Hey Folks, just another nugget from Worshipideas.com
WorshipIdea: Rehearsals
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by Don Chapman
[continued from last week...] I'm surprised at the number of churches that don't have a rehearsal! Rehearsals give you time to prepare both musically and spiritually for the coming Sunday.
If you're doing the praise team thing with 3-6 vocalists, I recommend having a separate vocal and band rehearsal. Each group has their own problems, and I'd rather concentrate on one group at a time. Then, put the whole thing together during your pre-service run-through. If you have just a worship leader and a background vocalist or two, let them rehearse with the band.
At Brookwood, worship pastor Steve Smith and I have now begun to work with the vocalists separately in our studio while Adam Fisher is rehearsing the band on stage (when I did this all by myself at my previous church, I'd rehearse the vocals on Wednesday and rehearse the band on Thursday, putting it all together at the Sunday morning run-through). We meet at 6pm on Thursday nights to go over the songs with the vocalists and decide when and what parts to sing. An added bonus is that Steve is a vocal coach on the level of Brett Manning and can help "produce" the praise team vocals, helping them achieve better blend and tone.
After 45 minutes to an hour the vocalists join the band and do a full run-through of the Sunday praise set.
If you're not used to rehearsals, your musicians will balk at the suggestion (when I took over the music at my previous church they had no rehearsals and a few members of the band quit when we began rehearsing. God sent me more.) Rehearsals are a must if you want to succeed with a quality worship service, so don't back down. However, people need to know your reasoning if you expect them to give you their valuable time.
Try making a deal with your musicians. First tell them your strategy: that you believe rehearsing will only improve the music and bring about a better worship experience for the congregation. Careless goof-ups distract people from connecting with God, whereas smooth transitions help usher them into His presence. Ask them if they'll try rehearsing for a month. When they see the positive results - better blend and a tighter band - they'll be more apt to become committed team members.
Bottom Line: Pray *and prepare for best results.
*emphasis mine
