A worship leader is expected to play multiple roles today – apart from good vocal/musical skills, he/she might have to don the hat of a prophet, pastor, theologian, motivator, leader, teacher and what not, at different times.
And yet, the essence of worship leadership rests in that all important ‘C’ word:
Communication
To the right people at the appropriate moment. So simple and yet so complex to get it right all the time. For a worship leader, the communication space can be broken down broadly into 3 zones.
1. Communication With God
Put simply, God must speak - we must respond with a listening ear and obedience. Worship leading starts with spending time with God alone, just being with him and His Word asking Him how we must worship. A song by Israel Houghton, “To Worship You I Live” expresses this so well:
Put simply, God must speak - we must respond with a listening ear and obedience. Worship leading starts with spending time with God alone, just being with him and His Word asking Him how we must worship. A song by Israel Houghton, “To Worship You I Live” expresses this so well:
Away, away from the noise
Alone with You
Away, away to hear your voice
And meet with You
Nothing else matters, my one desire is
Alone with You
Away, away to hear your voice
And meet with You
Nothing else matters, my one desire is
To worship You, I live
To worship You, I live, I live
To worship You
To worship You, I live, I live
To worship You
We need to seek the vision of our worship from the Holy Spirit and He will guide us to what is best for the congregation entrusted to us. It could be the songs we should be singing, musical style, theme or anything else.
2. Communication With Ministries
Interfacing with other members of the worship ministry – the band, the sound guy, the visuals manager – is the second zone of communication for the worship leader. This includes organizing practice sessions, praying together as a team, explaining the theme and set-list to the visuals manager, musical style to the sound guy (is it always a guy?!) etc.
Interfacing with other members of the worship ministry – the band, the sound guy, the visuals manager – is the second zone of communication for the worship leader. This includes organizing practice sessions, praying together as a team, explaining the theme and set-list to the visuals manager, musical style to the sound guy (is it always a guy?!) etc.
This also includes working with the pastor/preacher to align the worship session to the message being preached, communicating prayer requests to the intercession team, collaborating with the creative arts ministry etc.
3. Communication With Congregation
This is where it all comes together – using songs, prayers, music, scripture, skit, dance, video etc. we communicate to the people what God has spoken to us. Delivering a worship session is basically communicating God’s message to the people in a manner that they experience God and His Word, thereby inspiring them to offer their worship to Him.
This is where it all comes together – using songs, prayers, music, scripture, skit, dance, video etc. we communicate to the people what God has spoken to us. Delivering a worship session is basically communicating God’s message to the people in a manner that they experience God and His Word, thereby inspiring them to offer their worship to Him.
Effective listening, communication and people skills should therefore be important areas of focus for worship leaders to be the best that they can possibly be in the service of our awesome God and His people.
How do you keep communication flowing in your ministry?
