Creating Moments For Coaching

Your anxiety heightens. Sleep leaves you. Your palms get sweaty and your heart races. There are few things more nerve-racking for a worship leader. Yep! It's the moment you fall back and let someone else step up to your microphone and lead worship.

This is a scary day, but its a critical day. In order to be a successful worship leader you must allow room for others to grow. Every athlete in the world understands that one element of consistent growth is the input of a great coach or mentor. Worship leaders need coaching as well. You have the opportunity to be that coach for those around you. They need you. They need your input. You are their leader.

Being a coach is not easy. And finding moments that allow for effective coaching can be even more difficult. Here are some thoughts that will make it easier for you to find those moments and capitalize on them.

In order to create moments for coaching you must:

1. be willing to fail

- The reality is that the best moments for coaching come from our failures not our successes. When we are down we are more open to input. When we are up we tend to be closed off from input.

- It's tough to be willing to see something go wrong in a Sunday morning service just for the sake of coaching. Therefore, you must find a spot for people to start. It can be a small group, men's/women's group/etc. It could be in your home! It could be anything. JUST GET PEOPLE STARTED.

- I often allow people to lead one song, then two, then three until they are prepared to lead an entire service. This keeps them from becoming overwhelmed and keeps me from rushing people into positions they are not prepared for.

2. be willing to confront

- You can't coach without being willing to confront. Just get over it. I'm not saying you need to be argumentative; that won't accomplish anything positive. However, you do need to clearly communicate faults and failures as well as a plan to remedy these issues.

- I do this by providing a worship leader evaluation* after every time someone else leads even a song. I always include positive things they did, around 3 things they could improve on, ways they can improve those things and a word of gratitude and encouragement.

*contact me if you would like an example of a worship leader evaluation.

3. be willing to let go

- As leaders, we naturally "own" our positions well. However, if we view our job not so much as the act of ministry but the training of others for works of service, we will greatly increase our joy in the success of others. That joy will motivate us to let go of our need for position and let others succeed.

- Part of training others for works of service is displaying (a part most of us really enjoy and are good at) and the other is observing (not very glamorous and rarely enjoyed). It's nearly impossible to observe while displaying. Humility is key in being an effective observer. You cannot have the pride of the position and observe well.

Let others try! If someone had not allowed me to try, I wouldn't be here. One of the great aspects of letting others try is that it promotes a safe and appropriate avenue for coaching and mentoring. Work hard to create moments of coaching and you will not be disappointed! Your leaders will grow. You will grow. And your church will benefit greatly. God bless and have fun!

- PN

follow me on twitter: @nathanganz

Life Journal Entry

Here was a devotional from my LifeJournal last week. I found it to be incredibly helpful:

Title:

Dream a Dream…

Verse:

Genesis 37:10-11

But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Observations:

- Joseph is the favorite son of his father, Jacob.

- Joseph is a young man of seventeen years.

- Joseph is quite arrogant even though he has the low position in the family

- This is the second of two dreams that had to do with his family bowing down to him.

- The dreams were from God. However, he handled them with great immaturity and arrogance.

Applications:

- God the motivator

- Every person is motivated differently. I content that God gave Joseph dreams to keep him going; knowing that he would have to go through unbelievable pain in order to be in the place God had predestined for him.

- God the breaker

- God breaks you so that He can use you.

- Broken Defined: Tamed, Trained, Submitted, Humbled, Useful for service

- It’s not a comfortable thought that we need to be broken in order to fulfill God’s call on our lives, but it is a reality.

- He corrects those He loves. He humbles those He wants to exalt. If you aren’t ready, He will break you.

- It’s critical that we don’t view “God the breaker” in a negative light. Being broken is an extremely POSITIVE and VITAL part of our journey. Those who are greatly used are also greatly broken.

- Never Forget

- One of my favorite parts of this story is in verse 11 “…but his father kept the saying in mind.”

- Just because his son was arrogant, doesn’t mean he was wrong. You can’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

- Just when you think the dream has completely died, God can revive it.

- God can revive a dream from a pit.

- God can revive a dream from a dungeon.

- God can revive a dream from a foreign land.

- Never forget the call of God, and the dreams that He has put in your heart. If you submit to his process, they will come to pass.

- PN

follow me on twitter: @nathanganz

listening is leading

Now that we are in a mobile worship environment, I often times find myself very busy before service. When I get busy I get classically male; one thought, one purpose, one task. Every distraction from that one purpose gets Rambo’d out of the way. I am like a one-man recon crew deep in the jungles of foreign lands seeking my prize. When I get in my Rambo mode I certainly accomplish my tasks. I also inadvertently accomplish other, not so great, things as well.

1. I lose sight of the bigger picture

I forget to stop and pay attention to people and remember that the bigger picture always eclipses the smaller one. The bigger picture is people, not tasks! But the tasks are to serve the people, aren’t they? Hopefully! But tasks are always a secondary service to actually interacting directly with people. It’s critical that as a leader you always make sure people know that they are the most important. As a church, people are your purpose. Seeing those people come into a life changing relationship with Jesus.

2. I forget to listen

One of the greatest skills a worship leader could ever develop is the ability to listen while playing and singing. I know how crazy that sounds! It’s a far cry from classic male, but must be accomplished by all worship leaders. Worship leaders must listen for two specific things while they lead.

- all the music: It’s critical that we portray excellence in all we do. Part of being an excellent musician is the ability to listen and adapt to other musicians around you. This helps you with flow, movement and cohesiveness.

- the voice of the Holy Spirit: When I am leading well, I am consistently praying and listening to His voice as He directs our worship. He is our leader. We are His followers. We have plans but His are better. We have limited creativity but His creativity knows no bounds. Make a concerted effort the next time you lead to be praying and listening while you’re leading. The only way to accomplish this is to be so well prepared that you don’t have to think about words and/or music. The song must be on automatic so that we can move with the Holy Spirit as He directs our worship. You also must be spiritually prepared, cleansed and pure hearted.

Listening is leading. We are all but followers of Christ. None of us leads unto ourselves. We all lead others towards Christ. What better asset than a direct, purposeful guiding of the Holy Spirit as we lead His people in worship? I challenge you to not just Rambo your worship set. Listen, listen, listen. Don’t be a one-man recon crew. Instead, be the best follower and listener you can be and, without a doubt, God will help you become the best leader possible.

PN

Playing Hurt

I love football, NFL and college (GO DUCKS!). In fact, I am a fanatic for it. I love how fast it is. I love how difficult it is. I love the precision, the timing and the power. Most of all I love the mentality of all football players. They are all “tough it out” kind of guys. And the ones who choose to complain are openly scrutinized. Real football players have concussions and you have to restrain them from going back on the field. Real football players keep running full speed, blocking and contributing even when their helmets fall off in the middle of a play. All real football players will tell you that you have to play hurt.

Even though I love watching true grit on the gridiron there are some distinct disadvantages to playing hurt.

While playing hurt:
1. you cannot perform at your top level
2. you cannot be fully trusted by your teammates
3. you are a liability to the team; even putting some of them in dangerous positions
4. you are risking further injury

As a worship leader, we must have some of the same mentality as football players. Some of the good qualities would be:

- No matter what the situation, I’m going to do my best.
- We “tough it out” when the sound isn’t right or something is amiss
- We put ourselves in the front of the pack to clear the way for others

All of those are great and true. But what happens when a worship leader is “playing hurt”? Imagine our sin as an injury. When a worship leader gets up to lead with unresolved sin its as if he is leading hurt.

While leading hurt:
1. you cannot perform at your top level
- This is greatly significant when you realize that you are performing an ancient, honorable and unique service to God, not playing for your congregation.

2. you cannot be trusted by your teammates
- It is vital for a worship team to be unified at ALL times. I’m not saying you can’t disagree on the arrangement of a song. I’m talking about the unity of the Spirit. We must be ONE when we lead. Just like a quarter back could never win a game without his front line and receivers being on the same page, so a worship leader cannot lead effectively without his team being unified.

3. you are a liability to the team
- We are only as good as our weakest link. Enough said…

4. you risk further injury
- One of the greatest temptations for a worship leader who is leading hurt is to think that he can will an effective worship service by his own strength, skill and determination. This is an increasingly difficult trap to get out of when the worship leader has immense talent. We MUST remember that everything we do is completely dependant upon the power of God. We cannot invade people’s lives and bring change. Only God can do that. By leading in our own power we risk getting stuck in our sin and perpetually playing hurt.

3 ways to avoid leading hurt:
1. Live a life of repentance! (Acts 3:19)
2. Live a life of accountability (James 5:16)
3. Live a life of discipline and devotion (John 14:21)

I encourage you to get healthy! Let’s rid ourselves of sin that so easily entangles and seek the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart. Your God desires your faithful service. Your team needs your unwavering leadership and your church needs you to be at full capacity in every service. Playing hurt is an issue of pride and we are called to a life of humble service. So play healthily, my friends!

PN

follow me and my church on twitter:
me: @nathanganz
my church: @ElevateNW

The Value of Preparation

I have been in a lot of church services. Some services have been incredible. Most of them have been average and a few were completely awful. I have experienced services that are well put together but lacked depth while others seem to have been thrown together and were extremely successful. I have heard worship leaders say “It’s alright, God will show up.” As if this “showing up” is some sort of magic that replaces excellent work. The worst services ever are when the leader isn’t prepared and God doesn’t magically pick up the slack. Have you ever been in one of those? They are excruciating!

The vast majority of unsuccessful worship services take place due to a lack of preparation. Some worship leaders think that if they just had a better bass player or sound man that their services would instantly become successful. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case. Successful worship services exist primarily because the worship leader is well prepared. The unprepared leader is lucky to be successful and should not ever take that for granted. All worship leaders need to know that preparation is KEY for a successful worship service.

In my experience, I have observed a few situations where being well prepared is vital. They include but are not limited to:

1. When we are lacking rehearsal time…

- Now that we are a “box church” I certainly value all of our rehearsal time like never before. It is so easy to eat away at rehearsal time with set up, problem solving and sound checking that it becomes critical to have an effective and efficient rehearsal. (click here for tips on how to build an efficient rehearsal)

2. When technology is more like tchnelaoudafhghdyg…

- Recently we have begun using an IPad via VNC that allows me to view the screen of our PowerPoint computer in order that I can see the words. Sounds cool, right!? It is! When it works. LOL! What happens when it freezes, there is a delay or an alert pops up in the middle of the screen? Almost all of those happened this weekend for our worship leader. So what do we do? We must know the words. Our singers must know that words. We cannot rely solely on technology, we must actually use our brains. LOL IMAGINE THAT!

3. When we are teaching a new song…

- Very few things are more frustrating than a worship leader who doesn’t know what they want to do with a new song. Time is wasting trying new things, new ideas, changing this chord or that. When we are strapped for time, none of it can be wasted. Worship leaders must show up knowing what they want to do so that the rehearsal can be effective and efficient.

4. When we are in a new environment…

- When things are never the same, something has to be our due north. A leader’s preparation can be that calming agent that we are going the right way. If things are abnormal and the leader isn’t prepared, it can create a perfect storm of worry, concern and ineffectiveness. Preparation helps calm the storm and teaches the team that the worship leader is trustworthy to follow.

Preparation is so valuable to a worship leader. Preparation helps a worship leader to be efficient, effective, adaptable, easy to follow and trustworthy. Please do not undervalue the preparation. Believe that God can lead you in your preparation and bless your readiness. When worship leaders prepare well they are better equipped to follow the Holy Spirit as He desires. So spiritualize your preparation and know that God is with you and for you!

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

- PN

When change is the norm - lesson from the "box" church

The Change:

Recently my church has undergone a major change. We have transitioned out of our building and into a mobile environment that gives us more flexibility with our resources and space to expand. A “box” church has advantages but still poses many challenges for a worship team and it’s leader. I think the greatest challenge is leading an engaging worship service when you don’t have the tools you are used to having.

The Bare Bones:

In this new environment we don’t have our lighting, our multi-media or sound system. We are using borrowed equipment, learning some new equipment and trying to figure out how to best utilize our new space. In this mode, it is vital for a worship team and leader to understand that the sound, the building, the set up and the production are not worship in and of themselves and the lack of these things cannot stop true worship.

The Requirements:

Jesus only has two requirements for worship to be true. Shockingly, the two requirements are not good lighting and good sound. Instead His requirements are that true worship be done is spirit and truth. John 4:21-24 ²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Spirit – G4151 pneuma – a current of air, a breathe

Truth – G225 alētheia – truth (absolute)

The Basics:

We must continually humble ourselves and come back to the basics. Worship is not a part of a service; it is a lifestyle that declares who God is. Worship is not based on a location, but upon the constant revelation of the Spirit and Truth of who Christ is. No location (sound system, lights, fog, media, ambiance) can replace or trump Spirit and Truth. Anything that steers us away from declaring who God is and leads us to self-reliance needs to be reevaluated and, most likely, removed.

The Conclusion:

Once we have secured our foundation and understanding of worship we can introduce these new elements in their proper place. They lights, sound systems, stage designs, graphics and media must help in revealing the Spirit and Truth of Christ. If they do not help in revelation, remove them and get back to basics. IT’S OK! Starting with a blank slate might just be the best thing that ever happened to you and your church. Pursue God, not ambiance.

Check this out...

My friend, Nathan Finochio, is quite possibly the most talented musician I have ever met. He's one of those guys who doesn't play like anyone else and he always sounds better than everyone else. Here is a song he wrote in one night....how, I don't know.

Worship leader? More like a worship preacher

It is very easy for worship leaders to turn into worship preachers. I remember one particular camp I attended where the worship leader preached significantly more than he sang. People observed instead of participated. I think we get so passionate and we desire so greatly to see people worship that sometimes we don’t realize that our good intentions and attempts to motivate are actually becoming a hindrance to people worshiping. When worship leaders become worship preachers we can unintentionally impede one’s worship experience.

It is important to know that I think there are certainly appropriate times to exhort as a worship leader. There is also an appropriate way to exhort as a worship leader. So if you are going to exhort here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Keep it short
– It’s important that we don’t ramble. Keep it clear and focused.

2. Avoid “you need to” statements
– They only come across as condemning. If you do feel there is a “need to” statement worth mentioning, make sure you use “we” instead of “you”.

3. Make sure you have a clear, practical and immediate application
– Exhortations that are general are typically unproductive. I highly recommend encouraging them to take part in a particular form of worship. This will help them bring about your desired goal; an engaged worship experience for your people.

4. Limit “C’mon” and “Let’s go” type of statements
- An appropriate use of these phrases can really help motivate people to worship. However, if you overuse these phrases people will be able to tell that you are frustrated with their response and cause them to resist your leading even more. Instead, once you have appropriately used these phrases, focus on being a phenomenal example of a worshiper. Since you have appropriately exhorted them give your people time to respond and the Holy Spirit time to move.

5. Don’t butcher scripture
- If you use scripture you must 1. have it memorized; or 2. read it correctly.