We are living on a coffee plantation. Most weekday mornings, the small crew of coffee pickers come through the gate, dragging along their nine and eleven-year-old children to play while they pick.

But what if no one is ministering to the Lord?

When we start something, we’re never amazing at it. This Fertilizer is dedicated to worship leaders, teams, and techs in their first five years of serving.

Whenever I browse social media, I consistently see posts about “the only 5 magical things that can do everything better…” #clickbait

Imagine this: the students who bravely stepped into high school amidst the whirlwind of the pandemic are now on the verge of graduating. Wow!

I was speaking with a church that has been without a staff worship leader for nearly a year.

I’ve been a church musician for 40 years. (since 1984)

When I was a kid, I hated tomatoes.

I recently learned a new word in Spanish. It’s “desahógate.”

A worship leader recently asked me how to improve the quality of their services. That’s easy.

What am I taking to heart?

The other night, I was tucking my son into bed and noticed some trash on his bunk bed shelf. It was the remains of an old, burned-up plastic Coke bottle.

What’s your worship team like? And by “worship team,” I mean the musicians and techs together.

Are you like a Worship Family? A Worship Indie Band? A Worship Elevator? Let me describe each one.

Every week, when we make music together as worship teams, we have essential musical decisions to make. So here’s a humorous yet insightful story of what it takes to make music together.

Today, I’m giving you an outline rather than paragraphs. That’s obvious.

But what’s not obvious is how much what you do impacts congregational engagement. I want to challenge us, as leaders, to grow in BEING:

How modest is modest enough? The most common internal answer is “the same as me or more modest than me.”

Going it alone really, really stinks! Oh, it can kill you too. You may have friendly people on your teams, but how do you become true friends?

Have you ever been frustrated, confused, or saddened by a lack of response from the congregation you’re leading in worship?