Creating a Climate of Collaboration: A Conversation with Lola Moore Johnston from Restoration Praise Center

Best Practices for Adventist Worship (BP): You currently serve as the Senior Pastor at Restoration Praise Center, and you also have extensive experience leading worship as a musician. As someone who understands worship ministry from different perspectives on the worship team, what insights can you share with our readers about the challenges that song leaders face?

Lola Moore Johnston (LMJ): One thing that has been apparent to me is that the worship leader, or the song leader, is as dedicated to creating a meaningful experience on Sabbath morning as the pastor is—as committed to making an impact. What may not be automatic, however, is that the pastor and the worship leader are on the same page about what that impact should be and the message they want people to leave with.

There have been times when I have been a worship leader, and I’ve had this idea or this burden for a message that God has laid on my heart based on a worship moment I've had personally. But suppose my pastor is not in conversation with me in that moment. In that case, the pastor may have an entirely different message or direction they are going that I'm not necessarily contributing to based on my own burden for that week.

So, as a pastor who has worn both hats, I've laid out a weekly road map for what I believe God is leading me to convey through the message and the elements of the service. I invite my worship team to join me in that effort. I am aware that I can't necessarily paint that picture every week on a Friday night at 11 p.m. I need to be aware of that direction as early as possible to give my team the opportunity to pull together whatever elements are necessary for us to all move in that particular direction together.

BP: You could be inspired to change the sermon at 11 p.m. on Friday night. I imagine you don’t regularly do that and wouldn’t recommend it as a standard practice, but you could do it. It would be difficult, however, for the whole team to adjust that late. There can be a disconnect between the pastor and the rest of the worship team, but what you seem to be getting at is that it is, among other things, rectified by effective and timely communication. When there is misalignment, a pastor might attribute the disconnect to a challenge related to the attitudes or priorities of the musicians in the church when, in fact, the pastor and musicians are both sincerely trying to serve with integrity but are not on the same page.

LMJ: Yes, and there is a possibility that the same assumptions can happen on the part of the worship leaders. They might believe that they can be more dialed in and more attuned to the voice of God than the pastor because they are a worshiper and spend time before God’s throne when, of course, the pastor has done the same thing. So, I've seen and heard both ends of that, where one discounts the authenticity of the sincerity of the other or views their own task as more important or weighty. But I’ve found that the ideal is where everyone is working together to bring a singular message we all value and realizing that when we are all working together, we can achieve the outcome we all desire, which is an authentic connection and encounter with God. This collaborative process requires everyone to respect one another’s contribution to the worship moment, including the AV team, the media Team, and whoever is creating the audio-visual treatments. They each have a unique contribution to the worship gathering that profoundly impacts what people experience—bringing everyone on the team in as worship leaders has been transformative for our worship ministry.

BP: It’s gracious and wise to assume that everyone is, in fact, concerned about the whole and leading people in an authentic encounter with God. We approach worship from different perspectives. Rather than viewing those perspectives as competing, we can view them as potentially being in harmony with one another and enriching our shared worship experience.

It sounds like you're doing strategic things to ensure intentional collaboration. What are some practical ways that, as a church leader, you can facilitate effective collaboration around a shared purpose?

LMJ: As a primer to answering your question, I realized that as the lead pastor, I'm uniquely positioned to create the climate I desire— a climate of collaboration. My worship leader can request it, but I can make it happen.

So, the responsibility is squarely on my shoulders as the senior pastor to create a table where everyone is seated and we have a conversation at our church. Here are a few things that I do. I set an annual theme for our congregation. And then, every week, I have a conversation that includes my musicians and my associate pastor. It includes our worship leader, floor manager, AV team, deacons and deaconesses, and even ushers. So everybody is having a conversation where they understand what we are hoping to achieve for the coming week. We also take time to review the week that just went by. We ask, “What worked? What didn't work? What are the things that would be helpful for us to do to make your job easier? What can we do to dream, to move forward?”

And so, because we're having that conversation every week—we do it on Tuesday night—we're not scrambling on Sabbath morning to create that cohesion; we're already creating that in conversation during the week. We use the Planning Center so that the things we discussed on Tuesday are already there—so that everyone can see what needs to be there if I've missed something.

I also approach these conversations as a member of the team. I'm not pulling rank on people. I take the posture of being part of that team so that we're having a conversation on Tuesday that can be executed collaboratively on Sabbath.

BP: It’s a very helpful insight that the burden of creating the climate of collaboration falls on senior leadership. Of course, everyone has a responsibility to participate in it. However, there are hierarchies in any organization, and the climate of collaboration is something that only the lead pastor can establish. It sounds like you're doing that in a highly effective way. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.