Our Worship Arts team sat down last Wednesday and had a meeting. When I first came to my church I didn’t want to start off giving them a list of things that they’re going to change–this meeting was to catch up on things that we haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk about. The commitment listed 7 things that we’re going to commit to as well as work on. These 7 commitments each person (current and future members) is expected to know them and follow them.

1. Be Musically Prepared.
Learn your music. Practice is NOT the place to learn music or work out your individual part. You should have a pretty good idea of what you are going to play when you walk in the doors for rehearsal. Rehearsal is a place to work out the overall sound of songs, make sure no two people are playing parts that clash with each other, and to establish a service flow.

2. Be Spiritually Prepared.
We should be engaging ourselves in the Word. Just as we challenge ourselves to develop our abilities, we need to develop ourselves spiritually. Not only spend time in the Word, but also spend time meditating on the prayers of the songs that we’re doing in the service. When we have an understanding of the prayer, we have an understanding of how to emotionally express the music. It is inappropriate when worship teams try to sing a song like “Open the Eyes of My Heart” with a celebratory groove… although musically it can sound “cool,” it is inappropriate for the lyrics.

3. Play Skillfully.
Psalm 33:3 says, “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” David talks about his writing in Psalm 45:1, “My heart is stirring by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”
Even though God accepts our best even when it’s not necessarily “great”—we still need to develop our feeble skills. We serve a perpetually increasing God—a God that no one can bring enough glory to—thus, our offerings should be perpetually increasing and our hearts should strive to give him perpetually increasing honor.

4. Be A Servant.
It is easy to confuse who our “audience” is. Some say we perform for an “audience” of One, while others say that the purpose of corporate worship is to uplift the body. The confusing part is that scripture supports both. All we do is (or should be) in direct worship to God. When we gather as a congregation, we are not to separate ourselves from the rest of the congregation and have this “amazing worship experience with just you and God,” but we’ve gathered as a group and we should worship as a group. This is not to say there is no place for individual worship in a congregational setting… I’m just stating that it’s not our main ambition.
Everyone (from the main worship leader, to the drums, to the soundboard) is a worship leader and should approach song selection and song translation as such. We should view our jobs like we’re hosting a party or having guests over for a dinner. We are serving the congregation, allowing them to eat, putting their needs before our own, and then allow ourselves to sit down and dine. Why do I say this? Honestly, I dislike most of the songs we sing, and I dislike the style at which we do them. However, I know that the songs we sing, and the style at which we do them depends on the congregation that we are striving to serve.
One final note on being a servant: this does not conflict with the argument that, “only God matters.” At the core of our purpose, it is to honor God and ALL of our decisions must primarily please God.

5. Be Professional.
Artists are notorious for their ability to easily access their emotions. The arts are an expression of emotions, so this ability is essential in the production of the arts. As artists, we need to allow our emotions to flow through our work, but not interfere. We need to keep personal matter (issues we may have with each other) out of rehearsal and dealt with on the personal level.
Lets make a distinction between “criticism” and “creativity.” Criticism is telling another that they are doing something wrong while creativity is merely suggestion ideas. An example of criticism would be, “You are not doing that right, you need to…” while Creativity is, “what if we did…” Sometimes criticism needs to be brought up, but allow the leader to decide what needs to or doesn’t need to be dealt with; but creativity is always welcomed, especially in a rehearsal setting. On this note, we must learn to control our emotions and not take criticism or creative suggestions as personal attacks. It is essential that we become humble enough that we look at ourselves with the assumption that we need to be better, make changes in ourselves, and welcome suggestions from others.
If one feels that there is some criticism that needs to be dealt with that is directed towards another person, they must come to the leader (in private) to address the issue. Rehearsal is NOT the venue for open criticism. This is essential for artistic growth and team unity. If one decides to take the leadership roll during a rehearsal and offers public criticism—then they will be asked to immediately leave and take the week off. Bottom line is that we have a job to do, the leader alone is held accountable for the outcome, and thus should have final say.

6. Be Punctual.
All Worship Arts members are expected to arrive at the proper place at the proper time. The times posted (for rehearsal and for the service) are start times NOT arrival times. Members are expected to know how much time is needed to have their equipment ready to function on time.
When doing the service or rehearsal, we MUST first have our job done before we socialize. This is most crucial before the service; we must have our equipment ready to go and have a sound check before we can rest and socialize with others.

7. Excellence.
I would rather have no one for a position than have 100 people that are partially committed to a job. If you commit to a job, then I will hold you to that commitment and expect a 100% commitment from you. If a 100% commitment is not possible, do not feel like you are letting anyone down, but rather step out of the position so that someone else may devote the time to create excellence or rearrange your schedule so that you can honor your commitment.

All Worship Arts members are expected to commit to these seven core values. If a commitment is not possible, then it needs to be addressed with the utmost urgency.