The past 30 years or so have witnessed the rapid development of the churches in China, which have made great progress in all aspects, including worship and praise. The worship and praise ministry have evolved from singing the traditional hymns, adopting the Canaan Hymns (or a collection of Chinese hymns composed by China's songbird Lv Xiaomin) to the current blossoming of various styles.
However, a brother named Zhao Wei (pseudonym) thinks that although the improvement of worship skills is acknowledgeable, it is more important to form a common understanding of worship among the team members. He has many years of experience as a full-time worship team leader in East China.
Brother Zhao Wei left his hometown at a very young age and went to a worship training school to learn the skills. After graduating from school, he started a full-time career in worship. Now he leads a ministry of Christian music worship in East China.
Currently, there are students studying music skills in Zhao Wei’s team. Brother Zhao hopes that his students can first establish a correct view of worship because he finds that many people’s understanding of worship is rather narrow or even wrong. Quite a few of them just want to learn musical skills and techniques.
So he very much hopes that all people can return to the simple and fiery heart at the beginning of their faith in worship, no matter whether this person is engaged in worship or not.
In addition, he hopes that worship team members can be humble to each other because musicians are people who can be proud so easily. “Over the years, I have met too many musicians who are absolutely individualistic, including me. Some personalities are good, but not all personalities are good. If you want to participate in kingdom ministry, you must have a broad mind; if you are better than me in terms of level and skills, that’s fine. Yet God is always the best. If people can integrate with each other instead of controlling each other, they can facilitate better coordination.”
Being a worship team leader, he is actually not proficient in any one musical instrument, but he has studied every instrument for a period of time in order to know what the other players are playing and why they are making sounds and processing music in a certain way. Therefore, he will ask every player in the band for advice. He learns, for example, from the drummer how to coordinate his hands and feet when playing the drums, he said. “Through learning drumming, I really understand why drummers do what they do in the process of playing music. Before I learned it, I was impressed by the cool beats, but it turned out that it was not about being cool. The real drummer beats exactly to the tempo or rhythm of the music.”
“Later, I learned to play the guitar—the strumming and decomposing. I learned that in performance there is a distinction between accompaniment guitar, chord guitar, and melody guitar. Then I learned how to play the electric guitar and bass. With more knowledge and skills, when I conduct my band, the result is much better harmony among band members in a rehearsal. After the rehearsal, I will let every player speak out their own ideas, and immediately we will try out those ideas as an experiment right there. Even if everyone has different opinions, after they practically go through the experiments, they will basically be very clear on what to do, and no objections will be heard. Because they have gone through various practices, they now have reached a consensus on how best to perform.”
“This is integration. I do not oppress people with authority as the leading person, but I help them integrate with each other to gain a common understanding of worship. This is the approach I am taking now. Because in worship, the band members must do it with a willing heart, even if there is a little reluctance, the member will be stumbled by many voices in the mind. People’s minds are like a scary staff, which, after being entangled, will generate millions of bad ideas.”
There is a significant amount of equipment in the band, and it is heavy. Very often, they need to be carried. However, Brother Zhao told that he, as the leader of the team, usually would not let the players carry the equipment because their hands are used to play musical instruments. If they accidentally hurt their fingers when moving things, their performance would be seriously impacted. But the vocals can help because they only need to hold the microphone when singing. He often says to the singers, “You should carry more because what you usually take is the lightest.”
Additionally, there is the backstage work. Brother Zhao often sternly asks band members to respect the technicians of the stage sound effects. Their work is backstage. The audience cannot see them during the performance. They serve silently and have much work to do. The technicians not only need to put all the equipment (music stands and musical instruments) up but also print out the music scores and carefully arrange them for the players. So they should be appreciated and respected.
- Translated by Charlie Li
过去三十年左右的时间，是中国教会的高速发展期，中国教会的各个方面都得到了长足的成长，比如敬拜赞美。敬拜赞美服事从曾经传统的红皮赞美诗、迦南诗选到现在的百花齐放。
但是，在华东某地全职敬拜服事多年的赵卫弟兄（化名）在肯定中国教会敬拜技术水平提升的同时，认为比起提升敬拜技术，目前更加重要的是要形成统一的敬拜理念。
赵卫弟兄在非常年轻的时候就离开了自己的家乡，去往一所敬拜学校学习赞美敬拜。从学校毕业之后，赵卫弟兄就一直全职参与敬拜服事，现在在华东一个地方带领一个主内音乐敬拜事工。
现在有一些学员正在赵卫弟兄团队学习。赵弟兄希望他们能够首先树立起来正确的敬拜观，因为他发现很多人对于敬拜的认识是比较窄甚至于错误。很多人只是想学学音乐技巧和技术。
所以，他很希望所有人在敬拜方面都能够回归信仰起初的时候那颗单纯而又火热的心，无论这个人是不是从事敬拜服事。
另外，他也希望敬拜者们能够彼此谦卑，原因是做音乐的人很容易变得骄傲。“这么多年以来，我见过太多的音乐人，连我自己也包括在内，非常有个性。有些个性那是很好的，但不是所有的个性都是好的。如果你想要做国度性的事工，那你就必须得有宽阔的心胸——你比我厉害，水平比我高，那也OK。最厉害的永远是上帝。如果人与人彼此之间能够做到融入对方而不是驾驭对方，才能够产生更好的配合。”
赵卫弟兄说他作为一个敬拜主领，其实他不精通任何一种乐器。但是每一种乐器他都学习过一段时间，是想要知道对方弹得究竟是什么，为什么要这样发声和编曲。所以，赵卫弟兄会到乐队里面每一个老师那里请教。他去向一个打鼓老师请教怎么打鼓，打鼓的时候手和脚怎么分开。“通过这样的学习，我就确实明白了在敬拜过程当中鼓手为什么要那样做。以前我没有学习打鼓的时候，鼓手在那里噼里啪啦一通，我就觉得鼓手很厉害。但是原来并不是这样，真正的鼓手是音乐的每一个点上都非常到位。”
“然后后来也学习吉他，学习扫弦和分解，才知道原来这个叫做伴奏吉他，也叫和弦吉他，还有一种叫旋律吉他。然后学习了怎样用电吉他和贝斯，再回来跟乐队老师们配合的时候，配合上变得非常紧密，或者说是默契。然后我也会让每一个乐手都把他们自己的想法说出来，说完以后我们就现场试验。即便各人见解不一，但每一个都实际走完以后，该怎么选择基本上就出来了，页不再有任何反对的声音了，因为经过实践，怎么演奏才是最好的已经取得了共识。”
“这就是融入。不是以权柄、以负责人的身份压人，而是融入到对方当中，取得大家共同的认同，这是我现在采取的方式。因为在敬拜当中，一定需要敬拜服事的同工带着甘心乐意的心来做，哪怕有一点点的不情愿的话，就会有很多东西来缠累住他，心里就会有很多的想法。因为人心是非常恐怖的，被缠累住以后，可能会一下子出来一千万条，而且全都是不好的想法。”
在乐队里面有很多器材，又多又重，由于演奏的需要常常需要搬运这些器材。但是赵弟兄说他作为团队的负责人，一般情况下不会让乐手来搬东西，因为乐手的手是要来演奏乐器的。如果搬东西的时候不小心手指受伤，对乐手的影响有可能是非常严重的。但是歌手是可以帮忙，因为在演奏的时候歌手只要能够拿住话筒就可以。而且他给歌手说：“你们本来就应当冲在最前面，因为平时你们拿的东西是最轻的。”
除了乐手之外，还有一个就是后勤。赵弟兄经常给团队同工讲一定要尊重做音控的老师。他们的工作是在后台，演奏的时候观众们看不见，是默默服事的，并且要做很多工作。后勤老师不但要把所有的设备（谱架和乐器）放好，而且还要把歌谱打印出来，细心整理好，最后才能放到乐手面前，所以理当对他们心存感激和尊重。
观点|华东某地一敬拜服事者：比起敬拜技术，更加重要的是敬拜理念的统一
The past 30 years or so have witnessed the rapid development of the churches in China, which have made great progress in all aspects, including worship and praise. The worship and praise ministry have evolved from singing the traditional hymns, adopting the Canaan Hymns (or a collection of Chinese hymns composed by China's songbird Lv Xiaomin) to the current blossoming of various styles.
However, a brother named Zhao Wei (pseudonym) thinks that although the improvement of worship skills is acknowledgeable, it is more important to form a common understanding of worship among the team members. He has many years of experience as a full-time worship team leader in East China.
Brother Zhao Wei left his hometown at a very young age and went to a worship training school to learn the skills. After graduating from school, he started a full-time career in worship. Now he leads a ministry of Christian music worship in East China.
Currently, there are students studying music skills in Zhao Wei’s team. Brother Zhao hopes that his students can first establish a correct view of worship because he finds that many people’s understanding of worship is rather narrow or even wrong. Quite a few of them just want to learn musical skills and techniques.
So he very much hopes that all people can return to the simple and fiery heart at the beginning of their faith in worship, no matter whether this person is engaged in worship or not.
In addition, he hopes that worship team members can be humble to each other because musicians are people who can be proud so easily. “Over the years, I have met too many musicians who are absolutely individualistic, including me. Some personalities are good, but not all personalities are good. If you want to participate in kingdom ministry, you must have a broad mind; if you are better than me in terms of level and skills, that’s fine. Yet God is always the best. If people can integrate with each other instead of controlling each other, they can facilitate better coordination.”
Being a worship team leader, he is actually not proficient in any one musical instrument, but he has studied every instrument for a period of time in order to know what the other players are playing and why they are making sounds and processing music in a certain way. Therefore, he will ask every player in the band for advice. He learns, for example, from the drummer how to coordinate his hands and feet when playing the drums, he said. “Through learning drumming, I really understand why drummers do what they do in the process of playing music. Before I learned it, I was impressed by the cool beats, but it turned out that it was not about being cool. The real drummer beats exactly to the tempo or rhythm of the music.”
“Later, I learned to play the guitar—the strumming and decomposing. I learned that in performance there is a distinction between accompaniment guitar, chord guitar, and melody guitar. Then I learned how to play the electric guitar and bass. With more knowledge and skills, when I conduct my band, the result is much better harmony among band members in a rehearsal. After the rehearsal, I will let every player speak out their own ideas, and immediately we will try out those ideas as an experiment right there. Even if everyone has different opinions, after they practically go through the experiments, they will basically be very clear on what to do, and no objections will be heard. Because they have gone through various practices, they now have reached a consensus on how best to perform.”
“This is integration. I do not oppress people with authority as the leading person, but I help them integrate with each other to gain a common understanding of worship. This is the approach I am taking now. Because in worship, the band members must do it with a willing heart, even if there is a little reluctance, the member will be stumbled by many voices in the mind. People’s minds are like a scary staff, which, after being entangled, will generate millions of bad ideas.”
There is a significant amount of equipment in the band, and it is heavy. Very often, they need to be carried. However, Brother Zhao told that he, as the leader of the team, usually would not let the players carry the equipment because their hands are used to play musical instruments. If they accidentally hurt their fingers when moving things, their performance would be seriously impacted. But the vocals can help because they only need to hold the microphone when singing. He often says to the singers, “You should carry more because what you usually take is the lightest.”
Additionally, there is the backstage work. Brother Zhao often sternly asks band members to respect the technicians of the stage sound effects. Their work is backstage. The audience cannot see them during the performance. They serve silently and have much work to do. The technicians not only need to put all the equipment (music stands and musical instruments) up but also print out the music scores and carefully arrange them for the players. So they should be appreciated and respected.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Compared With Worship Skills, More Important Is Unification of How Worship Is to Be Understood
