The Senior/Lead Pastor has the ultimate responsibility for the worship services. It’s the job of the church staff to bring to life the vision that is cast – not to create competing visions. One of the things that sticks in the craw of many weekend service staff members is when elements in the service [usually songs] get cut last minute because the service is going long. That’s understandable – the team worked to prep the song [or whatever], and you hate to disappoint volunteers [especially if one of them is leading it].
You know what, though? It happens. I heard a wise saying once: “Flexibility is the key to ministry.” You need to have a team player attitude. If it only happens every once in awhile, it’s no biggie – don’t blow it up into one. If stuff is regularly getting cut at the last minute, it’s a problem with planning, not implementation [ie too much is being planned for the service in the first place]. If you know that the pastor is going to usually preach for 45 minutes – even though you only scheduled 35 – then change it to 45 and plan accordingly. Big picture thinking and team-centered hearts will make it a win for everyone.
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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