My first worship-leading gig wasn't even known as such. It was back in the late 70s and I was in a Christian rock band. We would play our tunes and add a few sing-a-long worship songs to the set. We didn't even know what to call those pop-style congregational songs then. The break in tradition for me was that I was in a band. Most churches in those days had only a piano and maybe an organ facing the pulpit on either side of the stage to accompany in worship. A few years before that, I played bass for an older gentleman who sang Christian country music. I was 15 and my brother Jon, the drummer, was a mere 13-years old. I remember we played in one very conservative church that didn't even allow Jon to play because drums were considered "secular." We were too young to understand.
When I began my professional career as a minister of music, it was right at the beginning of Integrity Music and their massive influence on the way the church worships today. I still had in mind, then, that leading congregational songs stemmed mainly from the hymnal. In college, after I left the road in 1985 to finish my education at the University of Mobile in Alabama, there was no such thing as a "worship leader" course of study. All of the music courses were classical in nature and were designed to train leaders to build choirs and sing from the strict musical cannon of the hymnal. We were taught to wave our hands to the beat of the music as if people took our cues seriously. The only songs chosen from the hymnal were those that already had frayed pages. There were sometimes six or seven verses in a hymn. Traditionally, only a select number of verses were ever used, typically the first two and then the last.
I remember learning the worship songs from Integrity Music and started mixing them in with the songs for Sunday night worship--a more relaxed, casual service in the week. These songs were typically more personal in nature and were usually sung as a direct conversation to God. The hymns were mostly songs about God. People seemed to enjoy the praise songs, but made it known that Sunday morning was for the hymns.
I started writing my own Christian songs back in the 70s while in the aforementioned rock band. I would visit Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa as a teenager on Saturday nights for their youth concerts. There we would sing very personal worship songs to the Lord that originated from Maranatha! Music and were led by long-haired hippie musicians. I would feel the sweetness in the congregation as the Holy Spirit seemed to fill the sanctuary. I knew that Calvary Chapel was a special place, but only later, after I moved to the South, did I realize that the rest of the country hadn't caught up with the praise music rolling out of the Jesus Movement on the West Coast. Integrity Music, ten years later, also helped usher "praise and worship" music into the conservative church, but not without resistance.
Promise Keepers, a movement founded by college football coach Bill McCartney, and dedicated to introducing men to Jesus Christ, began holding large rallies. There was always a strong worship element in these programs. The music was led by a "worship leader," and accompanied by a band. Since the events were non-denominational, and usually held in non-church settings, many pastors--who normally were hymn-singing people--found a deepened connection with God while singing these non-traditional songs. This example helped break the grip that held churches back for years. Before long, pastors encouraged their congregations to adopt the band/worship-leader approach to their weekly services. There are other music companies and spiritual movements that influenced praise music in churches today--too many to list here.
I am honored to have worked with both Integrity Music and Maranatha! Music in my career-- helping to train churches in this "new" form of congregational worship. For years I have traveled the U.S. and the world teaching praise bands how to improve their playing, and songwriters how to write better songs. I love to compose worship songs that the church sings each week. As I write this, I feel a keen sense that God has led me along this path with purpose and destiny.
These days I can call myself a worship leader and most people know what I am talking about. For the longest time there was no place in the church for guitar-slinging songwriters like me. There are currently several colleges and universities that offer worship leading as a course of study, including my alma mater, the University of Mobile. Each week, in my home church, I have a wonderful time leading God's people to the Throne of Grace. It is in this application of my skills that I find the most personal fulfillment.
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