Creating A Great Moment

I spent three years on the bus with a group called Truth. Our leader was a gentleman by the name of Roger Breland. What he lacked in musical ability was overwhelmingly made up for in is skill of working an audience. He was sensitive to his listeners and had a sixth-sense as to what they needed at any given time during a concert. He always delivered. Truth, in the span of 30 years, did almost 10,000 concerts, recorded 50 albums, traveled to more than two dozen countries and has been heard in live concerts by more than 10 million people. Truth's success was based largely on Roger and his ability to recognize a great "moment." I watched him every night of my three year tenure as a guitar player. I am still using some of those techniques that I learned way back in 1983-85.

My goal is to let you in on some of those "golden nuggets" and many more that I have learned over the years--through personal trial and error, and through the experience of other great leaders that I've played with and admired. I want to talk about creating moving and flowing moments in our worship services. This will include song flow, praying and speaking between songs, giving the audience permission to participate ( that's right--they need it, you give it!), body language, helping the audience to focus attention on important things happening on stage (solos, etc.), helping the audience to know when something is finished, passing the baton, and much more. I am certain that you will see positive results in your services if you are willing to adapt them into your worship leader toolkit; you won't be disappointed.

Before we break into Part 1 with my next installment, I want to address some issues--sort of as a prelude. First, before any changes are made regarding the technical aspects of creating great moments in worship, we must look at ourselves and ask the questions: am I prepared?; am I rested?; have I been connecting with God in my personal life?; are there changes in attitude, behavior or even appearance that will help make my worship leadership more effective? I'm sure there are more questions than those offered here, but I must start with my own heart and work outward.

I am going to discuss creating a flow through the use of effective songs and arrangements next time. Thanks for hanging with me through this little journey. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.

jamie@jamieharvill.com