The Fold

Even the best of worship leaders has dealt with one of these problems in their church. Addressing them is not a new thing but in some ways it is a call back to a pure driven devotion to pursuing Christ in every which way we can. We as leaders need to take the blinders off and start creating meaningful, engaging environments in which church goers can worship in spirit and truth.

Here are a couple of the top mistakes worship leaders make.

Making it a show:
Quite possibly the worst thing you could do with a worship set is to make it a performance. Skin starts to crawl when you come on a Sunday only to find that the worship team has their heads so far up their butts that they can see the vocal chords flux as they sing.
A quick sign of this kind of disease, I call it a disease because explicative’s fail me, is during the worship set the leader turns to the guitar player(_insert lead musician_), which usually makes everyone else look at that person as they then proceed to slay you with their awesome chops.
What a failure to the congregation. Remember, it’s not a show and it ain’t about you.

Poor planning:
Too many churches have a split team where the pastor does his thing and the worship leader does his.
However this happened, (primarily in older churches) it has got to stop. It creates a serious disconnect of the spiritual formation of the church and whether it seems to work or not, it causes problems in the end. Most notably having to do with the establishment of cell groups or “Silos” of ministry.
Get together with your pastor or create a service planning team consisting of the head pastoral leaders and the music. Believe us, it might suck up front but in the end being a team is important and safe for a church staff.

Stressing over minor problems:
We say this because it has happened to us. We all can remember a time when we are playing a set and a guitar string breaks, or a vocalist hits a wrong note, or heaven forbid you skip something on the service order. Could we be anymore self consumed? You can tell when a team is concerned with only self or concerned with worship. There is almost a feeling of palpable tension in the audience when a worship leader makes a scene about something or even off stage chews someone out because of a minor thing. Yet again, another case of head up butt disease that is quickly solved by a good, honest friend.
If you do not have a good honest friend let us be that for you, “Get your head out of your crack, and freaking lead.”

Following the Pack:
A huge problem right now is worship leaders who lead by following what is on their radio dial or what comes in a crappy Lifeway or Collide magazine.
Or clinging to every syllable that is uttered out of St. Tomlin. While these things can be viewed through many glasses we invite you to step away from the CCM “KoolAide” and start seeking what God is trying to do within your church. Don’t be so concerned with playing things that people know, be a damn leader, show/guide/teach the church how to follow after Christ without being leashed to the fallow ground that is contemporary worship.

Apathetic vs. Authentic:
One of the best worship leaders around right now is Carlos Whitaker. Not because he is the best singer, guitar player or song writer [he is good by the way] but because his authenticity shines through so richly, almost valiantly, that you are compelled to worship God like he does.
More like a Paul statement, “Follow me as I follow Christ”. Sometimes it has to be that way, and the best litmus for moving away from apathy is complete authenticity. The kind of authenticity that is almost uncomfortable because it frames your view through honest lenses.
Worship leaders are being inundated with apathetic views on worship and lazy production, we suggest fighting this off by being honest with life and its struggles, which gives your church a launching point to seek to be in good standing with God themselves.

All in all, lead well.