A few years back on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, our pastor made it a long week off. Most of the praise team grabbed the same opportunity. Totally deserved, by all of them. After decades as a pastor (not once leading music, praise God!), I know that spiritual leaders need recharging. Jesus patterned that for us, by the way. I suspect he knew some would slide into workaholism.

But their absence impacted the overall worship service. Our pastor does a fine job applying solid Bible truth to living as a follower of Jesus. Our praise team leads in both energetic and meditative genuine worship. And, frankly, the fill in teacher and pared down praise team just didn’t deliver the quality I…