Earlier today I hosted a live blog at Shane Duffey’s Unleash breakout on effective service planning. I’m about to do the same with Lee McDerment on leading worship. Lee is the director of music at Newspring and handles everything music at their main campus, as well as coordinating with their multisite worship leaders (check out his cd on iTunes). I’m not sure if this break out is going to be more practical or vision focused, but I’m sure it’ll be meaningful if you’re a musician in the church. It kicks off at 1:45 pm est!

• As opposed to my earlier breakout, which took place in the main auditorium, Lee’s breakout happening in a small children’s church room–it’s nearly 50 min to the session starting and the room is nearly full!
• I’m sitting in the back left corner, lap top jacked into a wall outlet. The room is buzzing with people finding their seats. I’m primed and good to go.
• Oh man…standing room only now, and there’s still 40 min till this thing starts. I wonder if I’m going to be able to see at all!
• Meeting some cool folks around me–this place is jam packed with artists!
• We’re talking about how you shepherd paid musicians and make sure that the people you have up there are seeking the Lord as well.
• Lee has hit the stage. He’s talking to someone on his cell phone actually, and we’re all listening in.
• They can’t figure out how to turn on the mic in this room. Planning guys, planning. Then again, we’re artists, so I would expect nothing less…; )
• They’re going without the mic. This should be interesting.
• Lee’s introducing Austin Booth, one of the worship leaders and guitar players. (yes, they finally have sound!)
• Now he’s introducing himself–he was here on the first Sunday at Newspring when they had 70 people. He’s encouraging those of you who are in a position where you’re doing it all–he’s been there.
• Looks like it’s going to be heavily vision focused–Lee is going to share how God is talking to the musicians at Newspring right now.
• There is a priority order for you:
• 1st you are his child–a child of God
• 2nd, you are a minister to people
• 3rd, you are a musician and a worship leader
• We tend to get that order screwed up in our lives
• As you child, you are irreplacable, but as a minister of the gospel, you are completely expendable–He doesn’t need you to complete his will.
• If you’re concerned about becoming known for music, and yet you can’t take the time to know someone’s name or stop and talk to someone in the lobby, you’ve got it screwed up.
• God will fight you for your own heart, and he will not share his glory with anyone–unfortunately, a stage ministry tends to be a huge stumbling block in putting God’s glory first before ours.
• Loving God with our lives (loving spouses, feeding the poor, tithing) is a better offering than raising your hands and singing
• So, if you want to be a worship leader, you will be leading your congregation in these areas. If you’re not, than you’re just a director of music.
• Being a Child of God
• 4 important things–knowing the Bible, intimacy with God, sabbath, and community.
• Your relationship with God will express itself uniquely because you are a unique creation–therefore your “quiet time” should look unique to you. Respond to the Holy Spirit, not a plan that worked for someone else
• For Lee, God seemed to say “give me your first 2 hours”. So he wakes up, takes a shower, grabs coffee, and then spends two hours doing a ton of different things…singing, praying, reading scripture.
• They are coming off of an intense season of busy hours–you can sustain a long period of intense ministry if you would keep the Sabbath.
• Community–Lee is talking about being single with all married friends and going through one of the loneliest times of his life. Sometimes as leaders people get used to you initiating, so in your friendships they don’t initiate with you and your pride gets in the of finding community. As a leader, you have to realize that who you are as a worship leader means that people look to you to lead relationships, and so you live in danger of missing community if you are not very intentional about making time to fellowship regularly with other people, no matter what it takes.
• Minister to People
• 3 sub points–work under authority, practice communication, and work hard
• your senior pastor needs to lead you, even when your taste in music differs. God puts that music on his heart for a reason, and he’s usually right. Come to your pastor trying to say yes as much as you can. Even if you think the song he’s asking for is completely uncool.
• If you are struggling with your senior pastor, then maybe, just maybe you need to search your heart and it could be that you have a problem with the authority of Jesus rather than your pastors authority.
• Lee get’s self concious–because it’s us who play the songs–people may think ” the worship leader picked that song?” It’s a common thought, but something we have to get over.
• Other than your teaching pastor, you speak to the congregation more than anyone else at your church. Your pastor spends hours and hours preparing for what he says–you need to plan out what you are going to say-find scriptures, think about what you’re going to say.
• “don’t just pray because you need to tune”. Classic–lol.
• We all hate things that seem rehearsed or inauthentic–but you need to spend the time to find the thing that God needs you to say, and that you really mean and can own to the depth of your soul. The congregation can tell when you’re passionate and mean what you’re saying and when you don’t.
• Being a musician
• Be objective about your craft–record yourself, video record yourself–you are your worst critic. No one likes to do it, but do it. Not recording yourself as a vocalist is like having food in your teeth. You’re only hurting yourself.
• Go to concerts–you won’t understand what professional level musicianship is like unless you go, listen, experience.
• You voice is not just a tool–sing for the King’s pleasure–big notes, big guitar solos, have their place, because when the King gives you the gift and says “sing”, you don’t hide the gift–you don’t care who’s in the room, you just sing and use the gift that the King gave you.
• Balance singing to encourage people to follow after God, and taking some moments to exercise the crazy awesome gift he’s given you by forgetting everything else and singing because it pleases God to use your gifts to the fullest.
• Do not let worship ministry become an idol–build God’s dream and he will give you the dream that you didn’t even know you had. He will come through for you.
• Lee’s opening the floor for questions:
• How do you find an equal balance between the style you prefer and the style of your guitarists/other musicians–go to God to get vision about what your sound needs to be. If you have a player who has a style that they can’t break out of and grow through–country licks, 80’s wammy bar, metal taps…then they have deeper issues
• Let’s be real–if someone comes into church who doesn’t know God and hears music that doesn’t sound like anything that they’re listening to, there’s a disconnect there to some extent, and you’re creating a barrier that will exist, where they will at best have a cynical outlook about the service before they hear the set. It might be better for them to not hear any music at all then to hear music that will create barriers before the preaching of the word.
• “There’s a big difference between ‘man that felt good’, and ‘that actually was good’.”
• As a vocalist, you can’t tell objectively where you need to improve until you listen back to something.
• Do you use a click track? Yes all the time, in rehearsal, every transition, every song.
• Do you ever have others lead worship for you? Yes—about 8 weeks in a row, and then 2 or so off–they rotate some of their other paid worship leaders in.
• Tones and personnel can not change between rehearsal and service if you want the sound to be free of distractions.
• Dealing with character failure and holding up technical excellence over heart–Lee’s answer: worship isn’t about music. They push hard to have musicians who have a heart for God. If you have a musician who is living in unrepentant sin–at the end of the day, that is a test from God as to whether you are willing to trust Him to bring the right people and the Holy Spirit, or are trusting in the power of man…in a band to attract people.
• Lee doesn’t have a hand in raising up new worship leaders–but at Newspring–look to the youngest folks that you got, ask them to play at youth, write music, come play–but if they can’t cut it, we don’t use them because there’s too much at stake to have a distracting service anywhere on campus.
• http://www.planningcenteronline.com–use it to schedule and get your musicians music
• your musicians need to be punctual, prayed up, and prepared with their music–email them and say if they can’t commit to those three things, then you can’t use them anymore. You still love them, but they can’t be on team if they’re not able to commit to that.
• The price of leadership is that you have to tell people no sometimes–you have to help them figure out what their place is in the body of Christ, and unfortunately stage ministry plays right to the ego. You have to be willing to tell people that there are other places for them to serve, but being a part of the music ministry is not it.
• Do you use non-christians on stage? No–we need people who can fully engage with us spiritually, and who will pull their prayer weight with us for Sunday.
• And that’s it…times up and Lee concludes the break out.  There were definitely some very cool insights into how Newspring’s team functions on a practical level and on a spiritual level. Post your thoughts below!

Filed under: Live Blog, Practical, Unleash