3 Things I Wish a Worship Leader Would Have Taught Me Long Ago

2010 December 17

by Tyler

A while back I had coffee with a younger (think 20 years old) worship leader that I know through family. He was looking for a little help and direction as he leads students usually once a week.

As I spent some time thinking through what to share, I thought of things I wish an older worship leader would have taught me when I was a younger worship leader. Certainly I haven’t figured it all out, but I think I’ve learned a few things over the last 10 years of consistently leading worship for youth and adults. Here’s 3 things I’ve learned that I wish an older worship leader would have taught me long ago:

Create a culture of worship through authentic sharing, exhortation, and example. I hear all the time how this church and that church has an amazing “culture of worship.” It’s definitely an overused phrase. And even though I don’t like this idea of a culture of worship, I do think a worship leader has great effect on how their congregation worships when they gather. Authentic sharing helps make that person on stage become a real person. Leading by example means showing what worshiping during a church gathering looks like and what being a worshiper of Christ looks like outside of church.
Plan ahead. I’ve found that I lead most effectively usually when I have planned ahead more than normal. Any worship leader can put together a great music set and get music to the band/vocals, but very few worship leaders think through how they want to transition between songs and how they want to intro the gathering. It’s those things that allow you to lead well in the moment instead of stumbling over your thoughts.
Be intentional. My biggest pet peeve is pointless dead space in between songs at church. The worship leader stares at the band as they fumble over their music trying to start the next song and the congregation usually stands wondering what is going on. I do my very best to avoid those moments because they lack intentionality. As a younger worship leader I rarely thought through the flow of a music set and rarely was intentional with the moments outside of a song that I had control over.

There’s a lot of worship leaders who read this blog. I’d love to hear what advice you would give a younger worship leader.

Filed under: worship Tags: worship

Colin Kuskie

As a service director, one of the things that I really appreciate about your leadership is that you’re always on top of things. Songs are mapped out, lyrics are checked. You know what you want to do, and why. It makes my job and the job of the rest of the team much easier.
http://www.contentunderpressure.net Josh

My advice would be to serve your team. Serve the other musicians and vocalists. Know them. Serve the folks running the sound board. Invest as much as possible in relationships. You’ll be more like Christ, which I’m sure will help with your ability to lead.
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

I’ll always take a compliment, thanks Colin!
http://www.manofdepravity.com Tyler

I guess my hope would be (and why I left it off the list) that someone who desires to be a worship leader first desires to serve. It should come with the territory. With that said, definitely agree with you.
http://www.contentunderpressure.net Josh

I agree as well….I just added it because I was heavily mentored on what it mean to worship and serving was a big one. I’ve seen so many young worship leaders recruited on talent alone that I wonder if they have that servant attitude or a desire to be up front.
Kathy

Serving is definitely a huge part. We are so blessed @ Sunset to have worship leaders with servant hearts (who are also incredibly talented). That’s one of the things I love most about serving them on the tech team!
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Zach Gonzales

Tyler great stuff here.

A couple of things that have stuck with me from mentoring under the guidance of our worship director. Start with personal prayer time(lots of it), and do not take the stage until you can do it from your couch. In other words the time put into personal prayer and “couch” worship are keys to leading worship from your heart.