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Commitment forms (contracts) for worship teams
Hi
Just interested in finding out if any other teams use commitment forms or contracts that their teams sign up to and if they have timescale so they can be reviewed ?
Just interested in finding out if any other teams use commitment forms or contracts that their teams sign up to and if they have timescale so they can be reviewed ?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sim Walker on -
I work for St George's in Leeds and we have quite a lot of stuff for this and our worship community.
I'd be more than happy to send it through to you to have a look over if you'd like. This includes things like joining forms, and a coversheet explaining the vision for the worship community. The commitment to the team is also yearly, with an end-of-year review to see if it's still right to be involved etc.
Do get in touch if so
God Bless
Sim
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Permalink Reply by Debbie Figini on -
Hi thanx
Please could you send a copy to studeb@btopenworld.com
god bless
Debbie
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on -
Hi Debbie
Welcome to HMI!
We don't have commitment forms or contracts.
I think it depends a lot on the size of your church and group whether you can do this. St George's is a big, pretty lively church in the centre of Leeds, and I have the impression it has a big worship group and staff member(s) devoted to the worship ministry. Probably it is both feasible and a good idea to have commitment forms etc in such a situation.
My church is a (relatively) small (but still quite lively) suburban church on the outskirts of Leeds. Although I think there is a strong understanding in our group that some commitment is necessary, I have to be flexible with the individual circumstances of each group member... because they are all busy people with lots of conflicting commitments, and yet I would still like to have a *group*. I'd have to draw up a separate form for each group member and change it every three months.....
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Permalink Reply by Julia Chantrell on -
Yes...
'I commit to attending Wednesday evening practice at 8pm on the dot unless the YPDG has tired me out so much I can't see straight, or there's an ACT meeting that I really can't avoid this time. Oh, yes, and if I'm cooking for the Alpha course I won't be available until ~8.30pm, and every now and then the Vicar has to shift the Clergy and Reader's meeting to a Wednesday and if I don't go to that I'll end up preaching on the Sundays that no-one else wants...'
And add to that the weird shifts people seem to work and members of ENON who seem to spend most of their time dotting around the country [not to mention Worship Co-ordinators who always seem to have conferences in America at the most awkward times]...
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Permalink Reply by martyn burt on -
The nearest we come to anything like this is an information sheet that gets passed around every so often that gives broad outlines of expectations, who does what, what is expected of group members and leaders etc. But it is very general (eg you will practice before the service run through, you will let the leader know if you are unavailable, you will turn up on time, the leader will let you know songs in advance etc).
Although we are well resourced in respect of personnel (about 40 of us in total), and are a reasonable sized church (340 adults, 120 children), I do wonder about 'commitment' sometimes. More often than not it is VERY difficult to get a team together for a special event, especially if it is outside the normal remit of a sunday service. However, when dealing with volunteers (and we all are in our church) there has to be a bit of give and take, and whether i like it or not, not all folk involved can be or are so commited to sung worship as others.
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Permalink Reply by Julia Chantrell on
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And yet... in a way, our Christian life is full of contracts. The marriage and baptism services; even saying the creed.
But on the whole, I agree. God gives u everything, so he has a right to expect everything from us in return... but how that's fulfilled can't usually be tied down.
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Permalink Reply by Phil Holburt on -
Interesting question......and some very interesting answers too.
Personally, Commitment contracts can be a good thing, because it is a two way agreement - or at least it should be.
I have only ever used them on one occasion and it proved very useful in helping to ensure that everyone made an equal commitment and also made sure that some more troublesome elements behaved themselves.
We set out a 'code of conduct' for which we asked everyone for their input on then everyone signed up to it.
Having done that , the troublesome element could no longer , whinge ,twine and criticise in little corners, as they and all the others in the team had made the same commitment to deal with all things in openess and through appropriate channels.
This wasn't the only issue it resolved, it also ensured that some people didn't end up doing all the work and also ensured that people didn't have to live up to the unreasonable expectations of others.
Provided the contract is a two way process and is fair and reasonable, I don't see a problem whatsoever.
We sign a contract of employment, contracts to get a mortgage, contracts to be married etc.
Why not an agreement to ensure fair play in the worship team ?
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Chadwick on -
Phil, this sort of presupposes that the contracts you mention are good things in themselves. This isn't, to my mind, obviously true. I would regard them, rather, as adaptations to a fallen world; that is, sadly necessary but not the ideal. It seems to me that what we should aim for is to "let our yes be yes, and our no be no" (Matt 5:37). Whilst adopting such a position will almost certainly lead to occasional problems, similar to those to which you allude, those problems are best sorted out by the give and take of relationship, liberally sprinkled with grace, rather than by resorting to the language of the law court.
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Permalink Reply by Phil Holburt on
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obviously, I disagree and I also do not advocate the language of the law court.
A contract or covenant if you like, are used throughout the Bible, all it is , is a written agreement , in the case I described it came about because the people concerned weren't being fair to all concerned and were playing word games.
It was a simple way to settle them down after we had tried grace & compassion and speaking gently to them.
All it was , was a simple reminder that we all agreed to a common set of rules, just like a marriage contract or do you think that a marriage contract ( oaths, promises & signatures etc) is an
" adaptations of a fallen world" ?
A contract is not evil unless it is unfair & unjust. Wether it be a marriage contract or a simple agreement to a common standard that all have contributed to. I don't see a problem with it.
It's much better not to have it I agree in the context of a worship team, but it unfortunately became neccesary with the characters we had at that time.
God Bless
Phil
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Permalink Reply by Julia Chantrell on
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One place I DO use contracts is youth / children's work. They make the rules, they sign to them, and then I have something written down when they start bouncing off the walls and causing mayhem...
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Permalink Reply by Phil Holburt on
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my point exactly Julia.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kerslake on -
It's been interesting reading through this thread.
In a "business" type of contract there is usually a "deal"; e.g. X will do something in return for Y doing something else. Typically, X will pay Y £xxxx if Y carries out an agreed activity. In church that doesn't work. The church ministry (worship leading, let's say) depends on the goodwill of the volunteer musician. There is little or nothing specific offered in return. I'm not sure a contract is therefore the right paradigm.
But maybe it would be appropriate to clearly communicate (in writing) what is expected on the musicians. This would cover the practical stuff like turning up for rehearsals etc, but it should be clear that each musician should have a sense of calling, and therefore desire to serve Jesus in obedience, rather than expect anything back at a human level. The idea would be to make people think about the seriousness of the ministry, develop a mindset of serving above personal fulfillment or enjoyment, and avoid subsequent confrontations and pain about what can reasonably be expected of them by the leaders.
I think there is an enormous issue in the attitude many church members have to serving church ministries. Far too often the dominant mindset seems to be "I've given my time voluntarily so I can decide what / when / how I serve". That's a bad attitute from a servant of Jesus and makes leadership very difficult!!!
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