Burnout.  We all face it as worship leaders. Some times there comes a point where you are tired of chord charts, playlists, arrangements, themes, and people.  If the thought of putting together a worship set makes you sigh and want to run far away, you may be getting a little crispy. Here are some ideas to prevent burnout.

• Make a list of things that fill your tank.  What do you love to do?  Go crazy with the list.  Dream.  Dream some more.  Pick something selfish off the list, take an afternoon (or day, or more) off and DO IT.  Don’t feel guilty about it.  Do it.
• Stop listening to music.  Sometimes I just have to get away from music.  Maybe God will be best found in the silence.  Go find out.
• Get to another church for a Sunday and be totally anonymous.  Tell them you are Hank from Montana and just passing through on the way to your summer job on an oil rig.  Oh, and don’t critique the worship gathering.  You are not a worship leader, you are an oil rig worker (have you forgotten already?).
• Play your instrument for no other reason than just to play.
• Write a new song (unless that stresses you).  Write the song just between you and God.  Don’t write it to be the next song that your congregation sings.
• Take a real sabbatical day and just relax.  Give yourself permission to rest.
• Connect with a friend that builds into you.
• Fast from media.  That includes internet, cell phone, iPod, and crackberry.  

If your burnout runs deep, you may need to take some extended time off.  Don’t feel guilty about this.  Your congregation needs you healthy.

The difference between song leaders and worship leaders is that worship leaders lead from the overflow.  A good worship leader will make it seem like you are  eavesdropping on their deep personal worship.  You owe it to God, your family, and yourself to get some refreshment to gain some depth. 

For a look at how I combat burnout before it starts, check out this post.

What do you do to de-stress?

picture from Library of Congress Photostream

I had an interesting conversation today with Scott, our media guy. It all revolved around the use of live shots used during worship songs. We are in a 1400 seat room with great lighting, sound, and good (but limited cameras). We do not yet have the ability for clean overlays of words on images. When we use live shots we cut away from the words.

Some people say that video during the worship songs are distracting. Others say that they are engaging. I have my own thoughts but would love to hear yours. So, the question is: What engages you more - live camera shots or none?

Comment here!

Anne Jackson is a blogger and honest follower of Christ.  Anne posted some great thoughts on the Hypocrisy of Worship.

Seems like we are all wrestling with the same thing; is God as tired of our songs as we are of singing them? Aside: check out the Tired/Orphan Blood song here.

Don’t get me wrong: corporate worship has a place. Hey, I make part of my living leading worship :> It is biblical, but I don’t think God’s dream is getting lullabied (is that a word?) while fellow humans are suffering. Are we singing and doing nothing else with our lives? That’s not called worship, that’s singing songs.

At exchange, we are contemplating a new series called “Live Like We Sing” (thanks Shawn). So, my question to you:

What phrases do you feel like we keep singing in our songs? We may take some of those and address what it would really mean to live like we sing. Please comment below!

photo by hiddedevries

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

Thanks to Kyle for the head’s up.

So, a partner in crime, Shawn Wallace, tells me that this song is blowing up in the blogsphere.  At first listen I yawn and think it is just like every other "Jesus loves me - I am the center of the universe song." 

Second time thru. 

I am almost in tears, realizing a truth that we often forget: he really does love us.

What do you think?

Easter blew up yesterday with nearly 2000 people in the building.  We celebrated the fact that we were salvaged.  In grand style, the team pulled it together.  Some highlights:

• Hundreds of pieces of junk
• Crazy scaffolding used as band risers and stage props
• Dancing to "Glory of it All"
• You are My Joy with cello and surdos
• Live painting with a beautiful twist
• Solid message on the resurrection of God in our lives
• Guitar Hero
• Tons of visitors
• Media off the chain (center screen, a dozen TV’s, and other eye candy).

We had a large hard working crew who went crazy with their time, creativity, and energy. It was a pleasure to serve with them.

I’ll post some video and pictures later. 

I had a flashback last week.  We are going paperless and are converting all our songs to Planning Center Online.  In an effort to do so, I was going through several years of songs in my files to import them into PCO.  On several occasions, I would pull chord charts from my hard file and say "We seriously sang this?"  I’m not even going to mention some of the songs we used to do.  The memories are just too brutal.   I even found a song that I wrote and had forgotten about.  Judging from the lyrics, it was just as well :>

Even worse, I have to wonder if I will be going through my files in 10 years and thinking he same thing of the songs today.

Shawn has been working like a dog to get everything converted to Planning Center Online.  Once we are up and running (soon), I will post a review here.

Photo by spierzchala

Author, musician, worship leader, theologian, and cultural diva Sally Morgenthaler recently sat down with Alan Roxburgh at the Allelon Institute and discussed the role of worship and the church.

Sally is a friend and a solid leader.  I have had the privilege of talking through life and leadership with Sally and I always come away thinking (1) this lady is solid and (2) she makes my head swim.

Grab a cup of Starbucks and enjoy this video interview.

Thanks again Sally!

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