The African church in my opinion is one of the most exciting churches to attend. And we’ve come a long way. But like any organisation, there are always ways to improve. In a 10 year span, I have worked with at least 70 churches in Europe through trainings and workshops. I have seen a lot and tried to help where I can. Lots of musicians and pastors around the world contact me with their frustrations or often to seek solutions. I believe I stand in a unique position, in that I pastor a church and run a thriving music business where I specialise in Gospel & African music. And my perspective is unique because of it. So I have compiled a list of some of my observations. Maybe you might even identify with some of my pointers.
1. Sound is inconsistent and most of the time too loud.
In a lot of our churches, you can’t tell what is going to happen with church sound. It has become a hit and miss game. A few times good, but mostly bad. Sound men have never been trained. Some sound men are willing to learn and some are very arrogant. At least know what causes feedback, signal flow, and the sweet-spot of your auditorium volume-wise. I have been invited to some churches by some pastor friends to help the sound man and most of them have a know-it-all attitude. Sound men will generally not attend worship workshops or read on the subject for improvement. Because they see themselves as different from the music ministry. Remember that there’s a way to do loud. There’s loud that is annoying and loud which is appropriate. We call the annoying sound “Gragra”.
I once went to a church to fix their sound. Their hall was very small. It can seat maybe only 50 people max but they had 4 sub woofers and 4 tops. The pastor to my amazement actually told me “they needed more speakers, that way the sound will be better”. The church which I pastor, God Center Amsterdam, only uses 1 speaker in our 60 seater auditorium. When my pastor friends come to preach, they always wonder how my sound is that good. Less is more. The worse thing that can musically happen to a church in my opinion is loud over the top music or preaching. It’s beautiful to listen to TD Jakes preach because the microphone is well set for his kind of voice. So set the church sound well and don’t allow many hands on the mixing board. My question is; why is it that the African church seems okay with distortion?
2. Invest in the right ministries & equipments.
Churches invest more in instruments than training especially in the area of sound. And its true that the music and sound ministries are the most expensive in church but check were the money is going. There’s a story in centuries past about a city with fortified walls. The enemy couldn’t penetrate for months and months. They eventually bribed the gate keepers who where been payed poor wages and eventually destroyed the whole city. The gatekeeper at church is the sound man. If he is not treated right and trained right, your fortified wall is for nothing. No matter how nice Cece Winans’ voice is, if the sound is not right the singing will not be right.
One day, a pastor friend of mine came to my studio and I played a song for him. He loved the song so much and pleaded with me if I can arrange for the singer to come and minister at his upcoming conference. I laughed and told him it was his own lead singer from church. He couldn’t believe it so I had to mute everything else in the song for him to hear his wonderful singers voice to his amazement. He asked me how come she didn’t sound like that at church. So I used the opportunity to talk to him about the importance of his sound.
I know pastors who go to music stores by themselves and buy equipments and expect it to work. One pastor bought a keyboard with “many knobs”, because in his thinking that means it is better than the one with fewer knobs. I have seen some ministries with quality microphones for the preacher and bad once for the singers or vice versa. What you are saying is, "my Praise & Worship is not that important". I know lead singers who bought their own microphone for church so they can sound great rather than help solve the groups problem of poor microphones. She only helped herself and left the other singers still stuck with a problem she should be helping to fix. Chords needs to be changed frequently, at least every year or two depending on whether you build up and tear down every Sunday or you have a fixed installation at church. Check the frequencies of your cordless microphones. Sometimes some of them don’t work well together. Ask the store for the church to test equipments at your church location on maybe two Sunday services before buying it. Sometimes the problem is not the poor sound guy. There’s a lot that comes into play. One rule is never buy something you can’t use or control. What is good for church A might be bad for church B.
3. Preparation.
The first songs are mostly a mess on Sundays. Because the sound man is now checking the sound and setting everything whiles the service has already began. Singers or ministry leaders come to church late, etc. I must admit that most African churches struggle with lateness. The first song in our services becomes a sound check. But the sound check should’ve ended at least 20 minutes before the service begins. We behave like the Holy Spirit hates preparation. But know that God loves people who prepare for His coming. Moses had to prep the whole nation for 2 days to meet their God. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. Unfortunately we see all spontaneity as the “move of the spirit”. Preparation brings about excellence. When we prepare well, the congregation connects to God in a beautiful way. The sound, music, atmosphere, ministry, flow and transitions must be consistent, clear and spirit led. How you prepare tells God whether He's welcome or not. And sometimes singers just pick the mic and lift the song without the band being ready, no interlude to ease God’s precious saints in. If there was proper practice, a prepared singer will make sure the band is ready. Song intros have become a strange thing in our churches.
Most singers don’t understand the “Selah” moments in music and how beautiful that can be. Where is the order? The world won’t even permit the things that pass in our church on their ungodly stages. You see, we can’t take this for granted. Everyone that has a revelation of heaven will tell you of the order and excellence that permeates through everything they experience. So give your best even when everything is against you. Passion is evident in preparation (input) and not on the stage (output). The military have a saying, “prepare well, and bleed less in battle”. At GC Church, I remember we even practiced communion time and other church activities. How strange some found it, but how thankful they were for not having to figure it out for themselves on the spot. I can’t expect from people what I have not taught them. So let’s not run our ministries on assumptions.
4. Wrong people in the wrong ministries.
I think most of the problems of the African church begins here. Wrong people at the wrong positions. Sometimes you think to yourself, “this person shouldn’t be singing or ushering”. Truth is, in Christ, we promote based on faithfulness. Why because no matter how nice a Celine Dion concert is, God doesn’t attend it. He rather comes and listens to our “cockroach voices”. That thought just amazes me. But our bible teaches us that every Christian is called in an area of giftings, and it should be our joy to help them discover it. Else as we all know, every lady in the church will flock to the Praise & Worship team. Some sing because they think its nice to stand on stage. Others, think they can sing because they sound great in the bathroom, some, because they see a need and try to fill it which can be a good thing but comes with frustrations. Church atmosphere keeps getting toxic because of this seemingly small problem. To be a good singer/musician or to exhibit an excellent spirit in the African church sometimes becomes like a “curse” because when you raise these kinds of issues, it can be used against you later.
There are spiritual gift tests online. Please find one that suites your ministry and let your workers take it. Your members would love you for it. At GC Church Amsterdam, we give the Growth track to all our members. Actually this summer, we will begin the whole growth track for a few members that joined. I'm excited and eager to see what spiritual gifts come with the people God has put in my care. Over 60% of Christians today don’t know their spiritual gifts. That’s serious. So offer training for your singers. When people come to church they are asking for 2 things mostly. (1) Make me feel significant, I’m important (2) Train me, lead me to where God wants me to be. Pastors, lets train our leaders until they get it. Repeat yourself until they get it. Find every possible way to do it. Find what works for you.
There was an experiment done with a 1st and 2nd team of a football club. They where asked to play each other but the 1st team had their positions changed; that is defence where now striking and midfielders where defending; in short they where all over the place. Now the 2nd team played their positions. Guess who won. The 2nd team won even though the 1st team were better technically, they lost for playing the wrong positions. People never win in life if they don’t play their God given positions. And even if they are at their God-given positions they need a spiritual coach, which is you their pastor. A great coach doesn’t necessarily have to be a great player. But he finds his player’s sweet spot and guides them so the church can grow. The advantage of playing your God assigned position is that, that person carries the internal fuel for it. I don’t need to call them daily to encourage them to do what they love. My words of encouragement becomes bonus. Thus relieving me to have more time for prayer, the word and family.
5. Challenge the status quo.
Challenge your Praise & Worship team to attempt a song that you even know they can’t sing. Never write them off. Dr. Myles Munroe said that great leaders will take you to where you need to be even if it feels uncomfortable. I remember Mr. John Teye betting on us playing a solo that we sometimes knew we can’t even play. Yet we will attempt it anyway. He will give us time but still dare us. That’s how we grew as musicians. He will celebrate even when we couldn’t play the whole song. Mr. John Teye might still give you the money he promised even if you didn’t do it perfectly. Sebastiaan Van Wessem, Lead Pastor of Thousand Hills Hilversum, put his youth band on the spot by letting them play one whole night of praise and worship at church. It challenged and pushed them to greater heights. They have now become the main band for their new campus in Huizen. Amazing!!! Hillsongs did it with their youth band also. Like these examples, your people might not be there yet but still push and nudge them into greatness.
Remember a push is effective with compliments and encouragement. Anytime you push with criticism, your people will feel like you are out of touch with who they are and their needs. Before you challenge, always encourage with compliments first, especially in public. When they are singing a special song, stand and sing along. Let them feel you are in with them. Bishop O. A. Bernard will stand when I ministered even when the whole church was sitting. That was so encouraging. One time I made my choir, Ghana Community Choir (pictured above), sing Richard Smallwood’s Total Praise in Ghanaian Akan language. I know right? It's a difficult song to even sing in English, but they almost pulled it of in Akan. I used that opportunity to encourage them never to stop trying the impossible and it made the other songs seem way easier.
The best way to gain respect with followers is with your ears. You are always preaching/teaching them every Sunday. So from time to time, give them the opportunity to speak to you. Listen to their concerns. Ask them for what they think about their ministry. Anytime one of my people is talking with me, I take my book and write. It encourages them because they see that I take them serious enough to write down their thoughts. So when I tell them to write down my sermons on Sundays, they don’t struggle. Always expressing your hunger for excellence without encouraging and complimenting others makes you look unappreciative. Because we leaders are driven, we don’t see it when it’s happening. Encourage even though you let them know they are not at where you want them to be yet. One trait of a great leader is swallowing your feelings and letting certain things slide. Remember you are an ambassador of Christ. So speak like one.
An opera titled “Man of La Mancha” is about a rich knight who believed in a prostitute even when she couldn't believe in herself. She didn't expect anything high of herself. But he saw a bright future for her and declared it and even began to call her a new name, Dulcinea, to signify her new life. But she resisted his genuine love and his believe in her because it seemed strange to her. No mater how she slipped or behaved he made her know that he strongly believed she can do better and reach impossible heights. On his death bed he sent for her and looked straight into her eyes and encouraged her to do better. Dulcinea only turned her life around after the knight died. He didn’t even see his labor of love. Believing in people is such a powerful act. It still changes people even when we are not with them anymore. I know some of us have lost faith in humanity because of what church members have put us through or what some pastors have said or done. Please take this to God in prayer. God can restore your heart. i have trained so many people that left me at the end. But I can’t punish those who are still with me for what someone else did by withdrawing my trust. And sometimes we observe each other with suspicion. It’s so much hard work to guard the heart from hurt and pain but ask God for the secrets to unlock your heart. Because the people we say we love always end up paying for the sins of the people that hurt us. Never loose your smile, encouragement and compliments. It’s an integral part of our calling as leaders. “And David encouraged himself in the Lord”. Why did he do this? So he can win the battle ahead of him. And he did win!!!!
6. Lots of distractions during service.
Once I heard a pastor say “Excellence in church means no distractions”. Please don’t strike a chord that takes me out of the presence of God. Sometimes it’s the microphone getting loud all of a sudden. Sometimes its the musicians, sometimes the kids, sometimes the singers. Just interrupting worshipers. Ever seen a singer or musician give too much and try to show off? I just saw a quote on Facebook saying “When a fool shows off he/she sees it as glory”. A pastor told me how once he saw a keyboardist showing off during praise time meanwhile the keyboard itself wasn’t even plugged-in, while everyone was thinking “this guy can really play” because of his over the top expressions. The chords or scales might be nice but inappropriate for the song and move of God at that particular time. We must be sensitive to the leadings of the Spirit and to the one standing with the lead microphone.
When you are playing under the pastor’s preaching, its advisable to use strings or pads softly instead of “attackish” sounds like piano, guitar or ep. So the strings/pads can be a bed on which the speaker’s voice can lay on. Use the pads/strings to create an atmosphere where the Spirit of God can flow through the speaker and not necessarily your instrument to be heard by everyone. Musicians, when in the middle of a song and the lead singer or pastor begins to speak, please play soft or even better allow only the keyboards to play. Sundays have become a volume contest. Church singers tend to loose their voices after Sunday service due to screaming because they can’t hear themselves. The stage monitor levels can only go so high before feedback sets in. For solutions check speaker placements in your room or speak to a specialist. For some churches putting the drum in a booth has even destroyed the attack and beauty of their sound. If the mix is bad, then the drum booth will even make it worse sometimes. In film they say the story line is king. Same as in music, the melody or lead is king. Accompany and don’t overtake. Unfortunately, we have turned the congregation into spectators with our riffs and runs. We call it Gospel music for a reason. Let us hear the Gospel clearly being sung, backed by the music.
7. Nothing is written down. No repertoire
I have a sharp memory (well, so I have been told), and sometimes it causes me to not write things down for those who are following me. Everything can live happily in my head. So that causes people that follow me to fumble and I then get frustrated because they don’t “get it”. My wife kept telling me to write things down because everyone is not in my head. So I eventually did. But I will admit it feels good when people just “catch me”, or when we click. It's just a warm feeling folks. But in leading others, clarity is more important than “feel me catch me” or "click". They say, "a broken pen is better than a sharp mind". So what is your church music repertoire? There’s a reason why everyone sings along to hymns so easily even though the melody and lyrics are sometimes complex. It’s because its clearly printed and in the right key for everyone to sing along. But with some of our churches, nothing is written down and nobody knows the keys to any song. And at every practice we have to spend time finding keys to songs we have been singing for months. Imagine Israel Houghton coming on stage and not knowing the key to the song he’s about to sing in. But we do that always in God’s house.
There should be a book with the songs for the church. Every singer should also have a special book for songs and with each song the appropriate keys. So, write everything down, not on papers, but in a book set apart for your music ministry. Any music ministry without a repertoire written down with the appropriate keys is not serious enough. In a lot of our churches, the beamer lady even has all the songs we sing already typed down on the church PC. So start from there. Even the 4 creatures and angels in heaven have a repertoire, and at least we all can tell that “Holy Holy Holy” is one of them, lol. Imagine if all our favourite hymns weren’t written down when they where composed? Think, how many ideas have you lost because they weren’t written down. I have heard great men say “ideas are the greatest thing to have”, okay, but let me introduce you to the pen. It’s the most powerful. Those that wield it decide our culture and create history. I have built a culture of writing at GC Church, and not just with music but with preaching and announcements. Most Sundays I remind the church the importance of writing. We even have notebooks and bibles to sell at the back of the church. Members are also allowed to use their phones to record or write at our services as long as it doesn’t ring. The word “Discipleship” means student. We have become students who don’t write anything down. Yet we expect to not fail our “life’s exam”. Any teacher will tell you. Write!!!
8. Infections - Attitude - Rehearsal is a very jovial affair.
People that don’t take the process serious are dangerous. I call them infections. Apostle Paul was very tough on people who infected his churches with bad habits and attitudes. And you should too. Back in the day at John Teye School, one of the principles I learned was our director took rehearsals very serious and our real ministrations rather light. He wouldn’t mind so much if you made a mistake at the gig, but you dare not make a mistake at the rehearsal. Because of that we always came prepared. He understood that if we get it at practice we won’t fail at the gig. In travelling around the world with various bands, band members have commended or disliked me on this particular habit of been too serious with practice. I didn’t even know it showed but that was what was drilled into us back then and it has helped me to stand on any stage in the world. Singers don’t come ready to practice or to sing at church practice. They don’t know the song beforehand. Understand that at practice is where we put the harmonies together as a group.
Several times, I have kicked people out of a group because of their attitude. Again I say, be very careful of infections in your groups. One person can bring everything down with their attitude. They easily frustrate those that are faithful to you. You need to be aware of folks like these. Some singers think they don’t need practice for some strange reason. They give you an attitude when you talk about practicing. Others think because church work is voluntary, nobody should tell them anything. They think to themselves "the church is even lucky to have me do what I do". Some want you to implement what they used to do in their former church or the nation they are coming from. I recall one lady telling me that she is a natural born alto so I can’t tell her to sing any other part. I gladly accepted and disallowed her from singing in my workshop. As a leader of your group don’t allow anyone to destroy what you’ve built. Deal with toxic people and infections with tact else they will discourage those that are eager and passionate about your ministry. I know you are thinking Jesus won’t do that but please read your gospels well and you will find Jesus not tolerating infections especially from the Pharisees and Sadducees. On one occasion Jesus had to even tell his closest pal "Get behind me Satan”. I always feel uncomfortable reading that but that’s our savior disallowing infections in his destiny. Always deal with the issue without attacking people’s characters. Know when to be firm and when to walk in grace. Walk the balance of patience and firmness. You are accountable to God as a steward in his vineyard.
Learn how to move people from the wrong ministries with Spiritual gift training classes. I personally think we waste time with bible studies on sunday mornings. We can use that spot for spiritual training rather than members having to hear 2 sermons in one day. I remember the first time we did the growth track, people where literally in tears because it was a confirmation of what they had been feeling for so long. We tend to call difficult people in our churches "witches" and write them off as no good, whiles we fail to even spot the real witches. Sometimes the real problem is leadership and not witchcraft.
9. The leadership crisis in our churches.
Sometimes we pastors undercut our ministry leaders. Give authority and not a position. What that means is that, only set clear goals and objectives for church ministry in church and allow the ministry leader to run it. It’s called buy-in. Stop micro managing. I have caught myself micro-managing a few times. Maybe it’s trust issues after all my disappointments. But anytime I do that, I imply that my leaders are not good enough for the task. Members shouldn’t be coming to me with every problem. There should be a chain of command. One big problem in African churches is everyone wants to deal with the Lead Pastor directly. This character of ours causes most pastors to make arrangements with members without the knowledge of their ministry leaders. A house divided against itself can’t stand. Sometimes the music ministry leader doesn’t have what it takes to lead. So then train them my brother. If you are not training then you are not pastoring. Every Christian is called to preach in some form or another. What sets the pastor apart is his leadership and training others. Get specialists to help from time to time. As a pastor I feel frustrated when someone else says something at church that I have been saying for a long time, and the church pretends like they are hearing a new revelation for the first time. But thats the nature of our world. That’s why bringing in guest speakers and specialists. It helps because what you've been saying for a 100 years becomes fresh when another person says it. When you want to reward a singer’s faithfulness with a promotion, first train them. Set goals, guidelines and evaluate from time to time. Remember that real growth takes time. I'm very suspicious of one-day-wonders. It takes patience.
The African church suffers from a leadership crisis. Understand that the fact that you can cook doesn’t mean you can run a restaurant. Same in church. Preaching and leading are two different things, same as singing and leading. But they can be learned so train leaders. Give them tools so they can do the work well. If you have to correct something every sunday then you have a leadership problem. I was to give a workshop to a church choir once. When I entered the auditorium I discerned in my spirit strong divisions in the choir. It was so bad that the choir didn’t even sit for their voice parts-soprano, alto, tenor, but rather according to the factions that they belonged to. My wife will tell you that generally I’m very patient with singers, fixing choirs and music ministries. But with this particular case, I immediately picked up my stuff and left because the choir didn’t need fixing, rather the music leadership did. I understand that leading in the black church can be hell. But you can’t build on division. Where there’s a leadership crisis, nothing can be built. We are quick to fix others rather than look at our style of leadership.
10. Clear Vision.
I personally believe if your vision can’t be said in one breath then it’s not worth following. A vision should arouse an emotion. e.g., LET MY PEOPLE GO!!! Moses returned to Egypt saying these simple but powerful words. It was easy to understand, clear and on point. The explanation of it can be long but the vision sentence should be clear. I was just reviewing a book on amazon titled “Leaders Eat Last” by Simon Sinek. I find the title so direct, simple and everyone gets it. Don’t complicate things. The best way to cast vision for the music ministry is to show them what you actually mean. Concepts and words can be misinterpreted so find a singer or church on youtube you like and watch it together with the whole team. I remember Mr. John Teye will get the latest Integrity Music video tapes and gather us all to watch and discuss. Best way to practice is to emulate.
The vision for the music ministry should be practical & reachable. It should be a balance of what you want and what the congregation wants. Speak to your church members, ask them the kinds of songs they are listening to now? You’ll find a common thread within them all. Take that 50% and add your 20% and finally the lead singer’s 30%. See your singers future even before they do. And tell them boldly what you see. Push them with encouragement. Listen to them. You will be shocked that most of them will be on the same page as you but they are quiet because of a few issues. In so doing you’ll arouse their inner passion. Show by example, before you preach, sing some of the songs you wish to hear at church. Even if you don’t have the best voice. At God Center, I want there to be a flow between the singing and the preaching. The songs should border around the theme of the messages. It is very hard to hammer this concept down because a lot is done by only feeling in our churches. But with prayer and patience we will get there. They will catch you as time goes by. Never underestimate your authority, members tend to like what their pastors like. So press on.
In conclusion (know that when a pastor says in conclusion, it means nothing, lol!!), Don't be afraid that you'll offend a few people. Your action or inaction will offend people anyways. So at least let people take offense because you walked the path God called you to walk, rather that members getting pissed at you for not giving clear vision and direction. My dad told me something when I began ministry. He said, "In ministry you can do everything right and everything will go wrong, or seem wrong, but press on". The truth is I didn't get it until I was in the fire. John Maxwell has an article on how to win difficult people over. Find it and chew it.
What makes church ministry sometimes challenging is that, it's voluntary. And especially in the African church culture, some members won't take lightly to you demanding excellence. I believe that there're some few people in your church and also the next generation who are ready for the changes that I have stated above. So gather them round and read this with them, ask for their opinions and start a whole new movement within the church with these hungry souls. I don't try to understand everything the youth are into. But I learn from them really fast and I make them know I'm in support of them whiles showing genuine interest in their lives. They love me for it.
So if like me you are hungry for change, I ask you to join me today to bring revolution in our various church music ministries for the glory of God!!!
So, what are your thoughts? Maybe I have left something out that you’ve observed. So please share and leave a comment below. God bless you
Your humble servant,
Berima Amo
Founder / Lead pastor
God Center International Church
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
