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Most Annoying Worship Leader habits | The Fine Fifteen
My wife and I got into this funny conversation the other day, discussing our biggest hangups when people lead worship. At this point we’ve seen hundreds of worship leaders and I feel we have a fairly large sample size. Of course it devolved into fits of laughter as we tried to imitate what it is they do in the middle of a Chick-fil-A, but I digress.
So let it be known…we’re not trying to hate on worship pastors, there are a lot of great ones out there who do a fantastic job. But we all have room for improvement, right? This is a SUBJECTIVE list from TWO PEOPLE (my wife and I) of things worship pastors do that drive us crazy. Consider this our list of “worship leader pet peeves.” It is entirely possible you will think we are dark, twisted, cynical people after reading this. Which is fine. This is all in good fun. 
Enjoy.
- Nonsensical words. This isn’t so much the worship leader as the songs the worship leader selects. Call me crazy, but I can’t stand it when words that don’t really mean anything or add anything to the song are used for…well, for lack of a better term…space fillers. It pains me to same this, too, as one of my favorite David Crowder songs is way guilty of this (“O Praise Him”). Would you care for a couple of examples? I’d be happy to supply them:
+ Lalalalalala!
+whoaaaaa!
+Whoop! Whoop!
+Oooaaah! Oooaaah! - When they don’t lead (a mic is not for listening). Now this is a delicate one because there are some really cool moments when the worship leader steps away from the mic, everyone is singing loudly and in sync and with one, unified voice. Awesome. Love it. It’s a powerful reminder that we are all worshipping God together. But those positive moments are few and far between. Rather, more often, we get the awkward ones where they stand back from the mic, kind of lift their head to the crowd, waiting for them to explode with one voice…and it’s freaking awkward because we have no idea where they’re going next. And they do this over and over again, increasing the awkwardness with each passing moment. We’re dazed and confused and need them to lead us where the song is going…because…you know…they are the worship LEADER.
- Singing in keys no one else can sing in. Hate on Chris Tomlin all you want, but I’ve always liked when he says he writes songs that EVERYONE can sing along to. I like that. I like knowing that even though my voice sounds like a screeching cat with a bad hangover I can still sing loud and proud without being too far off. I don’t need someone with a Bono-esque voice, hitting notes in keys only 23 people in the WORLD can hit. This is about US singing to God TOGETHER. Not you showing us how awesome your voice is above and beyond ours. You want to do that, try out for American Idol.
- Singing the refrain 8000 times in a row. I feel like this is going to be one that might be a bit polarizing for some people. Now I’m actually completely fine with singing a refrain or a line over and over and over. There is a large and long tradition within the Christian tradition of doing that. We find meditative singing in the Psalms and we have the emergence of Taize in the 20th Century…so good stuff happening with that. What I’m specifically referring to is you get this sense that the worship leader is feeling SOMETHING and he’s certainly not moving off that refrain until everyone else in the room feels the exact same thing or the Holy Spirit blows the roof off the place. I think what bothers me the most is that it seems to focus on me feeling something or the worship experience is off and often times, it localizes itself in this one refrain. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely believe there are very real, visceral experiences of the Holy Spirit. But I don’t believe that somehow we have “failed” at worship if we don’t have those experiences. The Psalms give us a language where we sense God right next to us, as if we could burst, and language for when he feels cold, distant and far away. The point is that we worship regardless of what we feel. To me, this is Idolatry of Experience. We don’t worship to experience something; we worship because God deserves to be worshipped. Sometimes we experience something, sometimes we don’t. To me, it seems like singing “We want to feel you here tonight” a million times in a row is more about feeling something than it is about worshipping. If that’s the case, it’s become about us and not about God. Where I’m from, we call that idolatry. (Yeah, yeah, I know. It could be me making a mountain out of a mole hill on this one. But I really do think there’s something about this one)
- Butchering a good song for the sake of being different. We’ve all experienced this one, haven’t we? The worship leader, always wanting to be a “real musician,” takes the song that we all know and love and changes something in it pretty dramatically. We’re getting ready to hit the refrain or the bridge or the chorus and then…it’s different and the whole congregation starts to sing it the way we know while the leader is off in Different-ville. Then you’re left looking at your neighbor hoping he didn’t catch you missing it as badly as you did. Look, I’m all for changing up a song, making the arrangement different, but do it carefully and thoughtfully. Don’t make us feel like idiots!
- Scared to death of silence. Believe it or not, silence is OK in a worship service. Just because you’ve got a guitar/piano and you’re not singing doesn’t mean you have to fill it with some kind of noise. For thousands of years practicing Christians have skillfully used silence within the worship service. We could probably due for a bit more of that.
- Unintelligent phrasing. I’m perfectly aware that rock stars, riffing with their beautiful voices, throw in the occasional “Whoooaa!” or “MMhhmmm…” or some other random word or phrase as they head into the next verse or coming off the chorus. But it’s just kind of weird in worship when you’re singing some amazing vocal riff that no one else is. It makes us think it’s more about your voice than about us singing to God together.
- Talky talky. Either before or after you’re done singing, chances are the pastor is going to get up and talk for between 20-40 minutes. That’s good. We like that. But we don’t also need you to give a mini-sermon every time you get in front of a mic. Now I don’t mind it every once in a while. But for the love of Saint Pete…every week?!
- Spent 3 hours getting ready for how they look. Call me cynical or maybe I’m just jealous of how pretty they are, but when you get up in front of a group of people to lead worship and it looks like it took you more time getting ready than Alice Cooper or KISS for worship, it makes me think you should have spent a few more hours practicing or praying and a little less time primping. It’s great that you’re hip and cool and all the indie kids can relate. But come on. We all know you didn’t really roll out of bed looking like that. You’re not a rock star, the only people that dress like that are rock stars. So when you dress like that, it makes me think you want to be a rock star, not a person leading us to the throne of heaven. Like I said…I can be quite cynical about these things.
- Unbalanced song selections. This one drives me crazy. Here’s the truth of the matter: In scripture, we see different perspectives of God revealed. We see him described as the jealous lover as well as the conquering victor. In David we see the tender worshipper and the bloodthirsty warrior…and he was a man who was after God’s own heart. So at some point we have to see that there is tension in who God is, that there are paradoxical things in his nature. What drives me crazy is a worship leader who regularly and almost exclusively focuses on ONE PART of God’s nature. When this happens, it tends to devolve into the extremes of it…so it’s either all “Prom Songs for Jesus” that sound half-way pornographic (example of a real lyric to a song: “I want to feel you inside me”) or a bloodthirsty God with no compassion, mercy or love in his heart. There is a lover and Father, as well as a warrior. Both need to be held in tension by the worship leader. I know it’s not easy. No one said leading worship was going to be easy.
- Too many new songs. Rookie mistake. Perhaps it’s been a particularly good season for worship albums and you’re itching to share the new songs you’ve learned. That’s great. Just don’t do it all at once. Nothing is worse than a worship set where everyone is looking around wondering if anyone else knows any of the songs…for three straight songs. It’s fine to learn new songs…but not all at one time.
- Obsessed with ONE band. You’re probably picking up that many of our pet peeves have to do with song selection and we’re back at it again. Look, I like Hillsong United as much as the next guy, but let’s be honest: They release a CD every year and 2/3rds of every album is utter rubbish. It’s great that you like them, but mix it up a little and put in different bands, different genres (or…GASP!…write something original). Be creative! It doesn’t have to sound like some mash-up of U2 and Coldplay all the time.
- Selfish worship leader (the crowd is there to make them feel good). This one is particularly annoying. The worship leader makes comments about how much the crowd is into it. They get frustrated with the crowd if they aren’t giving it “there all” or give metaphorical pats on the back if they really gave it all they had. It’s as if they are wrestling with their identity right there in front of us! Crowd doesn’t participate well=I feel bad about myself. Crowd participates well=God must particularly love me tonight as I have truly ushered his people into his presence.
- Mash-up hymns only. We’ve all seen this. A well-known chorus from an old hymn thrown on the back of a modern worship song. Classic example: How Great is our God/How Great thou Art. Which is all fine and good. I personally love when that happens. But is that the only time we’re going to sing hymns? Can’t we at least throw in a whole hymn (or two!) per Sunday? Here’s my thing with this: Hymns have lasted for hundreds/thousands of years for a reason. What Passion/Hillsong/Jesus Culture/David Crowder Band song do you think people are going to still be singing in 250 years?!?! Probably not many.
- (a) Terrible theology. Not a lot to say here. Call me crazy, but generally speaking, I want someone leading worship who knows enough theology to stay within Christian orthodoxy and isn’t saying something heretical (am I really being so terribly unreasonable here?!). And I know they don’t necessarily mean it/know any better…but for better or worse they are teaching people every time they say something. I’ve seen this happen in small slips (“Father, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins”) to mid-major stuff (“God, thank you so much for writing the Bible and giving it to us”) straight to full-on heresy where they don’t know any better (“God, we know that you are everything in this world…the air we breathe, the dirt we walk on, the food we eat. You’re everything”). We know you mean well, but for some of these, people got kicked out of the early church for believing this (see Pelagius for the last one). I’m not saying you need a seminary education, but solid theology is a must!
15(b) All-crowd instruction. Another one people might have issues with (my wife vehemently disagrees with me on this one, so if you disagree with me, know you’re not alone!). I really hate when worship leaders tell EVERYONE in the crowd to respond a certain way.
- Everyone, raise your hands.
- Everyone, kneel down by your seats.
- Everyone, cry out to God.
- Everyone, put 3 grand in the offering plate (just kidding)Sometimes I don’t want to do what you’re suggesting, not because I’m being belligerent or rebellious but because I’ve got something else I’m responding to as the Lord is speaking to me or as I’m engaged in worship. But now, if I respond to what you’re telling me to do, I feel inauthentic, and if I don’t, I feel like I’m going to be shipped off to misfit island with all the other disobedient sheep.
So what do you think? Too cynical? Right about a few? Way off the mark? Any you would add?
After-post disclaimer: This post has received quite a bit of traffic and we’ve had some GREAT discussion in the comment section, which you can read below. A few things I’d like to add on:
- Know that the post was written to be over-the-top to provoke a response. That was intentional.
- It isn’t meant to go after worship leaders. In fact, my best friend is a worship leader and a phenomenal one at that who does a few things on this list and whose comment to this post would be, “Doug, you’re an idiot” and then laugh at me.
- While meant to be funny, good humor always has at least a hint of truth to it. The real purpose was to get at the truth that might be at work here. Sure, there are technical things on this list (sing in a key we can all sing in) that are just easy ways to improve and help us worship as a congregation in an easier manner. But what I really wanted to get at was how IDENTITY (and the wrestling with) is playing out in so many of these things. What I did for many of these is ascribe motivations to the worship leader (which I’ve heard many worship leaders talk about) which all come back to identity. Not everyone is wrestling with that and so the reason they are doing something could be coming from a completely authentic place. Is it possible to sing a refrain 8000 times and it be 100% fine? Of course! But I’ve seen many leaders do it, not because they were necessarily leading God’s people in worship but because they were wrestling with something in themselves from a darker place.
- This post was written in extremes to get at that identity piece, which isn’t playing out for every worship leader, but is certainly playing out for many. When you consider that, more and more, worship leaders are in their 20′s, they are ripe to have those identity issues bleed into the way they lead. Add to this the fact that we have a discipleship crisis happening in the United States that undoubtedly includes many worship leaders, and we have some serious issues we’re contending with.
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84 Responses to Most Annoying Worship Leader habits | The Fine Fifteen
Doug Paul
Doug Paul serves as the Director of Content at 3DM, where he works alongside Mike Breen developing books, blogs, webinars, whitepapers and other content initiatives. Before moving to Pawleys Island, SC, he served as a Teaching Pastor and Director of Multi-Site at a church in Richmond, VA. He went on to plant a church using Missional Communities and Huddles while participating in 3DMs first Learning Community.
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I heard a great line the other day: “Words from a worship leader are like flat tires. You get four of them and you aint going nowhere!”
Came across your blog from your relevant magazine comment. I have to say that agree with you 100% on your assessments. Number 10 seems to be the one I agree with and even go beyond what your thoughts are here. You did point out the almost erotic phrasing used in some worship songs and you are definitely onto something there. I’ll take it just a step further and say that once Jesus has been made out to be my bearded girlfriend, I check out. There are plenty of ways to sing about the Love of Christ without making Him out to be a doting girlfriend/boyfriend. Don’t even get me started on “heaven meeting earth like a sloppy wet kiss”…..ahhhhhhhhhhh!
“Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss”. That line is not literal, nor is the next “My heart turns violently inside of my chest”. These are metaphoric phrases. The entire song is about how the love of God is not a worldly love. He loves us no matter what, when we as the world love for circumstance. He loves us in the bad times when things aren’t all clean and perfect, and He loves us when we might not love Him like we should.
Literal, metaphoric, symbolic….it doesn’t really matter what it is. IMHO, its too much for a corporate worship setting. It’s the last image I want in my mind when worshiping my Savior. But, hey, that’s just me. Believe me, I completely understand what the guy is trying to portray in the song. I’m just not a huge fan of the vocabulary in which he uses to portray it. God Bless.
How He Loves wasn’t even written as a conventional worship song for congregations, it just sort of “became” that in the past few years.
And “Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss” may be metaphorical, but it’s definitely using “worldly love” to help us understand where the author’s coming from. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it’s worldly things that help us understand God a little bit better.
The Bible is filled with these kinds of anthropomorphisms!
Yep - there’s a whole other verse that isn’t even in the worship version because the lyrics talk about his friend who died by name, which was the inspiration for the song originally.
“Well, I thought about You the day Steven died,
And You met me between my breaking.
I know that I still love You, God, despite the agony.
…They want to tell me You’re cruel,
But if Stephen could sing, he’d say it’s not true, cause…”
Sloppy wet kiss?!? Okay… that WOULD be gross. Good thing the lyrics are “heaven meets earth like an UNFORSEEN kiss” . MUCH more beautiful!!
The “sloppy wet kiss” is a reference to the original lyric penned by John Mark Macmillan … David Crowder changed it to “unforeseen kiss” to make it more accessible for most church congregations.
So yeah … the actual lyrics are “sloppy wet kiss.”
Ashley, the lyrics of the original song by Jesus Culture are, “sloppy wet kiss”…You have only heard the retread David Crowder version in which he changed it to “Unforseen Kiss”.
You see, when heaven came down in the form of God incarnate (Jesus) it was like a “sloppy wet kiss”! His coming was not “unforseen” or by surprise. A kiss like that doesnt just come upon you in a fanciful manner, it is when two are in passionate love and the one cannot show it any other way. When we say “heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss” what we are saying is that Jesus coming to earth was a surprise and that God was not preping the world for the coming of the Lord. We need to sing smart and passion filled songs, not just what feels right for the politically correct congregation.
For goodness sakes….in John Mark McMillan’s own words…
http://johnmarkmcmillan.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-he-loves-david-crowder-and-sloppy.html
And I personally love the original words.
This is hilarious. (I would be laughing harder if I haven’t done almost all of these)
How about…
6b) When we put every single song in the same key for the sake of fluid transitions, but resulting in the setlist sounding like a single 45-minute song.
Ah, these are good. You hit all the good ones!
I’m a bass player in our worship band and I try to stay way in the back and in the dark. I would add that my biggest pet peeve would be when another member of the worship team draws attention to themselves. You might think this has nothing to do with a list about the “worship leader”, but it is the leader’s responsibility to make sure the rest of the team is not distracting or trying to rob God of His glory. I love to see the musicians worshipping God with all they have using their talents to glorify Him, and hate it when they draw attention to themselves.
Ryan, I get that as well. I play guitar in our worship band, so I understand that perspective, but, sometimes, you just feel it. You know what I mean I am sure. I remember a quote from “Chariots of Fire” when one of the runners stated that he felt God’s joy when he ran. I think of this often, and it strikes me as so true when I am playing. Its not a reflection of my ability, but a reflection of the nature of worship with instruments. How do you balance not trying to draw attention to yourself but still, feeling His Joy in the music, a joy that often manifests in real, physical response?
This is a fantastic question, Rob. And LOVE the “Chariots of Fire” reference. Great perspective to bring to this conversation.
I agree with nearly every word of this post. (Found it linked to the Relevant article from today.) But here’s my question: How do we, non-staff members of a church, give feedback about these things without being “that person” who always gives unsolicited feedback? I go to a rather large church and recently heard an associate pastor say something downright alarming during the transition from worship to announcements and I didn’t know what to do other than stare at my husband. Any thoughts?
Laura, that’s a GREAT question. Before planting this church I was on staff at a megachurch, so i feel like I can speak from “inside” the system and how to approach it. My thought would be to find someone on staff that you have some relational equity with, who you trust, who you feel will get your heart and your concern…and someone you believe will actually do something about it. Remember, the truth is meant to set people free, but we have to give/receive it in a way that will allow that. Doing so in the context of relationship is probably the best way to go about it. GREAT question.
Thanks, Doug! That helps. I know that the worship leader is usually bombarded with negative criticism instead of encouragement, and I don’t want to feed into that. But, I do believe that sometimes the staff is too close (mentally and organizationally) to see what we’re seeing as the congregation.
I’ll add one. It kind of conflates with #8 above (talky talky), but when the Leader reaches a certain point in the song (usually right before the key change or bridge) and says “This is MY favorite part. Sing it out loud.” As if we are singing out loud because it is the leaders favorite. Who cares if the leader has a favorite part? Shut up and recognize the corporate nature of the body together. It drives me nuts, especially when it happens every week.
One more. I’m at a small church. Let’s just note that not everybody has been gifted with singing well. Just the other day I had a woman turn around and stare at me because I was so off key. But I recognize that my voice should not have a microphone. Yet, there are still some who love God so much that they feel they need a mic so they their love can be heard. But they can’t sing! And of course, the worship leader feels awkward telling someone in the church that their gifts may be something other than singing. Cause let’s face it…it’s just too mean.
Eric, yes! That’s a classic move. Or to piggyback off of yours, when a leader stops the momentum of the song to share a poem, insight, or thought. I think this can be good to do when the person is being led rightly, but I’ve seen this after every verse! Sometimes I just want to sing…
Yeah, a bit too cynical. I agree on a lot of points, like accurate theology and too many new songs at once. But just like Worship leaders can be guilty of judging the crowd’s hearts based on their response, I feel like you’re judging the worship leader based on their appearance and probable lack of training. Sure they don’t need to go to seminary, but churches do need to make sure that their worship leaders are learned in scripture, are solid theologically, and are gifted musically. If they’re not it’s probably a lack of qualified leaders, and the church may not have the funds or the gifted people to fill the position. I’m just saying that with all the frustration and annoyance with lousy WLs, have some grace. Most of them are sacrificing a lot to serve. And if a WL wants to look good while they’re leading, let them. It’s probably less distracting than if they went up their with no make up, unkept hair, and out dated clothes.
Good words, Megan. I imagine there is a good medium between what I’m expressing and what their motivations are. I think one of the downfalls of a blog post like this (and I’m speaking as the writer of it) is that it presupposes I know their motivations. I certainly don’t and you are right, we should be abundant in grace!
Too Funny! I’d say you’re right on. These describe countless “worship leaders” out there today.
I lead music for a contemporary service and once had a musician leave because I did not do a song in a “worshipful enough” tempo, whatever that means…
Check, check, check…
done all of those.
Theology is a good touch/point. Glad to read your perspective.
How about the manipulation? The preacher offers an altar call. The worship leader plays for a bit. No one comes up. So the worship leader lays on the sap. Plays a song that is full of emotion…and does it over and over with much fist pumping and closed eyes. Then he/she prays for that one person that he/she KNOWS is in the congregation that needs the Lord NOW.
They keep that up until someone comes forward, sobbing and repenting.
This is usually a tactic employed at summer camps and music festivals.
Susie, the irony being that I’m at a summer camp helping a good friend out for the week (teens are a funny bunch). Fortunately, the worship leader doesn’t do many of these things (or the manipulation one especially). That one really creeps me out.
This was a great list. Very thorough. And I am totally with you . . . until the last one. I think it is totally appropriate for worship leaders to lead the whole congregation in a response. Now, they shouldn’t do it all the time but I think there is definitely a place for it. We are a community after all.
But seriously, this was a great list. I have noticed many of these things (and I am a worship leader who is guilty of several) in my experiences. Thanks for sharing!
JBen, thanks for stopping by my blog! My wife is TOTALLY on your side with the collective response…she vehemently disagrees with me. Feel like that is one of the ones that is quite subjective.
Haha! This hits home on a lot of cliche patterns we worship leaders fall into. Lazo, I’m with you…I am definitely a multiple offender!
One of my pet peeves is the “I need to recap everything the pastor just said before we sing this next song” worship leader (a #8-er)…We aren’t sports commentators! Again in this situation, silence is golden! We can be a funny group of people!
As a worship leader I completely agree with 3, 6, 9, 13, 15.
On the other ones I totally know what you mean, and I agree with you, but it sounds like your just complaining.
I don’t mean to be attacking, but one of the biggest problems with the American church today is that it has become about what is pleasing and comfortable to us. We go to church to critique. We complain when the message doesn’t speak to us, and when something in the worship throws us out of our “zone”. Like its country, the church in America is full of consumers. Always desiring to be fed. Always seeking to get their fill. And if they don’t get their spiritual fix on a sunday, well then the pastors didn’t do their job.
I know this article means to harmless fun, yet truth. And again, I would agree with many of the points. But I just feel like it reflects the self serving, self gratifying mentality that the majority of churchgoers in america feel.
Please please call me out if I am wrong in anyway, or misunderstood in anyway. But this article is just hard to swallow when it is an absolute fact that we have brothers and sisters in christ throughout the world, literally dying to sing a refrain to their savior 8000 times in a row. They would love to learn a hundred new songs. They would risk being thrown in prison to sing an unbalanced song selection, so long as it is worship to Jesus.
Once again I don’t mean to offend or attack, these are just the thoughts that came to mind after reading the article.
James, thanks for stopping by the blog and leaving such a thoughtful response. Appreciate the dialogue and the spirit with which you’re reflecting back the post to me (the writer). A couple of things I’d probably point out:
1) The post was written to be over the top to evoke responses like yours. Yes, it was meant to be funny, but it was also written to stir discussion and so people would disagree. SO…I’m happy you’ve disagreed! Particularly whenever you bring up consumerism and how we have to fight through it.
2) I think the big thing to notice in how I wrote the post is that it speaks to annoying habits and I’m PRETENDING to know the motivations lying behind the habits. For instance, singing the refrain 8000 times…I commented as to what the motivations were of the worship leader. Now I could be completely wrong about the motivations. As you rightly mentioned, there are plenty of people around the world who would jump at the chance to freely get in a large group of people and do that. But it is worth noting that we aren’t in that place and on many, many occasions I’ve heard worship leaders cop to the real motivations behind these habits.
3) To some degree, whether we like it or not, perception is reality. So if it APPEARS as if a worship leader is coming from an inauthentic place, that’s how I will interpret it and it will seemingly taint the worship experience. Should it be that way? Of course not. I’d love if everyone could take the attitude, “Well, I’m going to worship anyway and nothing will distract me from that.” unfortunately, we don’t have mature enough Christians in our Western churches to actually do that. :-/
4) I think there actually is a deeper thing I wanted to get at: If I’m right about some of the reasons behind these habits (and I think I’ve seen enough to say that I’m not entirely missing the mark on a lot of these), it means that we are regularly seeing worship leaders lead from significant areas of brokenness and wounding, and rather seeing that healed, it’s taking them to a darker place and they lead from that place. The most obvious example of how this becomes warped:: I want people to think I’m valuable. People think rock stars are valuable. If they see me like a rock star I’ll be valuable. (And then they lead like a rock star). What I’m really trying to suggest (in an almost satirical way) is that there is a lot of brokenness at work in how our worship leaders lead. The habits themselves aren’t always bad…but when they manifest themselves from a darker/unredeemed place I start to worry. And when I see it OVER and OVER again in TONS of worship leaders, it makes me think there is a pattern.
I know this is world’s longest response, but I thought you had some really good insight and wanted to respond in kind. Thanks James!
I don’t normally read or respond to blogs or any other type of web whatever, but I came across this through a friend. Although I can see the fun in this, and I must admit, I had myself a good laugh, at the same time, I would like to see some of these non-worship leaders get up week after week and put a set list together without performing any of these “annoyances.” Who are we catering to anyways? Are we worshiping God or are we trying to make as most people as we can feel like they were properly taken care of? If some of these annoyances are how a person praises and worships God authentically, then so be it. Granted, this is all based on genuine praise and authenticity, but assuming that a worship leader is coming before the Lord with that… isn’t that how we all should lead? With authentic praise? Where’s the line drawn between praising God as authentically as He desires and where we say that we need to do what we have to in order to get people engaged in praise? Is it even on our shoulders, or do we praise Him as we know best and trust HIM to bring people into a place of worship?
I absolutely understand that we still have a responsibility to the congregation, which is why some of the points are actually very constructive, such as singing in keys that most of the people can sing in. I also realize that this was supposed to be written in pseudo-jest/over-the-top, but as I can see from some of the responses… it wasn’t really taken that way. Some have just added to the ridicule of worship leaders. (I don’t think your intention was to ridicule worship leaders, but essentially that has happened). I’m not a worship “leader” per se, but I do serve on the team, and I approach it from a perspective that if we are up there, we’re all “leaders” and should treat it as such. I’m not ridiculously talented; if I had it my way, there would be much better players up on the stage. However, we only have a few people willing to be up there, so I see a need and try to fill a need. I know how much time is put into a set list by our worship leader; I often help her put transitions together and what not. Fortunately, she tries to avoid as much of these as possible; but what about other worship leaders who are just as worshipful in their desire to lead people into a place where they can meet with God in praise setting? Sure, if someone is completely ostentatious, then yeah… I’m all for bringing them down a peg and letting them see the ridiculousness of their actions. Yet, there are those that fall prey to these annoyances and yet don’t know what else to do and they’re doing their best to answer God’s call to lead people… and here we are ridiculing them. I do say “we” because I did laugh at pretty much most of the list. Aside from the fact that I sound like a tight wad, I do have a sense of humor (occasionally).
Anyways, at the least, I appreciate the good laugh and at the very least, it opened up a discussion that brings up points that if taken with the right heart, can lead to a much better praise experience for many congregations. I guess I only responded because I think there might have been a better way to approach this topic, such as in a forum for worship leaders. I don’t know anything about you, Doug, but I wish you the best in your ministries.
I was shocked you didnt have “praying the next song” on the list. For example: “Lord, because of you we are free to dance, we are free to sing , and we are free to live for you…” … Everybody now - I am free to dance, Ian free to sing… Hahahha!
MAN! I TOTALLY meant to have that one on there, too. I think we talked about it as the “all-too obvious intro” where the prayer is something like, “Lord, consume us with the fire of your Spirit…as we sing Consuming Fire…”
Another one is the habit of adding words that aren’t there to the beginning of a line-specifically “and” and “yes”, and then to make matters worse, NOT pronounce the first letter of each of those words, so you get a “-nd blessed be the name of the Lord” or “-s you are worthy to be praised.” One sounds like an English-as-second-language slip up and the other sounds like like the worship leader is leaking air like a tire. Every once in a while is fine, but multiple times in every song has me wanting to run back up the aisle to the lobby screaming.
The language slip-ups annoy me, too. I can’t listen to a few songs on the radio because every other line starts with “well”. I also don’t like it when words run in with “you”. The phrase “need you” sounds like “need joo.”
One of the many reasons I haven’t gone back to church is thr worship. Spot on. Thank you.
Love them all - and oh, #4!!! When I walk in on a Sunday morning, and I see that a particular person is warming up with the guitar, I know we’re in for a lot of repeating… to the extent that some folks sit down after six or seven repeated choruses and we know he ain’t finished yet!
Agree with a lot of your points made, but not all. But what I did, was have a great laugh throughout the entire read.
Great. I’ve gotta go change 15+ things about the way I do my job…
Doug, they say good comedy has to have an element of truth, and your piece is true, funny and very appropriate. It really resonated with me, so this is a bit long…
I’ve observed that people worship in a style that they personally relate to, but don’t understand others may have a different style…so a person who likes to give sermons will talk more, and longer, to explain what they’re feeling, a person who likes to sing will repeat the phrases or do “just one more song before we go”, and the youth pastor will give his once-every-two-months sermon to the congregation and fill it with “umms”, “ya know”, “awesome” and other teenage jargon that fits right in with the high school group or the campfire, but not the whole congregation.
Since I’ve been a classicially-trained instrumental musician (trumpet) I’m not emotionally attached to singing; I’ve got a decent voice but there are times when I just want to listen to the message of the song or the harmony of the hymn; I don’t need to be encouraged to sing out by the worship team (or the person next to me in the pew) like a cheerleader urging the football fans to yell another cheer, when they’d really rather watch the game.
Probably because of my classical music training, I prefer classic hymns and don’t hear enough of them; they sound reverent to me. Many contemporary praise songs sound more like “You can come to our church because we don’t really sing like Christians” music. Unfortunately my weird sense of humor and musical knowledge recognizes when a praise song has a melody phrase, harmony, or rhythm that sounds like some well-known pop song…anything from the Beach Boys to a TV theme, so I’ll hum the pop theme into my wife’s ear during the song and then we’ll try to not crack up. I can’t think of the name, but there’s one our praise team likes to do that has a strong drum and base line in the beginning that just reminds me of an intro to a James Bond theme, and at the end of the song I’ll tell my wife that I was stirred, but not shaken.
Clapping…why is it important to clap with the praise song? I don’t need to clap to show others I’m moved by the spirit of the song. I tend to be distracted by the person a couple of rows ahead who has no rhythm and is clapping out of sync with everyone else.
And being moved…have you noticed that a strong beat to the song makes the women in the congregation want to dance in place and bob their heads to the music, while the guys just stand still? Just like being back in junior high when the girls went to the dance to dance, and the guys stood around and looked embarassed.
And one you didn’t put in…for the tech people and the praise team…if you’re going to project the lyrics on a screen with Powerpoint, don’t break up the song phrases because you’ve got the text set to be centered or justified…use some real punctuation and break the words so the end of the phrase is at the end of a line, not squeezed into the next phrase because that’s how the computer distributed the words to make them all look even.
“for the tech people and the praise team…if you’re going to project the lyrics on a screen with Powerpoint, don’t break up the song phrases because you’ve got the text set to be centered or justified…use some real punctuation and break the words so the end of the phrase is at the end of a line, not squeezed into the next phrase because that’s how the computer distributed the words to make them all look even.”
Amen, brother.
I enjoyed your article and definitely sympathise with much. I just wanted to say that I agree with you on the 15 b comment - I don’t like the “everyone” thing either. Recently I was at a worship event where I was asked to stand every time we prayed - I was uncomfortable with that and preferred to sit to pray but I felt I had to tell my friend before they felt the need to pray for me! And as much as I appreciate that exaggeration was the name of the game in your article, I feel for the WL because as one who is WL and preacher it is a tough gig to get right! And yes there are some excellent hymns out there too!
Doug,
Thanks so much for the post. I found myself chuckling with all of these. I’m totally with you, and I see the heart you’re coming from.
15(b) All-crowd instruction. This is one of the things that I have struggled with my entire life in contemporary worship experiences. When the leader tells everyone to raise their hands and that sort of thing it is a huge distraction. It completely messes up my focus, and then I feel like I’m a bad Christian when my arms get tired-like it’s a competition to see who loves Jesus most. I have often had the thought that I’m like Moses, I need Aaron and Hur to hold my arms up! I tend to be a much more contemplative worshiper, and by that I mean that I will belt it out with the rest of them, and often tap my foot to the beat (nasty habit I picked up in jr. high/hs band), but always with my arms at my sides and eyes closed, letting the words wash over me.
Now I will say this, I once had an especially perceptive worship leader break #8 (Talky Talky) to note that some people worship with more outward expression (lifted hands, dancing, yelling hallelujah) while others are more still and inwardly expressive. He rightly noted that neither of these is “better” than the other. After that, I realized I wasn’t a poor worshiper because I didn’t like lifting my hands, etc…Granted, right after he explained that, he asked those who were more outward to be still and silent and those who were inward to raise their hands and sing loud as an exercise in worship. That was okay I suppose; he was trying to stretch us out of a pure heart. But beyond that unique experience, I can only think of one or maybe two times that I have ever been so caught up in worship that I wanted to lift my hands-and I never needed the help of a worship leader to do it! I’m with you, your wife just doesn’t understand!
Finally, I would add one more thing, and it is perhaps related to 15(b) as well. I have often been a part of congregations or at events where everyone clapped at the end of each song, giving a sort of concert performance feel to worship in my mind. This drives me up the wall! We are worshiping God, praising him is what we just did in the song, you don’t have to clap so he knows! The unfortunate thing is when the clapping is for the performers (I say performers because in these situations they aren’t functioning as worship leaders). I will grant that when a congregation (audience) takes the service that direction, it is not always under the leadership of the band, but they push a really thin line when they tell the people to “give a clap offering” to God. People don’t always perceive the difference between these things, and in any case I still think we don’t need to give an “attaboy” to Jesus, we need to give him our lives.
One more that drives me crazy is the worship leader that talks like he is in on tour in an 80,ooo seat coliseum. And, of course, the complementary look up into the lights while speaking with said coliseum inflection…
Zing! Yeah, I’m definitely guilty of some of these, haha.
Let’s see, I do occasionally break (#1), nonsense words, but usually only if the original song requires it. I actually think a nice, melodic “Oooooh” can be a great addition to a song, and worshipful as well. I can’t stand “la la la la”s though…. ::shudder::
(#7) Unintelligent phrasing. I may be one of the few people here with this perspective, but I’d say the appropriateness of this one depends on the worship culture of the church. For example, anyone leading a black gospel song would almost certainly break this one by default. That’s the way gospel music is SUPPOSED to be led (like it or not!). My church is multi-ethnic, and there’s really no way to properly lead an Israel Houghton song without some “whoa”s and other random exclamations!
(#3) Singing in keys no one else can sing in… Frankly, this is musically impossible. If the song is high for the average man, it should be perfectly singable for the average woman, and vice versa. The rub is that many women are so used to following male worship leaders that they’re adept at singing harmony lines if the melody is out of their range. But it’s definitely important to spread it out. Get a female soloist in there from time to time, do some songs lower in your register, try to include everybody as much as you can. Tough though when the majority of popular worship artists have very similar ranges.
I do disagree that Chris Tomlin songs are singable for the average person, haha. He is definitely a first tenor and us second tenor/baritone leaders often have to lower his songs to avoid undesirable voice cracks early on a Sunday morning. Thankfully his songs are all very simple musically, so lowering them isn’t usually a problem.
(#6) Scared to death of silence. RIGHT ON!! I was once told by a person at my previous church that they decided to come to our church largely because we worshiped through silence on a regular basis. It’s so striking to throw in a few moments of reflection to allow people to really listen for the Lord’s voice and bask in his presence (sans sentimental background music). This one goes for pastors too though. I’m sure many a pastor couldn’t imagine ending a sermon without the “Full House” music to really bring it home.
Hopefully I’ve never been guilty of #15a, but when praying “off the cuff” as many worship leaders do, it’s especially easy for a slip of the tongue or misplaced “Father/Jesus” to carry you into technically bad theology. I pray if I’ve done that in the past, those in the congregation knew it was just a slip! These days I’m actually a proponent of preparing words to speak, just as a pastor would. I can be much more thoughtful about what I’m saying between songs or to close the set if I think about it beforehand-again, just as a pastor does with his sermon. That doesn’t negate the spirit’s leading or dictate that I can’t go off-script-it’s just a way for me to lead better even through the (few) words I may speak.
Anyway, wordy response. Great post!
Wow - lots of comments here, Douglas. Maybe you need to stick to these more Stuff Christians Like-style posts rather than your blathering on about missional discipleship…blah blah.
Please tell me that whether in word or deed, I inspired some of this post (hopefully on the good side). You know how I feel about #1. Also, I would add my #16) Figures out a way to squeeze in a “secular” song to fit the service just because he thinks it would be “relevant”, “seeker-sensitive”, or bettter yet “I’m just really into Evanescence now, and they have songs with lines where the wording sounds like it COULD be about God. I bet they are secretly Christian. They’re probably just trying be a ‘band of Christians’ and not a ‘Christian band’. Respec. Maybe we’ll follow their song up with Creed’s ‘With Arms Wide Open’ - yeah, that would be sweet.”
You never get old, Kenny. NEVER. I thought this was a great question I read recently: “If a Muslim, Buddhist or Mormon attended your worship service, could they sing the same songs we do about Jesus? Is our worship distinctly Christian?”
Hmm. On your #16, I agree and I disagree. If you’re talking about playing Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” because it’s cool and a non-christian will be like “wow! I can’t believe I’m in Church!” then yeah, I’m totally in agreement. However, I’ve actually had pastors specifically ask for a secular song-not to be seeker-sensitive, but because it’s a beautiful song that illustrated a point of their message. Or it’s just a beautiful song. And it’s always been received very well and helped people to hear God in different ways. I understand this wouldn’t fly at many a-church, but I’d definitely count myself one of those that wishes the Church would actively teach their people that it’s entirely possible to see God’s beauty and hear His voice through art that isn’t overtly sacred or distributed on a Christian recording label.
I agree with Dave. I go to a church that, even with an extremely solid message and sermons for believers, it is very much open to “seekers” or whatever you call them. Every week, disconnected from our worship set, we have one song called a “special”. We’ve had some 30 Seconds to Mars, Miley Cyrus (not a big fan of her, but it worked), Bruno Mars (with edited lyrics), and that new song “Price Tag” (also with a couple edited words). Every week it’s something completely different. But it definitely works. Worship is very exciting and intense at my church, so to break away from that and have a song that some non-christians can relate to helps them settle into the probably otherwise uncomfortable atmosphere. also, in every talk, the pastor will take some time at some point to mention some of the lyrics and why they apply. i don’t think we’re trying to assume certain bands as christians or anything, or that we’re just being sensitive to seekers, we’re just using another method to present the message, which I think is great because so many people these days connect really well to music lyrics.
I don’t completely disagree with either of you. I think sometimes churches just reach a bit on that. This is a point on which even Doug and I don’t 100% agree (we’ve had more than one discussion about this). It just seems to me that there are more than enough songs (both old and new) that are DISTINCTLY Christian and were written for the purpose of praising God, so I don’t think it’s as necessary as some churches make it to turn something INTO a “God” song when the original artist never intended it to be and may have zero interest in praising God. However, I can kind of see it if it ties into the message, especially if your church service is the primary entry point for non-Christians into your community. In the church that Doug and myself are a part of, that is not the case. The worship service is actually the LAST place a non-believer often interfaces with our community. Missional communities are that less intimidating entry point for non-believers where they can feel comfortable and not saturated in a bunch of singing, Christianese, etc that they may not understand. The service, then, becomes a place primarily for the believers to come together and be refreshed, and so it is more distinctly Christian (Christian songs, Christian (not watered down gospel) messages, Christian sacraments) because otherwise, what is separating us in terms of our worship?
I like the list-very humorous. Funny that you used Chris Tomlin for the example of songs tha everyone can sing-he does write great corporate worship songs, but the keys that he records them in are often really high, like, say, with “Indescribable”. With our group, if I choose a key that is too high, some may say that I did a “Chris Tomlin” on it.
LOL we use that phrase as well - to “pull a Chris Tomlin” means to sing in the stratosphere!
Oh, I forgot two:
#17) Extended guitar solo showoff (aka ‘Riff Fest 2K11″) - leader or guitarist in the band rips into a “look at how awesome I am on this instrument!” solo that adds no real value to the song. I can respect musical prowess, but I often think this alienates the majority of the people in the service who aren’t musically inclined.
#18) Super-complicated hand clap - leader tries to get the congregation to clap along with some off-beat or uber-fast rhythm or gives them a complicated rhythmic pattern to clap (“no, no guys - it’s ‘clap clap, clapclaplap, clap clatta clapclap clap clap”). Generally it fails in an epic way, because once again, many people are not musically inclined or have zero rhythm.
You know how I feel about #17 already…but your #18 just made me laugh out loud the way it was written. TRULY HILARIOUS.
There’s also the “watch us modulate the last chorus of this song into a higher key - why? Just because we can, and it’s powerful!” That one I don’t hate on as much, but it can sometimes be a little self-indulgent on the part of the band IMO.
While I agree that worship songs shouldn’t be written in “freebird” formats… what’s wrong with letting some of the people playing along cut loose every once in a while? I mean everyone is there to offer worship and praise to God through SONG. Song is music and words. Would you not want to encourage your people to express their love of God using their gifts? Can this only be done through words? Just saying. And perhaps making you a little uncomfortable is a good thing to do in a musical worship setting, so you don’t just smile and sing along oblivious to what worship actually is. It could say, trigger you to write a blog that gets people thinking about how they worship God.
Joshua, I don’t disagree with you. Please understand that I am partially pointing fingers back at myself here. I have been a worship leader for many years, and I’m sure I’ve done some if not all of the things on this list. All of the things aren’t bad in and of themselves…it’s the spirit in which they are often done that is the issue. If you look at Doug’s newer post about the success of this blog post, he nails it. Ultimately, it’s about identity…a lot of times, there’s an air of self-importance or a distinct desire for affirmation here when you have people who have been pushed forward in the church for years for their external talent. The “high” of that often outpaces what they really need - discipleship. And when the external life outpaces the internal life, it’s headed for trouble. I can only say these things because I was the guy up front at the church that met at a rock venue every week. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with that, but I saw the culture that it bred within the team, and the lack of discipleship I saw. We were in some ways hired guns, and having seen the heavy discipleship side of the coin now, it’s hard to go back. The worship made sound less impressive, but it is certainly not less glorifying to God.
I’m a worship leader and not offended by your list, it’s very funny.
However, most things you right about are really just ineffectiveness of the leader, not because they suck or anything, but because singing, and playing an instrument, leading a band, leading an entire congregation, and trying to think how exactly to hold it all together, while also being honest in your own worship of course, while trying to remember how to transition to the next song, trying to ignore that wrong chord your guitar player keeps playing, avoiding the deadpaned looks from the congregation, and squinting to see what the sound guys is frantically waving at you in the booth, while those annoying lights are in your eyes, and give an eloquent prayer to top it off because your pastor asked you to…is actually kind of difficult, especially if you’re just an amateur volunteer never trained or anything.
And that’s just on Sunday mornings and doesn’t count the hours of planning a set, trying to figure out which keys to sing songs while remembering your guitarist doesn’t know many chords beyond the key of G, and you really like this one new song except that one weird lyric, but it’s technically ILLEGAL to change the lyric to be more theologically correct - i suppose we could sing that one song we always do AGAIN (because as much as I’d like to cut the set to 10 minutes this week, I’m EXPECTED to provide 20 minutes of uninterrupted sound), but someone complained to you last week that you always do the same songs, not to mention your drummer can’t come to practice this week because it’s his grandma’s birthday party, so we don’t have time to practice a new song…
Again I’m not offended, but I gained a whole new respect for worship leaders once I started leading. 95% of the time their heart is in the right place, but they just don’t know exactly what they are doing. They sing like the guy on the radio because that’s all they know, they sing choruses 50 times because they were at a conference and the band did that and it was really awesome then and they really want it to be awesome like that at church too. You can have the best intentions, but it just doesn’t come out right most of the time. We’re all learning!
Love your post.
I love the grace in your comment, Kristen. Good word.
“If you came to judge the worship band, you didn’t come to worship”- Not sure who said it, but they’re right
AMEN! I get the satire of this post…but between the post and the comments, it’s really starting to bother me. There seems to be a blatently obvious missing point…and that is to worship…means to focus on God- alone. Get over the natural distractions and things that annoy you…and focus on your Creator.
I’m also a worship leader. And this is REALLY funny!—worship bloopers… Most funny stuff happens when we rely on formulas, take ourselves too seriously or put ourselves in the limelight… My peev is the ubiquitous emotive synth pads under a leader’s prayers.
On a more serious note, I’ve been led to ask this question recently: Are leaders essential to worship? Why should anyone be leading worship other than the spirit of Jesus?—it’s His church… Leaders of all sorts are constricted by the size of worship attendance. How can each person bring what they have to offer when worship attendance reaches several hundred or more? Do we constrict the Spirit when worship is choreographed and emcee’d by leaders? Worship becomes the spirit moving through 2 or 3 people instead of everyone contributing.
I realize that if my concerns were taken seriously that I would be out of a job but if it ushers in Jesus’ intention for His followers, I’d consider stepping aside my gift to the Body. Just a thought. But a passionate thought.
Your “are leaders essential to worship” comment made me think of this. I’m not a musician, but I’m a visual artist at my church, and we have these things called “artist gatherings” twice a year. And our last one was friday, and we talked about something very important. How every single person onstage needs to act as a “worship leader”. Therefore, the bassist can’t just stand in the back and not have his heart in the right place, or the drummer or anything like that. All the members of the band need to act as leaders in their own sense, whether they have the official title or not, living and leading with good character in every sense of their lives. So yes and no, “worship leaders” as a specific title aren’t essential to worship, but a band of people with good character and leadership qualities giving authentic worship whether they’re just hitting the drums or actually singing the words is.
I think I’m most in line with Cristin’s comment. I am, and have been working not to be, unbelievably cynical when it comes to presentation of worship. I’m watching guitar players fingers checking chords, judging the effectiveness of the font of the slides, critiquing the mix, the song choice, the harmonies and countless other things.
After cycling through this for years, I realized it doesn’t work. It doesn’t lead to better worship, which I think is what we all want, especially when we are going through these checklists in our heads; for it is then that we want the worship experience to be better by doing things differently.
Every worship experience that has legitimately moved me has come when the hearts of those in the room have wholeheartedly abandoned the pride of critique.
While I understand where this list is coming from, and in fact I do agree with much of it, I think the idea behind it is missing the point. It may be true, but it does no good to base our worship on it. It is God’s spirit that drives us into his presence. I understand (believe me, I do) that technicality has its place, but I think the formatting of the ideas here and the response in the comments asserts, I think, that too much emphasis is placed on how we are being met and too little on how we meet God.
Brandon, I appreciate your thoughts but think you might be oversimplifying the problem. I 100% agree with you that hearts abandoned to God, eschewing good/bad leading of worship create the best/most effective/most worshipful experiences. But what I think we aren’t seeing (and one of the reasons I wrote this article) was that we have a severe discipleship issue in the Western church. People don’t abandon their hearts to God in worship because they don’t know how! And how can they learn if they don’t have worship leaders modeling/teaching them how because many of them aren’t being discipled either. My biggest issues with worship leaders are the technical aspects of how they lead, but how they often lead from darker places, wrestling with their identity, desperately looking for approval from people. That spiritually forms people in a certain way. The people worshipping in the pews, make no mistake about it. My concern is that they are being shaped TO BE worshippers like you describe.
“Worship Matters”-Bob Kauflin. Buy it, borrow it, whatever. Just read it. It’s an incredible resource for understanding worship, whether you’re a leader, a pastor, a member, a visitor, or anywhere in between. And it has alot of scripture backing it up, too-which is something I’ve noticed is lacking from most of these posts :/ Seriously, though, Worship Matters is a book I highly recommend for anyone whose interest is sparked by this article and discussion.
Matt,
I’ve read Worship Matters, and I recommend it to our worship leaders. Great book. But this post is somewhat satirical. Doesn’t need much scripture to back up a joke.
hahahaha you hit the nail on the head!
call me crazy but i thought God delighted in our worship, no matter the lyrics, the sound, repetition, etc.
I think God would say motivation definitely plays into it (and motivation dealing with Identity is what I was trying to get at here). Is 58 seems to say “doing the right things” in worship or fasting doesn’t delight God if motivation isn’t right…or if actions outside the worship services doesn’t line up…
I am so glad I am not alone with these thoughts.
I LOVE THIS POST! Awesome.
Almost afraid to poast this, but this represents pretty much my worst worship nightmare, on a number of levels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpKWuriR6FU
I should probably qualify the previous pet peeve youtube..
I have become increasingly aware of the tendency for W/L’s to imitate
what I hear on many secular recordings, where the singer does all the voice growls & inflections intended to make it sexier or..whatever
I suppose I could be alone in this observation, but it just drives me bonkers.
I am a HUGE fan of a singer who adds nothing to their voice for embellishment.
Maybe I’m simply getin old..
This makes me laugh so hard cause I completely agree! Things like this always make me somewhat wary when I’m in a worship service with a new band.
Why does anyone want so many rules for worship. Let it be what it is. Sheesh!
I have been leading worship for a number of years and yes I have to agree it’s hard job. People judge you and some complain nonmatter what you do and then others love you no matter what you do lol I find that introduce a new song about every 5 weeks is good. I also find that if the teams worshipping God ignores congregation they to will follow. We have to teach worship nit just lead worship but most of all we must be worshipping from our hearts . Yes there r many distractions sound off beats missed timing wrong keys sour notes to high or low but the focus must stay on God . I try to ignore mistakes keep going most folks don’t even notice especially if they r worshipping. We have 2 females and 3 males on the team we all sing but yes girls voices r more noticed we try to keep it blended one high one low a bass singer and and a tenor . We have hymns and praise songs both . Some weeks have been rough others great but most of the time we hear positive but nobody can be perfect and definitley if worship team struggles with the key then lower it because congregation will not even try it if to high of key. However this isn’t a rule always followed we share lead so we all are capable and able to lead a worship set if need be .
This article made my heart sink. Does this type of article advance the kingdom? Does is show the love of our Lord? Was it even worth writing it?
I agree with some of this article. I do however have a problem with your new addition in blue at the end where it says that Young Worship Leaders are ripe to have identity issues that bleed into the way they lead worship.
I think you should consider that these young men and women are taking a leap of faith in stepping up to lead a congregation in worship when they are so young. They are taking up a position that no one else will fill and they get criticized and picked apart for it. I know that this was not the intent of your comment however, it does come across that way and may be offensive to some people.
Just because young people are less experienced does not necessarily mean that they are more apt to have identity issues. Most of the band members and singers at my church (of which I am one of) are under the age of 25. Our worship leader and band leader are both only 39. Our last worship leader was only 30 and had been excellently leading worship at our church since she was 19 years old. No one in the group is above the age of 45. Most of us (myself included) are still in our teens. Just because we are young (I’m 16) does not mean we necessarily have any more identity issues than anyone else. Sometimes, the younger Worship Leaders are some of the better Worship Leaders that I have seen because they are on fire for God and they do get excited, rather than the Worship Leader who has been a Worship Leader for 20 years and is still a passionate christian but also has lost some of that fire and excitement.
Having been in a worship band for several years now I also know that what you amy perceive as an “identity problem” may also be just a bad week or a mistake on the part of the band, worship leader, sound team, media team, whatever. We’re all human and, like it or not, we all make mistakes.
Another thing I’ve noticed is sometimes, that guitar solo or drum solo or really cool piano intro line, can really get a congregation into the spirit of worship. They love it when a pianist can play the intro to “I Can Only Imagine” just like they heard it on the radio or when a guitarist can play the same solo that Lincoln Brewster can on “Everlasting God”. It’s not showing off, it’s the musician worshiping in their own way and hey, do you know how long they practiced that part to get it right? Who cares if they get recognized by an individual after the service who really liked it? That means, the congregation enjoyed it and worshiped through it and the musician worshiped through it and they get to know that their hard work is appreciated, is that really so bad?
Anyway, I’m just pointing out that the way you word things can have an impact, especially when speaking of an entire generation of people.
There was a lot I agreed with and disagreed with but it seems like this post has been discussed to death so I’ll comment on something that hasn’t been commented on very much.
There were two instances in your blog where you made a point of telling worship leaders that it’s not about how great THEY sing, because we should be singing together. While that’s true, I also feel a worship leader needs to be singing reasonably well. And for that to happen, the song needs to be in a key that is appropriate for their voice. Most leaders have a fair enough RANGE so they can usually pick a key that is singable for others. HOWEVER, if a leader picks a key the congregation can sing and then THEY sound AWEFUL… well, then they’re just a distraction.
A good performance is IMPORTANT! I can’t tell you how many times I heard a TERRIBLE praise band and failed to be able to concentrate enough to worship. And I’m not even talking about FEELING something or GETTING INTO IT. I mean the music itself was so horrible I was completely distracted. SILENCE would’ve been better!
If you’re there to worship THRU THE MUSIC, it needs to contain some key components. But that’s a completely different topic.
Totally agree, Robin! Thanks for stopping by the blog. If you’re interested in the subject, check out this worship leader’s blog. He’s got some really fantastic stuff to say: http://www.davidwalkeronline.com.