SWAT TEAM APPLICATION PACKET Dear Potential SWAT Member: The SWAT team is a ministry that is based on the larger vision of our church. We are servants first, always seeking the greater good of the body of Christ we are serving. We exist to lead others into the presence of God through praise and worship. Our most important purpose on this earth is glorifying God. We are blessed to have the opportunity to connect with the Lord and encounter Him with passion every time we meet! Worship is a lifestyle. As worship leaders, we must lead out of a life filled with praise. Worship is not just about the music, every element in a service is a part of worship—and it does not stop at church but continues every day. The SWAT team will consist of the IMPACT band, the praise team, and the tech team. Our hope is that with this ministry, you will develop a closer and more intimate relationship with the Lord through worship as you serve our student ministry. Our responsibility as leaders is great, but also rewarding. My commitment to you as a leader and pastor is to love you, nurture you, lead you, teach you, challenge you, and guide you as you serve. From the time I launched SWAT almost three years ago to now, I have seen so much growth in the students of SWAT—musically and spiritually. My hope and prayer for SWAT is that we will look to God and take our team to the next level! By the end of 2013, I pray that God would use SWAT to lead students in passionate worship of an Almighty God. I pray that SWAT would lead this student ministry spiritually as we begin to see the Lord work in mighty ways as we move into the new Family Life Conference Center starting January 2014. I am proud of you for stepping out in faith and using the gifts that God has placed in your life. Whether it’s with an instrument, a voice, or through the multimedia team, you are about to begin a journey that is powerful, significant, and eternal. The Lord will use you to lead others into His presence, and they will never be the same. Thank you for serving, and let’s all be a blessing to what God is doing here at Northcliffe! Serving together,

Josh Waugh Student Ministry Associate

Jeff Dye Minister of Students

OVERARCHING GOALS AND VISION MISSION STATEMENT Encounter God. Experience Worship. Serve Others. MINISTRY GOAL Our SWAT ministry will provide an intimate worship experience and encounter with God for the teenagers of our church. ENCOUNTER GOD. God calls each of us to have a relationship with Him that is living, growing, and breathing. We want to see students connect with God on a deep level. God wants us to offer a “living sacrifice,” not a dead one (Romans 12:1). We are not attempting to manufacture God’s presence or manipulate results in any way. Only God truly knows what’s inside our hearts, but we choose to lead by example and to seek physical evidences of people connecting with God. This can include people standing, singing, lifting hands, clapping, kneeling, jumping, meditating, shouting, or even dancing. As long as we strive to help students avoid becoming passive or apathetic, the rest will come naturally. Encountering God passionately is an inward movement. God transforms our hearts and our minds so we can truly worship Him in Spirit and in truth. As members of this team, we must encounter the Lord on a daily basis. EXPERIENCE WORSHIP. We are intentional about creating an environment and atmosphere best suited for students to connect with God. Our goal is to always take the attention off ourselves and put it on the Lord. If there is anything we can do (and I mean anything!) to help create a distraction-free environment for students, then we will do it. How we present ourselves on stage is important. Is our appearance a distraction? Are our actions a distraction? Is how we sound a distraction? We must pursue excellence in all areas so we can see God glorified in every detail of our service. SERVE OTHERS. As our vision for the SWAT ministry is established, we believe each team member will respond with commitment and the endurance needed to accomplish all that God has purposed for us. Supporting and encouraging the vision of SWAT will help the entire worship ministry as we serve others. COMMITMENT TO SERVE Our commitment is:  We will never manufacture the presence of God, but we will honestly pursue a lifestyle of worship for our Almighty God.  We will take seriously our call to lead our group into His presence.  We will not seek our own attention or glory.  We will pursue His glory through the spirit of excellence, being faithful in everything He gives us.  We will personally go before the Lord daily, making sure our lives are pure and filled with the Holy Spirit so we can minister from His strength and not our weakness.  We will always strive to avoid gossip, disunity, bitterness, and dissension. The overarching goal for a SWAT team member is to worship the Lord. Individual decisions and activities are a reflection of the student’s commitment to the Lord, the ministry, and Northcliffe. You serve as a model to our congregation for how a worshipper should look and act. Our goal is to pursue the presence of God at every service. Although we never expect anyone to manufacture something they are not feeling in their hearts, we do expect you to be able to lay aside your personal challenges and burdens to boldly enter God’s presence. The worship team’s responsibility is to lead people into the presence of the Lord. Our worship ministry values faithfulness, commitment, diligence, and heart above talent and giftedness. We believe firmly that our “attitude” will determine our “altitude!” All team members will start out by serving on a two-month trial period. At the end of the two months, the SWAT leadership will evaluate if you’ve proven yourself faithful to the team requirements (attitude, dress code, practicing, on time, etc.). If there are problems or concerns, we may ask you to step back from the team until the next auditions. We will be looking for you to work hard with the attitude of a worshipper to show us that you are ready to come back on the team.

THE ‘FAMILY’ APPROACH We think of our approach to team building as being a “family” approach. This approach means:  We believe in appreciating the individual team member and showing our appreciation verbally as well as through letters, gifts, cards, and awards.  We develop friendships and relationships with our team members, socializing with them individually or as a group as often as possible.  We pray for our team members. We show an interest in each other beyond ministry and pray for each other individually.  We challenge our team members spiritually and musically, encouraging them to become all that God wants them to be.  We teach all our team members about worship and how to enter into God’s presence through worship.  We care for each team member and monitor their involvement closely, making sure that no one is over-committed or “burning out.” STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE Worship team members should ask themselves:  Am I a worshipper – worshipping God in Spirit and in truth?  Do I understand what worship truly is?  Am I spending time personally and alone in worship to the Lord?  Is worship a performance or a passion for me?  Does my life reflect the lifestyle of a worshipper?  Am I reading the Bible daily?  Am I challenged and growing spiritually?  Am I pushing myself beyond my comfort zone in ministry?  Do I know my weaknesses, and am I allowing God to strengthen me?  Am I showing up to rehearsals and services punctually and with all the material practiced, learned, and memorized?  Am I developing my gift for the Lord by taking lessons, diligently practicing, or furthering my knowledge and skills?  Am I taking my commitment to the SWAT team seriously or am I “just getting by”?  What am I doing to improve myself and the team as a whole?  Am I humble and teachable?  Am I seeking out others at church, in the hope of introducing new members to the team?  Am I sharing my heart and ideas with my leaders?  Am I maintaining a good and positive attitude even in the face of struggle or disappointment?  Am I able to hold my tongue when others might not be able to?  Am I able to set aside my personal struggles in order to lead others into God’s presence?  Am I maintaining a neat and well-kept appearance on stage?  Am I building relationships and friendships with others in the team?  Do I have balance in my life or am I over-committed?  Am I demonstrating commitment, faithfulness, and perseverance to the team?  Am I doing everything I can to help the encounter and experience of the worship service? THE PERFECT PLACE TO START, LEARN, AND GROW This team is a safe and nurturing training ground for those who love to worship but have little formal training or experience. One of the best things you can do to bless the unity of the team is to be teachable, open, and flexible. I guarantee you will be more successful when you have this kind of attitude! It is our goal as skilled musicians and singers to physically demonstrate through our instruments and on our faces what is going on in our hearts. Even though God is always looking on the inside of our hearts, as worship leaders people will be looking to us for our example. Your posture, passion, and facial expressions matter, every single time. If you are on the worship team, that makes you a worship leader. If you are a worship leader, we want people to look to you to lead them. It’s that simple. We want the rest of our group to see what a worshipper looks like. We desire to raise the level of excellence in our craft and memorize material so that we don’t have to use written music, thereby becoming more flexible and able to flow with the Holy Spirit and the worship leader.

CALL TIMES It is important to always be on time, and ready to go. It shows disrespect to the leader and everyone else on the team if you show up late. If other team members are waking up early, getting out of class or work, or making some other kind of sacrifice, it’s not fair for them to see someone else come in late. Make it a priority to be a blessing to the team and the leadership. Please allow extra time in case you need to find extra music, change a string, or if something’s not working. If we all respect each other’s time, practice will flow more smoothly and everyone will be much happier. Weekly Call Times:

Wednesday nights – 4:45PM Weekly Practice – (to be determined)

In addition to call times, you are expected to attend all other parts of the service. You are not a rock star and this isn’t a gig. The team should never be hanging out in the back or going outside to “hang” when you come off the stage. You are expected to be in the service setting a good example during announcements, games, activities, and the sermon. Remember: You are a leader and people are following your example.

REHEARSALS Timeliness and preparedness are essential. Occasionally rehearsals will be rescheduled. We will attempt to give you ample notice through email, Facebook, text messages, or phone calls. We will also have encouraging times for prayer and training during our weekly rehearsals. The parable of the talents speaks of using what the Lord has given you, instead of burying or hiding what He has given you. As a part of the worship ministry, you should honor God with your gift. Work hard, practice, take classes and lessons, push yourself, and become the best musician or singer that you possibly can be. As Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”

CALENDAR AND SCHEDULES It is your responsibility to always be aware of the calendar schedule and worship team rotations. If you are aware of ANY dates or times you cannot attend, please notify leadership ASAP. Please don’t wait until the day or two prior to inform them of your absence.

DRESS CODE Worship ministry is an honor and also a big responsibility. Your example will be observed and followed by students in our youth group. We need to follow basic dress code guidelines in order to set a godly example. Ladies Dresses or skirts should be below the knee to compensate for the elevation of the stage. Pants should be somewhat loose fitting. No plunging necklines, bare backs, high slit, or bare midriffs please. Modesty is the key! Keep in mind; todays accepted fashion trend may not be acceptable attire for the platform. All ladies are expected to dress above reproach. Gentlemen Make sure your clothing is non-offensive. Any secular bands, inappropriate pictures, or ungodly clothing brands are unacceptable. No baggy pants or clothes that are similarly revealing. Wear a belt if your pants sag. Your attire should never cause someone to focus on what you’re wearing instead of the Lord.

NIGHT OF WORSHIP Night of Worship is something I envision us doing in the future when our band is prepared and ready. A Night of Worship is a great opportunity for our group to come together and focus on the Lord during an extended and intimate time in His presence.   

Summer 2013 NIGHT OF WORSHIP – August 14, 6:30pm at IMPACT Fall 2013 NIGHT OF WORSHIP – (to be determined) Spring 2014 NIGHT OF WORSHIP – (to be determined)

SWAT RETREAT SWAT Retreat is for anyone who is a part of the praise team, IMPACT band, or tech team and will need to attend. During this time, music will be taught and practiced, sound/media team will be trained and run through equipment, and praise team will learn music and rehearse with band. This retreat is vital to bonding together as a team and also preparing ourselves for the future to give God the best we can!   

Summer 2013 SWAT RETREAT – June 1, 8am-4pm (lunch provided) Fall 2013 SWAT RETREAT – (to be determined) Spring 2014 SWAT RETREAT – (to be determined)

MUSIC BINDER Each worship team member will be issued a library of worship music. Everyone is required to bring their music binders to every rehearsal. If you do not bring your binder two times in a row, it will result in a week’s suspension. If you lose your music binder, you will need to pay $10 to replace it before you practice or be involved on Wednesday nights. These binders are the property of our student ministry and must be kept in excellent condition. If any new material is handed out to each team member during rehearsals, these should be added to your binder. Again, these resources are for ministry use only. Duplication of any of these materials is not allowed. If you feel you need a copy of something for any reason, please ask leadership, and he or she will let you know if it is appropriate and approved.

METHODS OF COMMUNICATION AND LEADERSHIP You will be responsible to check your email and Facebook every week to see any updates, additions, or changes. We will inform you of the songs you are responsible to learn and know, as well as any other information you’ll need. If you are unclear about anything, please contact leadership at any time. The Leadership of SWAT 2013-2014 is as follows:  Jeff Dye, Minister to Students  Josh Waugh, Student Ministry Associate and SWAT Leader  Jackie Tolson, SWAT Coordinator and Volunteer  Lisa Young, SWAT Volunteer

P.A.S.S. The P.A.S.S. to being a great SWAT team member… Personal  Comes prepared; brings all materials (instrument, sticks, cables, Bible, pen, etc.)  Arrives on time  Knows and practices material  Calls when unable to attend  Prioritizes life commitments, including ministry involvement  Deals with problems immediately and follows through  Communicates well with other team members and leaders  Lives a godly life – is an example  Known as a worshipper – ushers others into worship  Encourages other people Attitude  Displays great attitude for worship team  Maintains a great attitude always; they are on board  Creates an uplifting environment  Comes up with solutions, not problems  Supports other team members  Serves rather than expecting to be served Submission  Displays submission in all areas of life to God’s Word and the Holy Spirit  Submits to the leadership  Remains focused on what is happening during the worship service  Acts appropriately during rehearsals  Supports the leadership in vision and ministry (worship service, rehearsals, retreats, purpose statements, set lists, etc.)  Seeks God’s anointing and all that is good and holy for themselves and the group  Develops awareness toward personal spirituality, parental and family life, talents and gifts  And most importantly: cultivates a passionate heart to see others fall in love with Jesus Service  Arrives eager to serve  Tackles responsibilities and does not look for ways to get out of things  Volunteers when volunteers are needed  Takes initiative to meet needs  Serves the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength

(SAMPLE PAGE – DON’T FILL THIS OUT NOW) SWAT TEAM ACCOUNTABILITY Monthly Accountability Survey Name: __________________________________________ Date: _________________ Please circle the correct/most accurate answer to these questions: 1. I read/study my Bible for personal growth: a. Every day b. 5 or more times a week c. Every other day d. Once or twice a week e. Less than once a week 2. I set aside devoted time to pray (not at meals or at church): a. Every day throughout the day b. 3 times a day c. Once a day d. Every other day e. Rarely ever 3. My quiet times with God are: A. Consistent – they happen every day b. Regular – I shoot for a consistent time every day c. Irregular – they happen when I can grab some time during the week d. Few and far between – they happen about once a week e. None – what’s a quiet time? 4. My effort for spiritual maturity is: a. Really strong b. Getting there c. Weak d. Non-existent 5. I need help in my spiritual life in the following way(s): a. Direction/teaching on spiritual disciplines, such as _________________________ b. Tools to help me mature c. Relationships with others who will help me become more mature spiritually d. Constant encouragement e. Accountability f. Purity g. Personal discipline h. Other: ___________________________ I. I need a phone call j. I need prayer for: ________________________ 6. Rate yourself from 1-10 (1 is an all-time low and 10 means you died and are now perfect in heaven) in the following areas: a. I would describe my overall relationship with God as: _____________________ b. My lifestyle reflects my submission to God: ___________________ c. My friends would rate my attitudes, choices, relationships, etc. as: ____________ d. My intimacy with God: ___________________________ e. My purpose is clearly to serve God and follow Him: ____________________

RESOURCES MUSIC AND WORSHIP WEBSITES www.worshiptogether.com (for chord charts and worship leadership resources) www.ultimate-guitar.com (for cover song chord charts) www.youtube.com (search for instrumental how to’s)

SOME BASIC DO’S AND DON’TS BEING PART OF A WORSHIP TEAM Do’s          

Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do

be on time, ready to go. be an example. be a blessing. be respectful. follow and respect the leadership. listen when someone’s talking. tell leadership at the appropriate time, in a humble way, if something is wrong or confusing. look for ways to add to the worship song, not take away. worship in Spirit and in truth as you sing or play. encourage other team members in all of these things.

Don’ts  Don’t  Don’t  Don’t  Don’t  Don’t

interrupt. be a distraction. play your instrument or talk while leadership is working on something. overplay or over-sing; listen to what’s happening around you. draw attention to yourself.

SWAT TEAM APPLICATION 2013-2014 Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Grade: ___________________________ Date of Birth: ____________________________ Phone Number to reach you: ___________________________ Can we text this number? _______ Do you have a facebook account? ___ Yes ___ No Are you able to check your facebook on a weekly basis? ___ Yes ___ No If you don’t have a facebook account – would you consider getting one?

__

Yes

__

No

Where do you want to serve? (Check all that apply) ___ Praise Team ___ IMPACT Band ___Sound/Media If you did not make it for the praise team or IMPACT band, would you be willing to serve in the sound and media team? ___ Yes ___ No If Yes, where? ___________________________________________________________ INSTRUMENTALISTS--------Instrument you are auditioning for: ___________________________________________ Primary Instrument: _________________________________ Played how long? _______ Secondary Instrument: _______________________________ Played how long? _______ Can you read music? ___ Yes ___ No Can you read chord charts? ___ Yes ___ No In the space below, tell us what worship is to you. How do you describe it? How do you experience it?

How do you personally encounter God on a daily basis?

Comments below (Leadership use only)

SWAT AGREEMENT (READ FIRST, THEN SIGN) I have read the SWAT packet and expectations and I, _______________________________________, PRINT YOUR NAME

commit to uphold them. If I am unable to fulfill the expectations, I will be asked to step down from SWAT for a period of time or until the next auditions. My signature below acknowledges that I agree to the following:          

    

Personal submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of my life. Respect for other members of this ministry, elders, and authorities in church, school, and my family. Willingness to lead, teach, and encourage others and to serve as an example of a Christ-filled life. Personal integrity and truthfulness. A willingness to receive instruction and submit to pastors, leaders, and others. A lifestyle that is both godly and “above reproach,” knowing that my lifestyle is a model for others. Being a team player by recognizing every person is a valuable part of a ministry. Connecting with other believers and creating an atmosphere in which we can grow together. Having fun while enjoying the process, people, and the experience of the worship ministry team. Leading others into the deep places of worship by living a life of worship at all times with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, regardless of whether I am on stage, in the congregation, at home, or in the community. Being punctual, recognizing our time is limited and thus arriving on time for all worship practices and services that I am scheduled to attend. Always pursuing excellence by practicing on my own time and coming prepared. Contacting leadership at least 3 days in advance if I will be unable to attend (ASAP if emergency). Recognizing that God calls us to do our best in all things, I commit to maintaining a 2.5 G.P.A. and understand that I may be placed on probation if my grades drop below that. Will be flexible and adaptable.

Signature: __________________________________

Date: _____________________