Practical Music Ministry

Serving God Through Sight, Sound, and Song

Tag: distractions

Striving to Grow: Overcoming Obstacles in Music Ministry (part 6 – distractions)

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?

Poor musicianship, wrong notes, and mistakes
Spelling errors on the presentation slides
Distracting presentation slide backgrounds
Forgetting lyrics
Lack of preparation
Poor acoustics (echo, ringing, etc.)
Unintelligible vocals (due to bad mix or poor EQ)
Too much effects (reverb, delay, etc.)
Poor mix in general
Too many lighting effects
Inadequate lighting (hot spots, dead spots, team members left in the dark, etc.)
Poor quality video (low resolution video and audio)
Ushers moving people during worship
Grossly mismatched attire of praise team
Acknowledging mistakes (facial expressions, gestures, etc.)

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