The fear that says, “They will not want to play/sing,” is unfounded.
If I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that instrumentalists love to play and singers love to sing. Don’t feel like you are inconveniencing them by having them practice or by scheduling them to play.
This year, God led us to turn our church orchestra from one that only accompanied the congregational singing into one that accompanies the choir every Sunday morning. We started with a trial run, holding weekly rehearsals for six weeks. At the end of the six weeks, they accompanied the choral anthem in the morning service. We talked about continuing. They were on board.
We continued rehearsals. We continued giving them good music. They kept on playing with us. We worked toward the orchestra playing with the choir every Sunday morning. With the exception of only a few Sundays, they have accompanied the choir every Sunday since January. This Sunday morning, we finished the last day with them all here before the summer. They accompanied a mixed quartet and two choir anthems. We all had a blast!
Tonight, I offered our adult choir the choice between taking time off of rehearsals during the summer or continuing to rehearse. The overwhelming sentiment was that they wanted to continue rehearsing throughout the summer.
Ignore the irrational fear of asking musicians to do what they love.
Musicians love music. That’s why they are in the music ministry. Consistently lead them to great music, facilitate their worship to God, and they will continue to play and sing. It is a joy to them.
Ignore the irrational fear of asking musicians to do what they love.
Go ahead and ask!
Do you struggle scheduling musicians for fear that you are asking too much of them? What helps motivate you to go ahead and ask? Comment below.