As 2010 and our first year of Practical Music Ministry comes to a close, we want to take this time to remember the reason why we’re here. So, we wish you a merry Christmas and acknowledge the fact that the very child born in the manger died and rose again for us.
Please enjoy this song, The Gospel of Christmas”, by my good friend Jacob Davis that testifies to that fact.
Merry Christmas. Much love to you and your family. See you in 2011!
We’ve been quiet for a while due to some connectivity issues, but we’re back online!
A while back, I sent out an email to our newsletter subscribers asking for blog ideas or general questions from readers. Joshua B. writes:
My music ministry is going through some financial problems, how can we raise money as a non-denominational music ministry?
Wow, Joshua, that’s a tough one! Unless a ministry is a part of a mega church, it’s likely that there is going to be at least some financial difficulty. “Expenses” in music ministry is often one of the most misunderstood categories of a church budget, which makes the situation all the more difficult. For independent bands and music groups that aren’t under the umbrella of a church, it gets even harder. What’s more is that fund raising can become a moral dilemma when you try to maintain operating costs without becoming a “den of thieves”. I am by no means a financial expert, but I can give you the ideas that have worked for ministries I’ve been involved in as well as strategies that have worked for my own business.
To help ease the financial burden, the first step is to minimize the money going out. Keep track of what is being spent. Then analyze that information to determine if there’s any expenses that can be eliminated or reduced. Spending money is inevitable; however, make sure that the spending isn’t unnecessary.
On an important note, eliminate debt. Debt can be a real killer to a ministry. Try not to buy things until you have saved enough for the purchase. It can be tough to wait, but debt is just a bad practice all around. Take a look at Proverbs for more on that topic.
When you do spend money, make sure that it makes the most impact that it can. You want the most “Return on Investment” (ROI). In other words, you want the things you buy to “pay for themselves” (and then some) as quickly as possible. For instance, if your ministry buys a recording setup, a video camera, or a CD duplicator, how can you use it creatively to generate income back into your ministry?
Desperate times call for desperate measures. When finances get tough, often we need to “think outside the box” in terms of making money. Find what goods or services your ministry team’s members could individually donate to your ministry. Then, find out what services or goods your ministry team as a whole can create.
You’re a music ministry. How about making a CD? It doesn’t have to be elaborate or terribly expensive to produce, especially if the music is in the public domain (see our previous post on using music legally). Sell them on CD-baby or at live events. Here’s an example of a very simple CD that I produced as a fund raising opportunity.
If you have a digital video camera and a computer at your disposal, consider making video products which would be useful to your audience. Perhaps music/instrument lessons, video seminars, sermons, etc. Sell them as DVDs or sell them online as digital downloads.
Again, you want to look at production costs and weigh them against your potential income. Determine how much you have to sell in order to “break even” and start making a profit. (I know ministry isn’t about making a profit, per se, but you do need to generate more than you spend in order to survive.)
Basically, all this advice so far can be summed up as thus: good stewardship. Take care of what God has already given you and maximize it as much as you can. Invest it, and make it grow. Keep in mind that you’re not out to make money to bless yourselves. However, your focus as a ministry should always be about blessing others. That said, I believe the ministry should tithe.
Here’s a list of some creative fund raising ideas:
Hope that helps! God bless!
I read a blog post by respected Christian artist and songwriter Michael Gungor that really got me to thinking.
Sometimes I find the argument over Christian music vs. secular music completely frustrating. I am a Christian. I believe in the teachings of Jesus and in traditional Judeo-Christian values. I’m also a musician and music creator who is involved in the music industry. More than just being a creator or artist, music is my livelihood. While I love it, it’s just like going to the office for any other 9-5 job for me. Music is my job. So I’m deeply bothered by the ignorance of folks who say that any music that doesn’t say “Jesus” or “God” in the lyric (not to mention having guitars or drums) is inherently of the Devil.
Again, being an “artistic creator”, I write music of all sorts. I do write songs about God and faith, but I also write love songs, songs about life, songs about addictions, songs about sports, instrumentals for television, and so on. To say that the creations which aren’t overtly Christian themed are unholy is likened to saying that a painter who creates a painting of a landscape is inspired by Satan. Even more, it’s like saying an architect who doesn’t build exclusively churches should be shunned. Now, nobody ever gets up in arms over a painter who doesn’t solely paint pictures of Jesus or an architect who builds a hotel. Nobody brands the children’s author a sinner. (News Flash: We’re all Sinners! Story at eleven.) Yet, somehow, we as musical creators who don’t insert the name of “Jesus” or “God” into each creation are branded as “secular” and fervently preached against. Unfortunately, the same is true, even if the content of the song has a positive message.
While music and art does have the power to influence, for many people just a job. It’s something that they enjoy. It’s something that they do well. Yet, music isn’t the only career choice that influences people. Take, for instance, a public speaker. If he’s not a preacher, is his job frowned upon? Let’s look at a teacher. If she teaches English, math, or social studies, is her job or teachings scorned? Does her job alone make her unholy? Peter was a fisherman. Luke was a doctor. Going even further, Matthew was a tax collector, the most despised profession of his day. They were still used by God. In fact, Jesus was a carpenter. Did he only build churches?
Each of us has a role. We all have something we’re good at. We as creators and entertainers can use our gifts to help others, uplift others, to make people smile, or to make someone think. God gives us all gifts and talents. Just because we use those gifts in one particular manner over another doesn’t mean that we aren’t glorifying God. It surely doesn’t mean that we’re evil.
…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
If I inspire someone with a song about overcoming adversity, or if a love song eases the pain of someone who has lost a love, does God frown upon that? Jesus taught that the good Samaritan nursed the beaten man back to health, he didn’t simply drop him off at church.
So, the next time your child brings you home a picture of your house with a tree, clouds, and a smiley-faced sun that warms your heart, before you put it on your refrigerator, ask yourself if it’s a picture of Jesus or a church. Then look at the creation and the heart of the creator. When you reach for the magnet anyway, think about us musicians and songwriters. We’re no different.
Each week, a member of our praise team is in charge of Sunday morning Bible study between services. When I first read the email saying that it was my turn, my first thought was, “I don’t feel like doing bible study this week.” I’ve had a lot of stressful stuff going on. My allergies are on overdrive, and I don’t even feel like going to church. This week was just not the week. Then, later on, I thought about it and came to the conclusion that it simply doesn’t matter how I feel. It’s not about me anyway. So, today, I pose this question:
“What do we do when we don’t ‘feel it’?
We’re all human. Often we’re fine, but sometimes we get down. Sometimes we get upset. Sometimes we have doubt. Sometimes we’re tired. Other times we just feel plain lousy. I made a comment to our worship pastor last week that the band was rockin’ and I was really “feeling it” in worship for the past couple of weeks. Does that mean if I don’t feel anything that worship was bad?
That lead me to another epiphany. Worship being good or bad is really only determined by one factor: Our amount of personal surrender to the will of God. I shouldn’t be there to feel anything. It’s not about a feeling. It’s about putting aside our own feelings and honoring God through service and worship. In fact, I wonder if God honors our worship even more if we suck it up, go, worship, and serve especially when we don’t feel like it.
I’m reminded of Abraham. He was asked by God to sacrifice his own son,–not merely give him up, but to literally sacrifice him–his only legitimate son, promised by God, and miraculously delivered by a barren wife. I’m pretty sure Abraham didn’t feel like serving God that day. But he was willing anyway, and God honored his setting aside of his own feelings.
Then there’s Job. Job lost everything he had, everyone he loved, and even his own health. Yet he honored the very God who allowed it all to happen. (How many times have we not wanted to serve when we feel like God has turned away from our plight?) Yet Job, no matter how it made him feel, served and worshiped anyway. God honored that worship by restoring him to his former state, then increasing it tenfold.
And, above all, there’s Jesus. He knew the road ahead of him. He knew he would be brutally tortured. He knew he would bear the consequences of actions he didn’t deserve. He knew he would die a criminal’s death as a sinless man. That tells me it’s not a sin to “not feel like it”, as Jesus prayed that he would be spared the bitterness of his calling. He didn’t feel like suffering and dying. Still, he put his own feelings aside and said, “Whatever you want, Father.”
So, this week, your worship service may be like Pentecost, or it may just be the still, small voice. Either way, worship isn’t about the goosebumps we get from a song, it’s about how we get over ourselves, surrender, and serve…even when we don’t feel like it.
We’ve seen the situation so many times before: music ministries want to “take it to the next level”. However, it seems like “the Next Level” is a dream or a lofty goal that’s never quite achieved. We pay it lip service with the best of intentions, knowing full well what is said about good intentions. Still, why do we find ourselves unable to pull our music teams out of a rut and improve?
People, in general, aren’t fond of change. If things have been adequately working for a while, we’re afraid to leave the safety of our rut. Perhaps we’re afraid of whose feelings may be hurt when the team’s members are pressed for growth and improvement. Maybe it is the sympathy for those individuals who may get left behind as the team improves. It could be the fear that certain members may step down, or, equally likely, it may be the fear of having to ask a member to step down. All of the aforementioned factors are the enemies of growth and improvement, but there’s one, to me, that stands above them all: not embracing opportunities to learn, grow, and improve.
Learning is the key to growth and improvement, and opportunities for learning are closer than you might think. Your community college might hold music classes. The local university may hold guest lectures or seminars on music production. A larger church might hold a music conference or seminar on a variety of music ministry-related topics. Your own church may even bring in an expert in the field of sound, production, or music. Don’t pass up these opportunities to learn! Be observant, and seek out learning opportunities for your team. Armed with new information, new skills, and new ideas, you’re primed to take your ministry to the next level.
Despite the risk of sounding preachy, I’m going to assert a personal belief here:
Your level of commitment to your ministry determines your growth.
If you want a “tell” of someone who is not committed to his/her ministry, look at whether or not that member embraces opportunities to learn. Learning leads to new skills. New skills lead to preparation. Preparation leads to improvement. Improvement leads to growth.
Here’s an example. I was once asked by a church to lead a series of ten two-hour classes, covering topics related to the music ministry (sound, multimedia, team-building, music production, music theory, copyright, etc.). The church had been saying how they “wanted to take their music ministry to the next level”. Although the class was also offered to “newbies”, people interested in joining the music team, and other area people from outside that particular church, I still thought it would be the perfect opportunity to share some experience and information that would help that particular church to indeed “take it to the next level”.
While the number of attendees wasn’t terrible for a church that size, I did notice something. The class was populated mostly by members of other churches and some of my former students. That church’s own music ministry was practically unrepresented! When I approached the worship leader about how strange this was to me, his reply is still something I don’t think I’ll ever quite understand. He said, “I just don’t feel right making attendance mandatory.” (That comment seemed particularly contradictory, since the church was doing a mandatory leadership training for its volunteers.)
I had no idea what to say. I was completely floored. For a team to admittedly desire to “take it to the next level”, yet blow off an easy opportunity to gain valuable experiential information was something I just couldn’t wrap my mind around. It was just so counter-intuitive.
Now, I’m sure there are some people who would say I was personally offended. What really offended me had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with the fact that people just won’t commit to the ministries they volunteered for. That’s what offended me. You simply can’t expect growth if you can’t count on people to commit to, and live up to, what they’re called to do.
I know that embracing learning opportunities, study, practice, and rehearsal is a commitment of time. I also know people have other things to do. Still, without these time commitments, how can one expect improvement and growth? Where people spend (or refuse to spend) their time and money will show you where their commitments lie. When a man told Jesus that he would follow him after he attended his father’s funeral, Jesus said “Let the dead bury the dead” (Matthew 8:22). Jesus expects us to live up to our commitments 100 percent, particularly if we volunteered for them. Jesus also said in Luke 9:62 that if we put our hand to the plow to do his work and even turn to look behind us, we aren’t fit for his kingdom. That’s commitment.
Are we fully committing ourselves by embracing every opportunity to improve?
Recently, more and more churches are making the switch from analog consoles to digital consoles. They offer distinct advantages over their analog counterparts. For experienced engineers, or for churches with more complex needs, a digital console, such as the Yamaha 01V, may make for a wise transition. Here’s a look at the advantages of going digital:
Check out this article from ProSound Web’s Church Sound blog, where they make a pull-no-punches comparison of analog and digital consoles.
Has your church made the switch to digital? Share your experience with us!
In this our final post in our seven-part series, Striving to Grow, we’re going to address one of the major issues I think face praise teams from a musical standpoint. While we’ve already dealt with the problem of stagnant musicianship in part one of the series, our efforts are in vain if band members don’t learn to listen to one another.
Listening is key. A praise team that doesn’t listen to its other members is nothing more than a stage full of soloists. Often, younger musicians will come up with cool parts that don’t necessarily fit within the context of the music, or worse, conflict with other parts. People become partial to their “creations” and don’t want to change their parts so as to fit. This situation is a simple result of members not listening to each other, which is a very ignorant and selfish way to be a member of a group.
There are several situations that arise as a result of non-listening. Parts compete or conflict. Music doesn’t sound full because several instruments are playing in the same range. Sound techs have difficulty mixing effectively because of lack of blend. Instrumental fills or solos overlap vocals. Vocals don’t blend or harmonize appropriately and end up doubling each other’s parts. Instrument “tone” doesn’t fit in with other instruments. The list goes on. However, above all, a general sense of “sloppiness” is created.
Whether or not we like to admit it, the production quality of the music we hear on the radio and on CDs is so high that we can tell the difference between a good sounding band and a bad–even mediocre–one. While most listeners can’t pinpoint why, they are able to discern that there is a difference in quality. Most churchgoers excuse this because we’re “making a joyful noise” or “using our gifts for the Lord”, but that does not mean that we shouldn’t make a concerted effort to bring our best offering to God.
Here are elements to listen for to improve the musicality of your praise team:
Learning to listen to each other removes a world of obstacles and enhances the overall musicality of your praise team. If you’d like more information, many of these principles can be found in our ebook Recording Basics: A Beginner’s Guide to Producing Music in the chapter “Thinking Like a Producer”. You can also see the article “Taking your Worship Band to the Next Level” on MusicIsMyBiz.com.
See other posts in the series Striving to Grow: Overcoming Obstacles in Music Ministry
In my seminars and classes, I propose my philosophy about music ministry and what it means to be a worship leader. I’ve developed what I refer to as the Prime Directive of the Worship Leader. I believe that our job as worship leaders is
To, by example, lead others in the worship of God, while removing all distractions that may hinder that worship.
While our first job is to lead others, our work is in vain if there are too many distractions keeping others from fully engaging in worship. We’re not merely leaders, we’re also facilitators. So we are to make every effort to remove any distraction that disengages someone else from his/her focus on God.
Distractions can be viewed as stumbling blocks, inhibiting or disconnecting people from worship. 2 Corinthians 6:3 says this of the way we should conduct our ministry,
“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.”
So, what are some potential distractions?
This week, strive to remove any and all distractions from your worship services. What other things can we remove so that others can fully engage in worshiping God?
See other posts in the series Striving to Grow: Overcoming Obstacles in Music Ministry
As with anything, time wasters are effectiveness killers. Time wasters cut into our preparedness, and, as we mentioned in part three of our series, lack of preparation clouds our purpose.
There’s a “trickle down” effect when it comes to time wasters and preparation–a cause and effect relationship. Much like workers on a conveyor belt, if one person falls down on his/her job, there’s inevitably a backup created. Here’s an example scenario, let’s say someone is having a conversation with the sound tech while he should be preparing for the final sound check/rehearsal for the morning service. By the time the band arrives, unaddressed sound issues delay the band’s rehearsal. The band becomes frazzled, so they’re no longer focused on worship. In hopes to finish their run-through, they hold the doors to the sanctuary, thereby making the congregants antsy or impatient, negatively influencing the worship of some. The pastor sees this negative vibe from the congregants, thereby increasing his concern and drawing his focus away from his purpose. One single incidence has hampered the entire service.
While it may sound extreme or exaggerated, situations like this do happen, and they happen considerably more frequently than we would like to admit. Here are some points to consider to keep your machine running smoothly:
What time wasters plague your team? How did you deal with them? Comment and let us know.
See other posts in the series Striving to Grow: Overcoming Obstacles in Music Ministry
Are assumptions holding back your worship team?Our last post we talked about being able to fully worship by sending our technical mind on autopilot. In the fourth post in our series, Striving to Grow, we’re going to discuss Breaking Assumptions.
Being a part of the music industry outside of the music ministry, I can tell you that nothing is left to chance or up for interpretation. People go out of their way to make sure they know exactly what they are expected to do and exactly what they’ll get in return. The ones that don’t know end up with a lot of headaches and heartache. Contracts, in the business world, ensure that each party is aware of his/her expectations. Rarely do I do any dealings that don’t involve a contract before I begin work.
Many people shy away from contracts, as they are often viewed as shady and purposely misleading. While many people word contracts to where they can only be read by a lawyer, not all of contracts have to be that way. They can just be a basic outline or explanation of each members function that is agreed to by signature. Don’t look at contracts as demeaning, or as if someone doesn’t trust you. Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12 stress the importance of keeping your word, but, unfortunately, peoples’ words or handshakes don’t always hold the same meaning that they used to, even in the church. So, contracts just remove all room for assumptions and doubt as to each person’s responsibilities.
In the music biz, bands have inter-member agreements, which state each member’s stake in the band, the decision making process, commitment obligations, what happens when a member leaves, etc. Worship bands should consider having those same types of agreements. Here are some of the issues that can be addressed within a contract:
These are some of the most common and detrimental issues that a band or ministry team must settle. By having members sign an agreement upon entering a group, there is little room for excuses when it comes to problem areas. The members know what the ministry expects and what happens when those expectations are not met. Although it’s never easy to “let someone go” from a group, it’s more justified when they’ve signed an agreement. The important thing is to stand behind your convictions and your contract!
Does your band, group, or ministry have a contract or agreement? Are there any points on yours that weren’t covered? Comment and let us know!
See other posts in the series Striving to Grow: Overcoming Obstacles in Music Ministry
Meditations: God's Word for Renewing Mind, Body, and Soul
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