I have seen quite a range in local churches when it comes to pastors and their collaboration with the worship arts team—everything from essentially no collaboration (you do your part and I'll do mine) to high-level integration, where the entire Sunday morning experience is a journey that weaves the teaching with the arts. Most churches are somewhere in between, and I believe most want to improve the collaboration for the sake of the congregation.

To see any progress requires, in my view, two key ingredients:

Commitment. First, both the pastors and the worship arts leaders must make a commitment of time and energy if there's any hope for collaboration. A series of quick e-mails or even a hasty phone call will not do the job. Our pastor often tells other pastors they need to invest a disproportionate amount of time to the weekend services if they hope to see them reach their potential. With all the other responsibilities on a pastor's plate, this may seem like a luxury he or she can't ...