Things Every Worship Leader Should Know

Planting a church is an amazing adventure! But prior to stepping out on this journey I spent years leading worship. Before that I was a member of a worship team. Here is a short list of things that every worship leader should know.

In no particular order they are…

1. Impromptu songs added to a setlist isn’t the same thing as the Spirit moving

-God is a God of order…if the songs are out of order then odds are they are impromptu

-If you have to tell the worship team what’s going on in the middle of the set odds are they are impromptu

2. Lack of Preparation on your part will reflect in the worship service

-To preach excellence and not prepare is the same as living a lie…fervent preparation will bring a fervent response from God

3. When its just you playing & singing you’re no longer a worship team

-Whether it’s because they don’t know the songs or you just tell them to stop playing for one or more songs a team is more than one individual. (I’ve done this before…I started playing a song in the wrong key, the whole team noticed but I didn’t. I kept going…they didn’t…not a good idea)

-Solo jam session would be great for a coffee shop but not if you have an entire team standing up on stage with you. The one thing that is more embarrasing then rocking out by yourself during a worship set is being a musician who can’t play because of the no notice additions to the setlist (I’ve been both on a worship team…neither one is ideal)

4. It’s not about you

-Leading others in worship is about bringing other people into the presence of God not about becoming famous

-It’s easy for us worship leaders to get into the “I’m just here to worship” mindset. That IS NOT your job as a worship leader…your focus is to lead others into worship. If you want to have those “just worship” times then attend a church service where you are not leading worship…then you can have at it.

-Worship for a person attending a service is a “you and God” moment but for a worship leader it’s a “you’re an instrument, for God to use to reach other people”. A worship leader making it about him/her is like a hammer wanting us to ask how it feels before using it to hit a nail.

There are more things that worship leaders should know but these are a few that stand out to me when I look back at my time as a worship leader. What about you? Is there anything that you want to add to the list?