Which Is More Important: Rehearsal or Service?
How many times have you heard, “It’s just rehearsal. They can miss or be late…”?
Is the rehearsal or the service more important? (Dave, is this a trick question?)
I want you to entertain the possibility that rehearsal is more important than the service. What would have to be true for this to be accurate?
Let’s think about what rehearsal accomplishes.
Rehearsal is about discipleship - helping musicians and techs steward their craft, developing community among team members, creating spaces where your team can meet with God, and learning as a team to follow the leading of the Spirit.
Don’t get trapped in thinking that rehearsal merely prepares us for Sunday and that, as one pastor cringe-worthily said, “Sunday pays the bills.” (Ew!)
I’m not belittling the importance of Sundays, where we gather together as the Church and sing to the LORD. It’s huge and central.
But I’m attempting to lift your vision higher for what rehearsals can be. So if I ask which one is more important, I’m assuming that rehearsal can be more necessary in fulfilling the mission of the Church than even Sunday mornings.
Blasphemy? If our mandate as the Church is to make disciples, to love as we’ve been loved by Jesus, which venue gives us a more significant opportunity to do that as a worship team?
Imagine what a team of musicians can do if they have experienced the love of Jesus and show up to an evening together of sharing, playing, singing, fellowshipping, learning, praying, and growing. The opportunities seem more significant with less pressure, less structure and expectation, and fewer time constraints!
As their leader, you get to pour into them, disciple them, and unleash them to operate in their gifts with and toward each other. And this is such a high joy!
What if this week you would put as much into planning what you’ll do at rehearsal as you do planning what you’ll do at the service? Account for each minute, thinking of how it will feel, what the team needs, and who can help you accomplish it.
Or you could start by reading part of this Fertilizer and leading a discussion with your team. Either way, it’s time to elevate rehearsal, to lift your vision higher for what it can be.
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Which Is More Important: Rehearsal or Service? (Nº 345)
