Kelly Five Circles

Church Growth Through Music
1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7343918-3-1
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet/DL/kein Kopierschutz

E-Book, Englisch, 282 Seiten

'Five Circles: Church Growth Through Music' provides necessary and relevant information that establishes why diversity is important in worship music. The book highlights the important work that successful teams are doing to support diversity and church leaders.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kelly, Charles

Leseproben

CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN CHURCHES For centuries, music has been part of many church services. Since the days of Gregorian chant, music has been the tool by which people worship and praise God. People positively respond when the music is good and want to attend churches that best fulfill spiritual needs (Abbamonte & Banks, 2009). Many church music departments are integrating technology into the associated business models to attract churchgoers (Abbamonte & Banks, 2009). For example, since the rise of internet businesses, organizations are attracting more listeners while increasing the customer base (Duncan, 2010). Small churches have adopted this approach and now can show church services on the internet and attract listeners from around the globe (Latonero, 2003). It also might be safe to assume if people who attend church dislike the music or the spoken word, will eventually lose interest in attending church completely or go to a church where those needs get fulfilled (Krejcir, 2001). While many churches attempt to provide quality music and continue to grow, there are still churches that rarely provide quality music. Many of these church leaders believe music does not contribute to congregational growth. Also, many people in church leadership do not know how to incorporate music to increase church membership. Both situations present problems for many churches to create a transformational mindset within the church staff to promote the importance of having a quality music program. It is critical to define quality asa well-planned and executed worship experience through music based upon a foundation of practice and commitment to excellence (Cooke, 2010). This book examines the importance of having contemporary music in the church, and the importance to strive for excellence to improve music programs, by using best practices of successful business models. It is critical for church organizations that depend on volunteers with various skill levels to achieve the goal of having a quality music presentation that enhances worship (Seibold, 1999). Churches are struggling to increase or maintain congregational membership (Cooke, 2010). Many churches lack vision and understanding of how implementing new business models can help attract new listeners and members. Depending on location, culture, and classification, congregational church sizes are quite different and could cause a severe impact on how the congregation perceives the experience (Cooke, 2010). Some traditional churches are having an issue using contemporary music, new technology, and integrating changes into powerful music program models (Cooke, 2010). The inability to integrate effective changes in music program models is a general concern within the church community. For example, churches in Southern California, who do not convert to contemporary music are 41% less likely to see a 2% or more growth in worship attendance (Abbamonte & Banks, 2009). One to two percent of growth is not enough to keep up with population growth, thus leading to a decline in church attendance (Shattuck,2014). Based on current trends, church attendance by the year 2050 will be almost half of the 1990s attendance, which is a drop from 20.4% to 11.7% (Shattuck, 2014). The forecast for years leading up to 2050 is projecting a decline of 15.4% in 2020 (Shattuck, 2014). While most small to midsize church leaders will acknowledge, congregational membership is in decline; many are hesitant to make the required changes necessary to increase growth. While many traditional churches move away from traditional music to a more contemporary musical style, many congregation members will resist the change. Implementing a contemporary musical style causes some congregational members to leave (Abbamonte & Banks, 2009). Because of the potential conflict with long time church members, many church leaders are not willing to make the change, even when there is evidence of a decline in growth. Also, some traditional churches are having an issue using and integrating technology into current business models. Church leaders that cannot embrace change could lose good volunteers. Churches cannot function properly and could shut down if enough volunteers leave. Even though enormous churches have an advantage because of congregational size, well organized smaller churches can still compete with much larger churches and organizations. According to the FACT 2008 study, 50% of churches using contemporary music business models for longer than five years and have maintained it enjoyed over 2% growth in worship attendance (Abbamonte & Banks, 2009). Abbamonte and Banks (2009) also stated that 64% of congregations who within the last five years converted to contemporary worship saw an increase in worship attendance equal to or greater than 2%. It is also a fact that megachurch worship is attracting more people because of its contemporary style of music, bold and dynamic presentations, and high-powered tech-electronics (Bird & Thumma, 2011). While it is unknown how contemporary church worship contributes to the success of all churches, there seems to be a strong connection to member growth and contemporary worship in megachurches (Bird & Thumma, 2011). SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS BOOK Since there are many churches losing membership, many church leaders are trying to figure out how to keep church members (McMullen, 2008). While there are studies that could help churches to increase membership, many studies do not focus on the importance of how quality music programs increase church growth. Findings from this book could help many churches understand the importance of music as a tool to preserve church membership. Implementing findings that come from this book may also increase sustainability in churches that are already stable. Researching what successful churches do to increase church membership through music provides insight and options to help struggling churches preserve and increase congregational membership. Looking at the characteristics of what it takes to elevate the level of music could help senior-level church leadership determine if it is worth the investment. This book could help music directors, sound technicians, and musicians from churches with decreasing growth to understand the connection between quality music and church membership growth. It could also reveal to church leaders how and why churches are enjoying success embracing a contemporary music business model. CORE LEADERSHIP VALUES OF SUCCESSFUL WORSHIP TEAMS For an organization to enjoy success, core values that represent the vision, mission statement, aim, and goals of the organization must be established. When targets and goals are established, there must be a transformational oriented mindset implemented. Transformation helps leaders to change the way people think and work by connecting to core values (Coggins, 2013). The goal is to allow people to develop and grow. Transformational leaders inspire individuals with a shared vision of the future (Musser, 1987). The goal of transformational leadership is to transform the way people think. Transformational leadership supports full alignment between the interests of the leaders and the staff to implement strategies. Transformational leaders intellectually stimulate the staff to move beyond self-interests by sharing an inspiring vision to establish an emotional connection with each other. Sharing an inspiring vision is vital in accomplishing organizational strategies to optimize operational performance to a level above expectations (Bass, 1999). Theory Y Leadership concepts should be considered. Theory Y leadership also aligns well with a transformational leadership style. Theory Y Leadership was a concept proposed by Douglas McGregor, who wrote a book in 1960 titled, “The Human Side of Enterprise” (Management Study Guide, 2012). Theory Y leadership is based on looking at the best of the abilities of people. A Theory Y leader attempts to search for resources with talent, intelligence, strength, integrity, initiative, and a positive outlook on things (Management Study Guide, 2012). Work environments based on a supportive behavior model are excellent for a transformational model. Supportive behavior models are suitable for professional and career-oriented workers because it gives people a sense of ownership and the ability to make company decisions. The basis of the supportive behavior model is rooted in leadership with a managerial support system. Osborn (2008) stated that organizational behavior is an interdisciplinary body of knowledge and has a connection to the behavioral sciences, including psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Sources for organizational research methods are real-life organizational settings for field studies, simulated and controlled settings for laboratory studies, in-depth situations for case studies, statistical results for meta-analysis, and questionnaires and interviews about sample populations for survey research (Osborn, 2008). The organizational management culture for this model is based on creating a virtual environment that is both economically efficient and humanistic. The management team can have a sense of international social responsibility that is believed and felt by the international business world (Osborn, 2008). Social responsibility helps church leaders gain credibility and do business at an international level. Successful international leaders embrace a global corporate culture. Embracing a global corporate culture is critical because of the growing awareness of the world's...