(This article is the basis for Episode 4 of the BotaCast)
Let’s clear this up from the start: I am not opposed to spontaneous worship. I have seen firsthand the power of an unplanned chorus that was exactly what God wanted to say in exactly the right setting. Some of the best worship moments are what happens after the song map is finished.
But it’s time for worship leaders who have too much reverence for the spontaneous to question who these spontaneous moments are serving, and who they might actually be hurting. Coming from my Spirit-filled background, I believe this is one of the most frequent blind spots worship leaders have.
To get us all on the same page, let’s quickly define spontaneous worship. This is when the worship leader varies from the communicated plan. A simple example is last minute changing the songs in the set. And I don’t mean just day-of last minute. I’ve seen this happen backstage minutes before walking out for the service. Or maybe the worst of all, changing it right in the middle of the set.
Before you close this tab in an angry click, this article is not a defense of rigid, down to the second, unchanging, scripted worship sets. I truly believe you can have well executed spontaneous worship moments that also avoids the casualties.
Sit down and talk with any burned out worship musician or production team member and you will always hear this complaint: “It is so frustrating when the worship leader is always making last minute changes.” Does this mean spontaneous is always bad? No. I sincerely believe it is possible for everyone involved in producing a worship set to be prepared and—as a result—bought in and supportive of impactful unscripted moments.
The great tragedy is that too often spontaneous moments are given no strategic thought. The best spontaneous moments are the ones that have been given thoughtful parameters, even if there is great freedom within those parameters.
Also remember that ministry moments don’t have to be unplanned for them to be God-breathed and super impactful. The moon is white, but that does not mean all things that are white came from the moon. In the same way, just because you experienced a strong encounter in an unplanned worship moment, that does not mean spontaneity is a pre-requisite for powerful encounters.
Worship leaders, remember: Just because it was unplanned by man, that does not mean it was planned by God. -Daniel Tsubota Click To TweetYou can find someone’s idols quickly by the way they respond when you suggest that something they like might not be good. But what if we could take a moment to set aside our preferences, biases, assumptions and gut-reactions to ask: What if the way I lead spontaneous worship moments could be hurting people?
So here are three casualties of abusive spontaneous worship:
1. Your Band
As someone who spent a lot of time in the musician role, there are few things more frustrating than when the worship leader is lost in worship, but the band is just lost. When changes are thrust upon the team without communication, it dishonors the time individuals spent practicing at home and thwarts the efforts of rehearsal when the team was working together to refine the holistic sound for each moment. Team tension is inevitable when the set is finished and the worship leader says something like, “Wasn’t that great? Totally unplanned!” while the band is hot with frustration. Take it from someone with experience on both sides: the ego stroke a worship leader can get from “pulling it off” is a bad deal for the band since they had no way to prepare for that spontaneous moment.
But it can be fixed, and ironically the solution is all about preparation. The worst way to introduce a spontaneous moment is to spring it on your band, with no prior communication about where it might appear. Suddenly veering off the song map is not spiritual, it’s selfish. Don’t be the worship leader who does this, then walks offstage feeling great, patting himself on the back for “pulling off” a moment sprung on the band. What that leader often misses is the discouragement of a band that did not perform their best—since they had no preparation. This discouragement has a way of deteriorating into resentment, apathy toward any preparation, and sometimes active anger in future worship-pop-quiz moments. Clean hands + pure hearts + a band that’s ready to kill you is not a winning recipe for spontaneous worship.
2. Your Production Team
If you think the band has negative feelings about on-the-fly changes, they are nothing compared to the resentment that too many production team members have for their free-flying worship leaders.
But your black shirt crew can get on board if you help them prepare with options. The key is not just communication, but giving a reasonable amount of time for them to be prepared to respond to multiple paths.
Take lighting design as an example. Without any extra communication, your LD might assume that you will be following the song map precisely as it appears in the MP3 on Planning Center. He programs the cues linearly (e.g. “Verse 1” “Chorus 1” “Verse 2” “Chorus 2” “Bridge 1” “Bridge 2” “BIG CHORUS” “Ending”). He may even meticulously program the buildup, break, and two part crash into that last big chorus. How do you think he feels when the band is flying around the song map, conveniently skipping the moments that he spent extra time crafting cues for?
So what’s the solution, only ever do exactly what the recording lays out? Of course not. There are alternative programming methods he can have, but your communication beforehand is the key to his preparation (side note: “beforehand” is not in soundcheck right before the service, think days not hours). With the right communication, he can have busking options for on-the-fly programming, or 6 general intensity levels to go between. And he will definitely not feel like you wasted his programming time because he will know ahead of time not to get into the nitty-gritty details of the moments.
Don’t be afraid to get specific: “we will be following the song map until the ending, then we will take 5 minutes to flow afterward. We might keep it low the whole time, but it’s possible we would go back into the big bridge/chorus.”
A text like that can save your relationship with your prod team (again, sent far ahead of time).
Ultimately, your production crew wants to work alongside you to best communicate the message, mood, and moment. Not considering them as essential to your delivery is fighting with one hand tied behind your back.
3. Your Church
Again, abusive spontaneous worship often has the worship leader lost in worship while the rest of the church is just lost.
Maybe you had an amazing moment after a song one time months ago. But just because that moment was amazing, you don’t have to mine for gold after every. single. song.
Instead of just winging it like someone who hasn’t figured out how to end a speech, have something concrete to use as a jump off point. Maybe the song inspired a thoughtful line that would be meaningful for your church in this season. Or perhaps have a Scripture verse to unpack that might bring fresh perspective to the lyrics in a reprise. Notice that options like this will require preparation. If your strategy is just to “stir it up” in the green room, jump on the stage, and hope for the best, you do not get to blame God for your awkward unprepared spontaneous moment.
A note on preparation: Jonathan David Helser, one of the Mac-Daddies of spontaneous worship says this: “spontaneity is the reward of preparation.” Most of the best recorded “spontaneous” moments you hear are the fruit of hours of honing the needed roots for such moments.
A note on theology: just because it rhymes, doesn’t mean it’s true. Just because you made it up on the spot, definitely doesn’t mean it automatically lines up with Biblical truths. It might not be heretical, but it also might not be helpful. The words we sing impact people’s view of God, and frequently spontaneous moments are a line chanted over and over. Let’s be sure that we feel the weight of that responsibility when it comes to what we’re embedding into our hearts and minds.
And when you do have good preparation, and you endeavor into a spontaneous moment: it’s okay if it doesn’t work. Your people will probably give you grace if you spend a minute trying unpack a moment and then move on. The grace will dry up fast though if every Sunday you’re wasting time hanging out on the tonic forcing the moment chanting “mmmmm… we worship youuuuu….. ohhhh sing out your own song…”
Here’s a hint: if you’re constantly going for that and their own songs aren’t being sung, it’s not working. It might not be happening for your people because:
A. They’re not being led that direction by the teaching of your pastors
B. You’re gifting as a leader is not strong for that type of moment
C. It’s just not happening with this song on this day.
If you’re dead set on it, I would recommend diagnosing the problems starting in that order.
So what can be done to avoid these casualties?
Here’s just a few simple ways to “prepare for the spontaneous:”
- Let your band and production team know the designated times you are going to fly without a plan.
- I find before the song map starts or after it ends to be great opportunities
- Have Scriptures that back up the song memorized and ready to draw from
- Practice free flowing by yourself and work through some possible “paths” you could travel.
- It could help to ask someone with a solid theological background to double check any lines you’ve sketched
- Having multiple options is great in case your first choice falls flat in the moment
- Spend as much time—or more—preparing these moments as you do the rest of the song
- Don’t force the moments
- If the song already effectively communicated the message, there’s no need to re-hash. It’s like repeating the punch line of a great joke over and over. If it worked the first time, don’t spoil it by running it into the ground.
- If a spontaneous moment isn’t working, move on. And definitely don’t scold your congregation for “not entering in” to your failure.
Remember the goal of corporate worship is to minister to God, and draw people into His presence. The goal is not stroking your own ego by how people “responded” or how good you felt about the moment. The castle of your ego’s self-indulgence may be built on the casualties of spontaneous worship.
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