Monday, September 3, 2012

5 Things My Worship Pastor Wants Me to Know.














If you haven't read the previous post in this series, 5 Things I Want My Worship Pastor to Know, go do that now and then come back.

We're picking up with the rest of the content that my worship pastor, Bryan, and I shared at the Gurus of Tech conference in May.  While there are things that every worship pastor should know about their technical directors/volunteers, there are just as many thing that technical directors need to know about worship pastors.  Here are the five things that Bryan shared:

#1.  I need to trust you.

Character trumps competence every time - but trust in both are important.  I need to be able to trust that your intentions are the best, trust your ability, and trust that you have my back.  It creates a situation where an answer of "No" can actually be an invitation to discuss and learn. This can lead to new ideas and initiatives that will lead people to new or deeper life in Christ.

#2.  I need to have healthy conflict.

I need to have healthy conflict.  Create a win-win.  Tell me what you don't want to say - and tell me in love.  Don't email me. Don't allow what you cannot do to get in the way of what you CAN do. This leads to a culture where you spend time on the right stuff.  If you have conflict, do it privately. If, and only if, the conflict spills into the public - make sure people see the resolution.


#3.  Function trumps friendship in the short run.  Friendship trumps function for the long term.


Functionality is expected.  Friendship is considered icing on the cake.  Don't get me wrong, you have to function, but that alone will only work in the short term.   Developing a friendship will help you survive difficult times in ministry that might have destroyed your "working relationship."  An African proverb says, "If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together."  That's the situation we find ourselves in.  Worship and tech are completely interrelated and if we want to succeed in ministry in the long term, we need to start operating as friends, co-laborers, team mates, because we each have a stake in the success of the other.  Even if you work with a jerk, remember that you can only control your response and you will be held into account for how you respond in love.  You may win them over after all.

#4.  I need you to replace yourself.

This has everything to do with the success of your ministry in the long term and with enabling your ministry to achieve greater impact.  The fact is that you can't do everything alone.  There's just too much to do.  The ministry can't expand if you become the bottleneck to growth.  In different situations this may mean building into volunteers or training other staff members.  But its never a good thing when one person "holds the keys to the kingdom."  As a technical leader, there are times when you have to let go of control and enable others around you to step into the gap.



#5.  I'm intimidated by your world.

Many worship leaders may not admit it, but the world of tech arts can seem pretty daunting.  Shoot, it can seem daunting to techs.  I am intimidated by your world. I want to invite myself into your world more, but I won't unless you show me you're interested in mine first.  Be approachable and open about what you're working on and let me know about stuff that might pertain to what I do.  Strike up a conversation about a new piece of gear or ask me about something I'm working on.  When we each understand the each other's world, it allows us to collaborate more effectively and relate to the triumphs and struggles that we each experience.



Just like any good relationship, the Technical Director/Worship Leader relationship takes work and intentionality.  By thinking about the other person's needs and point of view, we can come alongside one another and achieve much more for the Kingdom together then we ever could alone.