Worship Team

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”

Romans 12:1

Our why

Everything we do is worship. We are always striving to put Jesus on display and claiming Romans 12:1 in all that we do as disciples. We see musical worship in scripture. God’s word is filled with examples of responding to who God is and what He’s done with music. [Ex.15:21/Neh.12:27/Psalms] Music brings unity in worship. No other act of worship unifies us more than saying the same thing, at the same time, to the same God. [Rom. 15:5-9]

OUR HOW

We are all worship leaders. Any of our team members who set foot on a platform are charged with pointing people to Jesus Christ through songs. We believe our worship culture matters. In light of that, we want to see a culture of people who respond to all situations in life with worship as we claim Romans 12:1. We accept the call to engage every person in the room to worship their Creator while also worshipping Him ourselves. We invest time in what is most important to us, we strive to have a worship team that is devoted to preparation and giving our best. [Psalm 33:3/Col. 3:23] We also believe this also compounds in eliminating distractions for our people to encounter God. Stage presence, musical excellence and authentic passion all delicately balance together to help eliminate distractions in worship.

our songs

With music as our primary form of corporate worship, there is an inherent dilemma of choosing a style. In the arena of style, as with most things in life, everyone can’t be pleased. As leaders we are called to be shepherds, and a good shepherd knows his sheep. It is crucial that the community and culture be continually evaluated to help point them to Jesus through worship. As the apostle Paul said “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” [1 Corinthians 9:22].

With so many songs to choose from, it can be easy to simply do whatever is popular and not pick the right songs for how God is moving in your community. To make sure we stay in tune with this, when choosing or writing songs we ask three main questions: Does it line up with God’s word? Does it point people to Christ and the mission of the church? Is it singable? Once these questions have been answered, it’s important to realize that there are two main types of worship songs. Vertical songs, about how great God is; and horizontal songs, about how we, as His creation, respond to Him. It is important that we use a healthy blend of these song types so that praise to God is done in the form of bringing Him glory and encouraging one another as we sing together. All of these elements combined help cultivate a God-glorifying culture that we want to always strive for.

musicianship

As a team, we are a collection of volunteers scheduled in different environments throughout our many serving opportunities. As a result, we use the Nashville Number System to memorize arrangements and call chords. The vision behind this is to create a simple “team language” that helps everyone follow the worship leader or music director when a song is changed or extended in pursuit of a Spirit led moment in any one of our environments.

Music scales are laid out in 8 notes, referred to as octaves. C scale plays like this:

c d e f g a b c

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Fore example, if the MD (Music Director) calls for a “1 5 4 6,” it would play like C G F Am.

If you know the chord numbers, you can play any song in any key because the numbers don’t change. If a song ends on the “1”, it will always end on the “1” chord regardless of the key. Once you get familiar and comfortable with the numbers you will be able to play the song in any key and follow any changes within the song from that point. This is a vital part of how we continue to encourage musical growth and respond to what God is doing in a worship service.

*the full number chart is attached to our planning center for reference.

praise in scripture

HALLAL - Hallal is a primary Hebrew root word for praise. It is the root form of “Hallelujah.”

Psalm 113:1-3 Praise (hallal) ye the Lord, praise (hallal) o ye servants of the Lord, praise (hallal) the name of the Lord.

Psalm 150:1 Praise (hallal) the Lord! Praise (hallal) God in His sanctuary; Praise (hallal) Him in His mighty expanse.

YADAH - Yadah is a Hebrew verb with a root meaning, “the extended hand, to throw out the hand, therefore to worship with extended hand”

Psalm 63:1 So I will bless thee as long as I live; I will (yadah) lift up my hands in your name.

Psalm 107:15 Oh that men would praise (yadah) the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

SHABACH - Shabach means, “to shout, to address in a loud tone, to command, to triumph.”

Psalm 47:1 O clap your hands, all peoples; shout (shabach) to God with the voice of joy (or triumph).

Psalm 145:4 One generation shall praise (shabach) Thy works to another and declare Thy mighty acts.

BARAK - Barak means “to kneel down, to bless God as an act of adoration, to salute.”

Psalm 95:6 O come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel (barak) before the Lord our maker.

Psalm 34:1 I will bless (barak) the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

ZAMAR - Zamar means “to pluck the strings of an instrument, to sing, to praise; a musical word which is largely involved with joyful expressions of music with musical instruments.”

Psalm 21:13 Be exalted O Lord, in Thine own strength, so will we sing and praise (zamar) Thy power.

Psalm 57:8-9 Awake my glory; awake harp and lyre, I will awaken the dawn! I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord among the peoples; I will sing praises (zamar) to Thee among the nations.

TEHILLAH - Tehillah is derived from the word halal and means “the singing of halals, to sing; perceived to involve music, especially singing; hymns of the Spirit or praise.”

Psalm 22:3 Yet Thou art holy, O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises (tehillah) of Israel.

Isaiah 61:3 To grant to those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise (tehillah) instead of the spirit of fainting, So they shall be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

what to expect from us

SUPPORT - Leadership will encourage and support our team members to have a healthy walk with Christ, and ensure their relationship with God and their families come first.

COACHING - Leadership will utilize moments to speak into areas where team members can grow as worship leaders and musicians.

STEWARDSHIP - Leadership will schedule team members in a timely manner and prepare any resources necessary for a service to eliminate any wasted time.

MEETING - Leadership will devote time to meeting with and regularly praying over team members.

what we expect from you

HEART - Team members should be in pursuit of Jesus Christ and representing Him and the church in all that they do.

STEWARDSHIP - Team members should respond to scheduling requests in a timely manner, blackout unavailable dates and show up on time for call-times and rehearsals.

PREPARATION - Team members should show up to any scheduled event fully prepared musically, emotionally and spiritually to lead people in worship.

UNITY - Team members should be in full support of the church, culture and vision. If conflict should arise it is handled with the truth of “publicly praised, privately criticized,” and brought to a staff member.