If I could have all of the energy back that I\u2019ve spent over the last several years trying to round up a drummer for the weekend when my regular one is out of town or unavailable, I could probably climb Mount Everest. Seriously.<\/p>\n
I wonder if you can relate. I have a good number of singers, and enough bass players, guitarists, and pianists to allow me to lead with a standard 5-6 piece worship team every Sunday. But drummers are harder to come by. Good drummers, I should specify. Since I\u2019ve chosen to set a fairly high standard for drummers, there are middle school drummers and other less experienced drummers who might be in town that I don\u2019t use.<\/p>\n
And so I\u2019m in a bind every once in a while and have every other position filled except for the drummer. So I email all the other drummers I know. I beg someone. I ask God to drop one in my office out of thin air. I use someone on the djembe. I offer to fly my oldest brother up from Florida to play drums for me (I actually offered this once\u2026) I might eventually find someone but only after spending a substantial amount of time and energy.<\/p>\n
And sometimes it\u2019s what you have to do. Drums are essential to getting a certain \u201cfeel\u201d, they are the backbone of the contemporary music sound, and they (hopefully, with a good drummer, and this is why you should have semi-high standards for drummers) hold everything together. Drums are crucial.<\/p>\n
But drums can become a crutch for you, your team, and your congregation. But unlike a crutch that you actually need because you can\u2019t walk properly without it, drums can become like a crutch that you don\u2019t need, but you\u2019ve just gotten so used to walking with it that you\u2019re afraid of it being taken away. You don\u2019t need drums. This might be news to you. It might make you shake with fear.<\/p>\n
(For others out there, you know this, because you don\u2019t have any drummers. A middle school drummer would be a welcome addition for you. This post isn\u2019t so much for you, although you\u2019re welcome to keep reading. This is more for those of us who have drummers and think that without them the Holy Spirit won\u2019t show up on a Sunday).<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t need drums to lead worship effectively. You don\u2019t need drums to have a worship team that sounds good. You don\u2019t need drums to get your congregation to engage with God. And you certainly don\u2019t need drums so that the Holy Spirit will show up on a Sunday. If you doubt that any of these statements are true, you could probably use a break from drums.<\/p>\n
So pick a Sunday, any Sunday, and go drum-less. It will force you to choose different songs (and this is good for you), it will make you re-think instrumentation and arrangements (and this is good for you), and it will make you less confident and more dependent on God\u2019s help for things to work (and this is really good for you).<\/p>\n
This post first appeared on the Worthily Magnify blog. Thanks to Jamie Brown for permission to use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What happens if you don’t have a church drummer If I could have all of the energy back that I\u2019ve spent over the last several years trying to round up a drummer for the weekend when my regular one is out of town or unavailable, I could probably climb Mount Everest. Seriously. I wonder if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5303,"featured_media":22335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[75],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n