At some churches, anyone can be a part of the worship team – and that’s not a bad thing! But at some churches like OneLife, musicians are asked to audition first. If you’re from a background where anyone can be part of the worship team, you’re probably wondering why a church like OneLife would even have auditions?  ”You can sing, right?  Well come on you’re in!” That’s what we are used to hearing growing up in many churches, but here at OneLife we want to be intentional with who’s on our worship team and here’s why.

We believe God deserves our absolute best and excellence as a church and as individuals. Just like not everyone who likes to teach will be called to preach, not everyone who likes music is called to be a worship leader. And that’s what all of our musicians are – they are worship leaders. We strive for a distraction free environment and an easy place to worship, and that’s why hitting the right notes and singing the right words are – believe it or not – not what is most important to us. What’s most important to us is that we get the right people in their sweet spot of ministry, no matter where that may be. Not everyone will land a spot on the worship team but it will hopefully open your eyes to see where else in the church you may be being called to or somewhere else you would like to serve. And for others, you will find your sweet spot as a worship leader on our team.

Auditions for OneLife worship are coming up on March 20, next Tuesday night. If you’re interested and haven’t contacted worship@onelifeknox.com then do that today to get more information about what you’ll need to do. We’re excited for this next season of ministry and getting new musicians whose hearts are tied to OneLife Church and the kingdom.

So if you are a musician who goes to OneLife Church and wants to get involved, we would love to see what you got!

When we plan a worship set at OneLife Church, believe it or not we think about a lot more than just the songs. We think about the journey we want to take each person on throughout the set. It’s a different approach, but here’s why it is so important to us.

So often as an attendee we enter into a worship experience on Sunday mornings hosted by incredible churches and an incredible worship band.  The singers are right on pitch and the guitarists are hitting every note, the music is incredible, the words are right on and the performance part of it is solid. But what we at OneLife think so often lacks in worship experiences is the connection between the worship leader, the words, and the people.  The worship leader may do a great job singing, but that doesn’t always lead to a great job of leading.

For example:  A little over a year ago some of the OneLife worship team went and saw a worship leader who was in town for a concert.  Obviously the music was going to be great and everything was going to be spot on. But what was different about him was that we felt that he led us through a journey.  From the time he entered the stage to the time he left before the speaker, he led us through an amazing time of worship.  He didn’t just get up there and sing and preform but he LED us in worship. This was crucial because in that moment I worshipped like I have never worshipped before, and I knew something was different.  I talked with Pastor Rodney and told him I felt like the whole time I was led through a journey and then it clicked.

From that time over a year ago Pastor Rodney and I have spent time after time discussing each week how we can improve our journey and what our journey should look like from week to week.  I take intentional time throughout the week praying and studying the songs and the lyrics of our upcoming worship sets to find verses and one or two liners that can relate the upcoming lyrics with every day life. We believe this is what takes a good singer and turns them in to a good worship leader. And honestly I believe this is what it takes to go from having ok participation to great participation in our worship experiences.

One more thing to wrap this up: this takes preparation through out the week and a constant hunger for scripture and seeking Jesus every day.