Worship leader, when you hear “team devos,” what comes to mind? Devotions for church leadership teams? If I’m honest, I cringe a little. It’s not that I don’t love Jesus or don’t love learning or discussing. It’s just that devotions for church leadership teams can be just plain awkward.
Oftentimes, it’s a leader launching off into a monologue that no one understands while the rest of the team daydreams of when it’s over.
But I’m not content to leave it at that. I crave to know God deeper. I long for my team to grow. I look forward to discussions around what God is showing us.
So I’m going to share with you a three-part strategy for devotions for church leadership teams I’ve been using recently in hopes that if your team devos are stale, it can fuse some life into them. Scheduling devotions for church leadership teams isn’t enough. It needs to be structured in a way that keeps God’s Word at the center and fosters conversation around what He is saying.
Devotions for Church Leadership Teams
This plan is meant to be short—no more than 15 minutes. The shorter and more strategic your devo plan is, the more likely it will be retained in the hearts and mind of your team.
1. Debrief
The first thing I like to do when it comes to devos is to debrief the worship service we just lead. I lead with the question: “What did you notice God was doing in the room?” This forces your team to think beyond music to the moving of the Holy Spirit. Ideally, this works best when you have devos right after a worship service. But even if this is during a midweek rehearsal, you can still debrief the previous weekend or simply ask, “What have you been noticing about our worship services?”
2. Dive
The next section is about taking a “dive” into Scripture—allowing God’s Word to speak. Choose a Scripture verse or a Scripture passage and read it. Maybe you want to do a systematic reading of a certain book of the Bible, or just a random selection of Scriptures. In this moment, I’m trying to connect what we do as a worship team with the Word of God.
3. Discuss
The final section is all about discussion. I find the best team devos are when the team talks together rather than the leader delivering a sermon. Based on the Scripture passage, select a discussion question that is easy to answer and allow your team to dialogue. Resist the urge to talk the whole time. Allow people to share their hearts, no matter how brilliant or insightful their response is.
How do you approach devotions for church leadership teams?
