Developing A Better Worship Team Culture

Your worship team culture sets the standard for the entire church. If your worship team isn’t passionate, why would your members be passionate each week? From behind the scenes tech to your choir leader, your worship team is a diverse group that helps to keep the church running and inspires everyone around them. A poor culture has a negative effect on the entire church. As with any other area of your church, your worship team needs a little regular maintenance to stay strong and continue doing what they do best.

Offer Opportunities For Growth

In most cases, everyone wants the chance to grow. Your worship team does too. For instance, that choir member who always steps up to fill in when the choir leader is sick should be the first person considered when the choir leader retires. Always offer opportunities to step up to new positions and take on different responsibilities. This is a common strategy for moving on volunteers and keeping them happy. It’s also ideal for a better worship team culture.

Create Numerous Worship Opportunities

Your worship team doesn’t just work on Sunday. They thrive on what they do and want to continue inspiring others. Give them more worship opportunities. For instance, assign a few of them to manage blogging and social media. Let them work to implement new tech inside the church. They might even start a YouTube channel for your church and write original songs, skits and more. Plus, these extra opportunities give them room to grow. All the online work they do helps serve as a virtual 24/7 worship team. Seeing how their work helps others all the time, even outside the church, creates a healthier, happier team.

Serve As Mentors

If your worship team culture is exclusive, it’s not effective. One of the best ways for your worship team to grow and thrive is by serving as mentors to others. There are likely numerous members who would love to learn from your team. They might not have the time to devote to filling a team member’s position, but they want to learn how to be as passionate and helpful as your worship team. Letting your team serve as mentors helps them to develop and grow themselves. Plus, it helps eliminate that exclusive mentality which may alienate them from church members.

Ask What Members Need Most

Your worship team wants to know they’re effective, but if membership is declining and no one seems engaged, it’s hard to feel that way. This could destroy your worship team culture and make everyone want to give up. Instead, ask your members what they need most. Put an anonymous poll on social media or your website. Members are often too shy to speak up in person and this gives them a way to provide valuable feedback. Having clear feedback helps your worship team develop while growing the church.

Continue Trying New Things

What worked 20 years ago might not work today. For instance, getting new members 20 years ago involved sending out pamphlets and going door to door. Now, social media and engaging websites have drastically changed how people find a new church. Your worship team wants to try new things too. Maybe they want to play a different style of music or add a humorous column to the church’s blog. Perhaps they want to start a virtual worship group for those who can’t attend. By expanding their horizons, they have the room they need to grow and reach more people.

Expand The Team

It’s important to remember that your worship team can’t work 24/7. Improve your worship team culture by adding new team members from time to time. After all, your team is mentoring others and those people may be ready to step in and help out. This allows your team to enjoy what they do more instead of stressing over how to do it all. Plus, adding new team members could easily help your church expand into new areas. For instance, maybe your church has never done anything online. A new member might take charge of managing a website and interacting with visitors. Another new team member might turn Pinterest into the best digital worship tool for your church. The possibilities are endless.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a healthy worship team culture actually look like?

It looks like a team that is passionate, growing, and not exclusive. Your worship team sets the emotional standard for the whole room, if they are not engaged, your members will not be either. A healthy culture gives people room to grow into new roles, welcomes outsiders rather than walling them off, and treats serving as a calling instead of a chore. Get that right and the energy spreads to the entire congregation.

How do I keep worship team members from burning out?

Stop expecting them to carry it all. Your team cannot run 24/7, so bring on new members regularly and let your veterans mentor them until they are ready to step in. Spreading the load lets your core people actually enjoy what they do instead of stressing over how to cover every service. A team that gets to breathe stays passionate far longer than one that is constantly stretched thin.

Why does my worship team feel exclusive or cliquey?

Usually because the team has turned inward and stopped inviting anyone in. The fastest fix is to have your members serve as mentors. Plenty of people in your congregation would love to learn from your team even if they cannot commit to a full role. Letting your team teach others breaks down the cliquey mentality, helps them grow as leaders, and connects them back to the church family.

How can my worship team serve beyond Sunday morning?

Give them ways to keep worshiping all week. Assign a few to run social media or blogging, let others implement new tech, or back a member who wants to start a YouTube channel and write original songs. That work becomes a virtual 24/7 worship team that reaches people far outside your walls. Seeing the impact of their effort, even online, keeps the team healthier and happier.

How do I know what my worship team and members really need?

Ask, and make it safe to answer honestly. Put an anonymous poll on your website or social media so members can share feedback they are too shy to say out loud. That feedback shows your worship team whether they are actually connecting, which protects their morale and points them toward what to try next. Pair it with a willingness to keep experimenting, since what worked twenty years ago rarely reaches people the same way today.

Do you want to create a better worship team culture in your church? Consider starting with a special section on your church website or social media for them to interact with each other and share ideas outside of church.