Hello!

So you want to become a Worship Team Member, huh? Awesome! That must mean that
you are a musician, singer or/and a lover of music that glorifies God.
We know that music can tap into human emotion like nothing else can. We can be
transported back to a powerful moment in our lives just from hearing a few bars of a
particular song.
Here at TCN Abuja Levites, we understand that music is powerful. It is an awesome tool that
God has given us and we want to use it to it's full potential. We believe that God uses music
during our worship times to lead our congregation into radical encounters with Him.
But most importantly, we strive to bring glory to God in all that we do and worship is simply
a response to who God is. So, whatever your role is in our team this year, this Worship Team
Handbook will show you what we are all about and how you can join us in bringing glory to
God.
Thank you for being willing to serve. Thank you for loving music and thank you for letting
God use you.

Pastor Ossy - Abuja Pastor

What's Inside This Handbook

The Basics
Our Ministry…….1
Our Big Win………2
Excellence……….3

The Preparation
Spiritually……4
Relationally/Musically……5

The Fine Print

Expectations/Qualifications…..6
The Code of Conduct……….7
The Commitment……….8

Leadership Team (Interim):

Head of Department: Austen Ogbeide

Technical Director: Abraham Olusanya (Abodel)
Secretary: Oluwayemisi Louisa Adefarasin

Style Team: Laura Mössmer

Ekwubi Dumebi Joy
Temitope Akinbo

Welfare: Oluyemisi Cecilia Kolade

The Basics
Our Ministry
Our Vision Statement:
"We strive to provide a consistent, authentic, and excellent atmosphere of worship where
people can be encouraged to progress in their faith journey through the glorifying of our
King!"

On The Weekly:
Wednesday evening Rehearsal | 7:30 pm Via Zoom (online)
We rehearse from 7:30pm – 8:30pm on Wednesday evenings for our Thursday evening
service.
Thursday Mid-week service | 6:00pm
We meet at 5:30pm for prayers and soundcheck in preparation for service
Sunday Morning Services | 9:00 am
We assemble at 7:30am prompt for sound check in preparation for the main service.

Our Big Win

It's hard sometimes to know when our ministry is winning. Are we just singing songs up
here? What is the point of all this? Are we just killing time until the message? That's why we
decided to go ahead and define the big win for our ministry.
“We win when we engage people in authentic and powerful worship”.

The reality is that we cannot expect every single person to have radical encounters with God
every single week. People worship in different ways and respond to worship differently.
What we can do is be consistent in the atmosphere we provide. Highlighted in our vision
statement, there are three things that we strive to do in every worship experience. These
serve as the pillars of our ministry and every team member will be expected to follow them
if we wish to obtain our big win.

1. Consistency

In order to achieve our big win, we need to be consistent. That means The Levites need to
be as cohesive as possible. That means we all understand where the ministry wants to go
stylistically, creatively and visionally. Consistency means that you show up, ready to go
every single time you are asked to serve. It goes beyond playing an instrument or holding a
microphone. It means that you are in tune with your surroundings and what is going on
congregationally.
2. Authenticity

At TCN Abuja Levites we put a lot of emphasis on being authentic. In our personal lives, that
means we are who we say we are. In a worship setting, that means we are truly worshipping
God with all that we have and all we are. If we expect the congregation and the church as a
whole to have this mindset, it has to start with Us. No matter what your role is on a Sunday
morning, whether you are singing on or off stage or playing an instrument, we want to be
excited and on board with what God is doing. When we sing and play these songs with
powerful lyrics and music, we should look like we believe what we are singing.

3. Excellence
In everything we do, we must strive to be excellent. Not because we want to show off and
take away from God, but because God himself calls us to be excellent.
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead,
where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."
(Ecclesiastes 9:10)
God wants us to excel in both who we are and what we do. It would seem obvious that
there is simply no way one can love God with all his heart (Matt. 23:37) without seeking to
do his or her best to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Since that is so, the pursuit of
excellence is both a goal and a mark of spiritual maturity. However, for this to be true, the
pursuit of excellence must be motivated by the right values, priorities, and motives.
"Our pursuit of excellence must stem from our desire to be more like God and not from
man's obsession with his own significance.
This may seem like a lot to take in. We have to remember that we are leaders whether we
like it or not. As leaders we are called to a higher standard. Do not panic! You have a team
around you that wants to see you succeed. We can depend on each other for assistance and
guidance.
The Preparation
Every time you are scheduled for the worship team, we ask that you spend time in
preparation. Excellence is not achieved during the Sunday morning rehearsal; it is achieved
during your midweek preparation. Typically, when we are asked to prepare for worship, we
automatically think that we are to practice the songs, right? While it's true that we must
practice the music, we want to challenge every team member to prepare far beyond
whatever songs we are singing that particular week. I want to challenge us to focus on
spirituality, relationship, skill and stage presence. So, every time you are scheduled, I ask
that you take the week to prepare in the following ways:

1. Spirituality

Every time we gather, we expect the Lord to move in mighty ways. Burn that into your
minds.
Every single time we have a service, God will move and his presence will fill the room. We
must be spiritually prepared for this in order for us to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We all live busy lives and are all hearing from many voices at any given time. But when
Sunday morning comes will we be able to discern God's voice as he uses us to engage the
congregation. If we are not spiritually prepared, we might miss out on what the Lord is
calling Us to do. So, with that in mind, here are some things that you can do to spiritually
prepare for any worship experience:

Spend time with Him: We can only pour out to others what He has first poured into us. That
means if we are not spending consistent time in our Bibles and letting God speak to us, we
are not going to be able to lead and guide others when the time comes. So, whether it's
doing your daily devotion, reading before bedtime, or during your recess or breaktime, we
must be consistently diving deeper into who God is.
We must also pray often. If we want to see God do amazing powerful things on Thursday
and Sunday, we must pray powerfully from Monday.
"Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you." (Jeremiah
29:12)
Whatever we want to see happen we can pray to God and he hears us. If every single one of
us prays that God uses us in mighty ways and according to his will, God will not disappoint.
It is paramount that we keep this in mind at all times and that we are constantly praying for
our services and worship team.

2. Relationship

People are at the center of what we do. Whether it's your fellow worship team members,
your friends in the church, or people you do not even know yet, they all are important. As
leaders, people look up to us and watch us. We represent the church and most importantly,
God, no matter where we are. So as we are going through our week, there are a few things
we should be doing.
Building relationships: We want to always be on the look out for opportunities to build
relationships. Whether that is inviting someone to your home or going out for lunch. We do
not have to wait until Sunday for God to move and for lives to be impacted. Sometimes just
sending an encouraging text could change a life.

Setting a good example: No matter where we are or what encounters we have, we want to
do our best to be kind. We represent God who is the perfect picture of love and kindness.

Participating in community: As leaders we want to do our best to support the vision of the
church. Community Groups are a huge part of our church and an awesome way for us to
engage in the community. All team members will be required to be in a Community Group.

3. Musicianship/Skill

Music is what sets our department apart from other departments. Music has the potential
to tap into human emotions like nothing else can. We select songs that not only glorify God
but that are musically and lyrically pleasant to listen to. We want to always strive to do our
very best with the music that is selected. Every worship team member has a specific role in
the band. When all team members are doing their role, we succeed as a team. There are a
few things you can do to ensure that you are doing your part come Sunday morning:

Look at the set list early: We are committed to making sure that every praise list is sent at
least a week in advance on the group page. So look at the songs as early as possible. Listen
to them in the car and at home, and try your best to commit them to memory.

Learn your part: Sunday morning rehearsal is not the time to be figuring out your part. That
should be done during the week. If you are a singer, work on your harmony (Soprano, Alto
and Tenor). If you play guitar, learn the lines, solos, or strum patterns. If you play piano or
keys, listen to the chord changes and piano lines. If you play drums, learn the drum beats
and the dynamics of the songs. This goes for everyone. We want to sound as close as we can
to or even better than the original song.

Always strive to improve: Never be content with where you are. We will never reach a
point where we have nothing left to learn. Spend some time practicing your craft during the
week.
The better musicians we become, the stronger we will be as a team musically.

4. Stage presence / Craftsmanship

It is often said that you dress the way you want to be addressed. Is how you look or what
you wear really important? you might ask. It is very important, even to God.

People's assumptions about your competence and personality are highly influenced by what
you're wearing. Making a good first impression and all that matters. When you first walk out
on to that stage, before a note is even played, the congregation is already making
unconscious assumptions that will affect how they'll react to our ministration. So yeah, your
clothes matter! You don't have to aspire to become a fashion icon, but you need to dress
the part. Don't make the dress code an afterthought. They're an important part of
impression you'll make. So, please take time out to do this with care and intention.

Stage it
The congregation isn’t just watching you minister in songs, they’re watching you in-between
the songs too.
It’s also important to practice these transitions as you practice the songs. So, when time
comes and there’s an issue with a microphone or other technical issues, you’ll be prepared
enough to wing it and keep the congregation flowing. If you get too focused on what’s going
on right in front of you on stage, you’ll lose their attention.

Express your whole self

You may be an introvert when it comes to being on stage, but you must train yourself to
minister with your eyes open. Always make sure you are opening your eyes and looking out
into the congregation.
The congregation will be looking to you for physical cues on how they should feel and act.
So if you’re allowing the song to be expressed through your body language and facial
expressions, they also will, on some level, receive the message on how they should feel.
When your body doesn’t reflect what’s being said, it can often cause confusion and
dissonance in the overall message you’re trying to communicate.

The Fine Print

The Expectations

The Qualifications:
- Love Jesus
- Love People
- Love Music
- Sing or Play an Instrument at a competent level
- Ability to stick to the Code of Conduct

The Specifics:

Show up on time to scheduled rehearsals or events prepared;

Be committed to preparing musically and spiritually during the week;
Be committed to building relationship and loving people;
Attend all gatherings, trainings, or special events.

The Code of Conduct

As a ministry team, there are a few things we'd like everyone to abide by. Here they are:

Work Hard
You are so important to this ministry! We need you! So please, show up on time, give it your
all, and be faithful with the responsibilities entrusted to you.
"Do your best... Keep in mind that the ultimate Master you are serving is Christ."
(Colossians 3:23)

Be Kind
Ministry is all about people, so to be effective in ministry, you'll need to reflect God's heart
for people. With fellow team members, sound engineers, visual operators, and other
volunteers, treat people with gentleness, forgiveness, patience, kindness, and love.
"Get along amongst yourselves. And be careful that when you get on each other's nerves
you don't snap at each other. Look for the best in each other, and always do your best to
bring it out." (1 Thessalonians 5:13-15)
The Commitment

My name is………………………………………………………. and I'm ready to serve!

I promise to follow through on my responsibilities. If I can't, for whatever reason, I promise

to keep our leadership team informed and to give them as much notice as I possibly can,
knowing that they will need to find a replacement for me and that takes time.

I promise I have read this Worship Team Handbook. I understand the mission and strategy
of our ministry and will support the vision and leadership of the staff.

I promise I have read the Code of Conduct and will abide by it. If I err, I promise to be honest
about my actions and will accept whatever consequences they think are reasonable and
necessary, knowing that, while they must always act in the best interest of the ministry as a
whole, they are committed to treating me with respect, love, and grace.

I promise I understand the expectations of my role and will work hard to fulfill them. If I am
having trouble fulfilling any of my expectations, I promise to communicate and ask for help,
knowing there are people here to support me.

And finally...

I promise to do my part in making a huge difference in the lives and faith of the people who
walk through our door. I also promise to have a lot of fun doing it.

Signature: _______________________ Date:

_________________________