A Guidebook for Sensational Worship Rehearsals

Have you ever left a worship band rehearsal scratching your head and wondering, 'What and the heck just happened?' Or maybe you're new to this whole worship leading thing and have no idea where to start? Or quite possibly you may just need a refresher course on leading better worship rehearsals? Coming from personal experience, that is the goal of this book to help equip you, encourage you, and motivate you to take your band rehearsals to an all new level of awesomeness! This is by no means the exhaustive book on leading rehearsals, but I hope it will be one of the most practical guides you have read. When it comes to leading a band, team, or ministry, it all boils down to your leadership. If you lack the ability to lead, your ministry will struggle. I've focused this guide in 2 main areas that once you master and work at, will help you take your rehearsals in the right direction.

The Truth is We've All Been There Before

Have you ever lead a worship team and didnt have a clue as to where you should start? I know I have. It was hard and humbling. I was a youth ministry major in college not a worship major. In fact, I've had absolutely no musical training what so ever. Nada. Nothing. Unless you count four guitar lessons from crazy Freddie at American Music Enterprises in 8th grade. So when I got called out to Las Vegas to not only lead worship, but to lead and create a Junior High worship band from scratch, I was a bit in over my head. I had no idea where to start and the books and resources I needed where no where to be found. It was my junior year of college that I remember quite vividly. I was almost kicked out of bible college and I was in desperate need of a break. I'm not sure if it was the institution that was rejecting me or my own pride and arrogance that was rejecting the governing authority. But nonetheless, I was in need of a break. I could only handle so much gossip, competitiveness, and Christian theory. I needed to 'get my hands dirty' so to speak. So I started to look for opportunities to serve in a church body for what would have been my senior year. During this time, as I was studying youth ministry, I had two prayers: 1) Some place close and 2) any area of ministry besides Junior High. This was when I realized that not only does God give us a sense of humor, but He Himself has the best sense of humor. I

got a call from a Junior High pastor in Las Vegas at a church many of you have heard of Central Christian. As I prayed through this opportunity, I soon realized despite my hesitation, that this was where I needed to be. So I packed up my clothes and headed west without a clue as to how to lead a worship band or even start one using a bunch of overzealous, stinky junior highers! As time has passed, and as I have lead various ministries from youth to adult worship teams, Ive really struggled to find any helpful or practical steps in leading a band. This is a result of that struggle. In the following pages, I've developed a few strategies that have helped me overcome my lack of experience or resources and have helped me to lead a thriving and effective worship ministry.

*I need to note, that when I am referring to worship in this short book, I am mostly referencing worship through music. I realize that worship encompasses many facets of our lives and is not limited to music or song. However, for the specificity of this guide, worship should be understood as singing and playing instruments in worship to God. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. - John 4:23 (ESV) May this guide encourage, guide, and bless you!

Chapter One: Preparation

"It's not the will to win that matterseveryone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters." - Paul "Bear" Bryant
This is often one of the most overlooked or neglected areas of leading worship preparation. When you fail to plan, you are failing your team. Most of the people on your team, if not all of them, are volunteering on top of some sort of full time gig. Whether it's a 40+ hour a week job, a full time college schedule, or even someone taking care of the house and kids, they have busy lives. Time is a valuable asset and we must show our teams that we not only value them, but value their time as well. Being prepared heading into your rehearsal is an absolute must. This means you have to come prepared and set your team up to succeed. Of course, you must keep in mind, that your team also has to put in the work too. Getting on the same page as far as everyone's role and expectations is a huge step in a great worship team. So where do you start? What are the keys to getting and being prepared for your worship rehearsals? Let me help guide you with some basics to lead you to awesome worship rehearsals. Preparation Starts With Worship This may seem a bit backwards but let me assure you, the best worship you can give your church is the worship that starts in your heart. How many times do you find time to worship God on your own terms? With no agenda, deadlines, or personal ambition? How can we lead anyone in worship when we are not pouring out our hearts to God ourselves? I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to moving through the week without finding time to worship God whole heartedly, but this is, without a doubt, a necessity if we are going to lead powerful and authentic worship. Carve out an hour or two every week to worship. Make it a habit. Find the best day and time and commit to it. Block it out, turn your phone off, and find a place where you won't be interrupted. Grab your guitar or portable piano or whatever you need to create and sing songs of praise. You could grab a devotional, your bible, and/or a journal to help lead you in the worthiness of this great God.

It is absolutely vital that we are not only leading our churches in worship, but finding time to quiet our souls and respond in worship. I personally like to reflect on the Psalms, usually from Psalm 100-150, as I prepare my heart and my soul. There is something calming and alarming about these verses that stirs my soul in worship. Owning Your Worship Songs One of the best things we can do as worship leaders, is really knowing and owning the songs we lead. People can pick out a phony a mile away. You are more than a song leader, you're a worship leader. Leading people, the church, into the worthiness of this great God of mercy, grace, and love. If we are just singing songs because we can play an instrument and have a good voice, it's simply not enough. There has to be conviction in our lives that plays itself out in worship. This is why its so important to make these songs we lead a part of us. That we are singing from the deepest part of who we are. Here are 7 suggestions to help you start owning your songs: 1. Understand Who You Are & Who You Are Not - You have to take a musical inventory of your band and their abilities. Most of us dont have 3 electric guitars, 2 acoustic guitars, 5 vocalists, etc. So its important to know who you and your team are. 2. Context is the Key What is your current community context? Are you more country? Are you more Contemporary Christian? R&B? Know who your people are and shape your sound around that information. 3. Do An Acoustic Run Through Most of the time, this will be a real telling way of how usable and do-able the song may be. If I can sing it on acoustic without much of a hitch, I know that my band can make it our own. 4. Simplicity is Beauty Keep it simple _________! You know the saying and you also know that its true. Dont try to over do it. Keep things simple. This will help your band in so many areas. 5. Think Idea Not Format When listening to a song, get away from the idea that you have to do the song just like them. Use the idea of the song to make it your own, dont just duplicate the style and order. 6. Give Your Band Some Artistic Freedom If a lead line works in your context, then use it. But dont be afraid to allow your band members some artistic freedom in their interpretation of the song. Maybe an original lead line works better.

7. Be You This is sort of a throw back to point #1, but you have to be YOU. No one else is Hillsong. No one else is Chris Tomlin. And no one else is YOU! Be who you are and your church will love it! Memorizing Your Songs Memorizing songs isn't as easy as it appears but it goes a long way in leading your rehearsals and church in worship. It's a key component in authentic worship. But it's not easy and if there is one thing that I struggle with, it's the memorization of songs. It wouldn't be as big of a deal if we were using the same 5 songs every week, however when you have a worship catalog with more than 40+ songs and is constantly changing, this can become difficult. I've found that these 6 keys are a great way to learn and memorize your songs: 1 Write Out the Words This may seem somewhat tedious but thats the point. Taking the time to hand write and go over every word of every song will only help initiate the words you are about to sing. There is just something about going organic with a pencil and paper. Playlist Set up a playlist week in and week out in iTunes, Spotify, or any other media player of the songs youll be using and listen to them often. You can put them on your iPod, iPhone, and home computer so they are easy to access. But listen to them a lot. Take a Long Drive This is something I used to do often but with gas prices Ive had to cut back a bit. Pop in your playlist to your car and take a drive. Crank it up and just worship at the top of your lungs as you cruise through town, back roads, or even in the parking lot. Loading Presentation Software Take your time as you load up your presentation software and go through each song slowly. Read over the words and let them take root in your mind. Consider what you are reading and singing about. Let them penetrate into your life. YouTube I have a love/hate relationship with YouTube but like it or not, its a valuable resource. Find videos of the songs youre going to be using and just watch and listen to them. Take it in. Play the videos before and after rehearsals as visuals for your team. Personal Prep Spend time a few days of the week just doing some solo worship/prep of your worship songs. Make it personal and just work your way through them. Takes notes and jot down ideas and scripture references.

Song Preparation

So you know the songs great. But what about your band? Many of them don't have the luxury to listen and play through the songs at their earliest convenience. They have jobs and busy lives on top of serving the church. When you don't know the songs, this reflects badly on them. They need you to lead them! So how do you lead them? By preparing your songs in advance and in exact order. The quicker you can get the songs and charts to your team, the better. Don't wait until the night of rehearsal to give your band the chord charts and songs. This is killer and only makes for long rehearsals. Do the work ahead of time. Get the sermon notes, themes, and main points from your pastor as soon as you can. Yesterday was already too late! Once you have your themes and songs picked out, you have to get down to business. Play through the songs, work through the arrangements, and take notes. Lots of notes. Notes for the intro, transitions from each part and each song, notes for each musical part like drums, keys, bass, and guitar. You can never have enough notes. Once you work through each song and transition, take some time to jot down the exact order of each song too. Having the exact order of the songs may be more helpful for you and your media production crew but it can really tighten up your band when everyone knows where you are headed. Once you have your notes in hand, if time permits, email them out to your band members so they know exactly what you expect from them on each part of each song. Encourage them to work on and know each song as well as their parts. Don't let them slide on this either. Keep reminding them why they are leading worship and the importance of our worship. This should be enough to move people to work on their craft. Once you have the songs prepared and all of your notes, it's time to put your songs in their exact order. Now before you start thinking to yourself that by charting out each song in their respective order, we are leaving out room for spontaneity or for the Holy Spirit to lead, let me reassure you that we are not. The opposite is actually true. By having a set order for your worship songs, your band knows when and where to play as a guide. We always leave room to follow the leading of the Spirit! But this gives us a solid base to start from. Don't just print off a chord or lead sheet from CCLi Sonselect or wherever you are pulling your music and expect your band to follow. Most of the time, there are chords that are a bit off or are just plain wrong. Plus, when printing these songs off, they are not usually in the same order as the original song or the order you have set up. Your band has a hard enough time remembering chord changes not too mention if they have to jump to the pre chorus every time. Take some time to print multiple copies and if you have to, cut out each part and put them in the same order you will be doing the song. I realize that this can be a little time consuming, but from my experience, it's more than worth it. Your band shouldn't have to guess where the song is heading. The idea is to make it as easy as possible for them. Stage Preparation

Once again, we are here to serve each other. Don't expect your band to have to come in and get their keyboard or amp out from the back, plugged in, monitors adjusted, and music folders situated. Get there early and set up the stage. Get each instrument and area set up and clutter free. Have your music folders on the music stands and in order. If you can, provide bottles of water, stools, and any other convenience you can think of. Go out of your way to serve these people. Let them know you care about them in the details and in your attitude of service. Make it warm and inviting and special. Give them another reason to show up early and bring in the right attitude. By being organized and on time, you are not only setting the tone, but youre giving them the example of service and excellence. Set the stage.

Chapter Two: Communication

"You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere." - Lee Iacocca "Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you if your positions were reversed." Aaron Goldman
So you've done all the necessary planning and preparing, but how do you communicate this to your team? Without the right communication, not only will you be left extremely frustrated, but rehearsals will become a bear. Creatives and artsy folks aren't really known for their communication abilities, but with a bit of work and a plan, you can become very effective. I remember when I was engaged to my wife Christine, everyone told us that the key to a great marriage was communication. I thought great! That will be easy. But what I failed to realize was how hard it actually was (and still is!). Just knowing what you need to do will not fix anything. Of all the people that gave me advice about communicating with my wife, I can't remember one practical suggestion. Theories are great for grad classes, but not so much in the real world. Communication will be a key component in leading effective and fantastic worship rehearsals. There are 5 main areas of communication and each of them deserve your time and attention. Email: It's hard to imagine anyone without email these days but it's still possible. If some of your team members have resisted the move to email, then make them! You may have to sign them up for an account yourself, but do it. It's one of the best ways to communicate in today's day and age. Also, it's a prerequisite for Planning Center which I'll get to in a minute. The beauty of email is that you can include the whole team or specific individuals. If you have a note about the worship set that every needs to know, you can send out a group message. Likewise, if you only need to cover a more specific area, like a guitar solo, you can send it out in an individual message. Using email is a great way to communicate your thoughts and vision to your team. Phone (Calls & Texts): Text messages have become the new norm. They are fast, somewhat short, and you can do individual or group messages. The beauty of text messages is how instant they are. As long as you and your team members are in a

good service area, they are guaranteed to receive your message moments after you send it. This is important for any last minute details or any number of emergencies. But don't forget about the power of a personal phone call. Text messages are great and quick, but often we lose the tone of the message and rely on good grammar. It's really easy to misinterpret text messages so don't be afraid to give your people a ring. You can keep it short and tell them exactly what they need to hear. And if you can't get through, you can always leave a voicemail message. Don't neglect this area of communication. Planning Center: This may be one of the most useful tools for worship planning and communication thats available. There are other alternatives to Planning Center, like Worship Planning, but PCO is my number one choice. The key to using PCO effectively, is getting your team on board. This really only requires two steps: 1.) Everyone has to have a username and password, which you as the administrator, have to set up, and 2.) everyone needs to know how to use it. You can cover the basics in one 15 minute training session. Once you get everyone set up, you're ready to start utilizing the powerful features of PCO. I'm only going to cover the relevant features in regards to effective communication. Once you have your worship songs set and in order in PCO, you can then schedule your musicians, audio/visual personnel, and other key areas. After you select your people, you can then send out a confirmation email via Planning Centers built in email feature. This is a great tool, but before you hit the send button, you'll want to customize the message. You can add your own personal notes for the entire team, individual instructions, as well as a key theme you'd like them to consider for your worship time. After your people accept the request, they can read through your email, look over the songs and any notes you've attached. They also have access to any pdf's, chord charts, or mp3's you've uploaded to your plans. If you only use one way to communicate with your team, this is it. It's the central meeting point of all your worship planning. FaceTime: You should take advantage of every opportunity you have to not only share your vision of worship, but also your plans for each worship set. This is especially true before, during, and after rehearsal. It would be more worth your time to verbally run through each song and element before you jump into them. Encourage your people to take active notes as you walk through your set. As you work your way through each song, don't be afraid to stop if something isn't working and get feedback from your band. If you have to, take each instrument and each part of the song piece by piece. Although this is a bit more time consuming, if you want to take your team to another level, many times this will be necessary.

Social Media: Everyone has a Facebook profile right? And depending on where you live, urban and suburban areas will have more success here, you can leverage social media. Twitter is an excellent way to share worship thoughts, rehearsal times, etc. But I haven't found it quite as useful as Facebook. Don't be afraid with experimenting and creating a group worship page where you can share set lists, song notes, and even an encouraging thought. Use it as a way to develop an on going conversation between your team members. Ask questions and respond to answers. Communication is such a vital component to any successful ministry. If you fail to communicate effectively and clearly, your team will suffer. Make sure you make every effort to leverage every avenue of your available communication.

Are You Ready?

Rehearsals are an often overlooked aspect of creating great worship sets, yet they play such critical role. Without a solid foundation everything will crumble. If you're a bit tired of just throwing things together or are stuck in a rut, I pray that this guide, will be that extra push or nudge you need to pursue excellence in your worship. Take this from a guy still experimenting and trying to figure things out. I don't believe we will ever arrive where we want to be, but that's not the point. It's a process that we must go through. So find an idea or thought or something from this guide and try it out. You don't have to follow it step by step or from top to bottom, just keep experimenting until something clicks. My biggest prayer in writing this book was to be helpful to you if even in the smallest way. Cheers to you friends and may God bless you and the ministries you lead! If you liked what you read, or even if you didn't, make sure to check out my blog RobRash.us where I write about worship and worship leading. You can also find me on Twitter: @robrash and on Facebook: /robhrash or /worshipblogger.