Praise Team – What to Expect

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PRAISE TEAM VISION
Connect people to CHRIST and to one another by providing moments of worship that contain: a spirit of celebration, an atmosphere of prayer, a sense of mission/calling, and facilitate moments of life-transformation. All of this is possible when our worship is “presence-driven,” meaning that we desire the presence of God’s Spirit in every aspect of our worship, in the preparation and in the participation.
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Why New Musicians?

At Northside, we value adding new team members for a lot of reasons. New musicians are needed to:

  • Bring fresh voices, sounds, ideas and perspectives to the team.
  • Create opportunities to mentor and develop the next generation.
  • Help us confront the sense of entitlement that creeps in after people have been in a ministry for a length of time.
  • Avoid burnout.
  • Move us towards specialists versus generalists for greater impact. (Often times, church musicians will cover a role that isn’t their strongest talent.)
  • Raise the level of commitment and skill throughout the ministry.
  • Help us diversify our styles of music.
  • Become a multiplying and sending church and ministry.

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What should you expect as you seek to become a worship team musician?

We are looking for character, craft, chemistry and connection.

It’s a process.

Understand there’s a possibility of hearing No.

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1. We are looking for character, craft, chemistry and connection.

  • Character – This involves someone’s integrity and spiritual walk, etc.
  • Craft – This involves
    • musical skill and experience
    • the musician’s ongoing commitment to their musical growth
    • platform presence and expression
    • leadership ability
  • Chemistry – This looks at how well people fit together. As we grow larger, we understand not everyone will be best friends on the team. A person may click better with some more than with others. However, there needs to be respect and camaraderie between members in order for us to create and maintain a great team culture.
  • Connection – This specifically focuses on a person’s connection with Northside Christian Church. Does this person truly want to serve this church, or simply play music?

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2. It’s a process.

Becoming a worship musician is not a one-step event. It’s a process, a system of steps we use to determine if a musician is right for the team. The leadership needs to get to know you and how you might fit best with our ministry. And you need time to make sure this ministry is a good fit for you.

In order to be a part of the Praise Team at Northside Christian Church, we ask that you go through a three step process.  It’s as easy as A, B, C.

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A – AUDITION

  • The initial audition will be a private time between you and the worship leader.  It will only last about 30-45 minutes.
  • It will consist mostly of a discussion regarding your relationship with the Lord, and your experience with worship ministry.  You will then go over a couple songs (previously agreed upon).  Click here for a list of songs from which to choose.  You don’t need to worry about impressing anyone.  This is just a way for the worship leader to know your current proficiency.

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B – BUY IN

  • There are several things you’ll need to buy into.  First, you’ll need to know Northside Christian Church’s mission and the “Four C’s.”  Northside Christian Church exists to Connect People to Christ and to One Another.  The way we do this is with the “Four C’s.”  The beauty of the Praise Team is that it serves all four of the C’s.
    • Celebrate in Worship – “We will lift the name of Jesus above every other name.”
    • Contribute to Ministry – “We will give all we have to gain all He has for us.”
    • Connect to a Small Group – “We will live in community with the Spirit of unity.”
    • Commit Wholeheartedly – “We will lose ourselves completely to find ourselves complete in Him.”
  • You will also need to buy into 3 weeks of rehearsals.  This means that before you can serve on a Sunday morning rotation, you must attend 3 consecutive weeks of rehearsals.  This gives you an opportunity to see if it will be a good ministry fit.

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C – COMMIT

  • The last step is to commit to this ministry.  Here’s what that entails:
  • You will meet one more time with the worship leader.  He will listen to your impressions of your “buy in” time as well as discuss any issues (spiritual or musical) that he feels need to be addressed.
  • You must also agree to THE GUIDELINES (which you will receive later on in the audition process).
  • If everything comes together in a way that works, you will then be added into the rotation.

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3. Understand there’s a possibility of hearing No.

There are a number of reasons why someone wouldn’t qualify to be on the worship team:

  • Musical ability not at the level needed
  • No current openings for a vocal part or instrument
  • Issues of character
  • Interpersonal issues – if someone doesn’t mesh well with current team members during the qualification process, this is a red flag for us.

The leadership will be honest and forthright with applicants on what they observe. Here is our approach to saying no:

  • We will say no as soon as it is apparent this is not a good fit. We do not wish to lead anyone along or give false hopes.
  • We will say “Not yet, but please try again later” if we believe that someone has potential with some work and development. We will give them constructive feedback for things they can work on.
  • We believe everyone is a “10” at something. We will help a person take the first steps the to find the ministry fit here at Northside Christian Church, if they would like.

Thanks for taking time to read through this. If you have specific questions before you apply, please contact corey@northsidechristianchurch.net.  Otherwise, feel free to APPLY NOW!