Hello everyone!

This month we are going to be talking about team building, especially as it pertains to worship teams.  Building a team usually begins with a process of choosing those who are going to be part of your team. However, you may be in a situation, like I am in, where you are working with an already established team of musicians whom you have been given the responsibility of leading.

Either way, Team building has many different aspects to it.  One aspect I want to talk about is the people aspect, or the human or relational element.  It is of the utmost importance to know how to relate to people in a team setting, especially when working together with other musicians of varied personality types, with their individual strengths, weaknesses, and musical abilities, to name a few issues. 

To be effective leaders, we must learn how to listen, even embrace the willingness to listen to others and their suggestions and input, even though this may include disagreement from time to time on approach or other things related to our worship presentation. As a leader, we may have the final say on things, but we still must be willing to hear people out. Should we exclude people expressing views, we will be shutting them out of the process, even alienating them. This could result in the loss of a valued team member. We really want to avoid that where possible.

Treating our team members with dignity and respect is an absolute necessity if we want to gain their trust and respect.  So when those times where we, as leaders, happen to be in a bad mood or haven’t had our coffee yet (Mocha!), we still need to remember to hold our tongues when need be, or to just take a deep breath to calm ourselves.  I’m not saying we need to put on painted smiles and be phony, only that we must learn to keep our mouths in check.  We all appreciate being treated nicely by others. A good rule of thumb is to think twice when you're not entirely focused - and even when you are - before speaking!

Another thing that goes a long way towards team building is courtesy, remembering to say "Thank you", "You’re welcome", and showing genuine appreciation to others for their contributions to the team and for a job well done. 

While the idea as musicians in a worship setting may not be for self adulation and recognition, having the worship leader or other team members show verbal appreciation is almost always appropriate.  What musician doesn’t like to hear someone say, “Dude, that was a smoking hot solo”!  Come on now, we all like it, especially when it is a sincere compliment.

Paying attention to the other team members and showing genuine interest in their lives and what they may be going through both in and outside of 'church' time, will help us all, especially those of us who are leaders, to build strong and healthy relationships with one another.

It is also great to hear as a worship leader, from the other team members now and then, words of encouragement and support.

Although the focus this time has not been specifically music related, all of these elements are essential aspects of team building. If we hope to build strong, healthy, and vibrant worship team ministries in our churches, you can't ignore this fact.

So, until next time, keep on worshipping the King of kings and the Lord of lords, for he alone is worthy, Amen?

JB