Question:
Would anyone be willing to share policies or written guidelines that are used with your praise teams? I would like to get us "all on the same page" in January with items like practice times, missed rehearsals, etc. Not really sure where to start.
Thanks much!
Answer:
I'll be the first to admit: I don't have a written policy (maybe I should).
Here are my general un-written policies that we talk about openly on about a quarterly basis, or whenever we gain a new member to the group:
1) Show up to rehearsal, and early is best.
2) If you were able to make rehearsal(s), then you are "on" to sing in the service that the rehearsal was directed at, unless you and I have talked about a different arrangement and we're both very comfortable with that arrangement. For example, I have a vocalist that will come to practice, but works on Sunday and can only rarely sing on Sunday morning. I do not begrudge her desire to practice in community.
3) If you're not going to be there, let me know in advance so that I don't select a song that really leans hard on your part.
4) Practice will always include prayer time, most of the time will include actual rehearsing of music, and will sometimes include teaching about why we're doing what we're doing.
That's basically it. It would sound more formal if it was written down for real.
Nate
Answer:
Originally Posted by nate95366 I'll be the first to admit: I don't have a written policy (maybe I should).
Here are my general un-written policies that we talk about openly on about a quarterly basis, or whenever we gain a new member to the group:
1) Show up to rehearsal, and early is best.
2) If you were able to make rehearsal(s), then you are "on" to sing in the service that the rehearsal was directed at, unless you and I have talked about a different arrangement and we're both very comfortable with that arrangement. For example, I have a vocalist that will come to practice, but works on Sunday and can only rarely sing on Sunday morning. I do not begrudge her desire to practice in community.
3) If you're not going to be there, let me know in advance so that I don't select a song that really leans hard on your part.
4) Practice will always include prayer time, most of the time will include actual rehearsing of music, and will sometimes include teaching about why we're doing what we're doing.
That's basically it. It would sound more formal if it was written down for real.
Nate
Thanks, Nate. That sounds very familiar to our current un-written policy. We do not have the situation where someone may practice, but not sing on the Sunday. However, we have had a problem with no-shows to rehearsals. I am wondering if it would be appropriate to implement a "if you miss two consecutive rehearsals your out" type of policy. Obviously, that is extreme, but only would be used in the cases of someone not communicating why they are not there on a continuing basis.
Wendi
Answer:
Here is a (brief) guideline docuement we created a few years ago.
A friend of mine is in a new church start and they created a pretty detailed one earlier this year. I'll see if he's willing to post it here.
Answer:
One of our policies is "Kick a kitten, go to jail"...
This kitten in particular...

So far, everyone's been abiding by that one...but the drummer is raising suspicions...
Answer:
Originally Posted by gtrdave One of our policies is "Kick a kitten, go to jail"...
This kitten in particular...

So far, everyone's been abiding by that one...but the drummer is raising suspicions...
They better not kick that cute little guy....or girl!
Answer:
Originally Posted by Tony Here is a (brief) guideline docuement we created a few years ago.
A friend of mine is in a new church start and they created a pretty detailed one earlier this year. I'll see if he's willing to post it here.
Thank you. This is really helpful in getting started!
Answer:
Originally Posted by gtrdave One of our policies is "Kick a kitten, go to jail"...
This kitten in particular...
So far, everyone's been abiding by that one...but the drummer is raising suspicions...

Answer:
Originally Posted by Jo1967 Would anyone be willing to share policies or written guidelines that are used with your praise teams? I would like to get us "all on the same page" in January with items like practice times, missed rehearsals, etc. Not really sure where to start.
Thanks much!
Hmmm, let's see. I've got a few restrictions on our Young Adult (college-age) worship teams.
1) Must be a born-again, growing Christian. Agreeing with our basic doctrines is crucial, but non-crucial issues (such as spiritual gifts or other denominational beliefs) are not as important to agree with.
2) Must be in it for the right motives. i.e. To worship God, lead others to do the same. NOT to perform for people (although performing for God is very valid) or to have fun (although that will happen anyway most of the time, which is good).
3) Must be a regular attender of the group. Basically we try to rotate 3 teams through, so someone will be playing once every 3 weeks. Our rule is that on average, you should be attending at least one of the 2 weeks that you are not playing. Basically 2 out of 3 weeks at least.
4) Must be able to make practice times. If they don't, they don't play.
5) Must seek to be at peace with everybody.
6) Must be part of a small group. This is just our effort to make sure they are getting accountability for growth.
7) Generally be flexible.
Answer:
Here is ours.
Answer:
One thing to remember when you're involved on a Worship Team, is that you are part of a team that is leading the church in Praise and Worship. Because of that responsibility, you need to follow a higher standard. People will be looking at you as a role model, whether you're a singer or musician.
One major factor is you need to follow all the moral guidlines of the church. One of the main issues that seem to come up all the time is living with a boyfriend/girlfriend but wanting to play on the worship team. Things like this need to be made very clear before someone want's to play on a worship team.
Then I have my smokers. We let them play on the team, provided they don't smoke out in the open in front of members of the church, especially the young ones. Sure, smokers will can still go to Heaven....they're jsut going to go there faster than the rest
But bottom line is, be sure your team is following the moral guidlines of the church.
Now we come to the professionalism of the band. We're pretty blunt with rehearsal. If you don't show up, please don't expect to play for the service. Everything else is standard. Show up on time, do your homework, be a part of the small group. Our Worship Team is our small group. I highly recommend going over the books from Matt Redman (Heart Of Worship). It's a great book for applying your faith when being a part of a worship team.
#1 rule: Attend at least one service for that particular day. I have seen, and been a part, of worship teams that seem to feel thier only responsibility is to play music, and that's it. To be a part of the church is to stay connected with it, and listening to the day's message is a part of it.
But let's not forget the responsibilities of the band/worship leader. Know your team member's strong and weak points as a musician. Most people forget that they are not working with seasoned musicians. Some, especially singers, may not do anything musically at all outside of church. The worst thing that can happen is to set up someone on the team for faliure.
Anyway, I think I've ranted a raved enough about this. Good luck with this team !! Remember Psalms 33 : 3 Sing unto him new songs of praise. Play SKILLFULLY with a loud noise. Sure, it's all about the worship...but as musicians, we are instructed to hone our gifts so we may guide others to the word of the Lord, Amen ? If anybody ever tells you it's not about the music, they shouldn't be on a worship team. LOL
DD
Answer:
I personally required all of my team members to also be members of the church. I didn't do that in the beginning, but I found that people who never joined the church simply weren't faithful to the team as well, and I dealt with a lot of Sundays where team members didn't show up. I don't think that has to be a hard and fast rule though, and I did allow exceptions for College students... but even they had to be committed attenders and involved in something else at the church as well (e.g. attend "sunday school" or be in a smallgroup, etc). This helped weed out people who only wanted to play music and really had little concern or committment to the church at large.
Then each member of the team had to sign a covenant. I don't have it in front of me right now, but basically it was a short paragraph that said that they would commit to praying for each service beforehand, that they would refrain from gossip and other divisive behaviors and strive for unity both on the team and in the church, and to live a moral life. I never had to dismiss anyone from the team, but this is a great thing to have if you do- because you can show them where they agreed to meet certain requirements, and that they knew what was expected from them.
I also ran mine as a "smallgroup" type thing- each week we met and had prayer and a devotional period before or after practice... and once a month or so we'd order pizza.
Answer:
I've never really used a written policy. I think when I settle down into a church after university and hopefully get involved in more of a leadership capacity (as opposed to just during the term/holiday/when I'm around capacity!) It is something I would like to 'enforce' but for the moment I don't really have the responsibility for things like that.
As Christian Union band leader there are certain principles I try to encourage with my band members (predominantly by example hopefully):
- be serious about worship, not just playing music!
- Attend CU regularly when we are not playing
- Be a regular church member and preferably be involved in a small group of some sort
- If you can't make a practice/meeting let me know preferably a week in advance so I can sort someone out to take your place
- let me know if you don't know a song so I can get the music to you
thats all I can think of right now.
God bless, Rich
Answer:
I play in a praise band at church and have a few policies. To be in praise band, whether your a member already or not you must fill out an application and go through a sort of interview at the beginning of the year. We also must attend sunday school and practices. If we miss more than 2 sunday school classes or any praise band practices without a legitimate excuse we don't get to play in the next service.