I was recently asked to write a brief outline of how to grow your worship team. It got me thinking about how we often want to build something, and yet we don't know what we want to see reproduced. Growth = Reproduction. Growing a team is like cells forming a body. If we start without an identity, we will just reproduce a tumour. Tumour growth is unhealthy and it doesn't fit the pattern of a healthy body.
It's when we know what God wants to do that we can build a team with Him that will have the right expectation (and hopefully a huge expectation at that) of what God wants to do. Below is what I ended up with.
// Know Your Identity
Ask God about the identity He wants to build in each service. As someone once said, "If you aim for nothing you'll hit it every time." If there is no clear identity, people will be confused about their involvement. When you build around an identity or culture it is easy to target your song lists, your worship team and even the dress code at the identity God has given for each particular service.
// Communicate the Vision
Once you have a vision, clearly and simply communicate it. That way people will gravitate to the ministry with the right expectation and behaviour in mind. It's a lot easier to build the right expectation than to deal with a broken expectation. Knowing the vision sets people free from wrong expectations.
// Build the Core
Don't worry about attracting large numbers of musicians to begin with. Look for a core team who have grabbed the vision and who have the attitude that you want to see reproduced. Keep communicating the vision.
// Empower Others
Empower people in your team who have the right attitude and who are good at their craft. If someone is doing well, encourage them to find other people that they can teach, mentor and encourage. That way the ministry will start to grow exponentially.
// Create a Fail-Safe Environment
Build a time where people can "have a go" without recrimination. For instance, instead of having someone to lead worship for the first time at a packed Sunday morning service, get them to lead worship at a rehearsal night. That way they can fail or succeed without condemnation. Often we all get blessed and it also encourages others to have a go, ultimately building your team.
Vision, Expectation, Core and Communication are the keys to growing a great team.