Archives For For Worship Leaders

Creating a Culture for Your Worship Team

Ryan Egan —  June 10, 2008 — Leave a comment

I have one chapter left in Worship Matters. I will be posting an extended review on Thursday of this week. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some highlights from a chapter in a section on “Right Relationships” dealing with the relationship with “Your Team.”

Creating Culture that Has Lasting, Positive Impact

Bob Kauflin shares “five ways to think about your team that will help you ask the right questions and pursue the right solutions.” They are:

  • Establishing your team – creating a culture.
  • Encouraging your team – creating a culture of gratefulness.
  • Equipping your team – creating a culture of growth.
  • Evaluating your team – creating a culture of humility.
  • Enjoying your team – creating a culture of joy.

What can be Done?

For those of you on our team (I use the word loosely, as we haven’t officially established one yet, but you are all team-members, nonetheless!) at Living Word, how can I improve in any of these areas? I know I don’t encourage you nearly enough, and there are definitely untapped opportunities for us to just enjoy each other more often, but how else can I help in these areas?

For those of you with your own teams, what have you done in these areas that has made a difference?

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership
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Why Worship Matters

Ryan Egan —  May 29, 2008 — Leave a comment

Yesterday I mentioned that I was of the winners of Bob Kauflin’s book giveaway. Here is my response to his question of “why worship matters:”

What is the ultimate purpose of a follower of Jesus? Looking at each answer that might be given to that question, a common theme lingers: to glorify Him.  If you believe that the ultimate purpose of a Christ-follower is to make disciples, you still must glorify Jesus while making disciples.  If you believe that the ultimate purpose of a Christ-follower is to reach the lost, you still must glorify Jesus while reaching the lost.

To glorify Jesus means to honor Him, above all else, in all things.  Because in all things we must glorify Jesus, this is why worship matters

We must give Him glory in all things – therefore we must worship Him in all things.  Check out some more great responses to why worship matters.

In For Worship Leaders
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Looking Forward to This Book

Ryan Egan —  April 24, 2008 — 2 Comments

Many of you know that I consider Bob Kauflin (director of worship development for Covenant Life church) one of my distance mentors, although I’ve never met him.  Well, he’s got a new book out, Worship Matters – Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God, and I’m excited to read it.  The trouble is…I don’t have it yet! 🙂  When I do get a copy though, I will definitely be posting a review.  In the meantime, I just wanted to make any other pastor and worship leader aware of this great new resource.  You can order the book here. You can here a great interview with Bob Kauflin here.

In For Worship Leaders, Leadership
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Back to Basics: Drums & Percussion

Ryan Egan —  April 17, 2008 — Leave a comment
  • PLAY IN TIME.  Period. The sign of a good drummer is not how many fills he can play in time, it is the fact that he can play in time.  Buy a metronome that you can hear over your playing and practice with it every time you play.  Be able to be as steady as a metronome.  Use your metronome during practice and worship services as well.
  • Learn to control your volume, especially if you use an acoustic kit.  If you have a hard time controlling your volume, ask if the church will buy you a drum shield, or buy yourself some brushes or hotrods (rute/tala).
  • Vary your fills and play them skillfully.  It’s very difficult for a band to get back on track if a drummer’s fill ends a beat too late or half a beat too early.  Be able to nail your fills every time.  If you can’t, simplify your fills until you can.
  • Learn different patterns.  Four on the floor doesn’t work with every song.  The country “train” beat won’t work with every song.  Hint: A waltz beat won’t necessarily work with a driving 6/8 song as much as you might think 6/8 is the same as 3/4.
  • Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

Do any of you have any back to basics tips for percussion (bongos, congas, shakers, djembe, etc?)?  While I do play percussion I haven’t had much experience with it in corporate worship settings and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

In For Worship Leaders, Training
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Back to Basics: Bass Guitar

Ryan Egan —  April 16, 2008 — 1 Comment

Bass

  • Understand and apply music theory. This is the most important part of being a bass player. You could get by with just knowing how to play the root note of each chord, but in order to create bass lines that help lead the music where it needs to go, you need to understand how theory works.
  • That said, learn these theory basics first: The root, fourth and fifth notes of each chord. These notes are foundational in bass lines, especially the root and fifth.
  • Learn to create basic fills that lead from chord to chord. These could be as basic as one extra note. For instance, when moving from a G chord to a C chord, play the B of the G chord right before you move to C. The B still fits in the G chord, but it is also the note right before C, leading you perfectly into the C chord.
  • Learn scales. Major, minor, blues, pentatonic, five-note, any kind of scale you can. This will help you more easily create fills between chords.
  • Learn to enjoy whole notes. The bass does not need to play complicated bass lines all the time. Often, the simpler the better.
  • Practice. Practice. Practice.
In For Worship Leaders, Training
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