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How do I find musicians when a church is small and has very few people who can play
Started by Gareth Le Long ... on 18 August 2008 - 3:02pm
| 18 August 2008 - 3:02pm | |
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Ok, I'm not a worship pastor, more of a coordinator but I believe this maybe the best place for this question. I'm part of a small growing church (50 adults) and it's frustrating as we have few musicians thus it ends up me or another guy on guitar just leading worship on a Sunday with maybe one singer. We're not a city church near a university where multi instrumentalists (is there such a word?) are falling over themselves to join the worship team. How do I develop a team short to medium term? Should I recruit from outside? How do I recruit hidden musicians within the church? Pray loads! Anyone any ideas or experience of this? |
Hi Gareth
My wholehearted recommendation would be to find out whether any of the teenagers at the church can play - even (especially!) if they're on the fringe of church life. It's a medium-term investment rather than short as you'll most likely need to spend time training them up, but healthy at so many levels.
And if there are teenagers who can't play then see if there are any who are up for learning! You could run lessons youself or see whether your church would be up for providing professional lessons as an investment both in worship and also in the youth.
People who gave me chances like that at my first churches contributed so much to my faith.
Blessings
Chris
i wholeheartedly echo chris' thoughts above. when i first came to the uk i was involved in a smaller village church. the week i got there i was asked if i would be ok to start leading the worship the following week. for quite a while it was just me and the odd singer and my mate who played bass. it was tough going . . . the hard yards. the real breakthrough came when i did exactly what chris is saying above. there were a few teenagers who loved music and were just getting going. so i met with them one afternoon every week and we would practice some fundamental music stuff and the songs for the weekend. some of them were a little more advanced and i was able to get them going really quickly. the ones that were just taking off i'd get them playing along but not necessarily coming through the main mix - but just building their confidence and musical awareness. we kept the arrangements very simple but it worked. even though it was all a bit musically ropey it transformed worship in the church - we suddenly had this energy and the church loved seeing the youngsters worshipping. it changed everything. and it made me excited to see it happen and see them developing and taking on more and more. most of those young guys are still playing and holding it all together in that church now. its so worthwhile investing the time.
Again, I agree with the comments made above. The investment in young people is definitely worth it in both the medium and the long term,although I'm sure that in the short term it may not be the easiest.
The only reason I lead worship today is because when I was fifteen one of the teachers at my boarding school who was in charge of the school's Christian Union (all 8 of us) asked me if I would like to help him lead worship at a local village church on Sunday evenings. He listened to all the songs I wrote at the time, which, to be honest, are completely dire (I recently found a folder with about 20 songs in them which I wrote round about that time and not one of them is worth listening to!!!!).
But, nevertheless he invested his time and gave me that freedom and understanding to allow me to progress at my own pace and he helped me get to know God that much more. Had he not invested his time in me who knows where I'd be right now. I'd definitely not be leading worship as I just wouldn't have the confidence required!
So, investing in your youth is definitely worth doing.
Alex
I agree with this i am a member of the limited youth we have at our church. There are few people of the youth who I know can play well enough to join me in playing or even to join the singers..... If not get them learning something....