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Multiple Worship Teams
In churches which have distinct worship teams, do you ever have a problem in terms of separate identities emerging?
We have found this in our current and former churches. Our team tends to be a 'band' with guitars etc and have faster, more modern songs. The other team is a piano and singing group who usually choose slower, older songs. We are beginning to find that some people in the congregation are choosing to not come to church on the weeks when their favourite team is not on. We know this is BAD! But are at a loss to be able to fix it. We HAVE to have these separate teams and are simply not able to mix them up more due to all kinds of complicated scheduling reasons.
We've had music team meetings at which we've identified the problem and we've all agreed to try to minimise the differences betwen us and have a more cohesive approach, but frankly, the nature of the teams means than we can only go so far in that direction. And the other team is terrified of new (written in the last 15 years) songs.
Should we address this problem directly with the congregation? Or is it not a problem? Should we just celebrate diversity?
We have found this in our current and former churches. Our team tends to be a 'band' with guitars etc and have faster, more modern songs. The other team is a piano and singing group who usually choose slower, older songs. We are beginning to find that some people in the congregation are choosing to not come to church on the weeks when their favourite team is not on. We know this is BAD! But are at a loss to be able to fix it. We HAVE to have these separate teams and are simply not able to mix them up more due to all kinds of complicated scheduling reasons.
We've had music team meetings at which we've identified the problem and we've all agreed to try to minimise the differences betwen us and have a more cohesive approach, but frankly, the nature of the teams means than we can only go so far in that direction. And the other team is terrified of new (written in the last 15 years) songs.
Should we address this problem directly with the congregation? Or is it not a problem? Should we just celebrate diversity?
Replies are closed for this discussion.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kieran Metcalfe on -
I think you're right to try to bring a level of cohesivness (is that a word?) between the groups, but at the end of the day, not all songs suit all band/group make ups, so I wouldn't try to force both groups to have exactly the same repertoire.
We've had similar issues at our church a few times over the last couple of decades (have I really been there that long? ouch....) and my personal opinion is that it's not down to the bands to cater to the congregation necessarily - or at least in such a way as to make sure people are always getting their favourites. If people are not coming to services just because their favourite band is not playing, I think that's more of an attitude problem for them, rather than an issue you need to fix.
Sounds like a sermon series on what we come to services to do, and the attitudes and priorities we should have might be in order :)
Just some rambling thoughts...
K
EDIT: 'Cohesion' is the word I should have used..... up too early
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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on -
Out of interest, do the members of the two teams attend the ones led by the other team? If they don't and there is any hint that this is down to preference for particular worship styles, that could be a root of the problem right there. In that case, if the situation is felt to be divide rather than diversity, it would definitely be worth looking at ways of mixing the teams up.
Or, instead, perhaps the question to be addressed is whether this separation shows through in other areas of church life. If your small groups and other group ministries are also clearly A people or B people, then the issue is deep; if not, then perhaps it is just a diversity that should be welcomed, allowing you to reach two sets of people with different tastes (and still being thankful for those who don't let their attendance be purely driven by what they like).
Wulf
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Permalink Reply by Dee on -
Yes, we each attend eachother's services. The whole music team has a good degree of unanimity on things like theology, practice etc. We can't mix the two teams up for various reasons, as I've said.
There is developing an A and B contingent, old and new members, pioneers and settlers if you like. I do think it is symptomatic of growth and change, buit not sure how to address it or whether it even needs addressing from a worship perspective.
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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on
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If you attend each others service, what is the problem with mixing things up more? Is it around something like when you rehearse together?
At my church, there are very few midweek rehearsals; instead, those playing arrive at 9.30am (or 9.45 if it is one of the weeks with a 9am prayer book service). It would be nice to have a bit more time together but is enough to get ready and saves the twin problems of people forgetting what they did and people being able to make a practise and not the Sunday morning or vice versa.
Wulf
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Permalink Reply by David Bull on -
It sounds to me like a problem for the whole church from the leadership down.
The mature Christians who's commitment is to the Lord will keep coming whatever you do. They just love God and being in his presence with others and even if they hate it they will keep on coming.
Those who only come for the music are the real problem and perhaps what they need is challenging possibly form the pulpit or on a one to one basis. The problem with challenging them is they may take offence and not come at all. While one has to be very careful about it, there is a time when dead leaves have to fall.
David Bull.
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Permalink Reply by Julian W on -
We had two teams, and it worked much better than the previous oversized team with various rotas for singers, drummers, etc., and with unmanageably big rehearsals.
The problem you mention did crop up a little. Different team identities formed to some extent, partly because people naturally fell into two different groups. One group of peole wanted to meet every week, and had time to do so. The other group was mainly people who preferred only to rehearse on alternate weeks. So there was a natural 'divide'. Had it not been for that, I think we should have mixed people up every now and then. The group which met more frequently developed more of an 'identity', which perhaps exacerbated the problem a little.
But I agree with Kieran, the real issue is attitudes. If such a situation brings to light immature or selfish attitudes, then surely it's better (and more Biblical) to take the bull by the horns and address those attitudes - thus focussing on sanctification as the answer - than to try to avoid the problem.
I think that a challenge facing most of us these days is different cultural groups within the church, whether people from different parts of British society or people from different parts of the world. The challenge to individuals and congregations is whether we will be mature and worship God in whatever musical style - which can be hard work sometimes, and our preferences are genuinely different - or whether we'll only worship God when the musical style is to our preference.
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Permalink Reply by Toni Ertl on -
It does sound like a church leadership issue primarily: congregations almost always reflect their leadership to a certain degree (except where the congregation have usurped the role of leadership!). If the churches leadership is undivided then I think they should set it before the people IF it's a real issue.
Personally I think diversity in a churches music is a great thing, provided people don't start going tribal and uniting into factions. Is this a church that sets a high value on commitment or is it more 'accepting and inclusive' with a wide loosely associated fringe and a small number of core, dedicated individuals? The approach to dealing with it will vary according to the maturity and commitment of the membership.
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Permalink Reply by Dee on
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Two of the leadership team are actually in the music team and seem content to allow the situation to 'sort itself out'.Our church prizes unity and decision-making by the membership BUT are much happier to spend 40 minutes discussing the layout of the chairs rather than something as apparently nebulous as 'attitudes'. Well, I guess I am too! LOL!
Mmmm....thinking, thinking....
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Permalink Reply by Toni Ertl on
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Hmmm. Unity and decision making by the membership are not natural bedfellows (I grew up in a Baptist church) but I guess stranger things can happen.
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Permalink Reply by Marion Martin on -
Tricky problem...but I'd be concerned about leaders who prefer to give their time & attention to chair placement rather than heart attitude! The Bible has a lot to say about our hearts, but not (correct me if I'm wrong!) about how we lay out our meeting place...!
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Permalink Reply by Sarah - Jayne Love on -
Hi,
The worship team at our church is mainly made of people in their twenties. We've had a problem with some of the older members in our congregation wanting to hear more hymns and the worship team sometimes finding this difficult - more because of the music style than the words of the hymns. I'm trying to make sure I incorporate hymns that are accessible to everyone with more modern worship songs as regularly as possible to help everyone feel involved. Although, this can be difficult at times. Could the two teams in your church incorporate a small amount of music that is outside their comfort zone to give a broader appeal? i.e. the band incorprate some older pieces and the piano group some newer songs? let me know how you get on - I appreciate how stressful song choices can be.
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Permalink Reply by Dee on
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Hi! The 'band' always do a couple of hymns and pick songs from every era each week, including contemporary ones. The 'piano and singers' group rarely do hymns but stick to a narrow repertoire which was mainly written in the late 70's and early 80's. They don't feel comfortable singing newer songs (or hymns, strangely.)
We've had meetings about expanding the repertoire but they always stay within their comfort zone, understandably so, I guess.
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