Leading worship through the Covid Pandemic | Experience, impact and hybrid church

From what we’d always known, to what we’d never known before!

In early 2020 we became aware of a situation developing many miles away from us here in the UK, something that created some concern, but something that nobody could have imagined was about to interrupt and impact what we knew to be normal.

In this post, I have my worship leader hat on as I think specifically about the journey through the pandemic for us worship leaders, musicians, church communications and publicity teams.

Churches closed in Lockdown

I’ve spent many years preparing for Sunday services or events, spending time preparing my heart, seeking for the inspiration from the Holy Spirit for what He wants for that event or service, the songs to use, a glimpse of His heart perhaps, and I’ve found a routine that works well for me. When COVID hit the UK and the rest of the world, lockdowns arrived and businesses, churches etc were suddenly closed with very little warning. We did not expect it, nor had we ever experienced anything like it in living memory!

We found ourselves as a local church with a new challenge to serve the church without meeting together, whilst keeping everyone connected and looked after. For all of us our solution had to cater for those who were offline, not just those who were familiar with online tools and platforms, and we had 6 days to nail it!

As a church we quickly discovered Zoom and other tools that we’d never used before. That first week consisted mainly of emergency online meetings, phone calls and reaching out to friends in other churches as we sought to identify solutions and tools that could get us where we needed to be, and fast!

We made it just in time! Following many days and nights of hard work, that first Sunday we had a platform setup to use pre-recorded worship, our Pastor had his sermon recorded and the website had been transformed to an online hub providing resources for all ages. That week will go down as one of the most chaotic in my life and will be hard to forget!

Those first few weeks online were very strange, but it didn’t take us all long to adjust to watching a pre-recorded service online at 10:30 every Sunday morning, and gathering on Zoom for our midweek meetings.

The impact Covid had on worship leaders and musicians

Focusing on how it impacted worship teams for a moment, it seems many of us had a very similar experience but I’d like to share mine and perhaps hear yours too.

I don’t know about you, but going from preparing and leading worship at two in-person services on a Sunday, to recording, mixing, mastering, editing, scheduling, uploading, web updates etc. was not a pleasant experience! Watching church with my family at home was something I cherished, but being honest, I got very little from watching a TV screen and being apart from the church family. Okay, in some ways it did me good, perhaps a long overdue break from the many years of church service, but I’d still rather ditch the toast and marmalade and meet in-person!

Another interesting thing was the questions that arose in my mind about what church life is all about! Did you begin to question your role as worship leader or musician? Perhaps that’s one of the more positive aspects of this whole experience, it is for me at least as I think I can see more clearly those things that are of greater importance and those that are just unnecessary and burdensome. For me, though still a little weary, I do have a little more clarity on my role and purpose than I did before.

Finally, I think the mental challenges of lockdown were unexpected. Online worship pressures, family concerns, online schooling, business concerns and more, all mixed up together left me feeling very detached at times, yet somehow I’m through and depending more and more on His strength and the support of those closest to me. I suppose I see more clearly those things that are actually important and of true value.

Worship Leaders and Musicians – Your experience?

If you’re a musician, worship leader, or perhaps one of the unsung heroes producing online content for your church every week, I’d love to know what your journey through the COVID pandemic was like and perhaps hear a little about how it has changed you in your role within the church if at all?

Perhaps you’re an independent singer songwriter dependent on ministry opportunities, conference or event bookings for your livelihood. How did you manage during the pandemic? I remember listening to Martin Smith discuss his experiences a little in a Crowdcast about Hybrid Church arranged by the guys over at Digital Church Toolkit, and despite Martin’s successful launch of Gloworks to serve the church with online worship resources (Check them out!), my heart went out to him and others knowing just what an impact this must have had on them all.

Hybrid Church?

Speaking of hybrid church, this seems to be the new term being widely used as many churches now exist in a space online that they hadn’t even considered pre-pandemic, ours being one of them. Have you found that to be true where you are and how are you coping as it seems the workload has increased and remained for many of us?

Leave a comment to share something of your experience with me and others interested in this topic, and perhaps some encouragement for us all as we push on in these challenging times! Knowing we’re not alone brings comfort, especially to those who are reading this and still feeling overwhelmed where they are.

Don’t give up, you’re not alone!

Steve

by Steven Dawe | Visit the about page for more information