worship leaders forum
I had a chance to sit in on a worship leaders forum this past week that was held over at Irving Bible Church. Two thoughts:
1. wow. There is so much talent and hunger for connecting with God in this town.
2. Everyone is so different. There was a mix of young and old (well, relatively old--me), men and women, singers, players, writers, church staffers, etc. All with different stories, all with a great point of view. And all seeking to do what we do better.
It was a great night, and I learned a lot. I am grateful.
posted by john wasson @ 11:51 AM
10 Comments:
what is the greatest strength that a worship leader needs in today's church culture?
I would love to hear what others think on this one.
And I have a few thoughts as well, but I'll hold off for a while... :)
I don't see many responses to your other posts, so why wait to hear from others. That may not happen. What's your opinion?
Guilty as charged. :) Okay, here's what I think...
I think the greatest strength a worship leader needs is not cultural (IOW it would be a requirement in any culture). It is having a vision for worship of God. By that I mean that the worship leader must embrace and fully own (as fully as possible) God's desire for him or her to know God and experience His love and care, to a degree that worship occurs as a result. The WL must possess that in themselves, and they must also desire it for each person they meet, relate with, lead, and shepherd.
Worship Leading is ultimately not a musical or artistic art, but rather a shepherding role. A worship leader connects people to God in an expression of the truth of worship in their lives, whether a present and growing reality or only a glimmer of hope for the future.
In this regard music, art, expression, engagement, ambience and setting are only the tools, but not the goal. We have chosen to see the concept of corporate worship centered around these things in our modern culture, but it has not always been this way. Throughout history various elements in the corporate worship gathering have had center stage before God (the Lord's Table, the Teaching of the Word, Music, etc.) I was seriously challenged on the topic of worship and worship leading recently by an article by Len HJalmarson. You can read it here. http://www.the-next-wave.org/stories/storyReader$650 What Len is saying is that worship is about Who, not how or what. We have made worship about us, what we do, what kind of people we are, what techniques we use, rather than about God, who He is, what He is like, etc.
In this regard a priest is (or can be) a "worship" leader. If he leads his flock to worship God, to give their lives to Him 24/7, to make Him Lord over every part of their daily existence, then he is functioning as a worship leader. (This was definitely the case at an Episcopal church we have attended in our area.)
It is my contention that many worship leaders stop short of their calling; they devote themselves to being culturally relevant, musically saavy, and even personally holy. All of these things are great, but in the end they are focusing upon the wrong end of the equation--man, as opposed to God. A worship leader cannot be "hip enough", "skilled enough", or even "personally holy enough" to warrant taking people to God BASED UPON THOSE qualifications. Rather, he sees himself in God's eyes, he fully grasps both his depraved state and the joyous beauty of God's grace and forgiveness, and he acknowledges within himself a true desire to orient his life more fully to Christ and to desire that to occur in the lives of others as well.
As to HOW we do this? That's a mystery. I have looked over my worship leading history, and have seen myself fail and succeed (relative, human terms, I know!) at both ends of the God/man spectrum. But the greatest joy of a worship leader as a shepherd should not come from affirmation about musical, artistic, skilled, or presentational matters, but rather, to hear that another person was somehow connected to God through that leader's influence. Our desire is that others worship God, and worship Him fully, in spirit and truth, in their entire lives.
I think that one of the challenges of answering this question is that you first have to define the term. What is a worship leader?
In some communities, that might be the person who is musically gifted, loves the Lord, and can help lead the people in corporate singing. That is a fairly narrow representation, but it's definitely valid. Corporate singing is one way that we worship, and it would certainly be accurate to call one who lead such a worship leader.
In other situations, there is much more of a pastoral role involved. Perhaps the sepcific gifts and calling of that leader demand a broader definition.
So the "most important strength" might be very different in different situations.
I think John's repsonse is good, though it assumes a pretty comprehensive "version" of worship leader.
I think there are some common traits that are important to any who would be up front leading, particularly when it come to ministry that involves arts, music, creativity, etc...
Here are some that come to mind:
Humilty!!!!!
Authenticity
Honesty
Inegrity (personal, but in this case also artistic and musical)
I hate to spin this to the negative, but having been involved in this type of ministy for many years I can easily identify some of the main "busters" for effectiveness in this type of leadership:
Arrogance
Snobbery (this takes many forms)
Personal agnedas
"Star" menatilty
Performance mentality
Cult of being cool
Etc...
Just some thoughts ..... GOOD QUESTION!!!
:-)
Interesting comments from Russ & John. I would like some more feedback from both of you. My wife & I are stepping into this arena soon (we're in Colorado), and having watched this "monster" from a previous church, I have a few more questions.
1. John, you both failed & succeeded (your words). What made the difference?
2. John, were you working in a denominational setting or an independent setting in both cases (you mentioned a large church & a small church). Did that have any role in your failure/success?
3. John, did the size of the congregation influence your success or failure and how?
4. Russ, you mentioned personal agendas. Can you elaborate on this? I've seen this in 2 ways - an agenda to promote the musical talent of the worship leader (he wanted to enter the Nashville scene) and also an agenda to dislodge a staff member (more time was spent creating dissension than time spent creating a viable music ministry). What a disaster both of these ego driven men created in the body of Christ.
5. You both mentioned the shepherding role - who did you shepherd? The musicians? The congregation (depending on size I guess)? Did the congregation really know you? How did you engage them on Sundays? guess I'm just so hesitant in this upcoming role - I've seen the extremes. I think unless there is excitement for worship and energy coming from the leader, things get really blah and the congregation responds accordingly. However, I've seen the other extreme as well, where the "ego" up front steals the thunder from worship b/c it's all about him/her rather than our Sovereign King.
Guess I'm rambling. Interesting to talk w/strangers. Russ,where are you from? Are you a worship leader?
Interesting comments from Russ & John. I would like some more feedback from both of you. My wife & I are stepping into this arena soon (we're in Colorado), and having watched this "monster" from a previous church, I have a few more questions.
1. John, you both failed & succeeded (your words). What made the difference?
2. John, were you working in a denominational setting or an independent setting in both cases (you mentioned a large church & a small church). Did that have any role in your failure/success?
3. John, did the size of the congregation influence your success or failure and how?
4. Russ, you mentioned personal agendas. Can you elaborate on this? I've seen this in 2 ways - an agenda to promote the musical talent of the worship leader (he wanted to enter the Nashville scene) and also an agenda to dislodge a staff member (more time was spent creating dissension than time spent creating a viable music ministry). What a disaster both of these ego driven men created in the body of Christ.
5. You both mentioned the shepherding role - who did you shepherd? The musicians? The congregation (depending on size I guess)? Did the congregation really know you? How did you engage them on Sundays? guess I'm just so hesitant in this upcoming role - I've seen the extremes. I think unless there is excitement for worship and energy coming from the leader, things get really blah and the congregation responds accordingly. However, I've seen the other extreme as well, where the "ego" up front steals the thunder from worship b/c it's all about him/her rather than our Sovereign King.
Guess I'm rambling. Interesting to talk w/strangers. Russ,where are you from? Are you a worship leader?
Anon...
Sorry... I hadn't checked back!
I'm in Irving, Texas, where I've been at the same church for almost 15 years (except for a brief hiatus in Colorado last year).
I'd love to answer any questions and encourage you guys any way I can... russ@irvingbible.org
Russ, could you answer the questions I posed to John when you have time. I'd especially love to hear about your failures/successes, denominational/non-denominational contributing factors, size of congregation, etc.
After prayerful consideration, we decided God was not leading us to the church we were praying about. We are still open to His leadership, but we know He is wanting to prepare us for the onslaught of Christian ministry. We are hungry to hear from others in similar leadership roles. God's blessings on you as you serve our risen King. I guess John isn't checking this site regularly, so I'd appreciate your comments. I stumbled across this website by accident, altho' there are no accidents in God's plan.
Anonymous, sorry to appear to neglect you! Yes, I have been a bit away from my own blog (sorta kills the intent a bit, doesn't it!).
Thanks for filling us in on your journeys with God the past few weeks. These are some of the same sorts of things we are attempting to discover as well. (btw, can you give us a name to know you by as well?)
Russ can really help you out here, since he currently active in fulltime vocational ministry. As I mentioned, I am not currently, nor am I assured of returning to said anytime in the near future. Trying to hear from God on His future plans for us as well.
I will post answers to you here in a bit. In addition, please feel free to email me if you would like a more direct (and regular) communication!
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