Since about 1990, give or take, a wholly new entity has found its way onto the platform of many churches. This entity is a small vocal group known mostly as the "Praise Team." Briefly let's investigate what the praise team is for, how it functions best, and how to select singers for it.
What a praise team is for
Singing along with a choir, the vocal praise team exists primarily for one reason - to give musical definition to the vocal parts, which can tend to be "fuzzy" by the time the sound of the choir reaches the congregation due to the presence of a loud band. The choir is not close-miked, whereas the praise team is.
A contemporary praise team should be three vocalists - soprano, alto, and tenor. Using just a few more (up to six) is maybe permissible in the case of praise team vocalists who are not especially strong singers. i strongly prefer the "less is more" approach.
There can be as many different teams as you have qualified singers, each assigned to a given sunday. in the youngest churches, the new model is just a single worship leader and a "backup" singer, and bye-bye praise team. However, as of the date of this . . . writing many of us still employ these teams, so it is good to try to do them better.
How a praise team ought to function
First, let me state my bias - no one should be allowed the privilege of singing in a praise team unless that person serves in another servant-oriented ministry. The most obvious and best of these is of course the choir, but i think it's also permissible to allow people to sing in a praise team who are serving by teaching sunday school, or in some other ongoing, non-platformed way. The idea is that this kind of public visibility (the praise team) is coveted by some, and it shouldn't be given to those who just want a starring role in the church.
Each praise team needs to develop its own family camaraderie, and not only rehearse together, but try to find ways of connecting outside of the rehearsal - sometimes to include spouses or families. it helps greatly, of course, that the vast majority of your praise team members will be members of the choir and a part of all the family building that goes on in there. However, the one facet i'd never do without is the prayer habit, which needs to be part of every rehearsal. At a minimum, the praise team needs a special rehearsal before each time leading worship, to cement its sound and style, and to unite the hearts of its members.
If the same team is used every week, i'd seriously consider making choir membership an absolute necessity, and rehearsing the praise team for half an hour following the choir rehearsal.
How to select praise team members
First, every praise team member who sings in the choir needs to be a model choir member. vocal prowess does not lessen the requirement for servanthood. It increases it.
Second, there are some musical considerations which often go begging. You need to take into account the style(s) of music which are most prevalent in your church, and then select singers who can sing those styles well. There's unfortunately nothing more common than praise team members who are fine singers in their own preferred style, but who are not vocally flexible enough to accommodate different, usually more contemporary styles.
It is not enough just to pick your three "best" singers. You must pick your three best singers who are stylistically compatible with one another and with your church's musical preferences. each group needs this as a primary musical building block. if you don't have three singers who fit this mold, rethink whether the praise team concept is a good idea for you (at least until you find the right people). The fact that other churches are doing it is not necessarily a reason why you should do it. Stylistically incompatible singers who are close on mic can be very, very hard to listen to and harder for a congregation to follow.
Also, don't let praise team membership shrink in meaning to a kind of expected reward for exemplary choir membership. Again, this is the one area where you should always audition your singers. Furthermore, it defeats the purpose if you have, say, eight or more praise team singers all at once. That's a small choir, and you are robbing from the effectiveness of your real choir.
This article originally appeared in Let's Worship Magazine.