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Re: [Worship] Re: Taking A Break!
At 01:18 PM 31/05/98 -0500, Wayne wrote:
>>
>> It is important to keep some time when you can just be a worshipper, with
>> no leadership, musical or technical responsibilities. Without that, the
>> music becomes almost a job rather than a gift, and you're in danger of
>> losing much of the enjoyment and excitement that goes with being in a
>> worship band.
>
>I have a question for the list, I am a backup/harmony vocalist on our worship
>team and I think I can understand burnout but I have never felt it or
>experienced it. I was on one team for 3 years every Sunday and then on
another
>one now for 9 months. With the second one, there is another team also and we
>take turns doing worship one month at a time. This was my last Sunday this
>month and I'm going to miss it. I can worship and come into His presence
>easier I think when I'm on the team. I just close my eyes and let the Spirit
>flow. Is there anyone out there who feels the same? When I find a good
>harmonic and just let it go every now and then I see the leader look over
at me
>and just beam. After service he says that the Spirit washed over him at that
>point and stayed with him the rest of worship. He wants us all to take a 1
>month break every other month but I think he is now beginning to
understand me
>that God had called me on the team and it is not a chore but a time of
>refreshing in His glorious presence. I receive visions and prophetic words
>while I am helping lead worship. There is nothing more loving to me than to
>sit at His feet listening to His voice.Mary would understand. Does anyone
>else?
I know what you mean - certainly, being on the team should be a source of
joy, and, if it's not, there's something wrong.
In my previous church, we only had one band and I played every Sunday - we
all did. But it wasn't a burden, partly because I enjoyed it (I still do),
and partly because there wasn't a lot of additional commitment. We only
practiced every other week (to fit in with some shift workers on the team),
and because we met in a rented hall, the band not only didn't have to
arrive earlier than everyone else, we were unable to! Nearly everyone in
the church would turn up 30 - 40 minutes early, and the band would set up
the kit as other people put out chairs, set up the book table, etc.
In my current church, things are different. For a start, we're bigger, and
we have our own building. We also have a double meeting on Sunday morning -
a teaching meeting followed by a family celebration service - and the band
have to be there for both, as well as having a pre-service rehearsal, which
means arriving much earlier than everyone else. There's a Monday night
practice every week, which you have to attend if you're on duty the
following Sunday, plus a monthly full-team meeting. I also lead one of our
home groups, so I've got another night when I'm committed to be "on duty"
serving the church.
All that adds up to a significantly higher level of commitment and work,
even though I'm not on duty on the Sunday team every week. The burnout, I
find, comes not so much from actually playing on Sunday morning, but from
the corollary activity - weekday rehearsals, arriving early on Sunday, etc.
Also, in my previous church, I had friends at another church not too far
away, and I often visited their church on Sunday evening (they had an
evening meeting, and we didn't), so I still had the opportunity to just be
a regular worshipper in the pew even though I was fully committed to my own
church. That helped a lot - I think that without that, I might well have
found the commitment of playing every Sunday more burdensome than it was.
I guess that what I'm trying to say here, is that burnout and commitment
are very situational, and depend on the person as well as on the way in
which your church does things. The most important thing is to find the
place where you're comfortable with the level of commitment, and where you
can best serve the Lord with your talents. Those who lead worship teams (or
any other teams, for that matter) also need to be aware of this - not all
of your team are going to be at the same place, and flexibility is an
important key to keeping a team together that enjoy their role and are
committed to serving.
Mark
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