Recruiting worship team members usually comes with being a worship leader in a local church. If you are newer at leading worship and haven’t encountered this process yet, you can be sure you will! Recruiting may be easy for some worship leaders with more naturally outgoing personalities. For others who have to push past introvertedness to become good at networking, it’s a little harder. But with a little effort and genuine connection in your community, you can take steps to grow your worship team with the resources and people God has placed around you.
Excellence Attracts Excellence
Attracting musicians and vocalists often involves striving for excellence in your worship ministry, a goal you should already hold. Remember that “excellence” differs from perfection – you don’t need to chase an unattainable standard. Instead, if you actively pursue excellence by prioritizing authentic worship, maximizing your resources, caring for your people, preparing efficiently, and consistently developing your skills, you’ll naturally draw musicians and singers who want to participate in your endeavors.
Make Your Team’s Needs Known and Keep Repeating the Announcement
One crucial step in recruiting worship team members or other church volunteers involves continuously announcing your needs. Include it in the announcements, create a pre-service slide graphic, and incorporate it into the church newsletter.
Rather than assuming regular attendees will automatically identify the church’s needs for volunteers or resources, take a proactive approach. Note that even frequent attendees may not recognize these needs unless they participate in weekly church meetings and leadership discussions.
By actively voicing the need for worship team volunteers from the platform, you enable the word to spread, reaching those who might be interested or know someone who might be.
Take Advantage of Social Media
Attracting musicians and vocalists requires the pursuit of excellence in your worship ministry. This doesn’t necessarily mean additional work, because ideally, you’re already striving for this goal. It’s essential to distinguish “excellence” from “perfection.” You don’t need to be perfect, nor should you chase an unattainable form of perfection. You just need to do your best to attract musicians and singers who want to participate in your cause.
Besides making an announcement from the pulpit for volunteer recruitment, consider posting about your worship team needs on a highly visible social media channel. Create a social media graphic with a simple line, such as “Calling all musicians and vocalists,” to spread awareness that your church’s worship ministry is looking for contributors. This social media post might draw attention from within your community or even from someone in your city who doesn’t attend your church yet.
Generally, you would prefer those leading on the platform to be part of your church community. That being said, your outreach might connect with someone talented and experienced in worship ministry who is searching for a church to join and get involved in.
Host Community Worship Nights
Another way to look beyond your existing church membership when looking for worship team members to recruit is to host community-wide worship nights. Since these worship opportunities would be during a time other than Sunday mornings, sometimes they will attract a different crowd of attendees. Those interested in attending and participating in a worship night are likely worshippers interested in serving on your worship team.
Hosting a city-wide worship night is also a great outreach and networking opportunity for your church to become known in your community. While you don’t want to take volunteers already involved in other churches, some people may feel led to serve at your church if there is a need and their gifts aren’t currently being utilized elsewhere.
Make Sure People Know There’s Room for New Team Members
Sometimes, it may appear there isn’t room for more volunteers on your church worship team. Recruiting worship team members can be hindered if people assume all your positions are covered. If they always see the same people on stage week in and week out, they may not think there’s room for more on your worship team. Avoid your roster staying the same from week to week to week, even if you have a small team.
Be Diligent About Following Up with Potential Team Members Who Want to Serve
When you meet a potential worship team member, the best thing you can do is stay on top of your connection with them. You may talk with them once after church but then not hear from them or see them again for several weeks. So try to get their contact info and follow up with them.
Even if it’s to make a simple connection, it’s great to get coffee and get to know a potential worship team member (or just a potential church member to whom you could minister). Remember that people may not want to seem too “forward” by pursuing you since you’re the worship leader. So, it means the ball is in your court to reach out and follow up on your new connection.
Have a Great Onboarding System in Place for New Worship Team Members
Attracting musicians and vocalists becomes easier when you maintain excellence in your worship ministry. Remember, this should not require additional effort, as you should ideally already have this goal. Understand that “excellence” does not equate to perfection. Aiming for an unattainable perfection is not necessary.
Before recruiting a new worship team member, outline the onboarding process for newcomers in your worship community. Will you host an audition? Should potential team members submit a video of themselves performing? Should they complete a form detailing their background? Perhaps you may prefer a more informal setup like meeting for coffee to establish a relationship.
No universal rules govern every situation, so it’s essential to identify the methods that will work best in your specific community. Once your new recruits stand ready to join and start serving, ensure to relay team expectations, rehearsal times, setup on your worship planning software, and other logistics. If you organize it, you’ll make onboarding a breeze for both you and your new team members.
In worship ministry, the key to attracting musicians and vocalists lies in aiming for excellence, not perfection. This should already be a goal and shouldn’t necessitate extra effort.
Before recruiting, contemplate the onboarding process, considering auditions, performance videos, forms, or informal meetings. Tailor this to your community’s needs. After recruiting, clearly communicate expectations, rehearsal times, software setup, and other logistics for a smooth onboarding.
When recruiting worship team members, the focus should remain on serving Jesus and being an authentic worshipper. This alone can attract those keen to glorify Jesus with their talents. Rest assured, whether you’re good at networking or need to build relationships actively, God will provide all necessary tools, resources, and people to support His vision for your church community.
