I love to study God’s Word and study doctrine and theology. I am also a worship leader. I have led worship in various ministries since 2002. I know that I haven’t really posted anything on worship but I read the following from Matt Boswell and thought it was really helpful. Matt Boswell is a worship leader and songwriter from Fort Worth, TX where he lives with his wife and three children. He is a worship pastor with Fellowship of the Parks, and a staff songwriter for Word Music Publishing.
So for all you lead worshipers out there, get a load of this…
I hear often from worship leaders and pastors alike of their desire to build a multi-team worship ministry. One that will be a life-giving ministry to their church. In many churches, if one or two musicians are missing on a single weekend, corporate worship in song may not even be possible.
I think one reason churches end up in this position is that we as worship leaders focus too much on “pulling off Sunday”, instead of building a diverse ministry that aids our churches in the worship of Jesus.
Here are some simple considerations on building a multi-team, volunteer worship ministry.
Develop a Plan
Start with where you are right now, and think about where you can grow. If you have one band now, ask yourself what would be needed to begin a second team. If you have multiple teams, think of ways that your musicians could help reproduce themselves.As the worship leader, you are responsible for recruiting and organizing the musicians in your church. Take that seriously. Learn all you can about building and leading a team with vision and how to plan accordingly.
Build the Infrastructure
Provide an infrastructure that allows for many people to serve your church through the worship ministry. Resist the tendency to only use the most elite musicians every week, never providing space for people to develop. Build and plan regular schedule that will work with your people, and provide a stable rotation.Set the Standard
Pray for and try to discover talented musicians in your church, or people on the fringe of your church. Set a realistic level of expertise that is required for serving in worship ministry, and don’t lower that level. While the most important part of leading worship is the heart, not the artistic expression, our calling is to assemble and lead a skilled group of musicians. The church platform is about ministering to God in a skilled and holistic way. The standard should be: does this point the attention and affections of people to man or to God?Be a Leader
Part of being the worship leader is being that: a leader. Leaders in the church are called to direct and also to pastor the people who follow them. With this in mind, how are you equipping the people who follow you to share vision, grow as disciples, and also in their understanding of worship?Send your People
The goal of building a worship ministry is not so you can achieve some sort of status, or to validate your calling as a leader. The goal is to build people up so you can send them out to be a blessing to the world. Intentionally create a culture not of territorialism, but of encouragement, service and love to one another.The goal of building a worship ministry is to serve Christ, your church, and the world in the most effective way possible. As God continues to build your worship ministry, I pray you will be a faithful steward of all the people and talents God entrusts to your oversight. Vital to all our “kingly” planning, it is essential for us to remember that we can plant and even water the soil, but it is God alone who makes things grow. (1 Corinthians 6:3-8) Pray that God would grow you in breadth and depth so that you might bring glory to the name of God and find tremendous joy serving Christ. Online source
