Starting a Worship Choir?
4 Tips for Starting and Maintaining a Healthy Worship Choir
1. Know the Why
Why does your church need a worship choir? If you don’t know the answer to this question, you may not be ready to start one at your church. If you are passionate about having a worship choir and feel God leading you to start one, then you are well aware of the why. Here are a few compelling reasons to start a worship choir: Choirs are biblical. From the Levitical choirs in 2 Chronicles 5 and Nehemiah 12, to the instructions given to the choir master in several of the Psalms, choirs are mentioned throughout the Old Testament scriptures. In the New Testament there are passages that refer to the mandates that a worship choir can be utilized to fulfill such as Colossians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 14:26. An effective worship choir can add energy by adding another layer of sound, and visually as its members serve as worship leaders and the congregation mirrors their example. Adding a worship choir also creates an opportunity to serve for several members of the church body who may not otherwise be serving.
2. Develop a Recruitment Strategy
Consider these questions when developing a recruitment strategy: Does your church require membership to serve? Some churches strongly adhere to a members-only policy, not for exclusivity, but to protect the integrity of the worship platform. Knowing who you are targeting is the first step in developing a strategy and will determine your communication sources and content. Should you use internal communication sources only, or include social media platforms? What is the capacity of your designated choir space? If there is only space for a smaller choir, it may be necessary to limit your outreach. Start by contacting the list of people who have inquired about singing on the worship team. Worship Pastors are regularly approached by members of the church who have a desire to sing on the worship team. When the active rotation roster is full and those on the standby list are underutilized, there is a point when you just take their information in the event there is a future opening. The problem is, the list keeps growing and rarely do these members of the body get added to the team. Until now that is! If you have a standby list of potential worship singers, contact them first about the new opportunity to serve in the Worship Choir. Whether your outreach is limited or you decide to appeal to the church body as a whole, as a courtesy, you should first reach out to the membership who have inquired about joining the worship ministry.
3. Use Various Rehearsal Methods
In a formal or traditional choir setting, everyone is encouraged to read music, and musical terminology is used to communicate throughout rehearsals. Some gain musical knowledge from being raised in a church with a graded choir program, or perhaps they participated in a choir program in their school system. When developing a more informal worship choir in a contemporary setting, you will attract many who love to sing and worship through music but may not have any choral experience and are likely not music readers. You will also attract people who are versed in musical methods and terminology. Having both experienced and non experienced singers, it is good to use a variety of music teaching methods and provide online tools for choir members to practice on their own, such as rehearsal tracks and music sheets. This not only makes for a more efficient rehearsal when you come together, but it gives choir members confidence resulting in better performance.
Regardless of your level of music education as choir director, I would encourage you not to teach exclusively on the level of the experienced choir member, but use terminology that all can understand. Because some have been musically trained and may learn music better with a vocal score, I have found that using SAB or SATB vocal lead sheets is effective. Not only will lead sheets provide notation for those who read music, but they will also provide lyrics and reference points for all singers regardless of experience. PraiseCharts.com is a great resource for most popular worship songs.
4. Be a Shepherd
Whether you are a lay leader commissioned to lead the new worship choir, or you are an ordained minister with years of experience in the worship ministry, you are responsible for leading this new ministry toward fulfilling its purpose to glorify God. Teaching the theology and spiritual truths of the songs will enable the choir to sing with conviction and confidence as they authentically lead the church body to worship our Lord. As the choir’s leader you have a unique opportunity to shepherd those God has called you to disciple and encourage.
Being a shepherd to the worship choir is a great honor and responsibility. The worship choir is on the frontlines of a spiritual battle week by week as they proclaim God’s greatness. God has called and entrusted you with a portion of the church body that has the sole purpose of celebrating and glorifying God through singing His praises.
