The Complete Worship Ministry Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Worshipping God and Serving in Worship Ministry

By Andrew G. Robbins

The Complete Worship Ministry Handbook by pastor and former worship leader, Andrew G. Robbins, is an extensive training resource for worship leaders, worship team members, and church members alike. Laying the foundation in the first section of the book by exploring the proper understanding and practice of true Biblical worship compared to cultural innovations, the author then turns the focus in the next two sections to worship ministry teams. Section 2 provides practical instruction to worship team members for serving God and their churches with their talents, and Section 3 provides instruction to worship leaders and ministry directors to help streamline their efforts and avoid many of the landmines associated with worship ministry leadership.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481771597

Andrew G. Robbins

Andrew G. Robbins brings a unique perspective to the table on the topic of spiritual gifts, as he was once staunchly against their modern-day application and once set out to write a book refuting them. However, after more extensive study of the Scriptures and having witnessed too many encounters with the power of God to ignore, he now seeks to bring a better understanding to the Body of Christ on this topic which has divided many believers. Andrew Robbins has been the pastor of Blessed Life Fellowship church in south/central Indiana since 2010 and is also the founder of Andrew Robbins Ministries. His other books and resources are available at AndrewRobbinsMinistries.org.

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© 2013 Andrew G. Robbins. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/25/2022

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5654-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-7159-7 (e)

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

SECTION ONE

Establishing a Biblically-Based Philosophy of

Worship for You, Your Team, and Your Church

Chapter 1: Worship that Pleases God

The Foundation of Worship

Why We Express Ourselves Physically and Vocally in Worship

Chapter 2: Hindrances to Worship

Lack of Repentance

Smorgasbord Spirituality

Worshipping for Personal Benefit

Misunderstanding the Context and Outcomes of Worship

Institutional Barriers

Chapter 3: Going Overboard

Self-Control and Unauthorized Expressions of Worship

What About King David’s Dancing?

What About the Drunken Behavior on the Day of Pentecost?

The New Age Influence on Christian Worship

Emotional Spirituality

The Role of Faith in Worship

Chapter 4: Preparing to Meet with God

Personal Preparation

Respect for the House of God

SECTION TWO

Practical Instruction to Worship Team Members

Chapter 5: Understanding Your Role in Worship Ministry

Performance vs. Ministry

The Philosophy of Worship

The Church’s Vision in Worship Ministry

Priorities in Worshipping God

Modes of Operation

Chapter 6: Pre-Requisites of the Worship Team Member

Some Things Just Need to be Said

Biblical Standards of Conduct for Those in Ministry

Pre-Involvement Training

Responsibilities of the Team Member

Chapter 7: The Sound Man

Responsibilities of the Professional Sound Tech

Servanthood

Know Who You Answer To

Be Alert

Do All You Can to Be Excellent

Chapter 8: Modesty and Dress Code

Presenting Our Bodies as Living Sacrifices

The Hidden Motive

The Sin of Causing Others to Sin

Chapter 9: The Importance of Unity

Biblical Standards for Walking in Christian Love

Tips for Handling Conflict

SECTION THREE

To the Team Leaders: Survival Tips for Ultimate Success

Chapter 10: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

The Entertainment-and-Performance Mentality

De-Emphasizing the Worship Team

Chapter 11: Being a Leader Your Team Will Follow

Loving Those You Lead

Get Over Yourself

Leadership Training

Chapter 12: Qualities of an Effective Worship Leader

Is Himself/Herself a Worshipper

Is a Skilled Musician and Singer

Is Teachable

Is Willing to Make Difficult and Unpopular Decisions

Chapter 13: Developing Your Team

Choosing Team Members

Mentoring Other Possible Leaders Within the Group

Be An Encourager

Chapter 14: Setting the Stage for Meaningful Worship

Creating an Environment Conducive to Worship

Planning a Service

Song Selection

Chapter 15: Leading Your Church and Your Team in Worship

Coercion

Modeling Worship

Song Transitioning

The Use of Scripture Reading in Worship

Leading Your Team During the Service

FINAL THOUGHTS

REFERENCES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Versions of the Holy Bible used in the text of

this book are indicated as follows:

King James Version (KJV)

Copyright 1972 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

New King James Version (NKJV)

Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright 1984 by International Bible Society

New Living Translation (NLT)

Copyright 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Copyright 1989, Cambridge University Press

INTRODUCTION

In the last few decades there has been within the Church of Jesus Christ a growing emphasis on the act of worship. Breaking the barriers of ritual and tradition, this movement has been marked by a passion to not simply sing songs, but to actually commune with the God of the Universe using music as the medium.

From this passion was birthed a renaissance of the use of all different kinds of art forms in worship. Drama, multi-media, and the use of a variety of instruments has become the norm in most American churches, whereas in decades past a single instrument, or no instruments at all, seemed to be the standard of piety. And the use of all the different instruments also created a need for worship teams.

The explorers who blazed the new trail in modern worship, however, found themselves in uncharted territory. Church planters and leaders took it upon themselves to learn by trial and error. There was no guide written to tell music leaders how to run a worship ministry…or was there?

While the Bible may not actually address the details of managing and leading a worship ministry, you might be surprised what it has to say about worship. And from these concepts we can piece together a blueprint for successfully leading our churches in Biblical worship and guiding our teams in effectively leading in that capacity.

This handbook was developed, therefore, to help worship leaders and worship team members understand your role in worship ministry and to assist you in making the most out of the calling that God has placed upon your life to be used in the local church. Your willingness to participate in the worship ministry is no doubt deeply appreciated by the leadership in your church, and it will be important to have the tools in your hands that will make your participation as rewarding as it can possibly be for both you and the leadership whom you serve.

In worship ministry, musical talent is only one of the skills that defines a truly effective team member. It is my hope that this handbook will serve to help you in the development of the other characteristics of a successful team member that are not as obvious as musical talent.

To the non-musical worshippers, this book, I hope, will be likewise helpful. We will explore what the Bible has to say about worship that truly pleases God, and therefore shed some light upon how to avoid the common pitfalls that accompany the modernized concepts pertaining to worship.

Why I Decided to Write This Book

I have been in different facets of worship ministry since 1992. By the time my wife and I were hired to lead the worship ministry at a rural church in southeast Indiana, I had already discovered that there were a lot of concepts regarding worship and worship ministry that I took for granted everyone knew, but few actually did. I found myself spending a lot of time and energy teaching these concepts to fellow worship team members, all the while thinking to myself that there had to be some resource out there somewhere that taught these concepts so that I could just hand my teammates something to read or listen to. While attending worship conferences and reading a few books provided some of the help I wanted, there didn’t seem to be anything out there that compiled in one volume or format all the things that I really wanted to communicate to my team. So I created a worship ministry handbook for my team. It was out of that same handbook that the one you are now reading was born. I hope you find it as helpful for your life and ministry as the original handbook proved to be for mine.

Another primary motivation for the writing of this book goes beyond just establishing guidelines that help in the operation of worship teams. One of the audiences to whom I am directing section one of this book is the non-ministry churchgoer, because there appears to be a large segment of the church culture who know very little of even the most fundamental concepts of worship.

In his organization’s research on worship, researcher, speaker, and author, George Barna, found that as many as a third of regular churchgoers in America have never experienced God’s presence in their lives in any tangible way. As much as half of regular churchgoers say they have not experienced God’s presence in their lives in the last twelve months. Moreover, the younger a person is the more likely they are to say that they have never experienced God’s tangible presence.

In one of Barna’s surveys he asked people to define what worship means, and two out of three regular churchgoing adults either said they had no idea what worship means, or they offered what Barna called a counterfeit response, such as, worship is attending church, or worship is being a church member, or worship is believing in God, or worship is feeling happy that God exists.

Lastly, Barna’s research also revealed that only two out of three churchgoing adults in America identified worship as the most important responsibility of a Christian, and fewer than half describe worship as a top priority in their lives.¹ Clearly, the church in America has some fundamental problems in regard to our concept of worship.

My Background

Before I launch into the material, I wish to share the story of my musical and spiritual odyssey so that I may be able to establish some common ground with you. Understanding that we all have different backgrounds and life experiences that shape our perceptions and color the lenses through which we look at life, I believe we all bring something to the table in regard to how to approach the diverse subject of worship and worship ministry. So take note: Some of the principles in this handbook are a result of my experiences and my viewpoints. So you may not agree with all my assertions, and that’s okay. I trust that we have common ground in the fact that both you and I share the goal of exalting God in worship, and are interested in helping others connect with Him. Likewise, our primary common ground is the Word of God, and it is this guide upon which we will base the discussion.

With that said, here’s my story:

The household in which I grew up was a musical one. My father made his living as a piano tuner and re-builder, and my mother was a church pianist. Two of my six siblings were also especially accomplished in the arts. We had an old baby grand piano in the living room, and it was at that yellowed, clunky keyboard where I taught myself how to chord.

One of my other older sisters had a cheap, junky guitar on which she took lessons briefly, and when she gave it up, I grabbed it. My father was skeptical that I would be diligent enough to learn to play an instrument, but I finally persuaded him to foot the bill for guitar lessons. To my dad’s great surprise, I practiced so intently that first summer that I was playing songs proficiently in front of my seventh grade choir class within ninety days or so from the time of my first lesson. My classmates seemed to love it, and I loved the admiration that I seemed to get from the people who enjoyed hearing me sing and play. And so after that first gig in front of my classmates, I was hooked.

Music became for me a badge of honor; something that few other people possessed and, thus, provided an avenue whereby I could feed my puny self-esteem. I had finally found something that my classmates seemed to admire.

That was in 1980, and by that time Christian rock music was gaining momentum and popularity among America’s young churchgoers. I was an avid music lover, and spent many of my weekends attending Christian rock concerts, all the while envisioning myself doing the same kind of cool shows someday that the talented performers I had spent so much of my money to see were doing.

Within just a couple of years I was getting a small taste of that, as I had many opportunities to play in front of large crowds of people with the various rock bands with which I performed and as a solo act every now and then.

By the time I got into college, my lust for approbation led me into a departure from the church to pursue my fleshly passions, and I spent six years in some very depraved living. When I came back to my senses in 1992 and repented of my rebellious lifestyle and became a regular churchgoer again, I attended a few more Christian concerts just for some good clean fun and Christian fellowship with my friends. But something deep and profound ignited in me one night at the show of Mylon Lefevre, who had been one of my favorite performers during the years in high school when I was an avid concert goer.

The first part of the new-and-improved Mylon Lefevre show was pretty raucous as usual, but something was different. Mylon’s hair was shorter than in years past, and his wardrobe toned down. The lyrics of his songs also reflected a depth and hunger for God that compelled me. Then, in the middle of the show, he sent his band backstage except for his guitarist, and the two sat on stools at the front of the stage and just sang worship songs to God with the lights dimmed.

Mylon LeFevre was not the same artist I had seen several years before. He had become hungry for the deeper things of God, and, thus, his musical direction changed from performance to worship.

That concert was the beginning of a time of discovery for me. I began to realize that the fun of jumping up and down at a rock concert – even if the lyrics were Christian in nature – didn’t compel me to know God in a deep and meaningful way. But there was something about the new passion I saw in an older and wiser Mylon Lefevre and about the worship he led us in that did compel me.

The last several years since that memorable concert have been a struggle at times to discover God’s purpose for the talents and passions He has given me. I have often been guilty of wondering if God gave me musical ability to frustrate me since most of the musical situations in which I found myself were with people whose talents did not match my own. I spent several years leading worship with team members whom I had to teach and instruct along the way, and those situations often tried my patience and felt unrewarding. But as I have come to understand the importance that God places on worship, the incredible power that it has, and the scarcity of musicians who will use their talents for the sole purpose of exalting God and not themselves, I am beginning to understand that God in His sovereignty has guided the steps of my life in order to mold me for just such a time as this and for just such a purpose as worship.

The Bible does not say that God’s eyes wander to and fro throughout the whole earth in search of a dynamic performer who can wow audiences. It does say that His eyes wander to and fro in search of someone whose heart is fully devoted to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9), and it also says that He is looking for worshippers (John 4:23).

For many years I was after a Christian gig that would scratch my itch to perform and be admired by people. But I now believe that what God has been after all this time was an Andrew Robbins whose carnal desires are crucified in favor of a child-like desire to simply know my Father and honor Him in song while I lead others in similar acts of pure and honest worship.

Indeed, what we do as worship ministers is not really glamorous or important in the eyes of the world. Perhaps your name is not a household word in Christian homes across America, and maybe your face does not appear on any CD covers. But I believe that I – and you, too, if you are in worship ministry – have a purpose that is just as important as the most widely recognized Christian music stars, which is to abandon our own recognition to bring honor to our Lord and Savior, and to lead others to His Throne in worship. A true worshipper is someone who performs for an audience of one – God. It is He that we are recognized by when He basks in our worship, and that is all that matters.

This life and ministry of worship is a journey that we are on together. Perhaps the path you have taken to where you are now is very similar to mine, or maybe different altogether. But whatever the path, we have been called to invest in the Body of Christ in a very important way. I hope, therefore, that you will find something in the following pages that helps you to do what you do even more efficiently, and encourages you to seek God’s presence in worship with even greater hunger and enthusiasm.

SECTION ONE

Establishing a Biblically-Based

Philosophy of Worship for You,

Your Team, and Your Church

CHAPTER ONE

Worship that Pleases God

The Foundation of Worship

As we embark upon our study of the kind of worship that truly pleases God, there is a principle we must first understand in regard to studying the Bible. For the sake of our discussion, we will refer to this principle as The Principle of Precedence, otherwise known as the Law of First Mention.

The premise of the Principle of Precedence is that when a term or concept is introduced in Scripture, the reader must consider the initial introduction as the precedent for how to interpret or regard the term or concept when it is used elsewhere in Scripture.

For example, the first time we see the term, worship, used in was in Genesis 22:5 when the patriarch Abraham was preparing to go up on a mountain and sacrifice his only son, Isaac.

And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." (NKJV)

In order to regard the concept of worship accurately, we must place great importance upon this first mention of it in the Bible. And nowhere in the account in Genesis 22 does the author, Moses, correlate music and singing with worship. The concept of worship was first introduced as unwavering obedience and faith.

As you may recall if you have read the story of Abraham and Isaac, Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless and had grown old. Yet God had promised them a son through which He would establish a holy nation. And when the promise was fulfilled and Isaac was born, God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience by commanding him to go on a journey and prepare to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering.

Not only did Abraham obey God, he apparently knew that both he and Isaac would return. Notice again that Abraham said to his servants in verse 5, WE will come back to you. Abraham had faith in God’s promise, and he had seen God come through for him already in a miraculous, supernatural way. It appears that Abraham either knew that God would intervene, or that He would raise Isaac from the dead if the sacrifice was carried out. And true to His nature, God sent an angel to stop Abraham from slaying his son, and instead provided a ram for the sacrifice.

In the modern American church, we typically equate worship with something we do on Sunday mornings while the music plays. A worship service might consist of anywhere from three to eight songs, depending on what kind of church you attend. During those songs, different expressions of worship might be common, such as clapping hands, singing, bowing or raising hands in adoration to God. These physical expressions of worship are certainly acceptable and even encouraged in Scripture, but they do not define worship. In fact, Proverbs 21:3 tells us plainly that:

To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (NKJV)

In other words, God couldn’t care less about our wonderful instrumentation and polished singing and other physical expressions and postures of worship if they are offered by people whose hearts are full of hidden corruption, pride, and unrepentant sin.

We see this demonstrated very early in the annals of Scripture in the account of the first brothers, Cain and Abel.

Although the term worship never appears in this account, the concept of worship, some of the specific acts that accompany it, and God’s attitude toward it were actually first introduced here. The story begins in Genesis 4:3-7.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the first fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. Abel brought fat portions from the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to