Philosophy of Leading Worship

Philosophy of Leading Worship

Lets just go straight into it without wasting anytime on unnecessary stories.. 

Integrity- Leaders are trustworthy, morally sound, pure of heart, godly in character, and vigilant to avoid bringing dispute to the Lord, the church, and their calling.

Anointing- Recognition of the Holy Spirit’s anointing, gifting, and calling are the primary qualifications for leadership in the church.

Biblical- All leadership practices, policies, and decisions are submitted to and shaped by Scripture.

Spirit-Filled- Leaders seek God for direction, expecting to hear His voice and lead the people in fulfilling His word. In other words, our strategy of ministry is led and empowered by the spirit of God. (Acts 13:1-3)

Service- Leadership authority is rooted in calling and service (Mt. 20:25-28). Titles are played down in recognition of servant-leadership function. You are what you are, not what you say you are.

Equipping- God fulfills His purposes through the whole church; a significant part of the leader’s task is to identify, train, deploy, monitor, and govern the body’s members. (Eph. 4:11-13)

Loyal- Leaders work together in committed teams, willing to listen to each other and defer to each other in order to fulfill God’s purposes. (Acts 15:1-4)

Humble- Appropriate self-disclosure, meekness, and submissiveness to God’s will close the gap between and among those in professional and lay ministry, and reflects the humility of redemption. (1Tim. 1:15-16)

Teachable- Leaders are willing to receive instruction, correction, and encouragement from others. (Prov. 9:9; 13:1)

Merciful- As recipients of God’s mercy, we freely extend it to the broken among us - especially the poor, needy, and imprisoned. (2Cor. 5:18-21)

Vision- Vision is the ability to see things that are not as becoming reality (Heb. 11:1). A vision of Christ and His kingdom is all-consuming; it gives leaders and the people they lead the meaning and purpose for which they all long. (Prov. 25:18; Acts 2:17; Heb. 2:2-3)

The Worship Leader’s Chief Duty

The duty of the worship leader is to provide the best opportunity possible for people to worship. If we have done our part in providing an excellent opportunity for the people to worship, it is then their choice to take advantage of that opportunity. It is not our responsibility or problem if they refuse to enter in. There must be a special anointing on our lives in order to create an atmosphere that is most conductive to worship, but once that opportunity to worship is there, it then becomes the people’s prerogative to avail themselves of that opportunity. The unspoken thinking of the worship leader could thus be: “I’m going to worship God. You are free to join me and the worship team as we enjoy God’s presence, but whether or not you decide to join us, we’re going to worship!” Some worship leaders get paranoid when the people do not join in. Never mind the people! If they decide not to worship, that is their business. Let them be, and join those who are willingly participating in offering up spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. We must get something straight here. In the final analysis, we are not the worship leader. The Holy Spirit is the Worship Leader - capital W, capital L! As a worship leader (small w, small l), each of us is simply a vessel through whom He operates. He alone can inspire worship in the hearts of the people. Only He can truly lead worship!

Tips from the Trenches

Lead with faith

Lead confidently

Lead with clarity

Drop religiosity

Keep your eyes open

Don’t worship for TOO long

Don’t teach too many new songs

Don’t waffle!

Watch the volume

Give the lyrics

Use variety

Communicate clearly with musicians

Commenting on the church’s need for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, A.W. Tozer, observed that if the Holy Spirit did withdraw, most of what goes on in the church would not change. Why? Because too much of what the local church does is not empowered by the Spirit of God. There may be much activity, energy and enthusiasm, but one critical element is missing - the power of the Holy Spirit. And without the Spirit, all activity is empty and vain.

Worship and service are a state of heart; musical sound is a state of art. Let’s not make the mistake of confusing them.

Qualities of someone gifted in leading worship:

1. An obvious personal joy in worshipping God.

2. An equipping orientation through which they prize what others can contribute even more than their own contribution.

3. An ability to direct people Godward with an economy of words.

4. Discernment so that fleshy contributions can be distinguished from Spirit-prompted contributions.

5. A pastoral bearing that can gently correct the way things are moving while making people feel cared for and nurtured.

6. An appreciation of the role music has in evoking praise.

An effective worship leader is one who combines the heart of a servant, with their gifts and talents to facilitate the heart felt expressions of God’s people, helping them to come to a place of intimate communion with God.

Drawing close to God to know Him, love Him and yield to Him must always be at the center of our worship experience.

God can only do through you, what He’s done to you.

You can only lead people as far as you've come.

Don’t tell congregation what to do during worship, choose songs that accomplish it.

One needs a lot of personal worship time throughout the week.

HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE WORSHIP TEAM

HOW TO DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE WORSHIP TEAM

One of the biggest questions I am often asked is: how do you develop an effective worship team. While there are many factors that play into this equation, namely the will of God, there are 5 keys things that you can do as a lead worshiper to help build a solid foundation.

Purpose & Vision –

The purpose statement and vision of the ministry must be clearly laid out. This should go without saying, but the purpose of the team must be first and foremost about the glory of God. The purpose of the group must be to glorify God and God alone. If expressing the glory of God isn't the number one purpose of the ministry, it will fail. The second purpose of the group is to provide the church with a biblical avenue, for an outward expression, to the revelation, of the glory of God.

Prayer-

 Prayer is a major ingredient that must be built into the foundation in order to have a strong and effective worship team. Prayer must begin even before the group is being created. Pray that God would send you or lead you to the right people for each position. Once the team is assembled, praying for each other must become a priority. This is a key ingredient in order to create unity among the members. When you are interceding on behalf of someone else, bringing them before God, you can’t help but develop Gods heart for them.

Discipleship –

 Guiding the members of the group to grow spiritually, and helping them fall deeper in love with God, is another key ingredient to building an effective worship team. How can someone lead in the praise of a God they don’t know? So with that thought in mind, here are three things that I personally do, and highly recommend that will help your team to grow spiritually. Encourage them to daily have a time of personal prayer, personal praise and worship and bible study. Trust me if your whole team is applying these three disciplines on a daily basis, it will make your job as a worship leader much more enjoyable, and the team more effective.

Relationship–

 Building relationships with each member of your group is an extremely important part of building an effective worship team. How do you cultivate these close relationships? By spending chunks of unhurried time together. The time I am talking about is not the time spent rehearsing, but time away from the band setting. No don’t get me wrong rehearsals are a great time for building relationships, but getting together outside the band setting is very productive for relationship building. Try to make it a goal to spend time with each member of your group. Ask them over for dinner, or for a game night. You get the idea. The important thing to remember is that relationships are built by spending time together.

Creativity–

 This last topic is something that I have been doing from the beginning if my ministry.  God has given musicians and vocalist a wonderful gift. I strive to cultivate an environment that encourages the group members to grow creatively and artistically. What do I mean by that? Well, for example when we are learning a new song, we learn the basic feel of the song, but then I tell each member to make it their own. To use their gifting and go where the Spirit is leading them. One member of one of my worship teams said it is so to be a part of my teams because I don’t force them to follow the music exactly as it is written. He enjoys the fact that he can allow his creativity to show. Now they know that I do have the final say. If I don’t feel that what they are doing is a good fit then I will tell them so. But to be quite honest, I don’t have to do it very often.