Blog – Motion Worship – Video Loops, Countdowns, & Moving Backgrounds for the Christian Church

Talking About the Theology of Worship Lyrics

As worship pastors, we know that leading our congregations in worship is not just about playing music and singing songs. It’s about creating a space for people to connect with God, and one way we do that is through the songs we choose to sing. However, from time to time, people can and will take issue with the lyrics of worship songs and claim they have bad or harmful theology. Some of these can...

Preparing for Easter Services as a Worship Pastor

Easter is a great day for celebration in the church! It’s also a great day for a gallon of coffee, nerves, anxiety, and stress... If you’re a worship pastor of course. We kid, but if you are a worship pastor, you can probably relate on some level. The only reason those of us in the church get stressed about Easter is because we recognize how important of a holiday it is. There’s going to ...

Low Cost Ways to Honor Your Worship Team Members

Churches often work on tight budgets, so it can be difficult to find ways to thank and honor your worship team volunteers. However, there are plenty of low cost, high impact ways to show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective and budget-friendly ways to honor your worship team volunteers. As a quick caveat, most of the suggestions in...

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Should Your Worship Team Start Using a Click Track?

Every worship pastor wants their band to sound tight, consistent and precise. But how do you get there? The answer might be a click track. So what exactly is a click track and why should your team consider using one? In this post, I’ll discuss the pros and cons of using a click track with your worship team so you can make an informed decision on whether it’s right for your church. Is a Cli...

Worship Pastors: Aligning Your and the Lead Pastor’s Vision

If you're a worship pastor, chances are good that you've had some disagreements with your lead pastor about the vision for worship at your church. Maybe there's been a conflict over the style of music, or the role of technology in worship. Whatever the case may be, it's important to find ways to align your vision with that of your lead pastor. In this blog post, we'll share some tips on how to do ...

Give Helpful Feedback in Rehearsals

Everyone who leads rehearsals has a slightly different style, from how the whole rehearsal is organized to how he or she communicates musical changes. One of the trickiest things as a band leader is attempting to give feedback to band members about their playing. If you don’t play the instrument they’re playing, you may run into an added layer of “imposter syndrome” as you try to commu...

How To Handle A Bad Audition

I’m sure you’ve found yourself in this situation before; you’ve held an audition with a prospective new band member, and they didn’t meet the standards you set for your worship ministry. How do you prepare for the difficult conversation of letting them know they didn’t make the cut? This is one of the tensions of leading in a community within the body of Christ. Each of us is a part o...

A New Sound System Won’t Make Your Musicians Better

I love new gear, don’t get me wrong. Diving into a new piece of equipment is inspiring, both creatively and technically. Whether it’s a new instrument, a new light fixture, or simply some new hardware, new gear opens new possibilities. Herein lies a common trap. While new gear may create renewed creativity and encourage you to spend more time honing your craft, it won’t inherently make y...

When Should You Start Planning Your Christmas Church Services?

What if I told you that it’s possible to relax during the week leading up to Christmas, even as a senior pastor, worship pastor, or tech director? I know, I know, sounds crazy, right? While December 22nd is traditionally reserved for crippling anxiety and last-minute service planning, I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to be prepared and give yourself space to soak in the holiness of th...

When Someone Says The Music Is Too Loud

If your church plays modern, pop/rock style worship songs, you’ve likely heard this complaint: “The music is too loud”. For those of us who are musicians and tech team members, this can be frustrating feedback. You’ve put hours into preparing the service and the environment, and instead of focusing on the impact the service is having, you’re staring down what can feel like an endless st...

Tips for Getting Worship Team Volunteers to Prepare

A lot of musicians from the church draw a strange line between worship and performance, as if the two are mutually exclusive. There’s often this presumption that if you’re worried about the music, you’re not worshiping, and that performance always pales in comparison to the importance of being engaged in worship. And while this is an incredibly “noble” intention behind why many volunt...

Worship Pastors: Importance of Positive Feedback to Musicians

Being a pastor of any sort is an incredibly busy (and often draining) job. You’re shouldering the weight of daily responsibilities, constant meetings, endless to-do lists, and on top of it there’s the entire relational aspect to the job. Don’t get me wrong – I know pastors love their congregations and volunteers, but when you stack the responsibilities of being personally involved in all y...

Hire or Contract? Sound Professional Edition

Most churches find it important to have someone available to run sound for rehearsals and services. While some are lucky enough to have a sound-board-savvy volunteer on the roster, most of us find that hiring a professional either to be on staff or contracting week to week can be a simple way to elevate production quality. When it comes to contracting or hiring, how do you know which route is b...

Guide Track Tutorial | Ableton in 5 Minutes

Download your free guide cue samples here! This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover how to use vocal ...

Should You Be Recording Your Worship Rehearsals?

If you’ve upgraded your mixing console in the past 10 years, it’s most likely a digital desk. And while a new sound board isn’t going to magically make anyone better at singing, playing an instrument, or mixing, here’s something you can do that has the potential to directly impact the quality of your musicians and techs: Record Your Rehearsals How often do you change the arrangement...

Worship Pastors: Why and How to Start Using Music Directors

I’ve been to a lot of churches that don’t have assigned music directors. It seems to mostly be smaller churches that feel they either don’t have the resources/personnel necessary for a Music Director (MD), or just generally don’t feel it’s needed. I’m here to tell you that almost any church is not only capable of introducing an MD role to their teams, but will actually be better off fo...

Tips for Sharing Worship Thoughts Between Songs

Talking in between songs is difficult. You’re often coming out of a highly energetic moment with people engaging in worship and singing along with the team... and then the lights come down, it gets really quiet, and you’re essentially expected to “preach” something of value to everyone. It can be scary. Even for those who have completely overcome the fear of speaking in front of everyon...

Advanced Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5-minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, we'll cover some more advanced methods of customizing click tracks for your...

Building Basic Click Tracks for Worship | Ableton in 5 Minutes

This "Ableton in 5 minutes" series is hosted by Chris Fleming, Motion Worship Creative Director, professional drummer and music director from Minneapolis, MN. In this collection of concise tutorials you will learn how to use click tracks, guide cues, and multitracks in your setlists. In this specific video tutorial, Chris will walk you through the most basic method of setting up click track...

Tips for Buying & Tuning Church Drums on a Budget

Drums are incredibly expensive. I know because I’m a drummer. And I have a drum gear hoarding problem... But buying drums on a budget is a bit different than other instruments. With a guitar, bass, or keyboard, you have to buy one at it’s list price and that’s what it costs – you have the instrument. With drums, it’s much easier to mix together snares with different drum kits, cymbals...