A friend called the other day to tell me he was just offered the job of worship leader in his church. Apparently, the person who held that position for several years abruptly decided to move on. My friend is a wonderful musician and singer, a Godly man, and a great husband and father. With past worship leading experience, he seems to be a great candidate. But with this opportunity, he now faces the challenge of holding down a regular 40-hour-per-week job while handling the demanding leadership duty at church. He is hopeful but I sense his anxiety.
These days, with a tough economy and limited budgets, churches, like for-profit businesses, are having to pare down their operations to accommodate income challenges. Volunteers are being called upon more and more to fill positions once occupied by paid staff. If you are one of those people invited by the pastor to take a worship-leadership role in your church, I have a few suggestions that might help you decide. Some of the questions my friend asked me may help illustrate:
What am I getting into as a worship leader? What should I expect?
Being an effective worship leader isn't just a title. It is a great responsibility that requires character, leadership and skill.
First, it is a people related job. If you are not excited about leading, equipping, serving or generally being around people, this job isn't for you. It is a team sport!
Second, It is a spiritual role. Your positive Christian testimony and your walk with Christ are very important to the job. People are watching you on and off stage. Do you behave one way at work or home, and another way at church? As a spiritual leader, you are an extension of the pastor's pulpit and care ministries. Many of the people in your church see you at the pulpit almost as much as they see the pastor. Are you ready for such a task?
Third, it requires musical and technical abilities. It takes a basic knowledge of instrumental and vocal music, plus some performing skills. It helps if you know some technical basics like how sound, lighting and video systems work. You are essentially the "producer" of the service; you pull it all together. You don't need to be an expert, but you need to know how everything cooperates in the service. If you don't have experience in some of the areas mentioned, you need to be willing to learn.
Fourth, It is a leadership role. You prepare, come early, stay late, solve problems and usually take the blame when things go wrong, even if it's not your fault. Your professional demeanor is contagious (start on-time--end early, if possible!). Sometimes your experience in production and performance is greater than the pastor's. So, to make sure you both are on the same page, understand what the pastor expects from you as a leader. Since most of your work will be done at home and after your work day is through, you will have to manage your own work habits. Have the pastor draw up a "big picture" view of the product he/she wants from you each week.
After you know the expectations and the time it takes to complete these duties, create a weekly time budget and present it to your family or spouse. If your family can live with the arrangement, move to the next step and take the offer. If they are not on board with it, do yourself and the church a big favor and decline the offer from the pastor. If the time budget is too costly for you to fulfill as a volunteer, you may suggest some kind of financial compensation (If these things are not open for discussion with your pastor, you should think again about taking such a position. This is fair warning as to how the future of such a position will most likely end up--a disappointment).
Fifth, It is a servant role. The job of worship leader isn't to showcase our wonderful singing abilities, our incredible songwriting or smoking guitar licks. The ultimate aim should be to help facilitate a one-on-one encounter between each participant and God. If we serve with skill, excellence, love, encouragement, patience, humility and grace, it's a success!
Ask the pastor: "Is this position temporary--to fill-in for a while until you find a permanent replacement-- or do you expect me to be the leader indefinitely?" If so, you are entrusted with the responsibility of creating and maintaining this ministry from which you will operate, make decisions and grow. This will demand an incredible amount of time, made more challenging with a full-time job elsewhere. It's fair to let your pastor know your time limits. Put your job description and the time requirement in writing! In the process, you may find that it's too much for you to take on. If it all seems overwhelming in the discussion stages, pass the opportunity to someone who can better serve your pastor and the church.
Is it important to maintain weekly communication with the pastor?
Yes. It may be impossible to meet on a weekday since you have a full-time job. But it is important to establish some kind of weekly meeting (breakfast, lunch, evening) as a forum for the worship leadership. Maybe just you and the pastor need to meet weekly to discuss technical needs, staging, video use, sermon theme support, special events, set lists, stage transitions, etc.. It's also a good time to evaluate last week's service and to make changes and improvements.
I have a saying that holds true in most church situations: "You can't go faster than the pastor!" That means we as worship leaders take a subordinate role to the pastor. We are there to serve, encourage and support. They set the pace--we follow.
Where is the best place to find new music and resources?
I get this question from a lot of people. It is incredible how much time it takes just to pour over songs, CDs, music books, etc., and choose worship music. The best place I have found is on the CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International) website. Your church should consider establishing a relationship with CCLI for several reasons:
First, to procure a church copyright license. This covers over 200,000 worship songs for congregational singing. There are licenses for special events and mobile licenses for traveling ministries. The reality is, churches must pay for the rights to project words on a screen and provide lyrics in printed form.
Second, one of the greatest values in using CCLI is their SongSelect® service. This subscription service features lyrics, samples and transposable lead sheets, chord sheets and hymn/vocal sheets for churches to customize and print.
Third, CCLI lists the top 25 worship songs in the U.S. (and all over the world) right there on the website. That's a great place to find popular songs. Of course your church's music style will dictate which of those songs you can use, if any. But the top songs--the ones used the most in churches--are listed there. For more information, including permission to make photo copies, internet streaming and rehearsal CDs, visit CCLI, or another great licensing resource, my friends at Christian Copyright Solutions.
Where can I find other helps in my new position as worship leader?
I have written several installments in this series that may be relevant to your needs. If you want to learn about building a ministry from scratch, or just taking it to the next level, here are some helpful topics:
-A worship leaders spiritual task
-Wearing proper worship attire
-Building a worship band
-Leading with excellence
-Celebrating our successes
-When things go wrong in a service
-Rehearsal tips
-Preparing for rehearsal
-How to flow in worship
-Choosing team members
-Planning a service
-Creating great moments
I would love to personally help you and your church find solutions for your worship ministry. I am available for consultations. Contact me if you have any questions or comments at: jamie(at)jamieharvill.com
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