Category: Leading

A Word for Worship Leaders and Those Who Listen To Them

I recently came across a blog post by JR Vassar (pastor of Apostles Church in New York City) titled “A Word to Preachers and Those Who Listen to Them“. And while it’s aimed towards preachers, I think what he says is applicable and helpful for worship leaders too. Here’s some of what he said:

  • Trust that there is a cumulative effect to your preaching. Not every sermon needs to be a home run. Just be consistent and over time you will see a lot of fruit from your preaching. You don’t have to “kill it” every Sunday; in fact you can’t. Very few people have the ability to preach a lights out sermon week to week. Just preach the Gospel, relax and trust that God will bring about fruit.
  • Define the win. If you have not defined what makes a sermon good, then you have no objective criteria by which to judge your sermons. Here is how I define the win: Was it text sourced, Christ exalting, gospel centered, and audience focused?
    Text Sourced     – did the sermon come from a text in the bible and was it taught in context? This requires a lot of study.
    Christ Exalting – was Jesus the hero of the sermon? Did I preach in such a way as to move people’s minds and hearts toward him? Was he shown to be the One we need? Was he exalted as more than just an example or a model, but as a Savior? This is key. If we only present Jesus as a model for how we live, we condemn people. Jesus died the death he died because we cannot live the life he lived. So our preaching must put Jesus forth as Savior.
    That is what I mean when I say Gospel-Centered. Was the Gospel presented not merely as the starting point for the Christian life, but the very track on which the Christian life is ran? As Dr. Tim Keller puts it, the Gospel is not the ABC’s of the Christian faith, but the A-Z of the Christian faith. We do not grow by getting beyond the Gospel, but by going deeper into it. Show in your sermon how the Gospel is the answer. If you are teaching on generosity, show your people how the Gospel liberates us from greed by revealing a trustworthy, generous God who sacrifices greatly to meet our needs. In fact, if your sermon is just as true had Christ not died and risen from the dead, you did not preach the Gospel, you gave advice.
    Lastly, was it Audience Focused. You are not preaching to podcast land; you are preaching to a group of people who live in a certain place at a certain time who have certain idols. Study your audience and preach to them. This is the hardest part of preaching for me and an area where I need greater focus and growth. So, define the win or you will measure your sermon by the wrong things. You will be asking, “did the people like it and respond,” or “was it entertaining or engaging.” A wrong definition of the win brings about some critical losses.
For those that have to listen to preachers every week, I have two quick things to say:
  • Trust that there is a cumulative effect to your pastor’s preaching. Don’t expect him to hit a home run every week. It is impossible. Receive the sermon trusting that God will add it to the work that He is currently doing in your life and bring forth fruit. Your pastor’s sermons should be supplemental to the work God is doing in you through your own times in the word.
  • Define the win. Don’t judge your pastor on whether he is funny or dynamic or captivating. If your pastor is preaching the bible, exalting Christ, keeping the Gospel central and applying it to your context, then you have a great pastor and you should thank God for him. Stop complaining about your pastor’s delivery; pray for your receptivity. I hear people criticize their pastor’s preaching but never scrutinize their own listening. Maybe the problem is not what you think it is.

It’s a relief for me to know that there is a cumulative effect to my worship leading. And it’s a good reminder that I don’t have to “kill it” every Sunday – but rather be faithful in making Jesus central.

Thanks, JR, for such a helpful and convicting post.

Practical Ways Worship Leaders Can Build Trust – Pt. 2

Yesterday I shared five ways worship leaders can build trust with their congregation. Since people will only follow someone if they’re confident they’ll be safe, building and maintaining trust is crucial. Here are some more suggestions:

Be Approachable
Do everything you can to discourage any air of celebrity from growing around you. Stick around after services if and when people want to talk to you and ask you questions. Pursue input and seek suggestions for ways things could improve. Respond to critical emails with surprising grace and humility. Return emails and phone calls. Call people by name. Don’t be in a hurry. Don’t sneak out back doors. Intentionally seek to be someone that people feel comfortable approaching. It will show them you’re a real person.

Be Committed
If worship leading is just a gig for you, a source of income, a way to build your music career, a way to play music, or something you do because you can’t think of anything else, then your congregation won’t waste the effort of learning how to trust you.

If you see your current worship leading position as only a stepping stone to your dream job or a bigger church or a better church, and you hop around from church to church every year or two, then you won’t be around long enough to accomplish much or build any relationships with people.

Effective worship leaders are committed to their congregation for a significant amount of time, through seasons and years and good times and dry times and holidays and tragedies and Easters and vacation bible schools. Stick around at a church long enough to let your ministry and relationships grow roots and will show them you’re the real deal.

Sing Old Songs
One way worship leaders can build trust with their congregation is by valuing the history and traditions that date back to long before they started their job, and seeking to do things to honor and celebrate God’s faithfulness through the years. It’s a mistake to be stuck in the past, but it’s also a mistake to be stuck in the present. Every church has a unique story of how God has brought it to the present-day, and songs from key points in that history should be kept in the repertoire and used cheerfully.

I know that there are certain songs that evoke memories of God’s blessings on my church in the 70’s and 80’s, the songs that people clung to as anthems of praise in the 90’s, and the centuries-old hymns that have been belted out on this property since the 1800’s. I would be foolish to ignore those old songs. While I want to discourage idolizing particular songs, or using certain songs in order to make people happy, I want to show my congregation that I recognize that I am a flash in the pan of God’s larger work in his Church and this congregation. Singing old songs shows them you’re thoughtful and have perspective.

Teach New Songs Discerningly
There are a lot of worship songs that I really enjoy and would love to lead – but would not work for my congregation. Maybe someday the right time will come along, but for now, I have to learn to put certain songs on the shelf and introduce other ones that are a better fit.

We should always be stretching ourselves, our musicians, and our congregation to magnify God’s greatness through various and new musical styles – but we should always be mindful of our church’s stylistic center, and discern whether a particular new song is too far from that center to be integrated into the repertoire with enthusiasm. Teaching new songs is important, but doing it with wisdom and discernment is key. It shows your congregation that you’re not in your own little world.

Lead the people in front of you
Worship leaders end up wandering into their own little world when they forget that they’re not leading the congregation they wish they had, but they’re leading the flesh-and-blood people right before their very eyes. They pick songs, choose arrangements, reach a volume level, and lead in such a way that might be appropriate for a church down the road, but not theirs.

We can all fall into this trap of forgetting that it’s the people in front of us who we have to lead, and no matter how tightly we shut our eyes or how many times we repeat a chorus, it’s still the same collection of lawyers, students, teachers, mechanics, doctors, politicians, stay at home Moms, and long-time church members who we’re responsible to lead in corporate worship.

Be realistic. In whatever service you’re leading, whatever room you’re standing, and whatever church you’re serving, look around you at the people who have gotten in their cars and come to stand in the congregation you’re now tasked with leading in song. You might wish you had more people, different people, younger people, or more enthusiastic people – but you don’t. Love and serve the people you see. It will show them you’re not faking it once the music starts.

Practical Ways Worship Leaders Can Build Trust – Pt. 1

At every stage of a worship leader’s ministry – when he’s first starting out at a church, when he’s attempting to change something, when he’s in the middle of a difficult season, or when he’s just faithfully serving a congregation for the eighth year in a row – building and maintaining trust with the congregation is key to his effectiveness.

A worship leader will be stuck spinning his wheels until he earns the trust of the people he’s been called to serve. Here are some practical suggestions of ways worship leaders can do this:

Watch What You Wear
It actually matters a good deal what you wear when you’re up front. If you’re underdressed, you’re running the risk of sending the message that you’re disrespectful and/or immature. If you’re overdressed, you might inadvertently come across as unapproachable. If you wear clothes that are inappropriately tight, or distractingly designed, you’ll become too much of a focus. Try to dress safely, predictably, and even boringly. If most men are wearing ties, then you should wear a tie. If most people are in jeans, you should be in jeans too. Dress appropriately for the congregation you’re leading. It will show them that you’re professional.

When You Can, Share Meals
If you’re leading worship at a service or event where a meal is served, seize that opportunity to sit down next to people you don’t know well and strike up a conversation. It will show them that you care, and it will help you get to know the people you’re leading.

Be There Consistently
It’s hard for a congregation to learn to trust a worship leader when he or she hardly ever leads. Regular, weekly, consistent leadership allows people to get used to your style, your voice, and your personality, and it lets you develop a relationship with them. It will show them you’re dependable.

Show Them You’re Safe
This is especially important when you’re first starting to lead worship at a church, or leading worship for a group of people who have never seen you before. Once you demonstrate that you’re not going to do anything crazy, that you’re prepared, and that you know where you’re going, their defenses will come down. It will show them you’re stable.

Anticipate Their Anxiety
Worship leaders can’t (and shouldn’t) attempt to read the congregation’s mind – but we should always be putting ourselves in their shoes and anticipating where they might start feeling anxious.

For example, I know that on a typical Sunday morning at my church, people are used to singing for about 20 – 25 minutes at the beginning of a service. There’s no reason for me to explain this every week. But if on a particular Sunday we wanted to have a longer time of singing that lasted for 40 – 45 minutes, it would be wise for one of the pastors or me to say something about why we were singing for longer than usual. If we didn’t, people might start to wonder after half an hour if we were ever going to stop!

Anticipate the congregation’s anxiety so you can help dissipate the congregation’s anxiety. It will show them you care for them.

I’ll share some more ways to build trust tomorrow.

Cold Turkey for Easter

This past weekend I decided it was time to break my addiction to chord charts. Yes, it was Easter weekend and I was leading the music at five services, but after the first service on Saturday night I realized that if I wanted to play the piano more creatively and lead the band and congregation more skillfully, it was the right time to do it.

So with the exception of a song we did that was Psalm 98 set to music, I led four Sunday services with no music in front of me.

I knew the chords. Once in a while I would forget how a certain chord progression was supposed to go, but since I wasn’t the only one playing, I just relied on the band in those moments until they jogged my memory.

I (mostly) knew the words. Every now and then I’d glance at the screen if I forget how the next verse of a song started, but most of the time I didn’t need to.

I knew which ones I didn’t know well. Like I said before, there was one song I didn’t know well enough to lead from memory, so I made sure I had music in front of me for that one. But as for the other songs, I didn’t need the music, so I went without. And I was fine.

I was able to play more creatively and sensitively because I wasn’t compulsively staring at a piece of paper the entire time. Being freed to play from my heart allowed me to try different things, play less, and enjoy it more.

And I was able to lead the band and congregation more skillfully because my attention wasn’t being directed towards a chord chart as often. I could look around, make eye contact with band members, and concentrate more on what we were singing and what God was doing.

I’m going to continue working on trying to break my addiction to chord charts. I’ll need to make sure I’m comfortable and familiar with the songs’ chords and lyrics, and be smart enough to know which songs I shouldn’t attempt to lead from memory. But I’ve gotten much too accustomed to not simply referring to chord charts occasionally – but staring at them mindlessly and unnecessarily. It’s a bad and unhealthy habit.

Of course it’s a good idea to rehearse with the music in front of you so you can learn it. And then once the service starts it’s probably smart to have it close by. But if at all possible, get comfortable enough with whatever songs you’re leading that you could get through them competently even if a gust of wind knocked your music stand down.

Now, if you’ll be less effective at leading your worship team and congregation, and play less skillfully if you don’t have music in front of you, then you should probably keep the music in front of you. But perhaps you can start by leading one song without music – or one verse or chorus – whatever you can do.

But if your affection for chord charts is limiting your effectiveness as a worship leader, then it’s probably a good idea to learn how to live without them.

Don’t Overreact to Minor Course Corrections

I have a love/hate relationship with paddling a canoe. On the one hand I enjoy spending a warm summer day on a river or a lake with friends and family, having a picnic on the shore, and gliding through the water, but on the other hand I don’t enjoy the prospect of tipping over, the sore arms, and trying to maneuver the canoe and make it go where I want it to go. Just when it starts to head in the right direction, it veers left and I have to paddle hard on the right, or vice versa. I’m constantly paddling on different sides in hopes of correcting course.

Growing as a worship leader is a bit like paddling a canoe. You know what general direction you want to go in (hopefully), you know the basics of how to get there, you have some knowledge of what you need to do, you know that a good deal of responsibility has been entrusted to you, at certain points all you’re trying to do is keep from sinking, you can get discouraged when you see other people around you having an easier time, and it’s not as easy at it looks.

Another similarity between growing as a worship leader and paddling a canoe is that worship leaders are constantly in need of minor course corrections. From time to time you might get totally flipped around or capsize and need major help. But most of the time, you’re doing a pretty good job of doing what you need to do, and you just need to periodically adjust your course so that you don’t collide with a tree.

Minor course corrections can come in many forms for worship leaders. Here are some ways I’ve received these little nudges from time to time:

  • My wife telling me that I looked frustrated when I led an unresponsive group of people
  • My brother letting me know that I had a bad habit of glaring at musicians when they made a mistake
  • My pastor cautioning me that when I interjected in-between lines of a song I could sometimes sound bossy
  • A friend warning me that I was trying to force change too quickly
  • A worship team member mentioning that we were doing too many similar-sounding songs from the same writer
  • A mentor telling me that I shouldn’t be so timid when I spoke
  • A sound engineer pointing out that I was over-playing and singing flat

It can be awfully tempting to overreact to minor corrections as if they mean we are terrible worship leaders, we have no idea what we’re doing, and we should just give up. But that’s silly. It would be a like a man paddling a canoe, realizing he’s drifting towards the bank, and then instead of simply correcting his course and continuing forward, he calls his wife to tell her he loves her one last time. That’s an overreaction.

There are definitely times someone gives you advice, and it’s bad advice. And there are times you receive criticism and you just need to ignore it. But God oftentimes uses people who know us to give input into how we can grow. The next time someone approaches you and suggests a way you might be to improve as a worship leader, don’t overreact. Ask yourself: “is this a minor course correction?” Most of the time it is. When we ignore these kinds – we end up in need of more serious help.

When you sign up to be a worship leader, answering God’s call on you to serve the church in this way, understand that you’re embarking on a never-ending journey of growing, maturing, gaining experience, making mistakes, receiving correction, keeping your eyes on Jesus, adjusting your course from time to time, and the occasional capsize. It’s not always easy, but God is always faithful. Keep paddling.