Learning To Lead In A Church Plant

Every church and context is different. Whether an established church with large resources, and a deep bench of skilled musicians, or a church plant that is scrappy and industrious, every church and context has strengths and challenges.

As I have reflected on my experience serving in a number of church plants, here are a few things I wish I would have been able to learn sooner:

What Sustains You

Energy, momentum, adrenaline, and enthusiasm can take you farther than you would expect. But ultimately they are insufficient in their ability to sustain the long-term discipleship work of planning a church and making disciples. Once the energy is spent, moment wains, adrenaline empties and enthusiasm turns to routine - if love is not the undercurrent animating and motivating your service, you will be hollowed out.

The People

The chaotic, entrepreneurial nature of church planting is often attractive to people who enjoy starting something new. Many people who join you in the beginning will not be those who stay for the long haul. And that is okay. Some people will be with you for seasons. If and when people leave does not negate the very real investment they made in the church, or that you as a leader made in them.

Learning

As a worship leader, it takes time to learn your people. But this can be challenging when you do not even know the people who will be showing up at your church! Take time to learn about your church, your people, and the songs and liturgy that will resonate with your people. Be consistent - bordering on stale - as you plan your gatherings. There is enough uncertainty for people arriving at a church plant, keep songs familiar and regular as things take shape.

Encourage

Set up and tear down, evangelism and discipleship, learning on the job, building a team - planting a church is relentless and can be exhausting. If God in his kindness has provided one or two other people to serve on your team with sound, lyrics, musicians, or vocalists, thank him! And thank them. Notice, celebrate, and honor your people for the way they serve and sacrifice. I have been on the receiving and sending end of thank you notes, and I am always surprised how valuable these can be in feeling seen and appreciated. Buy a stack of cards, and write to your team regularly.

What would you add?

Recommended Reading [Part 7]

These are the most recent books I’ve finished that speak to our shared tasks as worship leaders, but also to the aim and direction of our worship hearts as Christ followers. I hope they will serve and encourage you in your journey:

Reformed Worship - Jonty Rhodes

I come from a reformed tradition, and this book has been helpful in articulating the truths that shape the design and intention behind worship in general - and corporate worship specifically. But even if your background or current ministry experience is different - this short book is worth your time.

On Worship - H.B. Charles Jr.

I love a book with short chapters! While I was reading this book, I had it on hand all the time - because rather than scrolling my phone during spare minutes, I would read a chapter or two. I also appreciated that H.B. has broken this book into three sections: Understanding Worship, Participating in Worship, and Leading Worship.

Worship And the World To Come - Glenn Packiam

This book was fascinating - although a bit academic because of the doctoral-level research this book required. Packiam explores ‘Christian Hope in Contemporary Worship,’ looking at various traditions, song choices, language, and styles to help worship leaders and pastors better articulate a fully-formed vision of Christian hope in our lives, songs, and services.

Land of My Sojourn - Mike Cosper

The local church is beautiful and brutal. It does not take long to see and experience firsthand the ongoing sanctification when you commit yourself to the local expression of faith. This means we will be hurt, but we will also be healed. Mike uses his own story and experience to give language - to clear a path - for those who are trying to navigate their way through pain and grief as we seek to be obedient to Jesus.

Recommended Reading - Part 1 | Recommended Reading - Part 2 | Recommended Reading - Part 3

Recommended Reading - Part 4 | Recommended Reading - Part 5 | Recommended Reading - Part 6

Growing Theologically

The primary work of leading worship is not musical, it is pastoral. Even the regular rhythms of our week, choosing songs, building set lists, leading rehearsals, communicating with team members, working with a pastor, and leading during services, are primarily about shepherding people. If the primary work of leading worship is pastoral more than musical, our preparation and development should represent a desire to be shaped theologically and pastorally. It is easy to be tempted toward musical ability at the expense of theological depth. I do not believe these realities need to be mutually exclusive. But it will require an investment of time and intentionality. If you would like to grow theologically but are unsure where to begin, here are a few things to consider:

Relationships. Who are the people within your community, church, and relational sphere who are deep, wise, Godly people? Pursuing those people with intentional questions about their knowledge and understanding of who God is and what He has done, as well as resources they would recommend is a great place to start.

Free Resources. Many of my favorite writers, publishing companies, seminaries, and parachurch organizations offer material for free online. Reformed Theological Seminary posts all of its courses for free here. Sovereign Grace Music also offers a Worship Matters Video Intensive for free here. Glean from the edges and margin of your life with a few of these free resources.

Give regular time. Ultimately we give time to the things we value. Even 20 minutes of reading, one online class, or a single coffee meeting can help stretch, grow and develop our theological muscles.

Let the secret place be wider and deeper than the public platform. Jesus was often going away to a quiet, desolate place to pray and be with His Father. With such visible and public roles, we need to make sure that we are spending time cultivating our own relationship with God outside of what we do for God.

Recommended Reading [Part 4]

Recommended Reading [Part 1] | Recommended Reading [Part 2] | Recommended Reading [Part 3]

Reading allows you to learn and grow from other people, in other contexts, while still being planted in your own. If you’re looking for some books to finish out your Summer reading schedule, take a look at these:

The Worship Pastor - Zac M Hicks

Many books focus on the musical aspect of leading - great! Many books focus on the theological aspect of leading - great! But this was the first book I had read that focused primarily on the pastoral and shepherding aspects of what it is to be a worship leader.

Ever Ancient, Ever New - Winfield Bevins

Reinventing a wheel week to week and generation to generation is exhausting. We have much to learn from the ancient and global Church. I am continually learning how to incorporate ancient practices and liturgical rhythms in a way that is meaningful and makes sense in a modern context. If this is something you’d like to explore, this is a great resource.

Delighting In The Trinity - Michael Reeves

This book is beautiful. More than building knowledge and skill in our craft, and understanding of leading worship, we must fuel our affections for Christ. This is a book I will return to again and again.

Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down - Marva J. Dawn

This book is well-highlighted and noted on my shelf. Dawn’s ability to accurately see and articulate the time, and learn how to engage, lead and serve is something that will serve to equip those at any time.

Songs For The Season

They say, “Write what you know.” And for the most part, everything I share on my website is things that I have learned and feel that I can grasp with enough familiarity to share. Today, I want to share something I am learning in real-time.

Songs are important. I care deeply about the new songs we choose, as well as the way we introduce those songs to the congregation. I care deeply about the canon of songs that make up our master song list, as well as the way those songs shape our theology of God and the Gospel. I care deeply about whether our songs are purposed for personal devotion, or corporate worship because all songs are prayers. I even believe there are guiding principles that can help us determine what is a good song.

But what I am learning in realtime, is that there are songs for seasons.

I read an article in Worship Leader Magazine last month titled, “Worship At The Speed of Sound.” In it, WLM published the findings of a team of researchers who had studied the lifespan of corporate worship songs registered with CCLI from 1988 to 2019. The researchers had a hunch that the creation, distribution, ascent, and decline of a corporate worship song has increased rapidly over that time period. And understandably, they were correct. Social media, online distribution, ‘worship artists,’ conferences, touring, and radio, were all contributing factors both in the number of songs available, as well as their availability.

Some songs have staying power - think of many of the hymns that have been passed down through the ages or songs like Chris Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God.” Some songs cut through the noise for a season, and all but disappear - one such song cited in the research is Jesus Culture’s “Fierce.”

I truly believe that the bulk of our diet when it comes to song choice should be songs that have staying power. Songs that ring with resonance in different seasons and stages of our lives. Songs that are sung in the hospital room, at the altar, and during the midnight hour as a parent rocks a child to sleep. But what I am learning is that there are songs for seasons. Songs that are still good, beautiful, and true. Songs that capture a moment in the life of our churches - both locally, and globally. These are the songs that we will look back with sheepish affection, and fondness as we are reminded of the Spirit’s movement in our lives and histories. These are the songs for the season.

What have been songs for the season in your life?

Dynamics

I have had the opportunity to lead in many different settings. Large churches, and small churches. Higher church liturgy, and lower church spontaneity. I have served with professional musicians, and those who had only recently picked up an instrument. One of the things that I have observed as having the biggest impact on the quality of the musical production regardless of the location or skill level is the intentionality of dynamics.

I believe that it is not what we play or sing, but what we do not play or sing that makes the dynamic difference.

A musician will play. A vocalist will sing. What I have noticed among worship teams is that people often feel confused, or not useful if they do not play and sing from the very start to the very end of a song.

As worship leaders, we need to be able to coach our teams to understand how to lead in silence as much as in their playing. Our teams can lead in their silence by learning to lead off the platform, but also in their presence and posture when it is not their ‘part.’ Encourage your team to sing along, be at worship, listen intentionally as the worship leader guides and directs the congregation. I have often felt more intentionally led by musicians and vocalists leading in their silences than by the primary worship leader.

But what about leading in our playing and singing? How do we create movement, tension and release, builds and drops, particularly for those churches who are serving with smaller, or less experienced teams? Percentages. One of the sound guys at my church was a band director in a former career. He started suggesting to me that instead of saying ‘build and drop,’ or ‘big and quiet,’ or even using the classical musical terms, we started coaching our team in percentages. If we want the bridge to be the loudest part of the song, that would be 90% or 100%, and the chorus being the second loudest part of the song would need to be in the 70% to 80% range. If we are looking to incorporate a dynamic drop without going completely acapella, maybe the band goes to 10%. This kind of language has been so helpful for our team in being able to identify the higher dynamics in contrast to the lower dynamics both within a song, but also across the setlist.

If you’re struggling with every song sounding the same, and no movement in dynamic range, try using percentages as a way to lead your team to listen for dynamics. Much of this will begin with the worship leader thoughtfully and intentionally leading the team through rehearsal. Here are some ideas on how to run a rehearsal.

Recommended Reading [Part 3]

Reading has been a formative practice of my worship leading. I like writing these Recommended Reading posts for those who don’t love reading and may feel overwhelmed with the number of books available. You can take a look at my first Recommended Reading post here, and the second post here.

Transforming Worship - Rory Noland

For the last six years, I have been working to create connections between the ancient practices of the Church and our regular time of gathered worship as the local Church. I love that Rory gives a clear, and conscious history of the Ancient Church and its practices, and how bringing these practices into our modern context can be transformative for followers of Jesus.

Corporate Worship: How The Church Gathers As God’s People - Matt Merker

As worship leaders when we think about Corporate Worship, we often are immediately drawn toward the elements of song, and music it includes. What I appreciated about this book is how Matt painted a bigger picture of what is happening when we gather as the people of God, why it matters, and how we are invited to lead.

The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and a Life of Undivided Devotion - Jeremy Riddle

I downloaded this book on Audible out of curiosity. I was moved by how deeply Jeremy implores worship leaders to treasure the Giver over the gift. As I listened to him read the words, he was often near tears as he walked us through Scripture, through the beauty and glory of God, and how commercial and marketable corporate sung worship has become in the last several decades.

Gentle and Lowly - Dane Ortlund

I hope you have seen lots of people posting about this book. Personally, I cried my way through it. To lead worship well, we do not just need practical resources and guides about the mechanics of our roles (although they are helpful), we need our hearts and affections stirred toward the heart of Christ. This book does this beautifully.

Recommended Reading [Part 2]

So many books, not enough time… at least it can seem that way to me. With innumerable resources when it comes to leading worship, it can be hard to know where to start. This is a continuation of some of my favorite resources.

Beyond Smells and Bells - Mark Galli

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I always want to learn from those who have gone before us - the Church global, and historic, and primarily, the Church biblically. What I appreciate about Mark’s book is that it helps frame our story within the larger story of the Church historically. How have these ancient practices formed who we are and why we are. One of my favorite quotes:

“For people who find themselves storyless, or with a story that has no larger meaning than the self, the liturgy is a salvation. It shows that we do not have to abandon hope; we don’t have to fabricate a new myth to force meaning onto the world. We can participate in the very story of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who has created and redeemed us, who has gathered us to himself already in a Great Feast, and who promises, in the last act, to gather all things on heaven and earth to himself, so that we may feast together for eternity.”  pg 18-19 

True Worshipers - Bob Kauflin

Bob is a consistent voice in the world of corporate sung worship. His book ‘Worship Matters’ is always one of the first books I recommend to people. This book ‘True Worshipers’ is less about the mechanics of leading sung worship, and more about worship in general. It is also incredibly accessible, for people brand new to thinking or participating in the world of sung corporate worship, and would be a great resource to read with an entire team - sound, tech, musicians, vocalists, etc. One of my favorite quotes:

‘Every church or individual Christian who claims to be Spirit-led must be Word-fed.  If we want to know more of the Spirit’s power in our lives, we would be wise to fill ourselves with riches of His word.’ pg 45

In Jesus Name - Henri Nouwen

One of my favorite worship leaders called this book a ‘must-read.’ There are helpful things that we can learn from mainstream leadership books, and now it seems many mega-church pastors are releasing leadership books and podcasts at every turn. There can be helpful things to learn, but perhaps most discouraging to me - particularly when it comes to leadership resources written by followers of Jesus - is how little dependence upon the Holy Spirit they require. As followers of Jesus, our leadership looks like our Servant Leader more than it looks like any of the high-capacity models of our day. This is why I love Nouwen’s book - it shows what serving in the Name of Jesus could, and should look like. One of my favorite quotes:

“It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time.  All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership.  The central question is, Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word, and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?” pg 43

Christ Centered Worship - Bryan Chapell

This book has been quoted in almost every book on worship I have read. It has both informed the way I understand the corporate gathering, the historical gathering of God’s people, and what we are trying to accomplish weekly and longterm for followers of Jesus who gather to worship. A few people on staff where I serve meet weekly to ‘evaluate’ the previous weekend service. The criteria we use to evaluate our weekend service I learned from this book. One of my favorite quotes (and the guideposts we use as we reflect on our gatherings) is:

“Church leaders designed their order of worship to communicate the truths of Scripture, touch the hearts of worshipers with the implications of those truths, and then equip believers to live faithfully in the world as witnesses to those truths.” pg 21

Connecting Songs and Sermons

There is a critical 90 seconds every Sunday morning. That sliver of time between the end of the sermon, and the song. Part of our role as worship leaders is to connect what happens on a Sunday morning with all of life. To make sense of what we have heard in the Word preached, to fuel our worship in song and response. But many worship leaders struggle to feel competent and capable when it comes to speaking and communicating verbally to the congregation. If you struggle with knowing how to take advantage of those moments to hit home with the pieces of the sermon, and connect them to the songs of response, here are some suggestions:

Listen to the sermon. Be present and engaged, even taking notes of things you want to remember personally, and want to communicate to the congregation following the sermon. Don’t use the sermon as a time to check out mentally, or physically.

Read the text beforehand. Spend time in the particular Scripture passage being taught in your own time of preparation for Sunday morning. What do you see? What do you notice about who God is, what He has done, and how He has called us to live?

Speak with the preacher. Find out where the preacher is headed for the weekend. What are some of the main points? Any additional passages they will be using? How are they wanting to land the sermon? What is the one thing they hope people remember and take away from the weekend?

Connect everything to Jesus. Read the Jesus Storybook Bible. Sally Lloyd Jones does an amazing job of connecting every story to Jesus. How does the sermon/text and the morning point our lives, and lift our eyes to Christ?

Plan beforehand. After speaking with the preacher, and spending time in the text, and considering your final song(s), write down some thoughts about how you could connect the songs and sermon verbally. Practice speaking out loud to get used to hearing yourself connect and communicate in that way.

Write it down. As you continue to grow as a verbal communicator, write everything down. You can manuscript what you want to communicate so that you don’t miss any part of what you intended to say. Reading something that is written, will help to build confidence and familiarity, rather than trying to hold everything in your mind, and stumbling over your words.

Remember there is grace as we grow. Let’s not miss the opportunity to take those critical 90 seconds and point people to Jesus.