Worship Ministry: Release the Poets

Worship ministries today are understanding the power of growing musicians and artists from within their community. But this kind of thing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Worship leaders have the opportunity to pour into the lives of their those on their teams and reach out even further to their artistic community; here are 10 tips to get your worship mentorship community started on the right foot.

1. Decide on the focus of your group (songwriting, musicianship, character, poetry, visual arts, discipleship, worship leadership, etc).
2. Decide the purpose/goal of the group. Do you want to write songs that will be used in a service of worship? Do you want to produce a live or studio CD? Do you want to improve skill? Cultivate new writers?
3. Create a syllabus or a project map that includes a calendar (with a beginning and end date) and develop a curriculum that clearly encompasses your goals.
4. Commit to regular meetings, and stick to them.
5. Take the initiative to invite people who you see have potential, even if it is uncultivated. They may not even see their own promise.
6. Be specific in the activities and exercises you work on together and assignments members complete on their own.
7. Live the standards you set for your mentorees. No one likes being told to do something they know their mentor would never even find time for.
8. You have learned things along the way, so share your inside tips and tricks. Also, connect your mentorees with your network. It takes a secure leader to be willing to share their rolodex.
9. Always keep the focus on becoming artists growing in service to God and your local community. There is nothing more honorable than that. This is not a place to be transformed into a rock star or celebrity.
10. Be committed. Mentoring is not something to enter into flippantly. Effective mentoring will require an investment from you, but the payoff is immeasurable.

Read Should Church Musicians Be Paid? by Joshua Weiss.