Worship Leaders

Tuesday Refocus: November 28

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“There is nothing I dread more than having my heart drawn away by earthly objects.” - George Whitefield

Our hearts are more easily tempted than we would like to admit. 

Our desires are warped and shaped by sin more than we are aware. 

Our feet run after other gods more than they keep to the narrow road.

“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” - James 1:14

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” - 1 John 2:16

How do we combat this reality? With a new heart, a transformed mind, and renewed affections. But no amount of striving or effort is sufficient to accomplish and sustain this kind of change. No, these realities are a gift of God.

”Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” - James 1:17

Father, may you accomplish what only You can accomplish in us and through us. By the power of the Spirit, for the glory of the Son, in Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Hidden Visibility

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In one of the churches of my youth, our Worship Pastor was classically trained. He could lead a band, conduct an orchestra, and direct a choir. He did not lead from an instrument, and truthfully, very rarely did he lead vocally. If you asked him, he likely would not have thought he was a brilliant vocalist. Most Sundays there was a small choir, a piano-driven band, and a handful of vocalists leading at the edge of the platform - and Steve off to the side, with a largely unoccupied microphone on a stand.

One of the things I have come to appreciate about Steve’s leadership as I have grown older is that when he led, he carried enough presence for the congregation to follow, without dominating the songs and setlist. He would give visual cues with his hands, raise his eyes, and turn toward the congregation when it was time to sing. But much of his leadership enabled the people of God to address ‘…one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord…’ (Ephesians 5:19).

When I began leading worship at our church in the United Kingdom, it took me - and them - months to learn the ebb and flow following one another. They would sing with such volume and confidence, and many times I would start to lead a song, but by the end of the song, they were leading me.

As production quality continues to increase across churches, as churches across denominational and cultural borders begin to look more alike, as backing tracks and strict time limits become more common, as congregations anticipate (or expect) their church worship teams and worship leaders look, sound, and lead like what they see online - some of the questions I am asking myself:

How can I lead with hidden visibility? Especially as someone who does lead from an instrument, who does lead vocally. I do not want the people I lead to observe my leadership as spectators but participate as worshipers. I want to lead with enough conviction, competence, and presence that people do not just think I am in my own ‘worship world.’ Nor do I want to lead as a performer or showman.

How am I encouraging increased ‘one-anothering’ in the corporate gathering? I do want to have so little margin, so little capacity for in-the-moment response that our services feel rigid. I do not want to be so visible - or so loud - that our congregation cannot hear the voices of the people of God as we sing to God or to one another.

As I think, pray, and plan for 2024 - Hidden Visibility is one of my goals.

Tuesday Refocus: November 21

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“Lord, let not our souls be busy inns that have no room for thee or thine, but quiet homes of prayer and praise, where thou mayest find fit company, Where the needful cares of life are wisely ordered and put away, And wide, sweet spaces kept for thee; where holy thoughts pass up and down and fervent longings watch and wait thy coming.” - Julian of Norwich

On the edge of this advent season, may our hearts be drawn near and plunged deeply into the weight and wonder of the coming of Christ - His first and His second. May this season be an opportunity to be increasingly present to the One who is always present with us - because He is in fact, God with us.

Father, for all the ways our attention and affection could be fractured in this season - would you unite our hearts to fear your name? In Jesus name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Reinventing The Wheel

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I try to suppress rolling my eyes when someone describes themselves as ‘a creative.’ I believe that all people are creative because all people have been made in the image of a creator God. Generally, I think when people describe themselves this way, they mean that they are artistic.

One of the things I have seen in myself, and in working with creative artists is that we can often act as though change is a virtue. We want to explore the boundaries and edges of our creativity! New and unexpected is better than same and constant. And when you marry this kind of disposition to an attractional style of church (‘We need to have a draw, a show, something impressive that grabs attention, to get non-Christians in the door so they can hear about Jesus’), we can quickly become worship leaders that feel they need to reinvent the wheel week after week.

The longer I lead worship, the more convinced I am that leading worship is about the spiritual formation of God’s people. That it is about making disciples. And as it has been said - there is no formation without repetition (I don’t remember who said this first, but I am guessing I heard this from Jon Tyson or John Mark Comer). Are we truly, discipling and forming our people if the goal of our leading is to make every Sunday a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience? I like change and I like employing creativity in the gathering. But I hope the aim and purpose driving those decisions is a deeper formation of the people of God, not just a cool and creative experience. Churches, cultures, leaders, and people have different styles, goals, and callings. There is not one particular way of serving the Lord which is morally superior. But like all things we are in danger of drifting away from our first love - especially if we do not acknowledge the ease with which we can drift.

Advent Preparation

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We are only a few weeks away from the Advent season. One of the elements that has helped mark out this time as special for me in the last few years has been writing an Advent devotional. Collecting these quotes, prayers, Scripture, and writings helps set my attention and affection on the coming of Christ during a particularly busy season in the life of the Church.

If you are looking for something for you, your church, or your team, here are links to the last several years. I’ll also be posting a new Advent devotional in the weeks ahead.

If you’re looking for some practical resources for worship leaders, worship teams, or church here are some posts from previous years:

Tuesday Refocus: November 7

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“Glory to the Father who created us; glory to the Son who redeemed us; Glory to the Spirit who sanctifies us; glory to the most high and undivided Trinity, whose work is inseparable, whose kingdom abides, world without end. Amen.” - Augustine

We created beings have no glory of our own in which to boast. 

No saving work of our own in which to trust.

No ability of our own to grow up into godliness.

And what a comforting reality that should be!

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

    for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” - Psalm 115:1

Father, forgive our attempts at earning, achieving, or possessing our own glory. All glory belongs to You, and You alone. Amen.

Amen,

AB

The First Work

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Ready or not, Sunday is coming.

Whether you lead worship as a volunteer, bi-vocationally, or have been freed up to lead worship full-time, there are countless practical details that need to be handled before a Sunday service. I tend to be task-driven, so I find powering through a checklist quite satisfying. In fact, I even created a worship leader checklist you can download for free here. Yes, there are many things to do: set lists to build, teams to schedule, lyrics and sound to set up, planning meetings, follow up, and communication. But the longer I lead worship, the more I begin to be convinced that my first work in leading worship is not the tasks, but to become a person of prayer.

Be before do.

Be a worshiper before leading sung worship.

Be present with and to the Lord.

Serve in the secret place before a public space.

We serve out of who we are. We serve out of who we are becoming. In every area, our lives can be ruled by the tyranny of the urgent. How do we continue to choose the good portion even when our time is limited and our tasks are many?

My hope is that prayer increasingly feels more like an anchor instead of a detour to my week, my life, and my ministry responsibilities. I hope that for you as well.

21 Years of Leading

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The first time I led corporate sung worship, it was a surprise.

This Fall I have been leading worship for 21 years. In 1,100 weeks of leading worship very rarely has there been a single week where I have not led sung worship at least once. It is wild to look back on that time and see how much has changed, and how much of the foundation upon which those early days were built remains unchanged.

It was Sunday night Bible study with our high school youth group. That morning I had agreed to play keys during worship that evening, but as we drove to church, I realized that the main worship leader was out of town that day. I called my youth pastor on my mom’s cell phone and asked, “Did you want me just to play tonight, or am I leading tonight?” “No, leading!” We turned the car around to get the guitar I had had for more than a year but had only seriously been playing for three months.

My mom helped me build a liturgy and set list with the handful of chords I could confidently play, and I recruited two other freshmen to play keys and sing. We practiced for an hour and led worship that evening for the first time. No microphones, no sound system, and lyrics on an overhead projector against the wall. I did not even have a strap for my guitar. I stood with one foot up on a chair - like Captain Morgan - and my guitar balanced across my leg.

There is often a humility devoid of pretense as we begin something new. There is a simplicity and innocence that mark those experiences that can be difficult to locate again as we grow and mature as people, as leaders, in our theology, and in our competence.

I heard Christy Nockels say that sometimes when she is leading worship a vision of her seven-year-old self flashes into her mind, and she sees herself as a child once again in that moment leading the crowd or congregation in worship. We should pursue excellence, we should seek to honor God and serve His people well with the gifts He has entrusted to us. But I am also learning that growth and maturity look like fighting against hardness of heart and opening ourselves to humility and vulnerability in our serving.

May the reminders of your own experience be ebeneezers of God’s kindness and faithfulness to you. Thus far the Lord has helped you.

Sound Standards

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I went to school for Recording Arts and Music Business. I’ve led worship for a long time, but I am not a great sound person. But one of the things I have realized as a worship leader is that sound falls under my umbrella of responsibility, whether I am serving with a highly-trained, paid sound person, or an untrained volunteer, I cannot be hands-off with sound. Sound is critical to a service.

Like many things, sound has best practices: how to set up a system, the levels of volume needed in a space, and the kinds of equipment needed for a specific context. There are a myriad of resources available online for technical aspects of running sound that I have found helpful. Besides general training and knowledge of a particular soundboard, I have found the most helpful aspect of equipping sound people is setting sound standards.

Setting up sound standards feels like trying to help people live by the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. Because sound is as artistic as it is technical, I want to make space for our sound guys to bring a level of artistry to their craft, knowing that our musicians rotate and therefore the sound is produced with in itself never be ‘standard.’ Sound standards also allow space for a specific congregation and the direction of the church as a whole. A few of my sound standards:

I want the volume loud enough that people need to sing out to be able to hear themselves sing, but not so loud they cannot hear one another.

I want the vocalist leading a song to be the loudest in the mix.

I want the instruments to be defined, but well-balanced without one being louder than any other through the entirety of a set.

The instrument driving a song needs to be what is heard most clearly.

I want the sound to serve the song and the people, that might mean it needs to be louder or quieter depending on the tone of the service, the size, and make-up of the band, or the size of the congregation.

We are aiming for consistency over individuality when it comes to the mix.

Whether on a platform or behind a soundboard, we are on the same team. One of the ways I have learned to push toward unity, and toward collaboration has been spending time with a sound person before rehearsal to walk through the order of service, the dynamics I am hoping to create, who is on the team, and any pieces I would like them to be aware of moving into the service.

What would you add?

Postures in Worship

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Shout

Sing

Silence

Fall down

Lift hands

Kneel

Dance

These are just some of the physical postures of worship we see throughout Scripture. But often it is not Scripture, but denominational affiliation or culture (family, church, city, country) that carries a greater influence on our physical posture during the gathering.

Let me be clear: our outward posture does not (always) equal inward posture of heart. And very clearly in Scripture, we see wild, exuberant postures of worship, as well as stillness, and awe. Too often as worship leaders, we use external signs as validation that we have done our jobs. Some people are naturally expressive, and others are naturally reserved. Certainly, there are days, songs, seasons, and times when our congregations respond in ways that we would not expect - in expression, volume, general engagement, and enthusiasm. Do we encourage silence without feeling the need to fill with pads, or piano, as much as we encourage people to sing out and raise their hands? Physical posture is not the sole indicator of true worship, but it may be a window into the hearts, lives, and cultures of our community.

How can you encourage a fuller understanding and expression of postures of worship in your gathering? How might you invite people to move out of their comfort zone (whether toward silence, or expression) not in response to the worship leader, but in response to God?

Teaching Concepts

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So many things seem normal and common when they are familiar. If you have grown up in church, or at least been in a church long enough to sense the rhythms and liturgy, to use context clues with language and word choice, you likely know this to be true. There are so many aspects to the gathering of the local church that might seem confusing if you have no context.

Why do we sing?

Why do we lift our hands?

Who leads us into God’s presence?

Why should we gather with the people of God?

Why do we sing and celebrate so much about the cross and blood of Christ?

Worship leaders are more than musicians or vocalists, we are theologians, and teachers. Sometimes I wonder if worship leaders do not lean into the responsibility to teach our people why these things matter, because we do not understand why these things matter. But everything becomes more meaningful when you know the story, the history, the intention, and the direction behind what is happening and why.

We cannot force people to worship rightly. We cannot lead well enough, or competently enough to will someone to worship. But we can shepherd people’s attention and affection toward Christ by teaching the truth in our songs, in our transitions, in our prayers, and in our liturgical choices. We can work to provide the context to make sense of raised hands, the purpose of singing, the power of the gathered people, and the only hope that is ours through Christ.

For a worship leader, teaching does not (and perhaps, nor should it) look like spending 20-45 minutes walking through a text of Scripture. But maybe it does look like spending 20-45 seconds thoughtfully articulating the concept behind a song, the definition of words, or a deeper theological truth that through the power of the Holy Spirit could open up the hearts and minds of our people to respond in wholehearted worship, wonder and praise.

Connecting the Gathering

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I live and serve in the South. Cultural Christianity is alive and well in the Bible Belt. Having the external appearance of faith without a heart that grasps and truly responds to the Gospel is my short-hand description of cultural Christianity. It has the external appearance of goodness, or morality with a compartmentalized heart and understanding of the way our faith should influence and impact everything about the life of a believer:

Our desires and affections.

The way we view and spend our money.

Our thoughts and actions.

The words we speak, and the way we use social media.

Our interactions with our family, our neighbors, and our enemies.

Our engagement within our communities and around the world.

What we treasure, and what we reject.

To some extent, this is not a unique reality for Americans living in the South. Every human lives a compartmentalized life. We divide ourselves across work, family, friends, free time, money, and faith. But if we are called to be and make disciples, that is a call that must pervade every area and aspect of our lives.

When I started to see worship leading as a place of discipleship, I began to see the gaps between what we do on a Sunday, and how we live the rest of the week.

Sunday worship is the overflow of Monday through Saturday worship.

Sunday worship fuels and propels the people of God to live as worshipers throughout the week.

In gathering with the people of God are reminded that God is much bigger than we are, that we are never alone, and we encourage one another to live as followers of Christ.

In gathering with the people of God we are reminded of our dependence upon God and the gift of His Body.

In gathering with the people of God our attention and affection are refocused around the person and work of Christ rather than the desires of the flesh or the culture.

May our lives, and the lives of those we lead look increasingly less compartmentalized.

Other posts that might be of interest:

All of Life Worship.

How to respond to Current Events.

Growing as a Communicator

Connecting Songs and Sermons