We’re thrilled you’re considering being a part of the Worship Arts ministry at Real Life! Discerning where God is calling you to serve as a member of His Church is an exciting and important time. As a Platform Team, our vision is “Roadways, Not Roadblocks.” We take this charge from various places in scripture (Matthew 7:13-14, 21:12-17, 23:13, Isaiah 40, John 1), but maybe most clearly from the example of John the Baptist. When questioned who he was and what he was trying to accomplish, John quickly diverted any acclaim to his own name and answered with the words of Isaiah saying “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.”

WHAT'S A PLATFORM TEAM?

Throughout this page, you will hear the language of “Platform Team” instead of “Worship Team.” Our purpose is, in part, to clarify that everyone serving at a weekend service contributes to helping others connect with and give honor to The Lord. From sound techs to singers, we all play a part in creating an environment where anyone can come to praise Christ freely. All serving in the Worship Arts ministry are part of the “Worship Team,” we just happen to offer our contribution from the platform.

Additionally, it might seem like a trivial splitting of hairs between the words “platform” and “stage.” We don’t believe that “stage” is a bad word but acknowledge that it can carry a connotation of performance. You might think of phrases like “take the stage.” We believe that a platform, by contrast, carries the connotation of something that is given and given with expectation. We expect that worshippers on our team will use the platform they've been given to praise The King and point people to him rather than glorify themselves.

Who Are We Looking For?

Quite simply, people in the top-right quadrant. We see both as necessary to accomplish what God is calling us to. Going back to the days of the temple, we see that not just anyone was given the honor and responsibility of serving as a musician. The musicians who were chosen and appointed were almost always referenced with the adjective “skilled” included in their title (1 Chron 15, Psalm 33, et al.) We also believe that Godly character is a non-negotiable and something that should be consistently observable in the life of anyone serving on the platform. As Paul says in his letter to Timothy “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” In our hearts and minds, both dimensions matter a lot, but this is foremost. We acknowledge that…

- Someone who is low in character and competency is not currently ready to serve in this ministry.

- Someone who is high in character, but low in competency is limited in what God can do through them.

- Someone who is high in competency, but low in character is unlimited in the harm he/she can do operating in the flesh.

- Someone who is high in character and competency is unlimited in the good that God can do through them.

If you are still in a place of developing your musical competency, please don’t view this as a ministry you could never serve in. We often point our developing musicians to our Production Team as a place to start serving on the larger Worship Team right away as they continue to grow in craft. If that is of interest to you, click this link

What are the expected competencies in this ministry?

All instrumentalists must be able to:

- Read chord charts
- Demonstrate a good working knowledge of the Nashville Number System
- Properly tune their instruments
- Comfortably & consistently hold steady time playing with a metronome
- Comfortably play various rhythmic patterns in common time signatures (4/4, 6/8, 3/4)
- Demonstrate a solid understanding of basic rhythmic subdivisions (such as quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes, triplets)
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of rhythmic accents
- Comfortable learning instrument-specific parts by ear
- Control dynamics while maintaining a consistent tempo
- Follow the musical direction of the Platform Team Coach and/or Music Director
- Not play during a song (or part of a song) if requested

*Instrumentalists must own or have access to an instrument in good working order

“High

Vocalists must be able to:

Consistently sing on pitch
Mimic specific vocal phrasing
Learn and sing specific harmony parts for given songs
Control vocal elements like volume and vibrato in order to blend with other vocalists
Confidently sing into a microphone in front of others

““Youth

Drummers must be able to:

Properly utilize various types of sticks and sticking techniques
Demonstrate that they can play to the room
Comfortably play various beats in a variety of time signatures
Demonstrate a basic understanding and use of drum fills

““Youth

Bassists must be able to:

Demonstrate their understanding of the note names of the strings
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of the bass guitar neck
Play various rhythmic subdivisions both with their fingers and with a guitar pick

“High

Acoustic Guitartists must be able to:

Demonstrate their understanding of the note names of the strings
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of the guitar neck
Utilize a guitar capo
Play all major and minor open chords
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of barre chords
Play different strumming patterns as called for by the given song

““Youth

Electric Guitarists must be able to:

Demonstrate their understanding of the note names of the strings
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of the guitar neck, and be able to play competently in different registers of the guitar neck
Utilize a guitar capo
Play all major and minor open chords
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of barre chords
Demonstrate a good working knowledge of major and minor triads
Play different strumming patterns as called for by the given song
Provide rhythmic support to a song and sonic textures when called for

““Youth

Keyboardists must be able to:

Demonstrate a working knowledge of chord inversions and the ability to find different chord voicings
Play different rhythmic patterns as called for by the given song
Provide rhythmic support to a song and sonic textures such as pads when called for

WHAT ARE THE TIME COMMITMENTS?

On the weeks you serve, you are committing to roughly 15 hours of devotion to The Lord. With respect to worship, The Bible consistently speaks about the skill with which musicians were to play (Psalm 33:3; 1 Chronicles 15:22; 25:7; Exodus 35:35). Many have been gifted with musical ability, but true skill requires consistent practice which is, itself, an act of worship (Romans 12:1, Genesis 22). We believe that proper preparation allows us to be more present and authentic in our praise during weekend services, both individually and as a team.

Below is a typical schedule/expectation for a volunteer playing/singing at services on a given week:

Sunday – Wednesday (3.5 hrs)
-Listen to, practice, and memorize the music for Thursday rehearsal and service

Thursday Night (3.5 hrs)

-Monitor check, prayer, and rehearsal (4:00 pm-5:30 pm)

-Thursday Evening Service Responsibilities (5:45 pm–7:00 pm)

-Clean-Up and Post-Service Debrief (7:00 pm–7:30 pm)

Friday – Saturday (1 hr)

-Sharpen/review any musical parts for Sunday.

Sunday (6 hrs)

-Sound-check, prayer, and brief run-through (7:00 am-7:45 am)

-Sunday Morning Services Responsibilities (8:00 am-1:00 pm)

*This time breakdown neglects to list and is assuming that all serving time is a result of and occurs in conjunction with a team member’s growing relationship with Christ (daily time in prayer/reading the Bible, weekly consistency in life groups/weekend worship services.)

WHAT's the on-boarding process?

Phase 1 - Electronic

1A) Prospective Team Member completes Electronic Interview.

1B) Prospective Team Member submits Electronic Skill Assessment Videos.

-After these two elements have been submitted, the Creative Arts Administrator will communicate with Prospective Team Member to set up the next steps for on-boarding into ministry or collaborate on other serving opportunities.

Phase 2 - In Person

2A) Prospective Team Member completes in-person interview by the Platform Team Coach and 2-3 other team members.

2B) Prospective Team Member completes in-person Skill Assessment by the Platform Team Coach and 2-3 other team members.

-After an in-person Interview and Skill Assessment, Platform Team Coach will communicate the next steps with Prospective Team Member.

Phase 3 - Shadowing

3A) Prospective Team Member comes to experience a Thursday night rehearsal, gets to interact with the team, and practices with the band as time/specific instrument permits.

3B) Prospective Team Member meets with Platform Team Coach to debrief the experience and get set up with Planning Center/MultiTracks if Platform Team Coach deems Prospective Team Member is ready at this time.

ready to start the journey?

Complete steps 1 and 2 to submit an application

If not, thank you for your honest self-assessment. We are all in different stages in our relationship with the Lord and in the pursuit of developing the giftings Christ has entrusted to each of us. This specific ministry might not be something God is leading you to in this season, but he has surely called us all to play some part in the body.

As God’s word says, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.” - 1 Peter 4:10-11

“He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, in maturity to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” - Ephesians 4: 10-16