A worship leader believes that worship is a very sacred duty that takes time and effort, but he found that most band members were not strictly prepared in advance, saying that because they had a family and a job, they did not have the time and energy.
Brother Gu Hua (pseudonym), a worship leader in Eastern China, came into contact with hundreds of churches and various people in them. Among them, the most significant contact should be with the church bands and choirs. Gu Hua said that one can figure out many problems in the church from the rehearsals of the church bands.
Gu Hua mainly gives worship training to churches in need. For example, he would go to a church and start training people from the ground up until they had mastered the relevant worship techniques and were able to worship independently.
In the training process, Gu will also teach impromptu accompaniment; that is, the church band should learn to play by themselves whichever hymn they hear instead of learning one hymn at a time and only playing the hymns they have learned.
Gu Hua said he taught them that, and the band also learned about it, but they still could not master the impromptu accompaniment. Many band members say they are too busy to master that. The vast majority of people who serve in church bands have jobs, resulting in no time to practice (especially those with families and children who are even busier). He took them to practice on the spot, but very few people could complete the practice independently. The vast majority of band members are like this.
Gu believes that for pastor preaching sermons or band worship, it is necessary to have preliminary preparation before starting. "Before worship, you need to pray. Then you need to make a list of hymns and practice a lot." He said, "If I'm a musician, then I have to figure out how to practice, where I need to play the prelude, and where I need the band members to join together. These need to be determined in advance and can not be temporarily determined at the scene. "
Gu used to work at a bar. When the bar owner interviewed the musician, he would test his ability to audition, that is, give him a song to play, and then one would pass if one could play 70% to 80% of the song.
He also talks about audition skills in church worship training. "Everyone in the world has to make a living trying to make the audition better; that is, they should play it as close to the original as possible. For example, to play the prelude to a pop song, you need to practice repeatedly to try to play it the same as the original, let alone serve in church."
Gu believes that worship is a very sacred duty for which we need to spend more thought, time, and energy preparing.
He also has a job and family and can understand the difficulties of the church band members. He felt that since he had accepted this ministry, it must be taken seriously because the object of worship and service is not only man but also God.
He said that after more than a year, the two groups of players who are cooperating now stayed because they always prepared carefully in advance.
A person may feel that he or she is so capable that he or she does not do any preparation before joining the ministry. Gu Hua said that if a person always serves like this, one day he will not be able to serve. Because there will always be many up-and-comers who are better than the people who came before them, whether it's preaching, playing music, or whatever.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
