Category: Leading a congregation

Waiting Until the Song is Really Finished

There are two extremes when it comes to leading songs in corporate worship. One extreme is to spend too much time on a song and sing it for so long that people are sick of it. Another extreme is to plow straight through each song and hurry along without any consideration of whether the Holy Spirit might be giving different directions.

I shared some thoughts a few months ago on how to protect against the first extreme. Today I’d like to offer some encouragement to you if you seem to experience the latter problem (i.e. plowing through songs) instead.

As a worship leader, I notice this on my worship team when I hear the rustling of pages behind or beside me when we’ve finished the last verse or chorus of a song. I know that my fellow musicians are just trying to be ready for the next song, but many times they’re jumping the gun. I’m sensing the Holy Spirit directing us to linger on the song for a while, to go back and do a certain section again, and when I start to do that, my team isn’t with me. They’ve moved on before the song was really finished.

I notice it in myself too. I can get in a hurry when I’m leading, or get anxious, or be so focused on how we did it in rehearsal, that when the last verse or chorus of a song is done, my mind and my fingers and my heart have moved on. We launch into the next song and miss an opportunity to respond to God’s leading.

So I’m guilty of it, my worship team is guilty of it, and if you’re a worship leader, then you’re guilty of it too. Sometimes we have good reasons to move on quickly (i.e. honoring our pastor’s request to keep to a certain time), but most often we don’t have a good reason at all. We aren’t paying attention to the Holy Spirit’s leading.

Stop talking and listen
One way to be really bad at having a good conversation with people is to be thinking about what you’re going to say next as opposed to listening to what the other person is actually saying. The same principle applies to worship leading. Of course we know what song comes next and we’re thinking through how we’ll get there, but are we listening to the Holy Spirit at all? Sadly, sometimes the answer is no. Effective worship teams and worship leaders learn how to lead/play/sing while at the same time listening to the Holy Spirit.

Practice spontaneity
If you lock all your arrangements down 100% at rehearsal, then you probably will need to plow through it during the service. There are times this is necessary, and the larger your team (i.e. if an orchestra is playing with you) or the more complex your situation (i.e. a video is accompanying the song) the more likely you’ll need to stick with the script. But I hardly ever tell my worship team that we will absolutelydo a song a certain way. I might say we’ll most likely or almost certainly do it a certain way, but I try to resist locking everything down too tightly. Rehearse well and talk through how you’ll most likely do things. Leave yourselves some wiggle room, practice being spontaneous, and talk through how you’ll cue them to where you’re going. They’ll get used to it.

Don’t try to squeeze in a ton of songs
If you have 20 minutes and 5 songs, then there’s not really any room for lingering. 4 minutes each and you’re done. Picking too many songs for a certain amount of time usually results in plowing through them. Pick 4 songs instead and then you have 5 minutes for each one. Or try picking 3. You might not take 20 minutes, but maybe you will. You’ve left some space and some freedom for not having to rush through the songs.

Learn to savor
When I eat vegetables, I eat them as quickly as I can. This is because I hate vegetables. But when I eat a really good steak, I savor it. I eat it slowly. I don’t want it to end. I’m sad when I’m done with it. Why would I rush through a meal that I love? What’s the hurry? Well, maybe dessert, but you get my point. Worship leaders and worship teams that savor (or “enjoy”) God’s presence, will be more able to sense his leading.

As an aside, this is why monthly or bi-monthly worship team gatherings are such a necessity, and why having an unhurried time of singing and “practicing the presence of God” at those meetings will benefit your team immensely. If you’re learning to savor God’s presence and discern his leading when you’re not up front, you’ll be more comfortable with it when the weekend services come.

See it modeled
Some things can be taught and other things need to be caught. If you aren’t comfortable arranging songs loosely or throwing in unplanned repeats at the leading of the Holy Spirit, I would encourage you and/or your team to see it being modeled. The Sovereign Grace Worship Conference is a great place to see this and learn how it can be done effectively. Or find other worship conferences or worship leaders who seem to “get” this.

Relax
Few things will hinder you more as a worship leader than being in a hurry. The major reason why a lot of worship leaders hurry and rush through songs is because they’re afraid that if they leave space, or even a few moments of silence, people in the congregation will get impatient or start looking around at each other like the worship leader has no idea what’s supposed to happen next.

Relax. They aren’t going to think that. (If they do think that, it doesn’t make any difference, by the way.) Take a few moments, or even longer, and before you move onto the next song, listen to whether or not the Holy Spirit is telling you to go back. These can be some of the sweetest times of corporate worship, so let’s try to avoid plowing through them if we can.

Give-Me-a-Break Worship Leader Phrases

Worship leaders have a bad habit of saying things on the platform – to a large group of people – that they would never actually say in real life. I call these “give me a break” worship leader phrases.

If you said them to friends over dinner, they would look at you like you were an idiot. If you said them to someone riding in the car with you, they would assume you were trying to be funny.

But you (and when I say “you” I mean “we”) say them when you’re leading worship (because part of your brain has shut down apparently) and you expect the congregation to gleefully respond as if they were equally as brain-impaired.

Here are the top four give-me-a-break worship leader phrases that I’m aware of in existence.

1. Do you love Jesus today?
Seriously? Are you gauging my love for Jesus based on how long and loud I say “yeah!”? If I don’t say “yeah!” does that mean I don’t love Jesus? Would you ever say this to the dude changing the oil on your car? No. Well he might be in church today and you just made him whisper “give me a break” under his breath.

2. Are you glad to be in the house of the Lord?
There are several issues with this one: First, is “the house of the Lord” a term for “church” that most people understand? I don’t think so. Second, what if I’m not particularly “glad” to be in it? Maybe I’d rather be at home watching Football. Aren’t you just expecting everyone will happily respond “verily! Verily! Mine heart doth rejoice in this glorious morning of fellowship with my brethren!”? Give me a break. (Note: related phrases are “how we doing this morning?” and “are you ready to worship?”)

3. Come on!
This one is usually barked, and usually comes at the beginning of an upbeat song. Cue the drums, electric guitar riff, and worship leader offering some variation of “come on!” or “come on church!” or “do you love Jesus today? Come on!”

Imagine serving as the usher at a wedding. Instead of greeting a guest with a smile and a welcome and a word of greeting and an extended arm, you stand 20 feet away and yell “come on!” How will that make the guest feel? Welcomed or yelled at? Yelled at. When people get yelled (or barked at) they get defensive.

4. That’s some good singing, church!
I can proudly say I’ve never used this one. And I’ve not heard worship leaders use it an awful lot. But when I have heard worship leaders use it, I inevitably want to scream. Here’s the problem: people (hopefully) aren’t singing to you or for you. I know you’re just trying to encourage them, but this one just makes it seem like you’re a third grade music teacher congratulating your students on how they sang their state capitals song so well.  

I’m sure there are more that I’m forgetting. Please share them. My point isn’t to pick on worship leaders, since I often say things I wish I had phrased better! Rather, my point is to encourage us to not say things to the congregation that we wouldn’t say to friends in our living room, or that we wouldn’t want to have said to us if we were in the congregation. Be humble, be confident, and be yourself.

Maybe I Could Have Phrased That Better

Sometimes worship leaders have to communicate something in a short amount of time. Maybe to the band, the sound guy, the congregation, or the pastor. It can be during a set of songs, or perhaps quickly in between services. Whatever the situation and whoever the person, here are (in my experience) some of the most common phrases, and how they can be poorly worded or more effectively worded.

Bad: I need more of myself
You’re talking to the sound engineer. You can’t hear your voice or your instrument. You want to hear more. So you ask for more. The problem is you come across demanding and like you have a huge ego.
Try: Could you please help me hear myself better in my monitor?

Bad: You played (sang) that the wrong way.
A worship team member makes a mistake. They don’t seem to notice. You need to help them notice. If you say it wrongly you could cause their defenses to shoot up in no time.
Try: Can we look at that (insert relevant section of song here) again? Here’s what I had in mind.

Bad: That won’t work.
Your pastor has an idea. You don’t think it’s a good idea. You want to tell him this. Remember: he’s your pastor. You need to humbly submit. If he’s open to receiving your feedback, you need to share it out of a heart of submission.
Try: So you’re thinking we (insert his idea here. Convince him you’ve heard him out). What would you think about (insert your idea here. He still gets the last word).

Bad: Shhhh!!!
I actually used this once on a backup singer on a men’s retreat. He was singing much too loud and I needed him to back up, so I got his attention and said “shhh!!!” Very bad idea. This is for two year olds, and that’s about where it stops.
Try: Non-verbal: Back up from the mic or use your hand to indicate to lower the volume. Verbal: Let’s (include yourself in it) blend a bit better.

Bad: Please rise.
What are we? Army cadets? No. You can use more normal English to get us to stand up.
Try: Let’s stand together or would you like to stand (I learned this from my British worship leader friends).

These are just a few that come to mind. Please free to share of other ways you can say things with a bit more grace but still get the same point across in a short amount of time.

Expecting to See What You Don’t Model

A common frustration expressed by worship leaders is something along the lines of “they (the congregation) just aren’t that that into it”. It’s frustrating for the people who think through, pray through, and prepare for leading those services. We look out at the congregation and see a majority of people looking sleepy, peppered with those few dear souls who are always “into it” no matter what song we sing.

Why is this? I am increasingly convinced that the main reason our congregations appear to be disinterested and don’t participate in corporate worship with the level of enthusiasm that God desires and deserves is because the people who are up front don’t model it. This isn’t the only reason, of course. But I think it’s the main reason.

It’s a very rare thing for a congregation to go beyond what they see up front. I wrote about this phenomenon a year and a half ago and I said that “what they see is what you get”. In other words, what the congregation sees modeled up front is what will be replicated. Disinterested musicians/pastors results in a disinterested congregation. And vice versa. If the congregation sees people up front who are engaged, expressive and enthusiastic, it will spread.

People need to feel safe, or else they pull back and hold back. People need to feel blessed, or else they remain reserved so that they don’t rock the boat. People need to see it modeled, or else they don’t know what they’re missing. Sunday after Sunday the congregation comes and looks straight ahead. And most of the time they see musicians, pastors, ushers, sound engineers, acolytes, and worship leaders who “just aren’t that into it” either.

Before you look out at your congregation and get frustrated, look in the mirror. Look at your worship team. If you all are not modeling it, you have no reason to expect to see it in the congregation. The ball is in your court.

Let’s get real practical. We’ll start from the bottom up:

  • Is everyone singing? If not, whoever isn’t singing is sending a message that singing is optional. That dude in the eighth row who just doesn’t want to sing now has his excuse: the bass player isn’t either.
  • Is your singing heartfelt? It’s one thing to sing. It’s another thing for our singing to flow from our hearts. We should be affected by what we’re singing about if what we’re singing about has affected us. If the fact that God has reconciled sinners like me to himself through Jesus Christ doesn’t affect me, then I shouldn’t get too excited when I sing. But if that truth has affected me, it should show in my singing. Half-hearted singing is a waste of time, and if you and your team model this kind of singing, you can probably expect it to be the norm in your services.
  • What message is your body sending? There are so many encouragements and commands in Scripture for us to express our worship of God with our bodies that this should be a settled matter (see the end of this post). But it isn’t and probably never will be and that’s a tremendous shame. In the context of a relationship, physical expression is not only normal, but it’s healthy. When physical expression is absent, something is lacking. Still a sad number of Christians can’t bring themselves to express their love for God with their bodies. Those of us who are up front have a responsibility to model what this looks like. If we don’t model this, we can’t expect to see it.

So to the commonly frustrated worship leaders out there (myself included) who look out on a congregation that needs to grow in worship, I would say that we need to get our own house in order first. If and when our up-front example to the congregation changes, we’ll begin to notice a difference around the room.

(For your own reference, here are some helpful scripture references dealing with different physical expressions of worship.)

  • Clapping: Psalm 47:1, Psalm 98:9, Isaiah 55:12
  • Lifting hands: Nehemiah 8:6, Psalm 28:2, Psalm 63:4, Psalm 134:2, Psalm 141:2, Lamentations 3:41, 1 Timothy 2:8
  • Dancing: 2 Samuel 6:14, Psalm 30:11, Psalm 149:3, Psalm 150:4, Ecclesiastes 3:4
  • Kneeling/bowing: Genesis 24:26, 48, 52, Nehemiah 8:6, 2 Chronicles 20:18, Psalm 5:7, Psalm 22:27, Psalm 66:4, Psalm 72:11, Psalm 95:6, Matthew 2:11, Revelation 5:8
  • Lying prostrate: 1 Kings 18:39
  • Shouting: Joshua 6:20, 2 Samuel 6:15, Ezra 3:11, Psalm 20:5, Psalm 27:6, Psalm 33:1, Psalm 33:3, Psalm 42:4, Psalm 47:1, Psalm 66:1, Psalm 71:23, Psalm 81:1, Psalm 126:2, Psalm 126:5, Psalm 132:9, Isaiah 12:6, Matthew 21:9
  • Smiling: Psalm 34:5
  • Jumping: Acts 3:8

A Room Full of Stories

I came across this powerful video made by, of all places, Chick-Fil-A. It’s a powerful reminder that every person who walks through the door of your church has a story. Many are experiencing great trials and heartbreak. Others are experiencing joy. No two people are the same.

When you look out over your congregation this weekend, ask God to give you a love for them. They all need to hear the good news of a Messiah who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and then was lifted on a cross five days later for our sins. He lives again and he is our hope.