Concepts Of Praise And Worship

The purpose of the document is to educate those interested in joining the praise team on what the purpose and requirements of a praise team are, what the job of all members of the praise team is and what is expected of all members. This is required reading for all who are interested in joining the praise team.

These requirements aren't in place for the purpose of making it hard to join the praise team. They are in place for the sole purpose of insuring any member of the praise team is there because God has called them to be there. It is believed that a person who is truly called to the ministry will do what's necessary to be properly prepared to minister.

While most of the members of a praise team are usually very good singers, it is a whole lot more than just a group of talented singers leading people in singing songs. It's easy for talented singers to perform songs well and get their audience to respond to their performance. Whoever, an effective praise and worship ministry draws the audience's attention away from the PT itself and onto the presence of God. The purpose of the praise and worship ministry is to lead God's people into His presence.

To successfully fulfill this calling, it is important to have the correct people on the praise team. It's not enough to just have people with musical talent. The praise and worship ministry needs people who are blessed with musical talent and who are called by God to that ministry.

The praise team fulfills the role of "worship leader" by being "lead worshippers." A praise team's primary responsibility is to worship God as they stand in front to lead the congregation. In a sense, they are "worship instructors" to the congregation as they model the act of worshipping God. The PTs' desire is to create an atmosphere where worship has the opportunity to happen. Ultimately it is up to the individual to worship God, but the PT is there to aid in helping each one to draw near and experience the presence of God for himself and herself.

Description

The Praise Team is a smaller group of dedicated vocalist who are currently active members of one of the church choirs. The PT leads the congregation at a special time of praise and worship during church services. The purpose of this group is to usher the congregation into the presence of God using primarily short songs that can be easily picked-up and remembered by the congregation. The PT should not make it a practice of singing "regular choir songs" that are lengthy and contain a lot of words.

PT members should possess the ability to:

1. Visually communicate the message of a song while singing.

2. Lead the congregation in praise and exhortation

Bring the congregation into the awareness of the God's presence

Sing skillfully and with confidence.

Spiritual Preparation

Praise Team members must remember and understand that in order to lead effectively in praise and worship; they must prepare prior to service. You must be prepared more so spiritually than musically. You can have all the musical training one could ever have, but without God's help you're depending on that training alone. It is so important that your spiritual lives far exceed your musical abilities. You must come to your place of service having walked with and worshipped God throughout the week. This qualifies you to invite others to join in corporate worship to God. In short, you must be actively living the life you sing about.

Additionally, the purpose of the praise team is worship first and service second. The word "worship" means to ascribe worth, to pay homage, to reverence, to adore, render devotion, and respect, especially to God.

Sometimes, people praise and worship only when the feel like it or depending on what kind of mood they are in. Praise and worship has nothing to do with how you feel or your mood. P&W should be our lifestyle individually and corporately. P&W is our lives exalting Him, giving Him honor and blessing Him in the easy times, the difficult times, and the happy times, the sad times and at all times. God has a purpose and vision for the music ministry in every church. His purpose and vision will be fulfilled rather we choose to praise Him or not. It is just a matter of whether we desire to be apart of His vision or not.

In order to worship God for whom He is, we must know Him, His nature, His desires, His plans, His heart. Although everyone can praise God, not just anyone can worship God. This is because it is impossible to worship someone you do not know personally. The ability to worship comes when an ongoing relationship has been established. Needless to say, it is mandatory that PT members have a personal relationship with God.

During Praise and Worship the PT steps into the role of the psalmist and invites the people of God to worship and bow down, to kneel before the Lord. At this point the PT is actually extending God's invitation to His people to come before Him rejoicing with praise and thanksgiving.

Choir Ministry purpose: To enhance the church service by rendering musical selections that will inspire or encourage the congregation. Some people feel that a choir is a form of Apre-preaching@ and that choir members could be considered Apreaching through

song@ The songs usually tell of the goodness of God or the AGOOD NEWS@ i.e THE GOSPEL. So the songs tend to be longer, with many lyrics and can have a leader or can be just as effective with out a lead person.

Praise and Worship Ministry Purpose: To set the atmosphere conducive to worship. To lead the congregation into the presence of the Lord. To prepare the congregation to receive a word by allowing them the chance to leave everything that have been through for that day, that week or since the last time they were in God=s house, leave all of that behind them or at the alter so that they can focus on nothing more than worshiping and praising God, therefore making them able to better hear what the Lord has to say to them from the preacher. Usually, this ministry=s job is done by singing short songs that either everyone is familiar with, or with songs that dont have a lot of lyrics so that people can easily pick them up as they go alone. Usually lead by someone who has the gift of exaltation.

Summary: As you can see, although they seem to have very similar roles,

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