SINGAPORE, 21 NOVEMBER 2008 — SIDNEY MOHEDE, FRONTMAN of True Worshippers, the famous worship team from Jakarta Praise Community Church, is recognized as the best worship leader in all of Indonesia. Together with City Harvest Church’s music director and homegrown guitar talent, David Yem, he conducted an inspiring session on the keys to building a highly effective and dynamic contemporary worship band.
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“Beyond all the musical talent, the greatest worship arrangement or the best vocals, the most important key is to build up a strong team of people. When the team is united and flowing with the same vision, nothing is impossible. I have to keep casting the vision repeatedly so that as a worship team, we can truly lead the congregation to a place of encounters with God,” explained Mohede.
Mohede shared that one of the keys to building a strong team is relationship. When the team is built on trust and friendship, it helps to ride out conflicts that often may arise amongst artists and band members — after all creative people tend to be egoistic and opinionated. He emphasized that spiritual bonding is more important than countless practice sessions. To be fully effective in bringing people to a place of worship, the attitude of each musician makes a significant difference. For example, the dating behavior of the band’s drummer or the marital problems affecting the keyboardist could be more important than just getting the musical skills right.
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| PHOTOS: Daniel Li |
He shared that oftentimes, the people in the congregation enter into worship carrying all kinds of emotional baggage — a bad day at work, a burdened heart, a troubled soul. The focus of the band needs to be about opening people’s eyes and spirit to see God in the situation and enable them to soak in the presence of God.
Poised with the question about being a positive role model in using contemporary music to inspire and influence the youth of today, Mohede shared that beyond musical talent, he wants his personal life to be an inspiration to all, that is, by being the same person both on and off the stage. “I want to inspire people through my life, not just by music. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly; the verse didn’t say Jesus came to give us ministry and ministry more abundantly,” he emphasized.
More than a ministry, music needs to flow with a touch from heaven; with creativity built on lives that are broken and consecrated. With that, Asia can be impacted and won over for Christ.
