When Brother Zhang Yu (pseudonym) was young, he and his family came to faith in Christ, and he began to participate in the worship ministry of his church. Later, he even had the opportunity to receive more specialized training in music at a conservatory.
Today, while serving in the worship ministry of the church, Zhang is also involved in worship training, but he only recruits a small number of students, usually about ten. To better train these students, Zhang also arranges for teachers to give them lessons on popular musical instruments from time to time.
For each student he trains, Zhang hopes that "the student can form a band in his own church when he returns.”
Pastors, according to Zhang, first assess candidates for his training to determine whether they are steadfast Christians and cannot be tone deaf. Eligible candidates receive Zhang's free training, and upon completion, they must work in their home church either full-time or part-time. Zhang said they all understand that they cannot participate in the training without a ministry commitment.
Zhang further explained, "Our school offers courses in vocal training and more than a dozen musical instruments, including drums, bass, guitar, and keyboard, as well as other courses in music arrangement, music production, tuning, and choral conducting. These courses are all major subjects, and nothing is secondary; among them, keyboard training is the most important."
"It is our hope that all students will be able to return to serve in their home churches and start their own worship bands. At the school, they are students, but when they return to their churches, they need to become teachers and teach the members who join the worship team how to sing and play musical instruments, and then develop and lead their own bands," he added.
Zhang pointed out that while some churches may only need a pianist to play during worship, most churches lack resources and may not even have worship teams or basic musical instruments, which is why Zhang has always stressed and stayed committed to the concept that "one man builds a band".
"I hope that my students can not only play the piano in their churches but also control the speakers, microphones, and mixers, direct the choir, and produce programs and other audio-visual works. If churches lack such talents, they will have to pay extra to hire someone to do the work.”
Zhang went on to explain his goal: "We hope that after our students are trained, they can become teachers and train many other people, so that the development of churches in China can be further promoted.”
"In some churches, even though some people have studied music for ten years, they are still students. And some choir members would say, 'Because the teacher didn't teach us this song, we can't and don't dare to sing it.'"
"When you teach someone to worship, you have to show them the right technique. For example, when you start to teach them a song, instead of just teaching them the song word by word, you must first show them a breakdown of the song and tell them how to handle that kind of song before letting them sing it themselves," Zhang adds.
Zhang underscored the importance of providing prompts while also emphasizing the necessity for teachers to grant students the opportunity to independently engage with the musical material. Rather than reading it aloud in its entirety, students should be encouraged to explore and comprehend the music autonomously. This approach enables them to progressively enhance their reading skills and achieve greater accuracy as they gain confidence. Furthermore, teachers should train students according to the characteristics and laws of music so that instead of remaining students, they can eventually become competent teachers themselves.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
张雨弟兄（化名）在年轻的时候跟着家人信了耶稣。在教会里面，他接触了敬拜。后来去了音乐学院专门学习音乐。
现在张雨弟兄一边在用音乐服事教会，一边也培养一些敬拜方面的学生。他招收的学生数量不多，只有十来个。为了更好地培养这些学生，他也邀请了十多个老师不定时给他们上课，学习各种常见乐器。
张雨的理念是，“我希望培养出来一名学生，回去以后就能够在教会里面建立一支乐队。”
张说，对招收的学生，有牧师会来进行考核。并且他不能五音不全。这2个要求达到后，张会免费培养他们。学习完毕以后，他们需回自己的母教会服侍，可以全职或者兼职。张说，他们提前都已经谈好了，如果不委身的话就不能过来学习。
张说，“我们学校开设了十几门乐器课程，鼓、贝斯、吉他、键盘、声乐、编曲、音乐制作、调音、合唱指挥。这些课程都是主修，没有辅修。其中，键盘是最主要的。
“我们希望一个学生回自己母教会服事，自己一个人就能够发展成为一支乐队。在学校里面他是学生，但是回去以后他就需要变成老师。教导其他想要参与赞美敬拜的人学习唱诗和乐器，然后以他为主导发展成为一支乐队。”
张说，有的教会可能只需要一个人会司琴的就可以了，但是绝大多数教会是非常简陋的，敬拜的人和乐器基本上都没有。所以，张一直坚持和强调“一个人成为一支乐队”的理念。
“我希望学生过去一所教会以后，不止是司琴，音响、话筒、调音台都能使用，还可以指挥诗班。然后可以做节目单，制作音视频作品。教会缺少这些人才的话，还需要花钱请人来做。”
同时，张还认为：“我们希望一个学生学成之后，能成为老师，教出来很多的人。这样才能够推动中国教会的发展。”
“现在一些教会里面，有的人学习了音乐十年但是仍旧还是一名学生。”诗班成员说，“这首歌老师没有教过，我们没有学习过，所以我们不会唱、不敢唱。”
“在教导别人赞美的时候，一定要教给他们正确的方式方法。比如说，一首歌拿过来，要对这首歌进行理论分析。然后让他们自己来唱，而不是直接一字一句的教他们怎么唱，并且把唱这首歌背后的方式方法教给他们，”张补充道。
张雨弟兄强调，一定要让学生自己来读谱，可以稍微提示他们一下，但不能完全读给他们。让他们最终能够自己读出来，之后建立信心，读得更加准确。我们要按照音乐的特点和规律来培养他们，最终他们能成为合格的老师，而不是一直停留在学生的水平。
敬拜服事者：比起培养学生，中国教会需要培养音乐老师和乐队带领
When Brother Zhang Yu (pseudonym) was young, he and his family came to faith in Christ, and he began to participate in the worship ministry of his church. Later, he even had the opportunity to receive more specialized training in music at a conservatory.
Today, while serving in the worship ministry of the church, Zhang is also involved in worship training, but he only recruits a small number of students, usually about ten. To better train these students, Zhang also arranges for teachers to give them lessons on popular musical instruments from time to time.
For each student he trains, Zhang hopes that "the student can form a band in his own church when he returns.”
Pastors, according to Zhang, first assess candidates for his training to determine whether they are steadfast Christians and cannot be tone deaf. Eligible candidates receive Zhang's free training, and upon completion, they must work in their home church either full-time or part-time. Zhang said they all understand that they cannot participate in the training without a ministry commitment.
Zhang further explained, "Our school offers courses in vocal training and more than a dozen musical instruments, including drums, bass, guitar, and keyboard, as well as other courses in music arrangement, music production, tuning, and choral conducting. These courses are all major subjects, and nothing is secondary; among them, keyboard training is the most important."
"It is our hope that all students will be able to return to serve in their home churches and start their own worship bands. At the school, they are students, but when they return to their churches, they need to become teachers and teach the members who join the worship team how to sing and play musical instruments, and then develop and lead their own bands," he added.
Zhang pointed out that while some churches may only need a pianist to play during worship, most churches lack resources and may not even have worship teams or basic musical instruments, which is why Zhang has always stressed and stayed committed to the concept that "one man builds a band".
"I hope that my students can not only play the piano in their churches but also control the speakers, microphones, and mixers, direct the choir, and produce programs and other audio-visual works. If churches lack such talents, they will have to pay extra to hire someone to do the work.”
Zhang went on to explain his goal: "We hope that after our students are trained, they can become teachers and train many other people, so that the development of churches in China can be further promoted.”
"In some churches, even though some people have studied music for ten years, they are still students. And some choir members would say, 'Because the teacher didn't teach us this song, we can't and don't dare to sing it.'"
"When you teach someone to worship, you have to show them the right technique. For example, when you start to teach them a song, instead of just teaching them the song word by word, you must first show them a breakdown of the song and tell them how to handle that kind of song before letting them sing it themselves," Zhang adds.
Zhang underscored the importance of providing prompts while also emphasizing the necessity for teachers to grant students the opportunity to independently engage with the musical material. Rather than reading it aloud in its entirety, students should be encouraged to explore and comprehend the music autonomously. This approach enables them to progressively enhance their reading skills and achieve greater accuracy as they gain confidence. Furthermore, teachers should train students according to the characteristics and laws of music so that instead of remaining students, they can eventually become competent teachers themselves.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
Interview: Chinese Churches Need to Train More Music Ministry Leaders
