Lesson 92
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henryOVERSEER COURSE LESSON NINTY-TWO
TOOL BOX FOR THE GENERAL OVERSEER AND
HIS MINISTERS
MODULE EIGHT
How to work with the minister of music
Henry Epps
founder
HARVEST LIFE
GLOBAL NETWORK
Overseer Course Lesson 92
Lesson Ninety-Two
How to work with the minister of music
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
How to Work with Your Minister of Music to Plan Effective Worship
Plan the services together.— No one person has all the answers as to what a worship service should
be. Put your best thinking and ideas on the worship-planning table. Let them commingle with ideas
from other people. Remember, the worship service is not to be a showcase for the creativity of a
human leader but rather a time when God is allowed to speak and manifest Himself in any number
of ways.
If you cannot plan together, at least tell the minister of music what you're going to preach.— This
comment is almost always in first place on the list of expectations music leaders have of their
pastors. While nearly every church music leader can recount numerous times when he had to plan
blindly for a service with no clue as to the sermon topic or theme, he has also marveled at how the
Holy Spirit has merged the efforts of the pastor and music director into one spiritually moving and
unified service. "If God can bless our efforts with little or no planning, how much more could He
bless us with even a little planning in our shared worship experience?" more than one music
director has asked.
Allow the minister of music lead time to prepare for Sunday services.— The pastor has only
himself to prepare for church on Sunday. Music leaders, however, have numerous other persons
to get ready for their involvement in the worship service. These others may range from the choir
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to soloists, from instrumentalists to sound and light technicians, and from dramatists to ensembles.
Give your music leaders as much lead time as you possibly can.
Encourage your minister of music to take advantage of training opportunities.— Some who direct
the music on Sunday morning do so at the request of the pastor with no formal training. Reward
their willingness. Few volunteer music leaders can afford to take time away from their vocations
and spend their own limited funds to secure training on their own. But with encouragement from
the pastor and the church providing the funds, most volunteer leaders will agree to take some
training.
Whether the music leader in a church is paid or unpaid, everyone likes to be appreciated.—
Commend the minister of music when praise is deserved; offer redirection when the quality is not
what it should be. An occasional good word, pat on the back, and public recognition provide
affirmation for every worker. The pastor's leadership in these areas is important.
Help the minister of music to identify traditional church music practices and customs and not to
make hasty decisions regarding change.— It's sometimes difficult for a minister of music, new to
a church, to recognize quickly traditional church music practices and customs within a
congregation.
Communicate your goals and desires for the church as a whole as well as your work habits and
preferences.— Sometimes the minister of music feels kept in the dark about your preferences and
sense of direction. Share confidentially. Pray and share spiritual moments together. Remember
that the minister of music is a member of your team and desires to support you, as the spiritual
leader of the church, in every way possible.
How to Involve Children in Worship
Too often children are expected to experience genuine worship even though the worship service is
designed completely for adults. You and I are much more likely to worship when we are
participants in worship, not just observers. The same is true for children. Here are a few ways to
involve children in worship.
Schedule an Invitation to Worship meeting involving parents and children.—
Promote the meeting in children's and parent's Sunday School classes, the church newsletter and
bulletin, and other ministries that touch children or their parents. Use the meeting to accomplish
three things.
Discuss ways to help children really experience God in worship. Use the ideas uncovered during
this meeting throughout the year.
Educate parents about the importance of worship for their children. Enlist their support and help
in involving children in worship.
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Encourage family worship times.
Use these ideas to involve children in worship.
Ask children to read Scripture during a worship service. Be sure to choose children that are ready
to do this. Avoid situations that might embarrass a child.
Ask children to lead the congregation in prayer. Ask the child well in advance. Help the parents
prepare the child for this responsibility.
Enlist and train children to receive the offering from time to time. It may be helpful to enlist adults
to participate alongside the children.
Preach a children's sermon. This might be a regular feature in which you as pastor share a lesson
designed especially for children. It might also be a way of presenting the sermon with a special
focus for children.
Calendar a Sunday as Children's Day. Recognize children in the morning worship service, and
invite children and families to a church-sponsored picnic that afternoon. Be sure you, as pastor,
attend and participate. The children need to get to know you in an informal setting.
Consider using a listening sheet for children in worship. You may choose to give children a small
reward if they show you the completed listening sheet following the service. Here is a low-tech
sample.
Ask the adult choir or an adult who sings a special to sing a children's song and dedicate it to the
children in the worship service.
Invite the children's choir to sing during the morning worship service.
Ask a child to play a musical instrument as part of a praise time.
Involve children's missions organizations by asking them to provide a missions moment during
the worship service. This feature should present or interpret some missionary person or ministry
to the congregation.
Invite a child to give a personal testimony entitled, "I'm Glad I'm a Christian Because...."
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How to Introduce Drama into the Worship of a Traditional Church
Drama, for the most part, requires a little planning; but doesn't everything worth its salt? Here are
10 simple, easy, and inexpensive ways to make dramatic changes in your church.
Instead of simply having one person read the Scripture, have two or three people divide the
Scriptures into parts and read it. For instance, read the story of Adam and Eve, using a narrator,
someone reading Adam's words, another reading Eve's, another reading the serpent's, and one
reading God's lines.
Have someone learn American Sign Language interpretation for a familiar hymn and sign the
words as the congregation sings. There's a good chance someone in your congregation already
knows sign language and would love to help you with this.
Allow your youth to act out one of their favorite Christian songs. They will enjoy doing this, and
you'll be surprised by their insight and creativity. Be sure to give them some adult supervision.
Consider a subscription to the National Drama Service. Available on the Dated Materials Order
Forms or by subscription. This quarterly publication of 20-25 scripts gives you photocopy rights
to all the material. Most of the scripts require limited props and lighting. They are short enough to
be incorporated into a traditional worship gathering. Drama is a regular feature in Let's Worship
magazine. To order call, 1-800-458-2772.
Preach through the beatitudes and have teams of youth or adults assigned to improvise a situation
that illustrates a certain beatitude. Give each team a few weeks' notice; and if you keep encouraging
them, you'll be surprised what they might create! (This would work with many other series, such
as the phrases of the Lord's Prayer, the parables, and others.)
Use sound effects during Scripture readings. Sound effects tapes are easily found in most music
stores. Imagine reading the parable of the wise and foolish builder with the sounds of construction
and then sounds of a coming storm!
Candles can add drama to any service. Try turning the lights off, lighting a candle, and reading the
following monologue:
This Little Light of Mine
We loved the light, so we built a church around it to shelter it
from the cold, dark world.
And every Monday night we take it out to visit those who saw
he light last Sunday.
We have matchbooks we carry with us, but we're afraid to use
them for fear that something might catch fire and we
wouldn't be able to control it.
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So we leave the candle at the church where we can visit it
whenever we want.
We love our light, but it seems these days that the light is
getting dim—perhaps because it's running out of oxygen
due to the walls we've built around it.
Every now and then I wonder what would happen if we
opened the door and let the fire warm and the light shine,
but we've grown quite accustomed to the darkness.
Hide it under a bushel? No!
We'd much prefer hiding it in a church.
We know Satan would never find it there; would he?
(Pause, next line to be sung)
Don't let Satan—
(Blow the candle out).
Use Readers Theater. It's easy and nonthreatening to untrained dramatists. It requires rehearsal,
familiarity, and expression; but it doesn't require memorization. For a wealth of readers material,
let me recommend The Imaginary Stage (Church Street Press). This is a book of easy-to-do
Readers Theater sketches.
9.Read the famous poem "Touch of the Master's Hand." Hold a violin as you read about the
auction, then have a violinist come out of the audience and play as you read the concluding verses
of the poem.
Encourage artistic members to express their gift in the life of your church. For some it will be
storytelling, painting, song writing, acting, or clowning. For others it may be simply a concept that
someone else may be able to interpret. One thing is certain: If you open the door for drama, done
with excellence and creativity, it will breathe new vitality and vision to whatever church you are
serving.
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