could ai do your job?

Why are you the way that you are? - Michael Scott… jk. But also, why do you do any of the things that you do? Read on…

In Today’s Email

1. Casting Vision (pt 1)

2. Grow Together This May!

3. Piper on Ministry as Adventure

Casting Vision (pt 1)

I have a 3-year old son and he loves puzzles. Well, he mainly loves one particular puzzle. So we do that puzzle. 18 times per day. I don’t even have to think about where the pieces go. And because of that, the thrill and satisfaction of completing the puzzle for me is gone.

If I am honest, I get, well, bored… I can do the whole puzzle while thinking of something else entirely. (I still love the one on one time with my son though!)

See, after a while, worship leading can start to feel like that. We know what songs will “work.” We know which ones “fit.” And we’ve done it so many times that we don’t really have to think about it that much. And if our minds become disengaged from what we are doing, our hearts won’t be far behind.

One surprising source of burnout among worship leaders is actually boredom. Bored often doesn’t seem like the right word because there is never a shortage of tasks on our plate. There’s definitely not too much free time that we don’t know what to do with.

It’s not “I have nothing to do” bored. It’s more “I work in an assembly line” bored.

It’s the feeling that you are doing the same thing over and over and over again.

Each Sunday can feel the same. Almost like Groundhog Day. Same service flow. Same sandbox of songs. Same service run through meeting. Same tech challenges.

Do this for long enough and ministry can potentially feel, well, bleh.

But why? The Gospel is not boring. You still love the church and the people at your church. You still want to serve the Lord with all your heart. You still love leading worship.

If this is you… would you say that your mind is really engaged with what you are doing? 

I went through a season of feeling disengaged while on staff at a church. Planning sets took twenty minutes. Same plug and play formula. The weekend services were starting to feel like just another thing on the calendar.

I brought this to a mentor and he said to me: “It sounds like you are on autopilot. Why do you choose these songs and why do you structure your service like this?”

I didn’t really have good answers. I had some answers: “Well, the first song is typically upbeat and engaging because lots of people are late…” (if you know you know)…

And that conversation was what revealed to me that I was just doing a combination of what the church had been doing, what I had seen others doing, or what was easiest to do.

What was the missing ingredient to this ministry? An engaged me.

The result? I, along with our Pastor, developed a liturgy to use each Sunday. Why? To make sure that we were telling the whole story of the Gospel (creation, fall, redemption, restoration) each Sunday with the teaching and the content of the songs. That became our why.

I had never been more bought in.

When was the last time you carved out time to intentionally pray and think about the culture of worship in your church and on your team?

God has invited YOU to join Him as His partner, not just His worker, in serving the community He has placed you. That’s an important distinction because He’s given YOU unique gifts, desires, and interests with this partnership in mind.

Does God need us? No. But He wants to work with us and He’s made us for that end!

So, how can you keep yourself engaged? Develop and cast some vision!

To start, ask yourself some of these: 
Start with big picture:
- What about your services do you believe really honors the Lord?
- What do your regular songs say about your church’s “theological diet”?
- What are consistent challenges you experience?
- Are the people in your church engaged during your worship times?
- Does your team feel bought in and like they are a vital piece of the church?

Then go to your processes:
- How do you go about planning your sets?
- Why do you do it that way?
- Do you feel like you have the freedom to do things the way you would want to?
 
As the leader of the worship ministry, where and how is the Lord leading you?

When you begin to think through these questions above you can develop a vision for worship ministry. This vision will have your buy in. You will know your “why” for your “what” specifically. THEN, you can cast that vision for others to follow.

So, what keeps us from casting vision for our ministries and chasing it?

1. We don’t know where to start.

   • Maybe this is something you’ve never thought of. Maybe you have observed someone else lead their ministry and absorbed that way of doing things.

   • Maybe you joined a church and inherited their way of doing things.

   • If this is you and you don’t know where to start, fill out this coaching form! Someone from our team would love to ask you questions and help get your wheels turning.
     

2. We don’t have the time or mental space.

   • Many of us just don’t feel as though we have enough time in the day or week to devote to this. We may want to and see the need for it, but there is always something that needs our attention.

Making the time to seek the Lord and cast vision for your ministry will contribute to your longevity in your role. 

To Be Continued…

In the next Healthy Leader email, we will walk through helpful steps you can take to free up the time and mental space for this important task.

For now, we encourage you to take time to pray! We are always so ready to get to doing that we don’t ask the Lord what we should be doing.

This story of Peter from John 21:1-14 is interesting. Jesus has revealed Himself to the disciples but then disappears again. Peter, not knowing what to do, still feels compelled to do something, towards productivity.

So, he just does what he knows how to do: fish. The disciples, not knowing what to do either, agree to fish with him. He and the disciples fish all night. And they catch nothing.

As the sun rises, a man from shore [Jesus] tells them where to cast their net. They cast there and pull up more fish than they probably ever have.

When was the last time you asked Jesus where to cast your net?

Grow Together This May!

If you’re on the west coast, join us for Grow Together Conference - May 14-15! Our team will be leading worship and hosting some breakouts for the worship track of the conference.

This conference is tailored towards entire church teams, from worship to HR, to Marketing, Finance, etc… come with your staff!

Register here and use the code: LIKEWISE30 to save on registration!

Piper on Ministry as Adventure

Join our community!

• Gatherings - Looking to connect with other leaders? Come to our free monthly hangs with local leaders in select US cities or join us quarterly online!

• One on One - Looking to process your ministry, your faith, or your challenges with a third-party you can trust? Set up a meeting with a member of our team.

• Vocal Coaching - Feeling stuck or discouraged vocally? We offer professional in-house voice coaching specifically to worship leaders. Best part? We raise funds so we can give you a BIG discount. Schedule a consultation with our team!

• Retreat - Join us for a time of rest and renewal THIS September!