What I Expect

written and published by Rob Rash

Life is built on expectations. Some good. Some not-so-good.

The church is built on the backs of our volunteers. There’s really nothing quite like it on the face of the planet.

And it’s a delicate balance between those who lead ministries and worship teams and those who volunteer their gifts. It’s always a good practice to keep those expectations in front of your team.

Now I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’ve been the work-a-full-time job volunteer as well as the full-time paid worship leader and I believe this has helped me stay in touch with what we should expect.

Are you clearly communicating your expectations with your team?

Worship Leader: The first step, is to make sure you know what you can realistically expect from your volunteers. Do you have a basic understanding of your expectations? Have you taken the time to write them out and get them to your team?

Volunteers: Are you submitting and following through with what your leader has put in front of you? Are fulfilling your part of the bargain?

If you’re not sure where to start, I’d like to break down for areas that will help clear up, just what your worship pastor is expecting from you!

• Be Prepared – Hopefully your worship leader is mostly prepared and has given you the opportunity to listen and get to know the music you’ll be playing. So take some time beforerehearsal to learn your parts. Be prepared.
• Be Professional – Don’t be an amateur. Show up on time or early and get yourself ready. As mentioned above, learn and know your parts, and always listen to your worship leader. That’s means… stop playing when they start speaking. And take notes, lots of them.
• Be Humble – Pride is not only a team/band killer, it’s a worship killer. Work hard at your craft and become the best you can, but always maintain a humble, teachable spirit.
• Be Spiritual – You have to take control of your faith and relationship with God. Sunday mornings and team devotions cannot be your only source of growth. Your worship will only be as rich as your relationship with Jesus is.

So there you have it. A few suggestions for learning what your worship pastor expects from you.