It’s Jason Hatley again, Pastor of Worship Arts at The Journey Church and Founder of Worship Leader Insights.
Last week we started a quick 2-week series on the Pastor / Worship Pastor Relationship by talking about what every Pastor needs from their Worship Pastor.
This week we turn the tables and I want to talk to Pastors about what your Worship Pastor needs from you. If you’re a worship pastor, feel free to print this out and “accidentally” leave a copy on your Pastor’s desk :-).
As I have always said, the most important relationship inside the church is the relationship between the Pastor and Worship Pastor. But it’s also a relationship that can hold a lot of tension. That tension MOST LIKELY comes from one specific thing:
Lack of clarity about the expectations of the other person.
The worship pastor says, “If my pastor would only do _____, then I would be able to get ahead,” while the pastor says, “If my worship pastor were only planned further in advance, we would be able to do _______ with our Sunday service.”
The remedy – clear expectations on the role of both the Pastor and Worship Pastor.
So now that we have opened the conversation on expectations, let’s talk about what the Worship Pastor needs from the Pastor:
#1 – Clear direction. The #1 frustration I hear from worship leaders in my live events and coaching networks is that they feel the Pastor is just not clear on what he wants. Now, this is not fully the pastors fault… after all we always listen through our own filters (right or wrong).
But Pastor your worship pastor wants to serve you and give you exactly what you want. If you want to see the productivity, engagement, and overall effectiveness of your worship pastor go to record levels, the best way to do that is to give clear direction, expectations and dealines for what you want. Remember, if it is unclear in your mind, it is a dense fog in your Worship Pastor’s mind.
#2 – Help. Worship Pastors don’t always ask for it (they should), but one of the most beneficial things that your worship pastor receives from you is your help. They need to know that they can bounce an idea off of you, be honest with you when something isn’t going well, or ask for advice on how to deal with a problem or a person. Too many times Worship Pastors don’t ask. But many times Pastors don’t listen or engage this area either.
Don’t be afraid to pry into your Worship Pastors work and ask questions that will help reveal areas where they need some coaching.
And when your worship pastor comes to you for help, do your best to fully engage the question. As the pastor you have the amazing ability either to add or remove pressure from the Worship Pastor’s ministry. Remember to do both!
Pastor – Do you know an area where your worship pastor needs help right now? If not, you don’t know your worship pastor well enough.
Worship Pastor – Are you asking your Pastor for help when you need it? If not, you’re missing out on one of the best resources available to you.
#3 – Ongoing Training. Too many worship pastors are exactly the same today as they were a year ago. They are struggling with the same challenges and frustrations that have plagued them for months. The team is the same size. The quality of the worship service is the same. The weekly frustrations are the same. That’s terrible place to be in ministry.
As the Pastor you can help ensure that your worship pastor is constantly growing to meet the new challenges that come with each season of ministry. Create a learning culture by reading books together as a staff. Have your worship leader look for monthly training opportunities. A seminar, webinar, free worship leader training podcasts. It’s out there, it’s easy, and cheap! (Go to http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com for more).
And most importantly, ensure your worship pastor finds a coach. As a Worship Pastor, our church would have benefited GREATLY in the early days if I had a coach. Almost everything I learned in the early days I learned the hard way – through my own successes and (mostly) failures!
But I learned to capture what worked and build systems around it so that I wouldn’t fail at it again.
That’s how our team grew from 2 to 200 people. How I developed my personal leadership abilities. How our worship services are planned months in advance. How we’ve built a healthy and thriving team. We’ve done it, but it was much harder than it had to be – if I had only had a coach!
Now, I’m a coach. I give those systems back to other worship leaders through the Tele-Coaching Network. In these networks, the average worship team doubles. The worship leader develops a one-year personal growth plan and doubles his effectiveness. The pastor emails me and says what a difference the network is making in their worship leader.
The Worship Leader Tele-Coaching Network is a way for you to invest in your worship leader’s growth through a 12-month training experience. Nearly 150 pastors have already have already experienced the benefits of having their worship pastor learn and develop these systems, and you can, too.
My next network begins in just 2 weeks. Learn more and apply online at http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com/coaching.
Whether I am the coach to your worship pastor, or you find a mentor elsewhere, your worship pastor will accelerate their leadership by learning from another Worship Pastor.
P.S. My new Worship Leader Tele-Coaching Network starts in just 2 weeks. Apply for the network today and receive a 90-Day 100% Money Back Guarantee. If you or your worship pastor are not fully satisfied with the network, let me know and I will refund every nickel you invested in the network – PLUS, you will be able to keep all of the resources that I had given out so far.
For a full list of what you receive in the network, how it all works, and how you can secure one of the final spots before they are gone, go to http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com/coaching.
P.P.S. Sign your Worship Leader up to receive these weekly Worship Leader Insights blog posts by visiting:
http://www.worshipleaderinsights.com/newsletter
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