My Guide to Effective & Successful Rehearsals for Worship Teams

The way you conduct your worship team rehearsals can drastically change the effectiveness of your worship team on Sunday. When I started at College Park Church, my rehearsals were frustrating and left me feeling more confused about the music than before we came together on Thursday night. I began to realize that my frustration derived from the way I formatted my rehearsals. I soon started on a "rehearsal format journey." Over the next few years I was determined to learn what rehearsal format works best for my team. More importantly, which format would yield the best results to positively impact our time of worship on Sundays.
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Rehearsal Duration
1:26 - Format Overview
2:14 - Sound Check
4:07 - Crash Through
4:41 - Final Corrections
5:16 - 5 Minute Countdown
5:41 - Full Worship Set
6:48 - Prerequisites
9:40 - Start Right Now
10:30 - Closing
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[@FBCCIntWorship]

Thank you for the simplicity of actually sharing scripture in this video. There are so many worship/church/av "help" videos that don't reference Jesus or scripture at all, and it's a subtle thing that is a big deal. So thank you!

[@user-ym7zf7fz9o]

This was a huge blessing! I am a worship leader at a small church, dont really have any experienced techs or anything like that… noone gets paid… I would love to do worship full time eventually… sometimes if feels challenging…but it is a privilege to worship him with the saints… will be applying this rehearsal guide ASAP! 😊

[@RathaUngFoto]

Thank you! God bless you ☺️

[@justinowens9476]

Love this format! Thank you for sharing ❤️

[@bryionbowen2984]

Appreciate this💖👊 looking forward for more💯🎶

[@sr80bassguy]

Here’s the best way. Pay your musicians fairly, give them recordings and charts ahead of time. If they don’t come prepared, hold them accountable. If it becomes a trend, let them go and get someone else that will respect Gods house and respect the other musicians by coming prepared. Pay=accountability. No pay=no accountability.

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Thanks for adding to the conversation Eddie. I like what you said.

[@sr80bassguy]

@@WorshipLeaderHangout I know it’s a touchy subject because it involves money but it is reality. Thanks for your acceptance.

[@kevinmcd112]

Word!

[@markpissinis438]

you are right. I am from South America. Here church musicians do not receive any payment for their services. Even in the cases of large and prosperous churches. And I'm not saying this with pride, quite the contrary. i would have wanted to dedicate my whole life to this activity, but i had no other choice but to look for a secular job. it's a shame. In this case it is impossible to motivate them with money. That is why the musical level of most of the ministries is so low. (here in Argentina at least)

[@Kabouter911]

Do musicians get payed in churches???

[@howgreatisourgodgreatminds3032]

Thanks my brother, your ministry is truly opening the eyes of many people, today I know the difference between rehearsals and practice.

[@lukiekeyz]

Thanks for this bro. I think Finances are an important aspect too often left out of the conversation. Sure, having musicians that are volunteers would be great but especially for my context here in Jamaica most church musicians use music as their means of income. So, some either play multiple churches or have other gigs throughout the week. They have to respect the time of the people that pay them for those gigs, and letting a musician know you appreciate their time by reimbursing them for it will go a far way in helping them to become more accountable... On the other end too I know there's an important balance to be made because ideally you want musicians committed to the kingdom too and not just hirelings. But I appreciate this conversation a lot bro, thank you.

[@benjaminwhite6126]

Thank you my brotha. This was very insightful and encouraging.

[@how2playgospel]

Thank you for sharing these tips. “I believe, but help thou my unbelief” I’ve attended rehearsals as a guest instrumentalist, where witnessed this rehearsal style - but had no prior framework for what I was experiencing for the first time.

[@juliocabello1492]

Love it!! Thank you so much for this!!!!

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

You’re welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@basubijoseph]

Stay blessed. Really helpfull video.

[@skimikaze]

THANK YOU for making a great tutorial on this. ❤️

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Thanks so much Alan.

[@iamlbdave]

This was perfect, thank you! Be blessed

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Your comment means a lot. Thank you. God bless

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

The editing on this video is 🔥! And of course the content is great too. Keep it up Chad! 👊

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Thanks so much Spencer!

[@rickbiessman6084]

I’m part of a small church that doesn’t have a huge amount of production going on (in fact only 2 techs simultaneously at any given time). Because the instruments that are played on stage always remain the same we don’t even have to make adjustments to the instrument channels (usually). This actually allows us to save time because there is virtually no need for sound check. I just pull up the vocalists’ presets, tweak a few things for them if they ask me to - but most even mix their IEMs on their own. Good stuff!

[@thecharles2324]

God Bless You guys for this. It is exactly what our team needs.😎🙏

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

That’s awesome so glad I could help

[@rickbiessman6084]

Chad, I fully agree that the concept you present is super effective. Our rehearsals go pretty much like that. As someone who switched over to FoH sound I’m just not sure I’d want to play on a worship team like that again because, in a similar vein of what you guys talked about in your video on backing tracks potentially killing musicianship, it’s so... effective. I play in a Christian non-worship band and sometimes we’ll start band practice by playing worship songs we know. We take as much liberty with it musically as we want and in those moments I realize that I actually really MISS playing worship because it’s so God-centered and that makes it beautiful! Expressing my worship to God in singing AND playing connects me to my creator in a way that nothing else can. The closest thing I can compare this to is praying in tongues: I can’t tell you "this is what I’m saying to God right now" but... some things just can’t be put into words and God still understands. It’s one way I express my love for Jesus. That’s the kind of prayer I want to bring to God in my playing. But for me personally (and I’m sure this isn’t true for everybody), too tightly run worship ministries have stifled this. Which I think is really sad. :(

[@chrisakersmusic]

So glad you shared. Helpful insight. Makes me think: Can I have both things? Can I have a tightly run system that builds in and fosters space for creative expression and unhurried worship? Could I communicate and facilitate that with my team during the "Full Worship Set" spot? Not being rhetorical. Truly has me wondering. Thanks for sharing.

[@rickbiessman6084]

@@chrisakersmusic If only I knew. I mean, the reason for running a "tight system" is to make the most efficient use of volunteers’ time. Which is fair. It’s a big commitment for, say, a family father with a full time job to spend an entire evening per week plus practice at home, with playing on Sunday on top of that. So honoring people’s time investment by making the best use of it is a good thing. But creative expression in my experience can’t be forced; it needs freedom, and you have to ok with sometimes not getting ANY results. At least that’s my experience and what I’ve heard from other creatives. But something that the worship team at my church has started to do is to take the songs we sing and really play them as worship during rehearsal. Oh boy, they’ve had some very profound times of worship that way. I think if there’s any way of achieving what you’re after, focusing on just worshipping with what the team has might be a key...? If you make any progress or new experiences on that front, please let me know! I’d love to hear it and learn.

[@shasta-joshtips]

Thanks, this is helpful

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

You’re welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@peterkirdan]

Thank you 🙏🏽!!!!

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Thanks for watching

[@LeadingWorshipWell]

Our Thursday worship rehearsals look like this: Check-in/Devotional Time - 6:00-6:30pm Song Run Through - 6:30-7:15pm Prayer - 7:15-7:30pm

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

I love that you include devotional time. We include this in our Sunday morning sound check and green room meeting.

[@Rythym4god]

I love this. I have been involved with rehearsals that were structured this way. Big question for some churches/teams….how do you keep this from leading to a performance mentality? I have seen that happen as well. Left a church because of that

[@HeidiHeredia]

I ABSOLUTELY love this order of doing things and appreciate that you shared it with us. I sent it to my worship leader to review and consider. Thank you so much! I have something I would like to share as well. I understand where a lot of people in the comments are talking about pay to hold people accountable, but here's my take on it. If people are only giving their best because they're getting paid, are they really THAT committed to God? Income is great, don't get me wrong, but if someone loves Jesus, they'll give their best regardless of the price tag. People all over the Bible worshipped God simply because He is worthy of all praise, not because of what they got out of it. If musicians and singers are motivated by money, maybe they shouldn't be on the worship team. 😬 I know it might sound harsh, but God looks at our hearts and our motives. If money moves someone more than God does, that person needs to go deeper in their relationship with God and evaluate why they do it in the first place. PS To the people in the comments: I say this with love and the utmost respect. God bless you all.

[@frmtheden]

What is your role at your church? Really been enjoying all of your videos as I have just found your channel. I am coming from playing acoustic/MD and stepping into a more permanent role as our Sound Engineer and because of the size of our team for staff and leadership alot of us where many hats and was just curious of what you role looks like Sunday to Sunday. Again thank you for the amazing videos! Would love to one day connect with you!

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Worship Pastor is my title. I also wear many hats but I have learned to delegate as much as possible in my position. My responsibilities are Band, vocals, tech team, social media, planning center admin and website. However I work to have at least one person at the top of each of those to lead that team. I have two interns that head up all production. I have a guy playing keys that helps lead the band musically. I’ve subdivided the social media and ads team into several parts so that it doesn’t fall in just one person and I’ve taught each department head (kids, youth, etc.) how to use planning center very well so that it doesn’t all fall on me to fix issues. We are not perfect but we still wanna do our best to be great at what we do. I also try to teach all our volunteers how to run their positions very well so that if I’m not there it all still happens the way it should.

[@frmtheden]

what would you say are good requirements to know or be trained in to have an effective band leader or in our case would probably be MD(which we dont have at the moment) @@WorshipLeaderHangout

[@shasta-joshtips]

How do your instrumentalists catch-up with playing? Do they just come for practice or they get the songs during the course of the week before the rehearsal time

[@Iambornagainchristian]

Amen 🙏 💕 Thank you brother brother if you can I can ask for your help For our church And for the Lord we just need to ask for more instruments and this is the Piano 😔 I hope the Lord will use you I am a servant and ask for help for Our Church And for the Lord God I hope you can help us I am Filipino🙏😔❤️🔥

[@Iambornagainchristian]

My name Is Arvin. Dela Rosa

[@holyghostinthehills5567]

😂😂

[@chrisakersmusic]

"This Will Take Time" was a good word. I get excited about the possibilities this might open up for our team, but in the back of my mind I have @worshiptutorials reminder of the 3 3 3 rule. 3 months planning and strategy dripping, 3 months experimenting, 3 months implementation. Doesn't have to be that duration, but it certainly forced me to think, "What if I waited to try to start this until next semester and got my entire team onboard this semester?"

[@WorshipLeaderHangout]

Great way to go at this. Thanks for watching.