Jan Springer from North Metro Church wrote me a couple months ago.  His question:  What about paid musicians?  Where do you draw the line?  Jan, I’ll give you my thoughts but let me first apologize for the delay in writing.  Bad Blogger :>

I can’t speak for others, but I can speak for what we do in exchange (and at MCC).  We do not pay our musicians.  Fortunately, we don’t have to.  I do not mean that to sound arrogant.  We just have a group of musicians who love to play.  Seriously, I think some of them would pay to play.  Hmm, maybe I should try that :>

Here are some additional thoughts:

• I can see paying a worship leader if you are requiring substantial time, have high expectations, and warrant many hours per week.
• Get a clear answer on why you pay musicians.
• If you pay one musician, you have to pay them all.
• If you pay musicians, you should treat them like employees (or contractors at least).  What I mean is this: you are paying for a service.  If they don’t deliver or show up on time, that should be reflected in their compensation.
• The worship leader goes from leader of volunteers to manager of contract employees.  No thanks.   
• It could muddy the waters for serving.  Where do you draw the line between serving and a paid job?  Tough one to walk.  Why not pay nursery workers? 
• Once you start, it is probably hard to stop.

I know some churches that feel they need to hire musicians.  They may be small or young and need to hire each Sunday.  Others may be large and want to run it like a business with union and/or professional musicians. 

All that to say this:  If I had to use paid musicians, I would set an end date and keep expectations as clear as possible.

Other thoughts????

photo by zzzack

Rick Newman brings us our number three thing we could learn from Bruce:  Share the credit.

There’s been a lot of hype about Springsteen reuniting with his famed E Street Band for the first full tour since 2003, but come on — Springsteen, the man, is the draw, pure and simple. Still, this is one maestro who spreads the glory across the stage. Not once during the show does a spotlight shine on Springsteen alone. He continually calls out "Steve," "Clarence" and the other band members. And when they bow at the end, they bow together.                          - Rick Newman, US News and World Report

It is a picture I still have in my mind. We were in the throws of a full-on E street experience with sold out crowd in Chicago. The band was lighting it up Jersey- style. The crowd was singing along and the focus was not directly on the Boss man.   Bruce walked over to long-time friend, Clarence.  (Note to all Boss newbies:  Clarence blows the sax for the man.  And he is baaaaaaad).  He stood beside Clarence and together they looked at the crowd.  He reached down and grabbed Clarence’s hand and together they silently stared at the crowd.  It was a brief moment that spoke volumes to me.  A simple holding of hands that said "Can you believe this?  Can you believe that we get to do this together?  Don’t forget this moment we have.  How lucky are we?"

It may have been the best part of the show for me.  Springsteen doing his genuine best to share the limelight.  We could learn a thing or two from that.

Any way that you cut it, church leadership is a team effort.  If you think you are in it alone, you are wrong.  If you think you can handle it alone, you are wronger :>

How can we share the credit?  We need to realize . . .

1. God gets the credit for this gig.  I realize that is the cliche thing to say, but it had better be true.  God gets pretty worked up when other people take the glory away from him.  It’s a dangerous place to be.  A couple years ago I was pulling into our church parking lot.  I looked at our large building and thought of our extensive ministries.  I slowed the car and quickened my pride.  I started to recount all the hard work, long hours, planning, and loss of sleep that had brought us to where we were.  My pride got the best of me.  I was proud for what I was part of building.  At that moment I sensed the spirit of God say to me "Scot, what has happened here has been because of my hand. If you start to take credit for it, I will begin to remove my blessing."  Gulp.  Check please.
2. We need to operate as a team.  I get a little sideways when I hear Pastor’s talk about "their church."  Or something that "they" did.  We can operate as a CEO who thinks that the church world revolves around us, or we can wake up and realize that this kingdom thing is based on many people doing many thing.
3. Leaders take the blame, share the fame.  My Dad once said "When something goes wrong, you take the blame.  You say "I."  When something goes right, you share the fame, you say "We.""  Smart man.
4. Life was meant to be lived together.  I would much rather gather my team around me and celebrate a job well done than drive home alone and tell myself how good I am.  When people compliment me, I state the dead-on truth:  "We have a great team, I am glad to be a part of it." 

There are unsung hero’s on your staff.  There are people on your team who deserve some recognition.  Share the love.  Spread around the credit.  Don’t be afraid to grab a few hands, take a look at the landscape, and say "Can you believe this?" 

And when you bow, bow together.

Photo by luiginter

In part 3 of the Springsteen series, we explore another thought from Rick Newman and US News and World Report. Rick’s third observation from the Boss is that he gives the people what they want. Here are Rick’s own words:

Experiments get a more welcome reception when mingled with something familiar. Throughout the show, Springsteen deftly blended unembellished hits such as “Badlands” and “Born to Run,” performed pretty much the way everybody knows them, with darker, topical music; after appeasing his conscience, he quickly reverted to happier songs such as “The Promised Land” (irony intended, I presume) and “Dancing in the Dark.” The result: His message of protest got across without turning anybody off.

I know what you are thinking here. “The church can’t give people what they want. We would compromise or values and morals.” Hmmm, not sure I buy into that objection. To me, it is an issue of relevance.

Someone once said that “The church has historically been answering the questions that nobody is asking.”

Ouch.

Jesus always looked beyond the obvious. He looked into the lives of people. What were they struggling with? What were the things locking them up? What were their dreams?

Somewhere along the way we have to be able to answer the question of what people are looking for. Every year the people of exchange volunteer to work one of the biggest musical event in town. Bluesfest draws people from all over the Midwest. Several thousands come to enjoy some good blues with some great friends. Last year I stood in the middle of the crowd and again had to ask myself:

Is the church being relevant? Are we addressing the questions that these people are struggling with? Is the song we are singing familiar to people outside of Christ?

I never want to stop asking those question. As a church, we better wrestle with it. I am not asking that we compromise the message or the values. I am asking that we look at the questions that people are asking and begin to address those in relevant ways. Jesus did it, why should we do any different?

The heart of Christ beats for those who have yet to know him. Find out what they are asking and you have an inroad to the familiar in their life.

Photo by Sister 72

Thanks once again to Rick Newman from U.S. News & World Report for the article on what the Boss can teach CEOs. Crossing it over from Business to church leadership, we explore Rick’s #2 observation: Innovate. In Rick’s own words,

Springsteen’s knack for turning old material into something completely new seems like a magic touch compared with all the lame efforts to create hip, modern variations of old TV shows or movies. Instead of copying success, he creates it all over again.

Can somebody testify? I must admit, when my pal Glen Baldwin offered to take me to my first Springsteen concert a few years ago, I figured I would be watching a washed up old man playing the same tunes for the millionth time so he could get enough money to pay his back taxes (tip of the hat to Willie).

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

The reason people flock to a Springsteen show is that you never know what this cat will do, but you know this: he takes old tunes and makes them new. Brand new.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alright. I am pretty fired up. In the past few weeks I have heard comments from people that get me amped. They all say it in different ways, but it goes something like this:

I am working a ton of hours each week. I have not had a day off since I don’t know when, and I can’t remember my last vacation.

Usually it is said with some pride. “Good-on-me for the hard work. I’m getting it done.” Am I supposed to respond with a pat on the back or some kind of heroic award? Hello McFly, we are killing ourselves. Some of us have jobs that own us. This is not how life was meant to be lived. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that it is a gift of God to enjoy work (Ecclesiastes 3:13), but this is out of control.

Don’t believe me? Get ready to be rocked.

Pastor Darrin Patrick from The Journey in St Louis offers the following statistics, which he gathered from such organizations as Barna, Maranatha Life and Focus on the Family. The following stats concern Pastors:

Read the rest of this entry »

Here is an overview of the Worship Leading Essentials articles:

1. Setting the Base
2. Letting Go
3. Teamwork
4. Putting Together a Song List
5. Spiritual Leadership
6. Skill or Spiritual Maturity?
7. Selecting Musicians
8. Song Transitions
9. Band Conflict
10. Dealing with Criticism
11. Setting Monitors
12. Stage Presence
13. The Art of Invisibility
14. Leading Rehearsals
15. Band or Rotating Musicians?
16. Going from Band to Pool
17. Limit the Gear
18. Rest
19. Life Long Learner
20. It’s Not About the Music

You have to love a guy who has the guts to say “Maybe what we are doing as a church isn’t working so well.” Bill Hybels is the founding Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago.  In an honest move, the leadership of Willow has questioned how good they are really doing.

Hear some straight talk from the man himself in this video. It’s worth your time.

For more information, check out the Reveal website.

Technorati Tags: Bill Hybels, Willow Creek, church, God, Chicago

US News and World Report (via MSN) published a great article on what The Boss can teach CEO’s.  I think it is a must-read for church leaders. 

I admit that I am a recent convert to Springsteen.  A friend of mine is a HUGE fan and drug me to my first concert with the Boss a few years ago.  I was hooked.  Talk about a guy full of passion. 

The article breaks down 4 lessons we can learn from The Boss.  I’ll expound on each of them, and how they relate to the church in separate posts.  So, drum-roll please (or as Bruce would say:  “1-2-3-4″).

1. Never let your customers rest.

If you have ever been to a Springsteen show, you know that the man is a powerhouse of energy and might as well be running a marathon.  US News and World Report says:

When Springsteen performs, most of his songs end like this: “1-2-3-4!” That’s because he’s starting the next song before the current one has even ended. The Boss continually races to the back of the stage to change guitars, so there’s no lull in the cadence of the show. In the audience, nobody sits down or gets a breather until the man on stage decides it’s time. By keeping the crowd on its toes, the band keeps demand at a fever pitch . . .

The church has done a pretty sad job at never letting people rest. Somewhere in history, we got lazy.  We decided the church had been innovative enough.  We sat down and said “it has been hard work getting here.”  In the meantime, culture changed and we wondered why customers lost interest.  They lost interest because there were not challenged.  People want to be challenged.  We don’t want to rest.  We want a cause.  We want to be engaged, to do something.  We say of exchange that we are a community of people who follow Christ and serve in his cause.  We never want to rest.  His cause is too great and there is too much to be done. 

Good leaders see further and clearer than others.  Be thinking of the next song before you end the current one.  Continually put vision in front of people. Continue to talk about strategies.   Continue to look over the horizon.

What song are you in and what song is coming next?  As a leader you should be able to answer that with clarity.  Hmm.  I think I have some work to do. 

Check in next time and we will explore what a Sr. Rocker can teach us about innovation.

Technorati Tags: The Boss , Bruce Springsteen , church , leadership , worship leading

If you are taking in Crowder and the boys on the Remedy tour, the band is asking that you bring new socks and  towels for local shelters.  It’s a gooooood thing!  Check out the details here.

Technorati Tags: David Crowder Band, Remedy

 Just a quick note to let you know we are back and kickin’!  The adjustment back to the US culture and “normal” life has been more challenging than we thought, but we are doing well.  I’ll post more later, just wanted to let you know that the blog has not gone dead!

Note: No kangaroos were killed in the creation of this blog.