tips for making them as smooth and seamless as possible. Plus, a few cool ideas that you can try out in your next worship service! Enjoy the episode, and please feel free to leave a comment in the comments section.  Direct DownloadLink to iTunesRelative Keys ChartLoop Community Cues Pack     Transitions are one of the most under planned yet most vital parts of a worship service. -Tweet That! The smoother your transitions the more immersive your worship sets can be. -Tweet That! Bad transitions can rip people out of a time of worship.  -Tweet That! Well planned transitions can turn a good worship service into a great one. -Tweet That!

  What does God desire in our worship and worship leading? One word: BROKENNESS. "You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."  - Psalm 51:16-17 In our worship and worship leading, God desires us to be humble, dependent, reliant, weak and broken. This is very opposed to what we find in the church today. Church / Worship Leaders are bold, self-reliant, have all the answers, and are on a mission to change the world. But are we fooling ourselves? Today we talk with our friend Sam Salerno about embracing, even boasting in, our brokenness, weakness and dependance on God. No self-righteousness allowed. Dive into the deep end and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.  Direct DownloadLink to iTunesShow Notes     We've created a false religious system that says "if you're a church leader, you can't have any struggles.” -Tweet That

  Every one of your team members has sin in their life (including you!) but where does it cross the line to where someone should no longer be serving on the worship team? How should we address the issue, and is there a process of restoration we can follow to return the team member to service? What does all this look like in practice? These are some of the questions we will be answering in today's episode. If you are a worship leader wanting wisdom on how to deal with this delicate issue, or simply a team member wanting to better understand your spiritual responsibility to your church, this episode is for you! Direct DownloadLink to iTunesShow Notes     Your team members are not just musicians to fill slots, but people to pastor - Tweet That! Taking someone off your team for a time is a restorative process, not a punitive process - Tweet That! When a team member sins they need to: Repent, Reflect, Rest and Restore. - Tweet That! Worship team members should be held to the same biblical standard as

  Want to do 100 times more ministry than you're currently doing? Want to have a massive impact on the kingdom of God that long outlasts you? Then you have to learn how to multiply yourself! In today's episode, I talk to Justin Bell, worship pastor of Calvary Nexus, about how he went from only 3 worship teams to 12 worship teams and 15 new worship leaders in 10 years! As worship leaders (and disciples of Jesus), we must learn how to multiply ourselves and continue our ministry through other people! Enjoy the conversation and feel free to leave us your thoughts in the comments section! Connect with Justin Bell on Twitter @justinemerybell   Direct DownloadLink to iTunesShow Notes       Jesus didn’t do all the ministry by himself, and neither should we. - Tweet That! The mark of a great leader is what legacy they have left after they're gone. - Tweet That! How would your ministry do next Sunday if you got hit by a bus today? - Tweet That! It takes great humility to raise up other leaders who may g

  Want to help your worship team sound more professional? Then it's time to start arranging and playing in "parts". Churches are filled with extremely talented musicians, but very few of those musicians have any experience playing in the context of a band, so a lot of worship teams just stand on the stage and play chords together. Music is meant to be so much more than just playing the chords on your chord charts! In this episode Brenton Collyer and I tackle what it means to play in parts and give some practical tips to help you begin creating more beautiful music arrangements for your church!   Direct DownloadLink to iTunesShow Notes     Music can be so much more than just playing the chords on the chord chart!  - Tweet That! Playing in parts means you’re playing something different and complimentary to what the other instruments are playing.  - Tweet That! The more musicians on the stage, the less each one will need to play.  - Tweet That! Good musicians figure out a specific part to play for ea

  How do you look on stage? Is your body language helping or hindering people from worship?  We communicate much more with our bodies than we do our words. That's why as worship leaders and worship team members we must care about improving our stage presence! In this episode (Episode 5) we tackle 8 tricks to help you improve your stage presence, so you can lead your church more effectively! Enjoy and pass it along to someone else!   Direct DownloadLink to iTunes     How we hold ourselves on stage can either help or hinder people in worship.  -Tweet That! Use your body as a tool to lead people, rather than a distraction to dissuade people.  -Tweet That! We help the congregation engage passionately when we show them how.  -Tweet That! Only 7% of our communication is conveyed through our words, the rest is nonverbal.   -Tweet That! As worship leaders we must care about our stage presence.  We must learn to use our bodies in a way that helps people connect with Jesus!   The difficult balance is bein

  Does God care how our music sounds? Should we? In today's episode we tackle the theology / philosophy of musical excellence in worship, as well as some practical tips to creating a culture of excellence in your worship team. Brenton Collyer, Worship Pastor of Calvary Monterey, jumps in on the conversation to offer some valuable insights! Don't miss it! To learn more about Brenton and his ministry visit www.calvary.com or follow him on Twitter at @BrentonCollyer    Direct DownloadLink to iTunes     "Musical excellence does not mean musical extravagance."    - Tweet that! "We should give God our best because He gave us His best!"    - Tweet that! "Leading worship is 1) Pointing people towards God, and 2) removing as many distractions as humanly possible."                - Tweet that! "When we create what is beautiful and excellent we always point people back to the One who is beautiful and excellent."          - Tweet that! "Your team is only as strong as your weakest link. Everyone needs to push

  With churches like Bethel and Jesus Culture gaining in popularity and influencing the worship climate, there has been a growing interest in "Prophetic Worship". But what is prophetic worship? Are there any scriptures that can give us insight into this intriguing topic? That's exactly what we'll be tackling in today's episode. So jump in and enjoy the conversation!  Direct DownloadLink to iTunes       Prophetic worship is expressing God’s heart to the people through the medium of music.  - Tweet That! The ministry was prophecy, the tool was music. 1 Chron 25.   - Tweet That! Use the word of God, paired with the emotion of music to express God’s heart to the people.  - Tweet That! Express God’s heart through what you play! "Don’t just play it, pray it!”   - Tweet That! All of the prophets were trained and skilled in music for the Lord. 1 Chron 25:7.  - Tweet That! Know the Lord, know your instrument, know your people!  - Tweet That!

  Worship Teams spend lots of time in rehearsals, so it's important that our rehearsals are as efficient and effective as possible! In today's episode we cover 6 tips that will hopefully help you run more effective rehearsals!   Direct DownloadLink to iTunes        Equip your team to show up prepared by being prepared yourself. Leaders, be ahead of the game!   -Tweet That!  Leaders, figure out transitions and parts before your band arrives, so they don’t have to stand around waiting.   -Tweet That! A good start to rehearsal can lead to a great rehearsal! Be prepared to start!   -Tweet That! Put a pencil on every musician’s music stand and make sure they take notes!  -Tweet That! Respect your team members' time. Keep the rehearsal moving forward!   -Tweet That! Don’t stay alone with someone of the opposite sex after rehearsal to work on a part!   -Tweet That!

  What are the traits of a good worship team member? In this episode, we explore 7 important characteristics of someone who wants to serve on their church’s worship team. If you’re a worship team member who is wanting to grow to be a bigger blessing to your team, or if you’re a worship leader looking to add new players to your team, this episode is for you! Direct DownloadLink to iTunes       Character, Craft, Commitment, Coachability, Chemistry, Charisma, & Communication. The traits of a good team member!   - Tweet That! If someone isn't honoring God with their life they shouldn’t be on the stage.  - Tweet That! Good team members play what serves the song, not what serves their ego.   - Tweet That! If you’re just going to church on the weeks you’re scheduled to play, something’s wrong!   - Tweet That! Good team members respond quickly to communication.  - Tweet That! If you have an issue with your worship leader, talk with your worship leader about it, not others!   - Tweet That! It’s i