"An unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates said ~ to be recollected later in Plato's Apology.
Well then, in my efforts to evaluate my ministry role from time to time, I compiled a questionnaire out of the stuff I gathered from my Namibian mentor (Dewet) in those foundational years at EN, as well as from attending worship conferences in Belfast and back home in Penang. This is definitely a non-exhaustive list of questions (and the order is a little awry), but hey, it's still quite a lot for self-examination...
1. What portions of Scripture have been most significant to you as a worship leader?
2. What books/resources have been most significant to you as a worship leader? Do you have a yearly list of must-reads covering the relevant areas (eg. spiritual formation, worship formation, liturgy, theology, nurturing the pastoral heart, music theory and appreciation, preaching, etc.)?
3. Who are your mentors and models in the life and art of worship leading? Who are the people who have influenced you the most personally, spiritually, liturgically, musically and missionally (if there's such a word)?
4. What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses/bad habits as a worship leader? How do you think you could work on the weaknesses/bad habits and build on the strengths? (For me, emotional discipline is definitely not my strong point. I am way too emotional.)
5. What is your vision as a worship leader? What are your ideals?
6. Who are the song/hymn writers whose music you use most often in your worship leading? Why?
7. What and whose music do you listen to regularly as a resource to your work as a worship leader?
8. What sites or sources do you access weekly in order to be inspired in your preparation for worship?
9. What conferences/seminars/workshops/retreats do you attend yearly in order to be equipped, refreshed, artistically inspired and to connect with other worship leaders/Christians from other churches?
10. How would you describe your musical aesthetic? What musical genre do you prefer? How would others describe you musically?
11.When you look at the kinds of songs you choose and how often you choose them, what do you think that it says about your musical and liturgical ethos?
12. What are your greatest fears, wishes and excitements as a worship leader?
13. What are your best worship experiences as a worshiper in the congregation?
14. What are your best worship experiences as a worship leader?
15. How often do you step out of your comfort zones - for example, expose yourself to music outside of your preferred genre or heart language; and take up new challenges in worship leading?
16. How often are you off from worship leading and worshiping off-stage? In all honesty, is this too often/rare? What is your ideal? Are you getting enough rest?
17. How much time do you spend praying and preparing for Sunday worship each week? What does "preparation" mean? How could time be managed more effectively so that preparation would be more efficient? Are there things you could give up in order to focus better on your tasks? Are you communicating well enough with those on your team as well as your leaders? Are you building relationships as you lead your team each week? Do you make enough effort to encourage and edify your musicians?
18. Are you mentoring/discipling somebody or a group in your church? If not, why? :P
19. How do you present yourself/behave when you are not worship leading? How do you behave when your church people aren't around/when you are alone? Do you spend time alone with God on a regular basis?
20. Do you make time for people outside "ministry time"?
Well then, in my efforts to evaluate my ministry role from time to time, I compiled a questionnaire out of the stuff I gathered from my Namibian mentor (Dewet) in those foundational years at EN, as well as from attending worship conferences in Belfast and back home in Penang. This is definitely a non-exhaustive list of questions (and the order is a little awry), but hey, it's still quite a lot for self-examination...
1. What portions of Scripture have been most significant to you as a worship leader?
2. What books/resources have been most significant to you as a worship leader? Do you have a yearly list of must-reads covering the relevant areas (eg. spiritual formation, worship formation, liturgy, theology, nurturing the pastoral heart, music theory and appreciation, preaching, etc.)?
3. Who are your mentors and models in the life and art of worship leading? Who are the people who have influenced you the most personally, spiritually, liturgically, musically and missionally (if there's such a word)?
4. What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses/bad habits as a worship leader? How do you think you could work on the weaknesses/bad habits and build on the strengths? (For me, emotional discipline is definitely not my strong point. I am way too emotional.)
5. What is your vision as a worship leader? What are your ideals?
6. Who are the song/hymn writers whose music you use most often in your worship leading? Why?
7. What and whose music do you listen to regularly as a resource to your work as a worship leader?
8. What sites or sources do you access weekly in order to be inspired in your preparation for worship?
9. What conferences/seminars/workshops/retreats do you attend yearly in order to be equipped, refreshed, artistically inspired and to connect with other worship leaders/Christians from other churches?
10. How would you describe your musical aesthetic? What musical genre do you prefer? How would others describe you musically?
11.When you look at the kinds of songs you choose and how often you choose them, what do you think that it says about your musical and liturgical ethos?
12. What are your greatest fears, wishes and excitements as a worship leader?
13. What are your best worship experiences as a worshiper in the congregation?
14. What are your best worship experiences as a worship leader?
15. How often do you step out of your comfort zones - for example, expose yourself to music outside of your preferred genre or heart language; and take up new challenges in worship leading?
16. How often are you off from worship leading and worshiping off-stage? In all honesty, is this too often/rare? What is your ideal? Are you getting enough rest?
17. How much time do you spend praying and preparing for Sunday worship each week? What does "preparation" mean? How could time be managed more effectively so that preparation would be more efficient? Are there things you could give up in order to focus better on your tasks? Are you communicating well enough with those on your team as well as your leaders? Are you building relationships as you lead your team each week? Do you make enough effort to encourage and edify your musicians?
18. Are you mentoring/discipling somebody or a group in your church? If not, why? :P
19. How do you present yourself/behave when you are not worship leading? How do you behave when your church people aren't around/when you are alone? Do you spend time alone with God on a regular basis?
20. Do you make time for people outside "ministry time"?
 |
| Christ Church, Oxford ~ "Hope, Love, Faith" |
No comments:
Post a Comment