There's no such thing as worship leaders...

Real or not real? 

There is no such thing as a worship leader. That title, Worship Leader, is a misnomer, even though it's what we are. 

My title is Worship Leader, but I cannot make a single person worship God. 

Perhaps I could coerce a person to sing, or threaten them to the point that they comply with liturgical expression, but I cannot make them worship. I do not bring anyone into the throne room of God. I  do not have that superpower. I cannot control people's hearts. Nobody has that kind of power. That's why I think there really is no such thing as a worship leader. We are always in the presence of God. And it is the Holy Spirit's job to soften hearts and lead people in responding to God in worship. As someone who is called a worship leader, my job is simply to create the opportunity for a corporate worship experience. 

And to be completely honest, it is not the job of the Contemporary Christian music movement to provide worship songs for congregations to sing. Oh, it's great when there are songs that easily cross over from CCM to worship service.It makes teaching the congregation a new song that much easeir when they've already heard it on the radio. But not every song can serve both purposes well, and it is the worship leader's responsibility to know the difference. 

I get it, Worship Leader. Like me, you're busy. Like me, you work more than one job. Like me, you have a family that needs a lot of attention. Like me, you love music, you love your congregation, you love Jesus, and you strive to do an awesome job at helping others to worship. But you can't just pick any old song onthe radio that falls under CCM, can you? 

You need songs that are theologically correct. Oh, I love having a local Christian music station. But sometimes I just shut it off, because  musicians aren't necessarily theologians, and the poetic license they employ sometimes clouds the truth of who God is. This isn't always a black and white area, because every denomination has its own theological bent, and a song that works in the Methodist Church on one end of town might not really fit the Pentecostal Church at the other end. Sometimes, I hear a song on the radio and know that it's a great fit for our church. Other times, I cringe inwardly, because I can't get on board with what that song is really saying about God. It's even harder when a member of the worship team requests a song that you can't agree with theologically. It is not legal to change the words of a song that is not in the Public Domain without permission, so you won't be able to get away with using a song by just changing a word or two. Worship Leader, it is your job to know if this song will fit.  If you don't know, ask for help. 

You need songs that are singable. There are some amazing CCM artists on the radio whose voices are pretty, and they have great big ranges, and amazing vocal agility. But the average church attender can't sing like Mandisa or Chris Tomlin. Listen for songs that keep most of their melodies between middle C and the C above so that most voices can sing them. If the rhythms are too complex, the range is too wide, or the verses too different from each other, the congregation won't be able to pick them up. However, if you choose songs that are too repetitive, your folks might start getting bored. This is your job, Worship Leader - to find those songs that are the most singable. 

You need songs that your band can play. If you work with a team of instrumentalists, you need to know their skill level and ability. That awesome song you just heard might be perfect for the team of professionals that spent months rehearsing it, but maybe your volunteers can't play in the key of F sharp minor. Or maybe they don't have the chops to carry out that insanely cool guitar lick. Let it go, Worship Leader. Let it go. 

You need songs that touch hearts. That might be the hottest song in all of CCM, but is it moving people closer to God? Is it helping people to worship God? Skip the fluff, Worship Leader, and find the songs that tell stories, dream dreams, and touch the heart and soul. 

You need songs that fit your congregation. Churches are not one size fits all, and I am pretty sure that our God loves the variety that makes up His Bride. But that also means your church is different than the one down the street, and has different needs, styles, and strengths. Maybe the church body is in a season of discouragement and need songs that reassure them that God has not forgotten. Maybe they are in a season of celebration, or maybe they need to learn that it's ok to respond to God in song.  Know your people, Worship Leader, and find the songs that fit their needs, help them grow closer to God, and worship Him. 

Worship Leader, this is your job. Not to make others worship. Not to force them to sing. Not to copy the hottest songs on Christian radio, not to be another Chris Tomlin, Lauren Daigle, or Jennie Lee Riddle (even though we love them), but to lead the music that helps your congregation respond to God for who He is and what He has done.  What does that look like in your church? 

Goal Setting: Growing Spiritually as a Worship Team

St. Augustine said there were really 2 churches: the visible and the invisible church. The visible church is the people that we see each week, those that show up for services, who serve as an usher, who do childcare, who are on the worship team.  And then there is the invisible church - the church that only God sees - these are the true believers. According to Augustine, only God can truly know whether someone is a believer with a growing, dynamic relationship with Jesus or whether they just claim to be.

It's not really our job to know.

With that in mind, I think that in an ideal world, the worship team would be comprised of spiritual giants, those that make my faith journey look new and immature, as it probably is. But the reality of our worship teams is that we probably have a few spiritually mature Christians, a few who may never have accepted Jesus into their hearts, and the rest are somewhere in between - maybe they believe in Christ, but who couldn't grow deeper and fall farther in love with Him? So how do we grow spiritually as a worship team?


Devotions - group devotions are a great way to grow spiritually as a group. Many teams will choose a book of the Bible to study, or choose a book by a devotional author, or even take turns leading a devotional or study. They don't have to be long to be effective. You might want to focus on what it means to worship God, or you might focus on the attributes of God, or study verse by verse through a particular book such as James or even John. You don't have to reinvent the wheel - there are plenty of materials available at your local Christian book store (Rory Noland has great materials for worship teams!) Or look on youtube for free devotional videos, just make sure to preview them first! Ask God to put something on your heart to share with your team. If possible, create a plan so that you can provide continuity and consistency. If you haven't done devotions as a group before, is God revealing to you that you He wants you to?

Do life together - One of my favorite seasons of worship leading came out of a team that really did life together, and they did it with or without me present.  They treated the team as if it was it's own small group. There were dinners out, dinners at each other's houses, picnics, helping each other move, praying for each other, visiting in each other in hard times. There was a little fighting and drama, as you might find in any creative group of people, but then there was much forgiveness and reconciliation. And there was so much love and opportunity to be like Christ. The team truly learned what it was to be a Christ centered community and grew together in Christ.

Pray together. Pray for each other and pray together - during rehearsal, outside of rehearsal, before church services. Prayer is powerful. As the leader, take it upon yourself to teach your team to pray well. There are many methods for a balanced prayer life - I like the ACTS method - Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. Spend a little time praying in each category so that your prayer times - both corporate and individual - don't become a laundry list of wishes for God to accomplish, but rather, focus on Him and become a conversation with Him.

Connect the Dots. One of my favorite - and to me, one of the most important - ways to grow together is through the music that we use to worship God. If a song isn't worth talking about, it's not good enough to sing. If it is worthy of being sung in the service, then it must have good theological or relational content. Take the time to explain why you sing this particular song and what it means. Read through the words together - how do they enhance each member's relationship with God? Are there any theological implications that need to be discussed? What Scripture is being referenced in the song? Pray the song. Then sing the song, together, to God. Don't worry about rehearsing it for a few minutes and just spend time in the practice of worshipping God through music.

Worship together. We spend a lot of time hashing out notes, reviewing song forms, and parts, and chord changes, and that pesky bridge that never sounds right.... But sometimes you need to just let it all go and practice worship. Have you ever considered taking your team on - or creating your own - spiritual retreat for an evening or weekend so that your team can worship together?

Do a service project.  Your team can grow together as a group and spiritually by serving God and the community outside of the church. Be creative and have fun with it - work at a soup kitchen, collect clothing, help build a house, or just do odd jobs for someone who is disabled, or go un-Christmas caroling to a shut in. Be the hands and feet of Jesus to someone who needs it and you'll see Christ working on the hearts of your team.

Get help. It doesn't hurt to bring someone in if you feel like your team has hit a spiritual rut. Maybe a mentor, a pastor, a friend from another church. Have your special guest share their story, their perspective, or ideas from their team. Take your team to a worship conference (worshipleader.com) or watch a webinar or interview online. Or have a team from another church come and lead your team in worship, and vice versa, so that someone can help your team worship as they help others to worship.

Be a model.  The best thing you can do as a leader to help your team grow spiritually is to be in a state of growth yourself.  As Christians, we have never 'arrived' at maturity. We are never done learning, we never can say we have grown close enough to God or become Christ-like enough. Are you struggling with something? Share with your team if it's appropriate. Where is God working on your heart? Where is He working in your life? What are you doing to grow closer to God? (See this post if you need ideas!)

We are never too mature to revisit favorite Bible stories. We never outgrow the content of our Sunday school lessons. But sometimes, we allow ourselves to be immune to God's Word because, if we are long standing church members, we've heard it all before. And sometimes, we may have heard a verse but never let it change our hearts. Sometimes, we find people on our worship teams that haven't ever given their hearts to Jesus even though they know all the Bible stories. Then there are times when God shows us something fresh and new from the same scripture passage we've read again and again and again. Never underestimate the power of God's Word to change your heart and help your team grow.

Worship Tip: The challenge of Christmas Carols

Oh how I love Christmas carols. The air almost seems to sparkle when I hear those old strains of ringing, jingling, heart-melting, happy Christmas tunes. Joy and nostalgia intertwine thickly in my soul as the radio practically bursts open with cheer. Car rides, cleaning, and Christmas shopping are a lot more fun when heavily soundtracked  with Christmas crooners. Seriousy, I could listen to Chrsitmas music all year round. (Please don't hate on me for that - anything, but that). But what about in worship?After I've heard "Joy to the World" 437 times while Christmas shopping among the throngs of overworked and overstressed folks, is it still sacred when I sing it in the worship service? 

Well, that depends. 

It's no wonder that worship artists constantly seek new ways to sing our favorite songs, trying to preserve the original essence that made the song special while updating it just enough to keep the words fresh in our souls. It's an impossible task, it seems, to keep Silent Night true to tradition so that we don't lose what we love about it, while reframing it just enough that it touches are hearts all over again. Sometimes, we try too hard and what was intended to be a little originality becomes a congregational singing train wreck. So what do we do? How do we offer these beautiful carols, sung by generations of Jesus loving people, without getting stuck on the hump of nostalgia?

I'm not sure that the answer to these kinds of questions will ever change. Because it's less about song choice and stylistic nuance and more, much much more, about the status of our hearts. Of course, we'll do our best to be creative in our orchestration, functional in our implementation, and hopeful in our demonstration. Anything to help the congregation sing. We'll work long hours making Christmas Eve services as special as we can - because we love to celebrate the birth of our Savior and He deserves all of the specialness that we have to offer. But when it comes right down to it, no perfectly planned worship set, no carefully articulated lead ins, and not even the best Children's Christmas Pageant, no matter how adoring and adorable, can make us worship. Only God can call us to Himself, and only by knowing Him as He is, can we worship with any music, even at Christmas time. 

I hope you'll take this as a challenge - not merely the challenge of making meaningful music this Christmas season, but the challenge of spending time with our Emmanuel, our God With Us, so that each and every word we sing rings out in praise and worship of and response to Jesus, Our Savior, King. Keep the sacred in Silent Night, not by the newest, freshest arrangement, but by keeping in sync with the Savior.  Enjoying those precious memories of Christmases gone by is a gift all by itself to relish and savor. But if you truly want to make this a memorable Christmas, spend more of it with Jesus. Then you and your music will radiate with the joy of Christ during the Christmas season, and that's what makes Christmas music as good as it can ever get. 

What Bob Ross taught me about leading worship

I grew up watching Bob Ross on Saturday afternoons. I loved to see him paint, but even more, I loved to listen to him talk. I waited each week for him to say that there are no mistakes, only happy little accidents. Oh, just put in a few more happy little trees. Look at the clouds - put in a few more happy little clouds. Try as I might, I could never quite get the same effect with my Crayola water colors that he could, even in such a short painting episode. He never seemed flustered, always happily painting away and creating something beautiful from a plain canvas and a few splashes of color.

What I learned from watching Bob Ross is that things in painting and things in life don't always come out the way we'd like, but that's ok, We can still make something beautiful out of what others might see as a mistake if we are willing to adjust our plans and keep our eye on the big picture.

 It's awfully difficult to compare our weekly service to a professionally mastered worship album or a worship concert. Worship artists spend months rehearsing for their concerts and albums, and have all kinds of technology to make their music sound even better - an average small church with a volunteer worship team just can't compare with the amount of time or technology. And that's ok! The truth is that live music is a lot like live painting on television - things don't always come out as planned. There are wrong notes, missed cues, and technological issues that creep up. But if we are flexible and go with the flow, we can still make something beautiful out of what others might see as mistakes.

Don't get hung up when things don't come out as planned, don't get stuck on mistakes. Instead, let the happy little accidents go, and keep your eye on the big picture - worshiping our Risen Lord - and He will make it beautiful.


Oh, and if you need more of Bob Ross's happy little accidents, there's a whole YouTube channel devoted just to him!Watch Bob Ross paint here.

Thought for Thursday

"How quickly we forget what it's all about. We can get so strategic that we worship so our church will grow, not because He is worthy. But we're doing all this because God is worthy and we want to worship Him." -Tommy Walker 

Are you bored at church?

Have you ever felt like you just didn't connect with God during a worship service? You showed up, ready to praise the Lord, but the service felt empty, dry, or just boring. Or maybe your mind was just everywhere but on God, with so many things running through your head - your to do list, your grocery list, stress at work, your children's sports schedules… oh wait, were we supposed to be praying just now?

Yes, I’ve had Sundays that felt just like that.  And I’m the worship leader.

There’s a couple of things to consider when worship feels dull…

First, our feelings don’t always tell the whole story. Jesus said, “For where 2 or 3 gather in my name, there I am with them” (Matthew 18:20). So whether we feel God’s presence among us or not, He is right there with us. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He meets us where we are. So when we are scattered, bored, annoyed, sad, or lonely, God meets us there. It isn’t the worship leader’s job to lead us into the presence of God… simply coming together in the name of Jesus means we are in the presence of the Almighty God. It is our responsibility as worshippers – whether in leadership or not- to cultivate our awareness of His nearness. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. How would our outlook of a church service change if we came, expecting to find God in our midst? How would we change if we made an active choice to believe that God would be there with us no matter how we felt?

Secondly, we cannot worship well a God that we do not know. When I was in college studying music, I remember being rather bored when I had to listen to recitals given by students that I didn’t know. Since I knew nothing of their ability, their style, their education, their performance meant little to me. I felt like I was hearing the same old pieces of music over and over again. But when I listened to the senior recital given by my future husband, I was enraptured. I was invested in him personally, as his fiancé, and musically, in his performance – I had listened to him practice for hours on end, worked through difficult passages with him, discussed the composers of his pieces, and worked hard to accompany him for part of the recital. My investment in him as a person and in his work made his recital exciting and important to me.

The same is true with Jesus. If I am not very invested in Him, then spending time in a worship service probably won’t be that meaningful to me. But when I spend time with Him, daily wrestling with His Word, working hard to know Him better, sharing my life journey through prayer, seeking to accompany His work, then I am far more excited to spend time worshiping Him alongside of my church family.   

My question is this: how can I adjust my time so that I have a little more time to dig deeper spiritually? How can I spend my time more wisely so that I can invest it in Jesus? What would change if I closed my browser and opened my Bible? Would I be different if I spent some time on my smartphone studying a Bible app instead of Facebook? What will you do?

Need ideas to help your congregation worship? Here's 7.  

7 Ways to Teach Your Congregation to Worship