Chess is a game of iterative steps to the strategic capture of the king. Often times, it seems leaders in church ministry might use this Machiavellian approach, seeing church members and leaders as pawns or bishops. The “enemy” must be wounded beyond repair, or enough to never strike back. All these steps fuel typical politics. Winners means losers are created. But, in a church leadership culture we might gain more by have a different ethic than simply winning.  

I have loved the language of modern church leadership with a respected author’s words: “clarify the win” and such. How about clarifying the loss? How about counting the cost in real human terms as a metric rather than simply putting ministry in the lingo of ROI and metrics. If we keep a balance sheet, losing is really where it is at. Winning makes us feel great. And, morale is indeed important. But, in our day that metric-to-deaths everything, do we really end up earning anything by it?

In order to find our actual win, we have to be able to count the real cost. The Rich Young Ruler had to contemplate the win of following Jesus after he would lose all earthly possession and status. The Widow’s Mite is something a woman lost in order to offer an expensive gift to God. The math of striving, squeezing, and beating the odds make sense in business, but not in the church.

In the business of church the math of people with messy lives means that love is an uncontainable metric. It is valued and counted only as it is spent. Or, lost. This loss is your time, your hobby, your status, and maybe even money. To lose is to win. What if we flip a phrase and say this: “Lose the whole world and gain your soul.” Winning is overrated.

I am excited to have my friend Rick Muchow as a guest on Worship MythBusters Podcast, Episode 14. We talk about transition and other fun stuff after he served 24 plus years under Rick Warren at Saddleback Church. Rick is so down to earth and authentic every time I talk to him. Leaders of all stripes should listen to this guy and learn from his attitude.

Also, his book The Worship Answer Book is now available in digital formats.

Worship Leader Media is putting on a webinar that I am excited to teach. There are only 50 spots, so get yours while they last. Here is a practical topic that I think will help worship leaders as they work through launch, growth, and maintenance of their teams.

There are six roles or hats that take place in leading the 52 weekend services in worship. Learning what these roles are and staffing them well is the key to growing a team and preventing burnout and frustration. Leading worship is more than just a platform-driven event. There are people to recruit, schedules to keep, projects to manage, and communication to focus. On top of all the “tasks” there is the primary need for spiritual direction of all the people who make up a worship team. Learning how to leverage which of the six you should keep and which you should delegate can be the difference maker in sustaining and growing a team that can weather change.

In a smaller setting, people will surely wear more than one hat and most likely will be all volunteers. As a ministry grows, paid staff comes in to wear the hats that require more time or specialization. Here are the six hats:

• Worship Leader: This individual’s role is the upfront face, and intuitively gifted individual who can engage a congregation.
• Music Director: The details of music are important, so direction of rehearsal, preparation of charts and direction of the “sound” of the worship team.
• Tech Director: This is audio, video, lighting and setup logistics both in detail and vision.
• Service Producer: During the service, the details and flow are managed. (The larger the setting, the more this is needed.)
• Programming Director/Admin: Project manager of the content and details for execution and/or person who keeps the details, scheduling and project in check.
• Pastor/Executive Producer: Theology, the definition of the “win” for a weekend and organizational mission alignment as well as the shepherding issues on a team. This is both spiritual direction as well as organizationally driven.

The webinar would walk through how these all work together and encourage worship leaders to find which they are best to keep and which they are best to delegate and recruit others to take. Knowing these roles makes us “administer the gifts with grace” factoring in people’s shape and how that applies to leading worship.

This live webinar is FREE and limited to 50 attendees.

April 19, 11:00 to 12:00 pm.

Please note that the starting time listed is PST (California time)

REGISTER HERE

I am writing a “Part 3″ to this “Cut and Paste Creativity” idea. I was humbled to have Worship Musician Magazine publish the first two posts in their current issue. (Links: Post 1 and Post 2)

There are two ways in a church setting that creativity is honed and prepared before public display. Censorship is when things are taken out because of fear that they may damage the mission. Editing is when things are pruned in order to highlight the mission. The truth is that us creatives need some filtering before we lay out  our stuff before the masses, even if our own congregation or community is the scope of our platform.

I believe that we get into a “cut and paste” situation when we censor. What could have been unique, authentic, and captivating turns into mush. Our worship services fall flat, artwork is boring, and our events end up in a coma. The spiritual mystery of what happens when people submit to each other and the Spirit in the process of creating is lost when fear decides rather than faith.

Censorship comes from loss of trust or poor communication between leaders and their creatives. “We will never do a song like that again!” might be proclaimed by a leader. The focus is on limiting threats. The attitude is one of protection and moderation. Now, these things are not bad things. But, they do come from a negative perspective. And, often, they are arbitrary and drop as edicts from a dictatorship. Perhaps there is a better way to influence the outcome of creating in the church or any setting. Editing.

Editors are actual collaborators, contributors, and shareholders in the process as well as the end product. A leader can choose to be in the relationship of the creation rather than just one who manages and mitigates threats. But, the creatives must learn that this submission will make them better and more effective. Often, this is not easy to do when you are trained as an “artist” who in our culture equals being a diva.

A true artist is a servant, and therefore powerful creativity comes from community rather than pure self-expression. We create because we are in the image of God. The humbling thought is that God himself created as a team–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all present at the Creation. Even God himself is in community when he creates!

 To the leader of us creatives, it means learning to suffer by entering the process. To the creative is means accepting and allowing editing of your work. Sharing your “baby” may be easier when you realize you both are together on it. Having each others backs is the goal here. While you may work for a manager who is not a creative, he or she is ultimately responsible to own the results of what you do.

I have had the opportunity to make a few mistakes over the years, so in that context I trust you can learn a couple things from me. Here are five tips to help the creative invite editing rather than censorship:

1. Decide at the beginning what you need to own as yours and what you must be open handed with. We all need to own our convictions, but where is that line? Understanding where you actually stand will help you “edit” your attitude before you even start work.
2. Develop ahead of time a “creative team” that includes decision makers so your creative process is understood when editing time comes around. Community is needed to execute, but also to edit.
3. Ask the following questions before designing your final draft: What is most important to communicate? What things are off-limits? What are my boundaries? Knowing these helps you submit.
4. Invite feedback before the finished product is declared and do so with an open hand. Checking in at 50% progress might make you change course, but if you make the decision together it is better than redoing 100% at the end.
5. It is nearly impossible to put a “metric” to creativity. Remind your leader gently of this fact and forgive yourself if you have done all you can the best you can.

Any other ideas or tips you have to curb the Cut and Paste madness?

Controlling risk is the job of a good manager. Taking risks is the sweet spot of the most creative people on your team. This means that if you lead a creative you will be best to go against your instinct to control if you truly want the best results. And, managing chaos is the MO of the best creative leader. The delicate balance pushes beyond safety,  displaying a gooey, unstable, and abstract process. It is much like a baby’s birth. Messy. But, powerful. And, miraculous. Only when the creation is complete does it make sense.

This is why the micromanaging of this messy creative process is like coaching a basketball team by walking on the court and trying to control the the team play by play. That type of feedback is best in the locker room or on the sidelines. A lot of leaders fail at the results they truly want because they break the stream of the game. They do this before seeing the final results. After seeing what mistakes created the win or loss it then makes sense to coach your creatives. Is there a need to recast a player? Are there some fundamental’s that need revisiting? What plays were most effective?

What often emerges is a culture where leaders and managers myopically try to clean what is messy on the court as they unknowingly invade a needed process. If one understands a creative process, he will be equipped to empower rather than unintentionally condescend a way of working that actually is productive. If you are making 100,000 widgets you manage one way. If you are creating something that never has existed before, you need to manage another way. If you have casted a creative person properly, you should be able to trust that they will design, draft, or write that never-seen-before worship service, ad spot, or video montage.

The most scary of “coaches” are the ones who think they are actually playing the game themselves. If you are a pastor and you truly have passion to direct the music of your worship team you should come to rehearsals and influence the process. Let us hope you are an experienced and gifted musician! What is better is to develop clear standards and goals and track a way to get there. What is damaging is the often “something does not feel right” complaint. And, an uber-alpha leader feels compelled to prescribe answers. This recipe will develop bland results. On the court, the team will play the game to minimize risk rather than win. Playing “not to lose” is a loss. Playing to win is how you win.

So, get off the court! Here are some tips for pastors or leaders to succeed in coaching their creative leaders, leaving the court up to the players cast to be there and win:

• Give space: The creative needs a meadow that is fenced, with clear boundaries–not a postage-stamp-sized container. Nothing will frustrate more than creating one inch of freedom then shutting down after a single failure. Allowing room for failure is necessary. Communicating defined fences is the safety net your creative leader requires. Hovering will defeat your creative leader and result in minimized results.
• Value skill: The fundamentals matter. If you have a younger leader, you cannot assume the skill and finesse to execute a win every time is in place. You have to lower your expectations and invest in this person. It could be that you have a leader who is unable to achieve a result because his creativity is limited with low skill due to lack of training. Helping this leader with skill is a good idea. What books, conferences, and experiences are best? Does your worship leader need voice lessons? How much training time on the software has your video editor logged?
• Mentor in vision: The more you coach on the vision of the actual endgame, the better. The more you focus on your disconnect with the messy creative process the more you guarantee  conflict and strip confidence of your creative team. How you envision a service, event, or project ending is what your creative leader has on his mind. This is what he expects to be judged. Do you have a clearly articulated “win” to communicate? And, do you answer “why” you are going where you are going?
• Cast well: Do you have someone who can actually do what you want? If you don’t, how did that happen? Did you cast part time to fill a full time role? Did a group vet your decision? Just because someone is moody does not necessarily make them an artist. Actually, what we see often is a church will hire for “vibe” or “image” and not for talent, skill, or experience in their worship leader. You get what you value. Question your motives. Do you really want someone who over time will deepen the spiritual connection to God through creativity, or do you want someone who fits the image. It is a Saul or David game. One looks like a king. The other actually proved to be a king.
• Encourage character: Challenge your creative leader in the values, character traits, and other basic issues you desire. Not everything is all about the product. Set standards and ask things like, “How do you motivate for you team members?” There are so many things to coach a creative in that he or she desperately needs that you are the most qualified person to deliver. Have confidence in these issues. It could go a long way and build enormous amounts of trust.
• Champion the process: The process a senior leader goes through to prepare a sermon in a church is quite different than say a creative director who collaborates with you, a worship leader, a group of musicians, a group of technical leaders, and the congregation members who have his or her ear. Are you aware of the pressure points? Do you help mitigate the politics? The more creative the leader, perhaps the more need for coaching in navigating the leadership landscape of your church or setting. You are in charge because this is where your sweet spot is.

Any more words for the our servant leaders on leading creatives?

The school yard bully is quintessential in our memories. Creatives, even those that work in faith institutions or volunteer for a cause, face a bully of sorts. You see, often there exists a factory mindset that says conformity is unity as it cries fowl at innovation. Innovation means change. Change is bad. Creatives simply change things because that is the nature of creativity! Compliance to vision is actually not the question–status-quo worship is. I am going to use the sacred cow detector and list ten statements that bully us creatives as we serve the church. Some of these are more subtly expressed, but we hear them all the same.

1. “Let’s not reinvent the wheel.” To that I say, what if a wheel is not the answer? Really, this is said because copying a known idea, even a mediocre solution, is better than an amazing custom-fit one. I refuse to think this makes sense! What would be better is for churches to identify honestly the things they do not want to change. Most do not want to share openly, “this is our sacred cow folks!” so they use spiritual and managerial code to silence those that point them out.
2. “You express yourself way too much.” This comes because, even when creatives are not attempting to, we are sending messages by our actions as well as our words. “I need to control you” is what this means, because leading and loving take too much work. Being “edited” is an honor a creative needs to submit to, however, being controlled and bullied makes everyone lose in the relationship.
3. “We are taking too much time talking about this.” Although this may be true in many cases, what this means is that the creative’s work requires constant thinking and adjustment. Apparently, that is something only done in a scheduled “brainstorming” meeting, not in real-time relationship. A little more relationship will allow freer, more productive work. Try it!
4. “Your hair looks funny.” Or, this could be your hat, your speech, how you walk, how you snicker, or even the fact you have a messy desk. Really, I have seen the bully basically openly deride the creative in staff meetings. Yeah, humor is good. But, behind it comes prejudice as well if we are not careful. Being different is an asset. Some people are too immature to realize that because they value conformity over unity.
5. “We need to put your process of how you do what you do in a spreadsheet.” A manager is there to help you improve efficiency. The problem is creativity is human-driven, not machine-driven. You are not cranking out widgets, you are designing experiences, writing content, and doing something “new” that is not reproducible but consumable. What helps is clear definition on the end product, not draconian micromanagement on the process.

In calling out these literal as well as symbolic statements the goal is to have open dialog. We need each other in the church–both the suits and the blue jeans crowd. Business management falters, I believe, when it cannot address people over process and mission over programs. No one wins, and in the church that is the worst-case scenario. We cannot afford to lose! So, let’s talk about this a bit, if you will.

How do you face bullies like theses? Are these statements things you have come across or have spoken?

Over at my podcast site, WorshipMythbusters.com, Episode 13 is LIVE.

Worship Leader’s Dilemma: Is there a tension between the role we are asked to fill and the call we are meant live? This is an honest conversation about what we think the calling of worship leader is compared to some of the realities faced.

From the Circuit Riders to old-fashioned tent meetings the Great Frontier has shaped American Christianity. Homesteading brought a certain kind of independent people to the west where rules were being re-written. Pioneering meant faith would also be newly independent from European governance. So, today we have hundreds of Baptist denominations, with many independent churches of all stripes. In fact, the term “Baptist” was simply to differentiate those that immersed adults exclusively from everyone else in early America.

Our attitudes of revolution allowed us to run from European-birthed hierarchy and embrace new territory. Even in modern times, churches like the Anglicans here in America are severing ties to Europe and aligning to African leadership. Yes, theological as well as cultural differences caused some of these rifts. In fact, many left Europe as spiritual refugees, escaping persecution. This is part of our American story.

With all of this change in recent times, does our lack of connection to our church history and spiritual descendants make us free or does it potentially impoverish us? Or, does it do both? This is especially important for those of us who are from the 50-60 year-old Evangelical brand. We need to be self-aware of our Christian roots in order to see where it will lead us next, no matter how old or new our roots or branches are.

It is a formidable task to create one lasting institutions to fill the gap of all Christian history. One question is this: could it be that God’s intention is not for one group that the Spirit breathed through during one period of time become the standard for all of time? The Spirit is like the wind so the wind moves on while we create an edifice of sentimentality that keeps us in the past sometimes rather than in the present. Even worse, we are not even prepared for a future.

What is the value of knowing our spiritual roots? Does this free us or inhibit us?

I suspect that many of my worship leader and creative arts leaders have programmed some memorable and even outrageous moments. Now, these are not super-edgy, but at the time some felt these to be out-of-the-box.

•  I love beach balls, and for a service I decided that dropping several hundred from the catwalks with strobes would do. Each ball represented a decision made to follow Jesus from various mission trips, inner city outreaches and back yard Bible clubs of four sister churches working together.
• Dueling drummers are cool! Ever play a set with two full kits? How about doing this all in a worship service. For my final service as worship pastor at a church I served, the two drummers were very close to me and I had to have them BOTH play. It rocked, but the 113 dB sound pressure level emptied a few seats during the Saturday service. Ouch!
• Wearing a hat in church is fine, unless you are the actual worship leader. I only did a couple times, but wow! It started at a Christmas Eve service where the fedora fit my outfit. One Sunday my alarm failed to wake me so I covered the bedhead and led worship.
•  My son was born on a Saturday, and I slept in the hospital. Of course, being a young worship leader I thought I should still lead worship the next morning. Being near my new son and in the hospital room with him and my wife meant I did not sleep a wink. So, the next morning was a bit rough.
• My very first–and last time–preaching at a former church of mine was when I asked the church members to pull out their cell phones and sign up for Twitter! We then did a poll and made the service interactive. I confess, that I plugged my blog–of course after plugging the lead pastor’s blog, too.
• We had a Saturday night where the unthinkable happened: no drummer was available. This only has happened once to me in nearly two decades, by the way. I grabbed every candle in the building, at home, and what texting and phone calls could muster. We did an acoustic set and the service went off great. As we launched the services I said, “We took every precaution, so the fire marshall should be proud of me.” Well, he was in the congregation that night and not smiling. Oops!

Any outrageous stories of things you did as a worship leader or speaker in church? Please, share your story!

It seems that many local church gatekeepers readily applaud ministry that looks like the successes of other churches rather than champion the indigenous creation from their own people. My friends in the business world do this all the time. One company sells computers successfully, so reverse engineering takes place by competitors.  The idea is to emulate the success and hopefully exceed the level of your competition. In church work, our thinking may actually be similar. 

The thought is this: “If a song is popular on the Christian radio station, then surely it will resonate with people in our worship services.” Instead, creative leadership says this: “We need to worship and lead culturally from who we are and from who spiritually we desire to be.” In the first case, no question is asked and answered about the assets and opportunities existing around you. The second idea starts at home then outside content is validated or dismissed. When you are blind to self-awareness the only option left is to copy another’s identity. However, when you know who you are, you set the stage for creativity. 

Why copy? Cut-and-paste creativity is about efficiency. We can download from the Internet complete sermons, including outlines, small group handouts, and polished graphics. We do this, because it is efficient and looks and feels like the successful church we admire. Learning the process and finding inspiration from these incredible ministries and their leaders is a must. Best practices are mined by competent leaders. But, we should never simply copy without full disclosure. If we champion the need for authenticity, should not that value steer us to create rather than emulate?

Inspiration and mastery calls us to create. Ambition or fear drives us to cut and paste. Most have the best intentions. To reach a community is the heart of most pastors I know, but fear of letting go of the process to reach those people narrows the bandwidth of the local church. What if people not like us actually become leaders and start steering things? That fact is inevitable. Time offers us a shelf-life. Legacy is ours to own or abdicate. Would we want to lose our legacy to the creative energy of leaders who have no personal relationship with us?

Failure has value. When we copy another’s success, we lose our ability to fail with our own creativity. This one fact alone stalls us! Innovation allows mistakes that we choose to make, not that others prescribe for us. The trendy church culture is gullible, fickle and ever-changing. Songs, sermons and personalities are fluid. A church needs to birth from their identity to be a force that lasts. If we pass on anything, it should be who we are. If we do not know how to answer that question, then perhaps passing on is not an issue to us. We live in the now, and worship the god of efficiency.