Praise Band Paradox

I know of a megachurch with 10,000 people that has state-of-the-art everything... projection, speakers, music equipment and the same $ound board as the local arena. Their drummer is your typical middle aged guy who works a regular job, and probably hasn't played drums since his high school garage band days. In fact, he doesn't even own a drum set. Tempo fluctuations are so wild in the praise set that the singers sometimes can't spit out their words.

How does a megachurch with 10,000 people end up with a lousy drummer who doesn't even own a drum set? That's like having a pastor who doesn't own a Bible!

The answer is simple, my dear readers. It's a syndrome I've identified and have named The Praise Band Paradox: The bigger the church, the lousier the music.

Here's how it happens: small churches don't have a large talent pool from which to choose, so they often pay for musicians. One small church I'm thinking of has the best music in town, and the best musicians. They're not paid much, but they are paid.

When a church grows to a larger size, a non-musician in power can't understand why the church is paying musicians when there are so many people in the congregation willing to use their "gifts."

This explains why a good number of megachurches I've visited (not all) have music that isn't so hot. Not that the music was horrible, it's just that I remember thinking "wow, my little praise band (of paid players) in my 250 member church sure sounds a whole lot better than these guys."

A famous worship leader I know who works at a megachurch of 6,000 told me they stopped paying musicians and now only use people from the congregation. The pro players were invited to continue playing for free, but instead moved on to other paying ministries in the area.

Before you judge, remember that a pro player is a professional, which means that playing is his/her profession. That's how their living is made.

Also keep in mind that there's quite a big difference between a person volunteering to wash windows and a person volunteering to play an instrument in church. How many years of lessons and practice does it take to wash windows?

And if a church has multiple services, the musician's time commitment can sometimes be as much as a part time job (a friend of mine who plays at a megachurch that still pays musicians spends at least 15 hours a week in rehearsals and services.)

Should you pay your musicians or not? For that matter, just who should be paid in the ministry? Should the pastor? Should janitors? Or architects, landscapers, brick masons? Should you pay for electricity, water or air conditioning?

Should a church pay six figures for a state-of-the-art sound system to amplify... a drummer who doesn't own a set of drums?

Death of a Church

This week the 2 year old Andy Stanley Catalyst video church plant here in Greenville sadly announced that April is their last month of existence. Here's the blog of one of the pastors, Casey Ross. Financial problems were cited as the primary concern.

I visited the church several months ago. Nice people, cutting edge contemporary music and a good video sermon by Andy Stanley. What went wrong? Here's my two cents:

1. Location, location, location. Catalyst met downtown in a theater. Churches that meet in downtown Greenville have a history of flopping. Seacoast Greenville met in the same location for a time and nearly folded - they didn't grow until they moved to a more accessible location in the suburbs (two short turns off a major highway.)

2. Transplants. From what I've heard, Catalyst didn't use local musicians, but shipped in bands and worship leaders from Atlanta. I know of two good local musicians who played and were not asked back. One of the pastors mentions in his blog that he's preparing to move back to Atlanta. The whole thing smacks a tad bit like the "pros" are coming to Greenville to show us poor local yokels how it's done.

3. Market share. The Greenville church "market" is saturated. There's literally a church on every corner (see my previous post about yet another new church in Greenville.) If I wanted to plant a church, Greenville would be the last place I'd pick: there's simply too much "competition."

I know, I'm using business terminology, but it's this simple: go where the need is. I remember reading when Rick Warren decided to plant Saddleback years ago he carefully and prayerfully chose a spot that needed churches. Look what happened. Similarly, Seacoast in Charleston has boomed because there weren't many contemporary churches in Charleston. The local Willowesque megachurch here in Greenville boomed 15 years ago when contemporary worship was unheard of in these here parts.

Church planters, what parts of the USA need churches? May I suggest some blue states?

NewSpring Church in nearby Anderson is busily at work preparing their Greenville location. Yes, another new church in Greenville, but this one makes a bit more sense. There are over 1,000 people from Greenville driving to Anderson each week. I'd just as soon drive 5 minutes literally around the corner from my house than drive the 30 minutes to Anderson. This is a church plant with support from the get-go.

3. Catalyst appealed mainly to the youth culture. It's cool when a church has the latest, cutting edge songs and meets in a dark, vibey building, but this extreme programming generally attracts young people, and young people are notorious for not giving. I enjoyed the service, but I saw lots of Furman University students.

Therein lies the conundrum for the church planter: cool churches that attract young people with no money vs. traditional churches that attract old people with money. Hmmm, maybe there's a way to somehow meet somewhere in the middle?

Cookies

I'm sitting here at Panera Bread Company working on a redesign of the WorshipIdeas website, and this guy comes up and offers me a free cookie. Not one to resist free food, I eagerly accept. He then hands me a business card and says "I'm starting a new church in the area, check out our website." http://www.thrivechurch.tv

Entrepreneurial Church

What a great idea! Eastside Foursquare Church in Portland has purchased an old, run-down hotel, cleaned it up and remodeled it. The crime rate in the neighborhood dropped, profits go to social programs in the city and church members who work there have the opportunity to minister to guests.

Read more about it

See a clip - they were named "Church of the Week" by the 700 Club

I've suggested before that pastors put down their theological tomes and start reading a few marketing books. Here's an example of a church that has put a clever entrepreneurial idea into action. Can you imagine how their community is being changed as a result?

Death Threats

Every so often I write an article that really upsets traditionalists. A few months ago I posted one over at WorshipIdeas.com, basically saying that since contemporary worship is the norm these days the traditionalists are panicking. It's all about control and they're no longer the majority. You can imagine the hate emails I'm getting!

I always hear sad worship war stories when I teach at conferences, and I heard a shocking one this past weekend at WorshipFilms.com's Eye Max Conference. Right before a worship leader was ready to lead worship one Sunday before church, an old lady stopped him and said "I hope you have a heart attack."

Guess the traditionalists are resorting to death threats these days. And churches, you wonder why it's so hard to find a worship leader!

Catholics, Creeds and Compromise

Today's issue of USAToday had an interesting editorial by a Presbyterian minister who bemoaned the decline of mainline churches. What's worse, churches are dropping "Baptist," "Methodist" or whatever from their names in order to attract a wider audience!

One reason mainline churches are dwindling is because the average unchurched person in America (and the average person in America, by the way, is unchurched) can't understand the mysteries of the mainlines. When to sit, stand, recite or respond. There should be a user's guide next to the hymnal.

I was the music director at a Presbyterian church for a few years. It was a contemporary, seeker-friendly-type church planted by a very traditional Presbyterian church, but the plant still had serious Presbyterian overtones that sometimes hindered ministry.

I'm a church growth enthusiast, and to my amusement I realized that the more the church became less Presbyterian, the more it would grow and reach the unchurched. (You might need to diagram that sentence for it to make sense!)

For instance, for years I battled the Nicene Creed. Presbyterians, as well as most mainlines, are fixated on creeds. I had no control over whether we did them or not. Oh, I like the concept of creeds, but the problem with the current batch is that you might as well be speaking Latin (close - it's Shakespearean English.) The archaic language just doesn't gel with a contemporary service. When was the last time you used or heard phrases like:

Very God of very God.

Begotton.

The quick and the dead. (Sounds like a great title for a horror movie!)

You get the point. The most confusing part of the creed is the "holy catholic Church" section, which would freak out any of our visitors, both churched and unchurched. Of course, in this context, "catholic" Church means "universal" Church, or the Body of Christ... the Church as a whole. Not the Roman Catholic Church, specifically. But your average Baptistish South Carolinian doesn't know that. I heard continual complaints and questions from both unchurched and non-Presbyterian-culture attendees about the creed.

So I argued, "why can't we just change it to 'universal Church' or something? Find another word that means 'catholic'?"

"No!" came the answer. That's the way the creed was written, historically! The elders refused to change it.

Instead, a compromise. The pastor will now have a short sermonette before we recite the creed, explaining that "catholic" does not mean "Catholic," but universal.

The first Sunday he did this explanation, a young [target market] couple rushed up to him after church. I saw the whole thing. "Is this a Catholic church?" they gasped. In staff meeting the next week, the pastor was incredulous. Why, he had explained the whole thing! Didn't they listen?

Guess not. Never saw that young couple again.

This went on for about 2 years. I wonder how many people visited and never came back.

Then, one Sunday, a new guitarist came up to me after church and said he'd like to play in the praise band. (Yippee! You know hard it is to find good guitarists...) "My wife and I almost decided we wouldn't attend this church, we thought it was Catholic or something." I nearly had an aneurysm.

That next week in our worship committee meeting (committees are another Presbyterian fixation) I exploded. "Why the HECK are we still insisting on using the word "CATHOLIC" in that creed? I nearly lost a good guitarist!"

Then, a dear soul on the worship committee named Tim quietly spoke up: "Funny how it's okay to translate God's word from the KJV to the NIV so modern people can understand it better, and use it in our services, but we can't translate the Nicene Creed."

The pastor threw up his hands. "I give up."

We never used the word "catholic" again. Thanks, Tim.

Christmas Worship Song

Contemporary worship leaders know what an awkward shift is made at Christmas - going from singing Here I Am to Worship to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

Christmas carols, like hymns, are usually ABOUT God. They don't help us sing TO God like worship songs do.

UK worship leader Tim Light and I have written a Christmas worship song, I Adore You, that you can add to any Christmas praise set. It's easy to learn and sing, and will help move your Christmas worship in a vertical (singing TO God) direction. Try adding it to the end of your Christmas praise sets.

Coming soon will be a Christmas Service Ideas guide, with song, service and sermon ideas that will help you craft meaningful worship experiences based on the verses of I Adore You.

Download a free chord chart and MP3 of I Adore You at IAdoreYou.net.

Christmas Ideas Website

How did it get to be October already? The Christmas season is only two months away! I've just created a new website, ChristmasWorshipIdeas.com, to help you navigate through all the worship media out there. I'll be updating the website each week with new ideas, links and downloads.