The auditorium is packed with people and the air is charged with an anticipation of meeting with the Almighty God. Quickly everyone takes his or her place as the worship leader cues the band. Within an instant, the entire congregation ignites into heartfelt, dynamic, spirit-filled worship.
Cut to a church-plant or smaller church setting. The high school gym is not packed. Church bulletins rustle behind the din of chatter as people take their seats. Various backgrounds and experiences are represented in the congregation. Some people have never experienced intimate worship or expressive worship. Others may not even know the Lord. How does the worship leader lead this group?
It would be great if there were some way to ensure “throne room” like worship. However, I haven’t found and anointed worship formula for church plants. What I have discovered are several keys that help develop a foundation for success in leading a new congregation into God’s presence.
Key1: Understand The Pastor’s Vision For Worship
Todd Hunter, Senior Pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church and previous Acting National Director of the Association of Vineyard Churches once commented, “Nothing can kill a church plant quicker than a worship leader/senior pastor split.” This may seem like a drastic statement until you realize that in many churches with contemporary worship, the worship leader is second in visibility to the pastor.
Not only does the worship leader enjoy quite a bit of visibility, but he or she develops a measurable pool of trust and admiration from the congregation. Both the pastor and the worship leader lead. A unified leadership is therefore critical.
This beloved status that many worship leaders enjoy in their churches shines an obvious light on the importance of the pastor and worship leader being of one mind with regard to the direction and priority of worship within the church.
It is not necessary for both to agree on each and every detail of how the worship ministry operates, but there must be at least basic agreement on the fundamentals.
For consistently successful worship to occur, the pastor and worship leader must work together as a team and hold unity as a priceless jewel. Yet, as with every team, conflicts and differences of opinion will arise. When this happens (and it will), worship leaders must remember that the senior pastor is the team captain. He has the ultimate responsibility before God regarding the what, why, and how of worship.
That’s why it’s important to have a firm grasp of the pastor’s vision and values for worship, because it will provide a safe foundation from which to work through the difficulties that arise.
It’s important to note here that having a clear understanding of your own vision is essential as well. There are few things that will bring more freedom to your worship leading than when you are working side by side with a pastor who shares your vision for worship and who trusts you and believes in you.
However, the opposite is also true. It’s an awfully painful road to travel when you realize that you are in a bad fit with leadership in a church where you are pouring out your blood, sweat, and tears week in and week out.
Key2: Build A Solid Repertoire Of Songs
Embedded within the definition of being a worship leader is the central truth of leading. It is the worship leader’s Job to discern the heart of God at that time for the people and to then lead them into it. In other words, the goal is to connect people with the all-sufficient, all- loving, awesome and transcendent God. One of the tools we as worship leaders use to accomplish this is cultivating an appropriate repertoire of songs.
One of the keys to successful repertoire building is to blend older, established, tried and true worship classics (“Open the Eyes of my Heart”, “How Great is Our God”, “Shout to the Lord”, “I love You Lord”, and so forth) with newer songs. The reason for this is simple: The “classic” songs will bring depth, history and grounding to a new congregation and create an atmosphere of familiarity which will greatly increase congregational participation.
In conjunction with this, newer songs help to infuse worship with the fresh wind of the Spirit. This isn’t to say that newer songs have no depth or that older songs are void of the Spirit, but generally songs will fall into these two categories.
An important point here is to test each song in order to determine what is appropriate for you and your church and to remember that a balance of both old and new is necessary for sustained life in worship.
Along with using old and new songs, a worship leader needs to ensure that the congregation is exposed to the full complement of themes that are fundamental to worship (celebration, intimacy, warfare, thankfulness, declaration, love, commitment, and so forth). For instance, a steady diet of celebration or warfare songs may be fun for a while, but eventually the body will become malnourished. The same holds true for using intimate songs exclusively. The church will become weak without a proper diet of full, well-rounded worship.
One last comment about building a solid repertoire of songs. Understand that not every worship set must be a masterful blend of old and new songs or touch on a variety of themes.
Leading worship is a foundation building process that necessitates a big picture mind-set. Within a young church or during a church plant, the worship leader is partnering with the pastor in the task of laying a foundation upon which the church will build for years to come.
Take time and build over a period of months or even several years and don’t try to cram it all in to every worship set. Remember, it’s not just about a single Sunday service. Worship is meant to be a lifelong adventure.
Key3: Build Bridges Of Understanding
I heard someone once say, “If you are supposed to be leading, look around and make sure people are following. If they aren’t, then you’re just out for a walk.” This certainly holds true for the worship leader. The goal of each of us as worship leaders is to connect people to the heart of God, to lead them into the presence of the King. If this isn’t happening, then all we’re really doing is giving a performance.
This understanding is doubly true when leading worship in a smaller church or church plant setting. With any new church, there is usually a core of those who understand the vision of the church and thus understand the dynamics of worship. They will understand what you mean when you ask the congregation to wait on the Lord, to listen to His voice, to humble themselves before Him or to lift up their hands as an offering to God.
These elements of worship are helpful in connecting people to the lord. Unfortunately their fruitfulness may be lost on those who have no clue what you mean by these actions or worse yet, they may actually bring confusion and/or frustration.
At every church service or public worship meeting, there are a number of people who are new to the idea of worship (maybe they are visitors looking for a church to attend) or who are still in the beginning stages of the worship learning curve.
These people need to be taught to enter into worship and not left to figure it out by themselves. Therefore, when I’m leading worship, I make sure to take time to “build bridges of understanding” with the purpose of de-mystifying worship and creating a pathway for everyone to follow.
Explain What’s Happening
Building these bridges is actually quite simple. First, explain what is happening in worship. If you sense God is encouraging people to surrender and bow humbly before Him, then share that with the people. Let them know they can do this by physically bowing before the Lord, lifting up their hands as an act of surrender, or by remaining quiet before the Lord.
Please understand what I’m saying here. Do not manipulate people. The goal is to create and atmosphere of understanding and then to bring freedom of expression in response.
We don’t need to tell people what to do. Rather, offer suggestions and encourage them to enter in. Remember that some people are not going to enter into worship no matter what you do. There’s no need to force the issue. Let the Lord melt their hearts in His own time.
Put Worship In Its Proper Context
Another way to build bridges of understanding is to set the stage or give context before the worship begins. I normally do this in several ways.
On the front or inside cover of the church bulletin at the churches were I’ve pastored, we placed several paragraphs describing what to expect during the church service. It covers the general time frame (25-30 min.) for worship, and explains why worship is a priority for our fellowship.
This way those who are visiting or those who are fairly new to the church are given a framework of understanding what’s happening around them. I will also frequently ask everyone to bow their heads and pray with me before we even begin to worship. In this prayer I ask each person to take an inventory of what’s going on in their hearts and minds at that moment and then to give it all over to the Lord. I ask them to commit themselves to push through the distractions and to worship God.
What this helps do is focus the people on why they’re there and bring reality to the process of seeking God.
There are many other ways to build bridges of understanding (such as having the pastor teach a series on worship). As the worship leader you will need to find what works best for you in the context of your church. But trust me, the fruit of taking time to build these bridges will be worth any effort it takes.
Being successful in leading worship obviously entails a lot more than just the issues that I’ve been talking about. Yet, time and time again I’ve found that these three keys: 1) understanding the pastor’s vision for worship, 2)building a solid repertoire of songs, and 3) building bridges of understanding, go a long way in establishing consistent, life-changing, spirit-filled worship within the church.
I’d like to leave you with one last thought. Learning the mechanics of how to lead worship is great, but to quote Pastor Ron Allen, “Worship is not about the ‘how to’; it’s about the ‘know who’.
Brent Helming has been involved in Pastoral and Worship Ministry for over 20 years. He has traveled both nationally and internationally leading worship and teaching at Churches and conferences. He has written numerous worship songs such as “Your Beloved”, Jesus Lead On”, “Rock of My Salvation” and “God of All Splendor”, along with an interactive work book titled “Hot Tips for Worship Leaders”.
