Jazz, Teamwork and Ministry I first developed a love for jazz in the 1960’s. As a piano player and choir leader in the church, we used a lot of “gospel” or “soul” music. It definitely had a connection with jazz, at least as I interpreted it. One of the things I love about jazz is how three to five incredible talented people on different instruments can get together and produce outstanding music. I have noticed over the years these talent musicians almost always seem to really enjoy and appreciate each other. One of my favorite jazz groups is “Fourplay” made up of four incredible musicans (Bob James, Keyboard; Nathan East, bass; Harvey Mason, drums; and currently Chuck Loeb, guitar). This super group has performed for over twenty years and produced eleven albums. They have received about every award possible. They all also have solo careers, but continue to come together to tour and record. Whenever I watch them play, it is so obvious how much they like, appreciate and respect each other. There is a chemistry that is amazing. I have always thought they were a great example of what a talented team should look like. This week another group of jazz superstars released an album “Summer Horns” featuring Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Mindi Adair and Richard Elliot. Four of the world’s greatest jazz saxophonist got together to make an album. What caught my attention was that they were not just four world-class musicians, but four world-class musicians that play the same instrument. Many lessor people might see the others as their competition. But when you hear these four together, it is obvious they have a chemistry of respect and appreciation. They love playing together. TEAMWORK In both of these bands, the teamwork in fantastic! There are several lessons we could learn from them about working with other high performance leaders. • They enjoy one another. It is more than appreciation or recognition. They really like each other. To be a great team, you have to really enjoy each other. • They respect each other’s talents and gifts. They have no need to put the others down or try to make themselves look superior. They love being together and celebrating each others talent. • Some times they lead and other times they take the supporting role. It is not one superstar with three helpers, but four superstars working as a team. • They understand they can come together as a team and not loose their own identity. But together they can produce something greater than they could individually. I think some of the most effective teams are 4 to 6 people, much like a jazz group. MINISTRY Reflecting on these groups and teamwork caused my to think about how some of these same principles could be applied to ministry. Preaching Some large churches or multisites have preaching teams. The preachers/teacher get together and work on their messages together. In preparation, some focus on the Scripture passage, others of parallel passages and related themes, others on illustrations and application. They each preach the message with their own personality and perspective, but they have more quality and content than if they tried to do it alone. I think pastors of smaller churches could get together and do the same thing. All would be made better by the practice. They would also enjoy the feeling of community they would develop with each other. Children’s and Youth Ministry What is the children’s or youth leaders of various churches formed a dream team to develop their ministries. They could leverage their individual talents and gifts so that together they were all better. Each would adapt the ideas to their unique church, location and participants – but they would be more productive. Probably more encouraged as well. In most jazz groups, all of the musicians lead at sometime in the concert and they all follow at other times. They really are a team.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:07:01 +0000