Category: Leading a congregation

Anticipating How Your Congregation Might Respond

You can never really know for sure – until the service is actually underway – how your congregation will respond during a time of corporate worship. Try as we may to predict what songs will really “work”, or when we might need to say something, or how the Holy Spirit might be prompting us in unplanned directions, we can’t be 100% certain until we’re in the middle of it. And even then it’s not always so clear!

But while it’s unrealistic (and unwise) to assume we know how people will respond to certain songs or at certain points, worship leaders can (and should) anticipate how the congregation might respond. Let me give you a couple examples.

The beginning of a service
When I start off a service with an upbeat, celebratory, loud song, it’s a relatively safe prediction that the congregation – having just come in from a stressful morning, family dynamics, parking the car, dropping the kids off at Sunday school, finding a seat, and devoting little (if any) time to preparing for worship – might need some encouragement.

If this prediction is wrong, and from the very first beat most people seemed engaged and enthusiastic, then I’ll just be grateful to God for a miracle! But since there seems to be a pattern of the congregation displaying a bit of that deer-in-the-headlights look at this point in the service most Sundays, I should plan ahead and think through how we can arrange the song, what I could say, or what Psalm we could read to help people respond with more understanding. I’m anticipating how the congregation might respond, so that I’m ready in case I’m right.

Singing a hymn (or an older song)
It’s always a temptation for us to tune-out at certain point when we’re singing on Sunday mornings – especially on songs we’ve sung for years and years. Whether it’s a hymn or just a song we’ve sung for a long time, it’s a safe bet that when you launch into “Amazing Grace”, a good number of people will be singing on auto-pilot. Maybe not, but probably so. When I’m planning a service and preparing to lead an old song or a hymn, I’m going to anticipate that this might happen, and think through what the best way to help keep people engaged would be.

The longer you serve a particular congregation, the more accurately you’ll be able to anticipate how they might respond. But with experience and, most importantly, the help of the Holy Spirit, as you plan services and choose songs, you’ll be able to prepare for teachable moments, transitions, words of encouragement, instruction, and specific arrangements that will serve the congregation more effectively. 

Every Sunday presents different dynamics (late-Summer or mid-snowstorm), every church is different (formal/liturgical or charismatic), and every group responds in different ways (a small group in a living room or a thousand people in an auditorium). No worship leader, regardless of how long he or she has been leading, can ever know in advance exactly how all these different dynamics will come together.

But the same Holy Spirit who is at work in the midst of corporate worship is also at work in your planning and preparation. He will often give you a hunch about what’s coming up – and it’s usually a good idea to prepare for those hunches just in case. 

The Miserable Life of the If-Only Worship Leader

It’s hard to be happy in church ministry when you keep a never-ending, never-satisfied list of “if-onlys”. This applies to people in all sorts of roles, but particularly to worship leaders.

If only I was at a bigger church with more money and more musicians.

If only I got to lead ALL the songs at a service – not just a measly four.

If only we had better equipment.

If only my pastor was more with-it.

If only people would let me do it the way I want to do it.

If only my congregation worshipped better.

If only my drummers were good.

If only I got paid a better salary and had a more impressive-sounding title.

THEN I’d be happy.

THEN my ministry would explode!

THEN my church would finally see my giftedness they’ve been missing all along!

THEN I would be satisfied.

No you wouldn’t.

The problem with jealousy is that it’s dangerous. It can’t be satisfied. It always wants more. Even if your list of if-onlys gets completely checked-off, you’ll find fifteen more things you “need”. You end up spinning your wheels in ministry – always waiting for that one missing thing – that one missing musician – that one missing pay raise – that one great worship set – and never really thrive.

Proverbs 27:4 says: “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” Jealously is uniquely destructive and paralyzing, and a never-ending list of if-onlys is a symptom of that paralysis.

It’s one thing to have God-birthed dreams and hopes and longings for your ministry and the church you serve. These are good and important and helpful. I know that I have clung to these – and prayed fervently for these dreams to finally come true. I still have dreams and still pray for needs to be met and struggle with growing in wisdom regarding how and how long to wait.

But it’s another thing altogether to either wait until every single thing is in place to finally be able to minister effectively – or to stoke prideful jealousy by always wanting more – or to mask symptoms of your real need for growth by blaming them on something you need that you don’t have.

To each and every worship leader reading this post: let me encourage you and challenge you.

You have been placed exactly where you are by God. He is faithful. He knows your needs. He knows your desires. His timing is perfect. Trust in and wait on him.

So get your eyes off of other churches and other worship leaders and what cool gear they have and how much farther along they are and how much more their congregation really gets it. Stop waiting for that one elusive missing thing that will make you happy.

Churches need worship leaders who will love them, stick around for the long haul, have a high tolerance for drudgery, and faithfully serve them through easy and difficult seasons. We do our congregations a disservice if we’re always waiting for one last thing to fall into place or looking for a better gig.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

If only we would do that more! Then we’d be happy. Then we’d be satisfied.

What Am I Supposed to Be Doing Right Now?

Many worship leaders, without realizing it, expect the congregation to be able to read their minds. Sing here, don’t sing here. Stand up now, but sit down in a minute. Listen to this verse. Think about this in light of what we just heard. We’re learning this because… Men sing a line and women echo. The list goes on.

There are a variety of instances during the course of a worship service when people are expected to participate in a particular way. But do we as worship leaders do a good job of communicating that to them? Sometimes yes and sometimes no.

In a room full of people, whether it’s 15 or 150 or 1,500, one question that at some point will be on every single person’s mind is: what am I supposed to be doing right now? And I think most people genuinely want to be involved. There are always those who, for whatever reason, don’t want to be involved regardless of how clear the instruction. But for most people it’s not that difficult.

Effective worship leaders are able to, at all times during the service, be aware that this question is being asked. Most of the time we know what’s going on because we’ve done it many times before, been through rehearsal, been thinking about for a week or more, talked to the pastor about his plan, and are the ones who have a say in the direction of the service. Because of this, if we’re not careful, we’ll assume that since we know what’s going on, then the average person in the congregation does too. The problem is that it’s not always as clear to them as we think it might be.

The longer you serve a particular congregation, the easier it will be for both of you to trust each other and move in the same direction. But one thing is the same for worship leaders who are just starting out and worship leaders who have been at a church for thirty years: your congregation can’t read your mind. Growing in sensitivity to when (and when not), how (and how not), and why (and why not) to communicate to the congregation the why’s and how’s and when’s is crucial to helping the congregations we serve.

Always put yourself in their shoes. Look at the service through their eyes. Be a helpful tour guide. Be an effective usher. They will go with you if they trust you!