I just wanted to know what anyone thought about this blog entitled "What I Wish I Could Tell Every Worship Leader."
I feel as if there is a constant struggle within me between worship that is aimed at nonbelievers and worship that is aimed at the saints. The purpose is to point both to worshipping God, but the language, look, and style can be very different depending on group.Furthermore, I haven't seen both successfully done in one setting, which is probably why a church plant is so appealing to me. I saw a worship service on my one channel of television (yes, only one channel but I do get football) last week of a very large baptist church in the area. The worship leader was obviously a very talented young guy with a contemporary style, nice voice, and nice band. The only problem was the church did not follow him. They pretty much stood there as he sang. The members looked to be individuals who fell under the "saints" category while his song presentation was more oriented towards the "new believer/unbeliever" category of "15-35 year olds." As we have visited numerous churches over the past year, I have seen this mismatch occur. There are worship leaders who want so badly to do Hillsong that they end up being two steps out in front of their church, or they are doing a worship set that is more appropriate for a church with a different vision. I gues my thought is that you can't be what your church is not. I'm not sure if I agree with this next statement or not but I will say it since it's what's on my mind, but Worship is not the place to determine the vision and direction of the church but it's a place to express the vision and mission. If you're church is serving in the community and bringing people to Christ, there will be an expression and an excitement in the worship time. If it is not, you can't create that excitement no matter how many Chris Thomlin songs you encorporate (unless you're from a charismatic tradition and then it's a part of the culture). Anyhow, check out this blog as I'd like to know your thoughts on what this pastor says.
http://shawnlovejoy.typepad.com/shawn_lovejoy/2007/08/what-i-wish-i-c.html
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i definitely understand where he's coming from. i think that he hits a lot of things right on the head. like you said, i believe that worship should be the expression of the vision and mission of the church. for me, there have been times where the image of God given by the church/pastor wasn't one i subscribed to (not big things but little ones) and i wanted to express that view of God in a song.
one of the things he said really hit home for me and i don't know where i stand on it. when i started leading worship i never felt that i was a good "leader" but i was a good worshiper. I loved worshiping God and knew that i wanted to help others worship Him too.
when i first began in paid worship ministry i felt a lot of pressure to "lead" the worship. i felt i had to say a lot and put on the performer hat and try and get a rise out of the people that were in the congregation. i really felt more like a court jester than anything else. i hated it. i never felt comfortable with it.
there came a point about 2 years in (when i added more vocalists, maybe doesn't have anything to do with it but it was the same time) when i began letting go of that mentality and spiritually. i began getting back to the roots of what i believe God called me to do: worship Him. instead of being the worship leader I am the lead worshiper (courtesy of Marvin Jones).
now that doesn't mean that i keep my eyes closed the whole time, it doesn't mean i don't say anything to the congregation, it doesn't mean i don't "lead" them. it does mean that my primary purpose in "leading" is in worshiping Him who has called us together.
these are just my thoughts and experiences and how i view my role in the worship gatherings of the Church.
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