Is this thing on?

I wanted to come back and talk more about the benefit of using performance tools to connect with audiences in worship… I think this is important, and it’s not just because I’m comfortable on stage with a microphone in my hand…

It’s important because it is one of the primary tools in bridge building…

Leaders (read: the entire worship team) have the responsibility to bridge the gap between God’s presence and the people in the audience.  It’s not enough to just play songs or even play them well…

The Audience is Ignorant…

If you read my blog much at all, you’ll be aware that I’m a big fan of Tom Jackson, a live-music producer.  He does the circuit of artist development conferences and I try to catch him whenever I can.

Tom teaches that audiences are ignorant… They don’t understand music or audio or that yellow box on the floor that your guitar player keeps stomping on.

Here’s an example: As I have been increasing my leadership role in worship at my church, I’ve received a lot of (mostly unsolicited) input from people in the church. The musicians among them like to give me tips on audio equipment that will revolutionize our sound by adding nuances and tone.

The non-musicians have a different perspective. They tell me that no matter who is leading, everything sounds the same to them…

Being an insider, I know that the previous leader spent a huge amount of time, energy and money on equipment to nuance the tone.  He is very good at that and very committed to it.  Every guitar effect was carefully crafted, meticulously dialed-in, for the expressed purpose of adding variety to the sound. The past and current leaders (myself included) spend a lot of time in rehearsal working on dynamics within songs and throughout sets…  There is absolutely no way that any 2 songs sound the same on a given Sunday…

So, why is that the perception of the non-musicians?

What the Audience Knows…

Tom says that if all the songs look the same, the audience will perceive that they all sound the same…

A guitar player understands his nuanced tonal differences, the musician understands subtle dynamics and the audiophile understands a good EQ… a soccer-mom just sees a band that never moves while playing songs that all look the same… She’s becomes easily distracted and starts wondering where she can buy Gatorade on sale this week…

It doesn’t help in our church at all that the platform is small and the center area is devoted to the pastor’s MacBook.

The other thing that the aforementioned soccer-mom understands is human behavior…

If the worship leader and all of the musicians are focused on their printed music, or their equipment, or even their own experience of worship, it sends a non-verbal message to her that they’re not interested in connecting with her. It may just mean be that they’re  nervous or afraid of making a mistake or that the suffer from the misguided ideas that we talked about in Part 1 or Part 2… And so she doesn’t connect with them…

An effective leader can alter the dynamic in a number of ways, but the simplest way is to unchain himself from the instrument… Even if it’s just for one song in a set.  He can  make eye contact, encourage people to clap, raise hands, smile… just by doing those things himself… The other members of the team can do the same thing… It brings freedom to the audience when the leaders are free.

Toll Bridge or Troll Bridge…

Worship leaders (and again: every member of the team is a worship leader) bridge the gap between God’s presence and the people in the pews… but building bridges is an expensive undertaking. And leaders pay the price of transit for the church they lead.

Purposeful connection (which is the goal of good leadership and performance) by the leaders is required to get people over the bridge. When we refuse or neglect to be purposeful, we end up being road blocks… Metaphorically, we stand in the middle of the bridge and declare, “None shall pass.”

Reach out to the church you lead, with your eyes, with your hands, with a smile, or by taking a step toward them… you can call it “ministry” instead of “performance” if it makes you feel better, but it’s really both and that’s the balance  that makes all the difference…

Next week: Connecting with sloppy, wet kisses…

Photo credit: Pinion by Tim Jones (timmyjohn1 on Flickr)

I took a little walk through Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs with my wife and daughter. The sky was unremarkable, so I was shooting monochrome and hoping for some dramatic contrast. Which I got when I pointed the camera up at this pinion pine…

PhotoFriday is a feature of my own photographic art. Join our group on Flickr.com to submit photos for post illustrations and FlickrFriday slideshows (resuming in January).

Long's Peak by Tim Jones (timmyjohn1 on Flickr)

I took a hike up to Emerald Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park with my brother toward the end of the summer. It’s about a 4-mile hike, there and back again with some spectacular scenery along the way, including this view of Long’s Peak. Long’s Peak is the tallest mountain in RMNP and the park’s only 14′er. You can see a bit of glacier, still frozen in August.

PhotoFriday is a feature of my own photographic art.  Join our group on Flickr.com to submit photos for post illustrations and FlickrFriday slideshows (resuming in January).

FlickrFriday at WOP is powered by Flickrshow.

FlickrFriday at WOP is powered by Flickrshow.