Photo credit:
Practical Tips for Leading Church Worship,
Worship Ministry, and Worship Team/Leaders
1. Qualifications for Leading Worship
Personal life
- You should have a very active and living walk with God, personally in the born-again experience/being a new creation in Christ.
- Regular time alone with God in prayer, worship, and the word of God.
- The foundation of ministry is your life with Christ. Ministry should flow out of your personal relationship and life with God.
- A living walk in the Holy Spirit's infilling experience will give you the power to minister.
- Exhibit a Christian character: humility, kindness, love, loyalty, servanthood, etc.
- Remain an active and growing student of Scripture.
- Reflect a true passion for worship.
Skills
Bezalel and Oholiab, and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded (Exodus 36:1).
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. (Ps. 33:3)
Skill is something done well. It is competence and expertise. Rob Kauflin, in his book Worship Matters, lists five things to remember about skill:[2]
- Skill is a gift from God, for His glory.
- Skill must be developed. Do not forget practice makes perfect.
- Skill should be evaluated by others. Worship teams need openness to know how you’re serving the congregation where you serve.
- Skill does not make worship more acceptable before God. A flawless song or complex chord progression will not make perfect worship without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. “We worship leaders can struggle with discouragement when we miss an entrance, play a wrong chord, or forget lyrics. We can feel elated when everything goes well. But God isn’t listening to the sound of our music or the quality of our performance. He’s hearing the sound of our hearts.”[3]
- Skill is not an end in itself. Skill should not become an idol. We need to balance spiritual preparations and devote ourselves entirely to musical issues.
- Skill helps us focus on God while leading worship. When one is more comfortable with practical aspects of the worship, they will be able to focus more on God.
- Skill helps us to serve the church.
- Skill multiplies serving opportunities.
- Leadership
- Musicianship
- Communication
- Technology
He also points out three ways in which skill helps worship leaders:
He also suggests that a worship leader should develop skills in the following areas:
Commitment to the local church
- To join the worship team, a person should attend the church at least for three months, or there should be a strong pastoral reference.
- The person should have a decent relationship with other co-believers.
- The person should follow the concerns, values, vision, and mission of our local church.
- The person should agree with the doctrines and practices of the local church.
- The person should be committed to humility and servanthood.
- The person should be loyal, faithful, and submissive to the church leadership.
- All worship team members are expected to attend regularly a small group/care cell of our church.
- Commitment to attend all required training, meetings, and rehearsals of the worship team.
2. What is important/priority?
- Performance is not important; engaging people is important.
- Perfection is not important, but how people worship God and experience His presence is.
- The community benefit is more important than personal interest.
- Spiritual preparation or praying together as a team, specifically for a particular Sunday, is more important than practice. It does not mean that we can underestimate practice. Rather, we want to emphasize the importance of prayer.
3. Know your purpose
Worship leading is not a music concert or a performance. It is not an opportunity to show anyone’s talents before the congregation. The purposes of worship leading are:
- To facilitate and lead the congregation to the presence of God in worship. We should take our congregation to the Holy of Holies—the throne room of God.
- To bring glory to God.
- To lead the congregation to a divine encounter.
- To bring spiritual growth to people.
All worship leaders should know that leading and singing are different. Leadership is taking people from one point (sometimes from nowhere) to another point (somewhere). People may come to the church with different mindsets and issues, but it is the responsibility of the worship leader to lead their soul and spirit to worship.
4. Essentials for every worship ministry
Preparation
Your personal preparation for involving yourself in worship ministry is important. When you are involved, it is better to spend more time with God in prayer, worship, and the word of God.
Plan
Plan your week. Make sure that you are available for practice and on Sunday morning.
Prayer
- A special time with God is appreciated. Jesus did ministry after a regular time with God in the morning hours, alone in lonely places, and sometimes even at night (Luke 6:12; Mark 1:35; Matt. 14:22-23).
- Have prayer time during practice sessions.
- Have a prayer time on Sunday morning.
Practice
- Practice is a must for everyone. I strongly discourage anyone who misses a practice session on Saturday from participating in the Sunday worship team.
- Keep people in your mind. When you practice, think of how we can better present the songs to the congregation so that they may worship God and engage. Jack Hayford observed contemporary worship and commented that many worship songs are musically complicated, which becomes inaccessible to the church members during worship time. Sometimes, worship can become a simple stage show or concert because the worship team makes songs musically complicated, making it hard for musically less talented members of the congregation to participate.
- It is recommended that you do not practice on Sunday morning. Instead of practice, have a time of prayer.
Punctuality
- Be punctual for practice. Once a time for practice is announced, everyone should respect it. If you make others wait for you, please remember that you are not only causing inconvenience to others but also wasting their time.
- Please come to the church one hour early on Sunday for worship ministry involvement.
5. Worship leaders working with church leadership
The biblical model of ministry is a team ministry under leadership. It is very important to develop a well-balanced chemistry between the pastor, leadership, elders of the church, and the worship team. Here are some tips for that.
The pastor is your chief worship leader. Wille Songs suggests that since God appoints the pastor to lead a local church, the pastor communicates the vision and direction for everything, from style to theology of worship.
Rob Kauflin, in his book Worship Matters, suggests certain helpful values about the relationship between the pastor and worship team members:
Value God-given leadership: The pastor is ultimately responsible for everything in the church, and he should be the final voice. Rob says that “God has given the pastor, not the worship leader, the ultimate responsibility for the direction of the church. That includes the musical portions of the meeting.”[4]
Value God-given leadership directions: It is always good to value the priorities, preferences, emphasis, suggestions, and vision for worship that come from church leadership. When we differ in our expectations, there can be conflicting interests and issues. That’s why it is always better for a worship leader to understand the expectations of the pastor or his heart. It is not to please him, but it is essential to work with God-given leadership in the church. Pastors are your spiritual guardians and mentors.
Value serving your pastor: “If I don’t make it a joy for my pastor to lead me, it’s of no advantage to me.” (Hebrews 13:17). “Submitting to my pastor means serving him joyfully and humbly… worship leaders serve as those under authority. Our pastors should feel completely free to interrupt or adjust what we’re doing because we’re doing it to serve their priorities, not ours… the pastor and I are on the same team. There’s probably no more effective way I can serve my pastor than simply by praying for him. He carries the weight of the church on his shoulders. He’s the one God will hold accountable.”[5] “Serving your pastor doesn’t rule out taking initiative or being creative. It just gives purpose and definition to your creativity.”
Value listening to your pastor: “Listening takes time and self-control. We need to listen for a pastor’s theology, his heart, his understanding of our role… Pastors and worship leaders don’t always speak the same language, especially when it comes to music. What he calls ‘simple,’ I call ‘dull.’ His ‘frantic’ is my ‘jubilant’… we need to define our terms, not argue about them.”[6]
Value submissiveness to the leadership
Value your availability to the leadership: Making yourself available for the leadership and ministerial responsibility is an absolute essential for effective ministry. We all need to understand the fact that we need to make an effort and sacrifice to participate in the common time that we decide for our community gathering and ministry purposes.
Value teachability: We all should be lifelong learners. Change, one of the indicators of growth, comes with learning. Being open to the teachings of church leadership will help us to have a common working knowledge and understanding for working together. Remember that God appointed your pastor to teach you.
Value faithfulness to the leadership: Anyone who is using God-given talent should be faithful. A high level of faithfulness to church leadership is a necessity for the smooth functioning of the team.
6. How to Select Song for Worship?
Focus of the song: Worship is all about God. The central focus of any song selected for worship is praise, adoration, and thanksgiving to God.
Meaning of the song: When you select songs, we need to give more importance to the meaning of the song than to the musical aspects. This is very important for effective worship. The meaning of the song should be relevant to people who come to the church with different needs and situations. It should edify the church. It should be able to minister to people. It also should help people connect to God and worship God. Moreover, make sure that songs are based on the word of God.
Songs with more first-person singular subjects can help people immediately and directly connect to God. Songs that describe the attributes, greatness, or characteristics of God are more helpful for people to worship. Songs that remind us of our human nothingness also help many worshipers humble themselves before God to worship. Thankfulness to God should be another element in the song selection for worship. Songs that express hope and faith/trust in God can be reviving. Songs that request God to work in our lives can be heart-touching. Moreover, songs with more worship or praise phrases such as "I worship You," "I adore You," "Hallelujah," etc., would be more relevant in a worship setting. Songs with more commitment phrases such as "I surrender to You," "No turning back," etc., can also be helpful in a worship setting.
Feasibility of the song in church: We need to analyze the feasibility of the song in a particular congregation. Not all songs may work in all congregations. Worship leaders should be able to judge and discern what kind of song will fit their congregation. Worship leaders should keep their audience/congregation in mind rather than their personal music tastes or likes and dislikes.
People in mind: Worship leaders should know the fact that everyone in the congregation will not have the same musical ability, taste, or familiarity as the worship leaders. Thus, songs/music that may be comfortable for worship leaders may not be comfortable for the congregation. For example, everyone in the congregation may not be able to sing songs that are very fast, like rap. Therefore, it is better to avoid musically complex and challenging songs for corporate/church worship. It is always better to select musically simple songs with good meaning that can be sung by everyone.
Language of lyrics: There are many meaningful songs with poetic language and unique arrangements of words. However, understanding the meaning of such songs may not be easy for everyone. Thus, take songs with simple lyrics that everyone can understand at first glance, without any kind of struggle.
New songs: Please avoid using many new songs in a single worship session. If you want to introduce a song that may not be familiar to your congregation, include only one such song. Do not include multiple unfamiliar songs.
7. Music in the worship leading
Music is an integral part of worship in the Bible. Anointed music can heal people. Music can evoke a great atmosphere of worship, although it can be disastrous if not properly used in corporate worship. Rob suggests some of the roles of music in worship:
- “Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotion.”
- “Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God.”
- “Music helps us remember truth about God.”
Music can evoke an atmosphere where anyone can peacefully concentrate and experience the presence of God. Worship leaders should find the right combination between songs and music. Both should ultimately help people experience God’s presence.
8. Keeping Healthy Tensions
There are a few areas where we need to keep healthy tensions. Some of them we have already touched on. Rob lists an elaborative list:
- Transcendence and immanence
- Head and heart
- Internal and external
- Vertical and horizontal
- Planned and spontaneous
- Rooted and relevant
- Skilled and authentic
- For the church and for unbelievers
- Event and everyday
I do not want to go into details, but keep these aspects in mind while you are involved in the worship team.
9. A model structure for worship
Greetings
Worship leading involves communication: communication to God, to people, and to the team. Greetings are your initial effort to establish a communication line between you and the congregation. Greetings can draw the attention of the congregation to worship.
Call to worship
In any formal worship setting, in some biblical examples or mainline churches, there will be a part called "call to worship." It is a formal invitation and encouragement to worship God. Often, a few verses from Psalms or other places that encourage one to worship will fulfill this function.
Prayer
It is always recommended to begin the worship with a prayer. In this prayer, one should focus only on that day’s worship, not anything else.
First song
- The first song is a crucial song.
- It is always recommended to choose a song that gets maximum involvement from the congregation.
- The tempo of the song can be fast.
- The meaning of the song should evoke wonder at God’s qualities and awaken a thankful heart for God’s blessings. Some people call these songs "praise songs."
- It should be simple and familiar to everyone.
Middle songs
These are transitional songs from your initial songs to the final songs.
Final songs
Final songs can be songs with a slower tempo. These songs are also called "worship songs" by many.
Waiting for prophetic and spiritual utterances
Once you finish the songs, you can take a few minutes for waiting upon God for any prophetic or spiritual utterances, including tongues. If nothing is happening and the congregation is not involving, then it is better to wind up this session within five to six minutes.
Winding up worship session
There are a few options to wind up worship sessions:
- You can wind up the session with a short prayer.
- If the pastor comes forward to the stage to take over, then you let him wind up.
- You can listen to the Holy Spirit and wind up according to the direction of the Spirit.
10. How to do Exhortations while leading worship?
Purpose of exhortations in worship
The purpose of exhortation in worship by a worship leader is not to preach to the congregation, but to:
- Motivate and inspire people to worship
- Communicate what God speaks to them
- Introduce songs
- Make smooth transitions from one song to another
- Bring healthy interactions between the worship leader and the congregation
How to do it
Exhortation in worship should be very short and powerful. You need to use very few words and sentences. It should not be a storytelling session or a short TED-like talk, but a powerful thought, revelation, inspiration, or Holy Spirit utterance in a concise statement.
Exhortations can be a few verses from the Bible. It can be a short quotation or a very brief explanation of the meaning of the songs. The exhortations should be relevant and should be connected to the song and the context of the congregation.
One of the guiding criteria behind the exhortations should be considering how your exhortation will be relevant to the people, how it can motivate them spiritually, and how it can help them grow in Christ.
How do you present an exhortation to the congregation in between a song?
It should not be a talk session to the congregation. You should not have the entire congregation, including the worship team, stand still to hear your exhortation. Rather, as people are in a worship atmosphere while music is continuously playing, just utter your exhortation (a short utterance like a prophetic utterance) in such a way that it does not interrupt the flow of worship (the running stream). However, you are free to do whatever the Holy Spirit is guiding you to do in worship, provided you are sensitive to the congregation as well.
Also, worship leaders should keep in mind that, although exhortation is a powerful tool, it can be very disastrous if not executed properly. Long exhortations, more than 30 seconds, in between songs are not advisable, as they often distract (most of the time) the flow and concentration of the congregation. It is like suddenly placing a great barrier in the path of a forcefully running stream, or abruptly putting a break in your car to stop and change gears before starting again. Long exhortations (more than 30 seconds and less than three to five minutes) are best given before the first song. In such cases, remember the time limit, and it is also better for people to sit rather than stand.
Proper use of this powerful tool results in the following:
- The congregation is more motivated to worship
- Distracted people start worshipping
- There is more participation from the congregation
- People may start encountering God
- People may prophetically move, etc.
11. Transition from one song to another song
- Once you finish a song, it is nice if you can take a few minutes of free worship where you lead the congregation to worship with their own words or common worship phrases such as "Hallelujah," "Praise the Lord," or even speaking in tongues and worshipping God, etc.
- This is the time when you can speak in tongues and encourage the congregation also to speak in tongues. This should not create any disorder in the congregation. It can be gentle.
- Here, you can give some prophetic utterance or Holy Spirit-inspired few sentences.
- You can give a short exhortation (refer to exhortation notes).
- Remember to maintain the flow of worship without a long pause or distraction.
12. Creativity in worship
Worship leaders are always encouraged to be creative in worship. If you want to do anything new, inform the pastor and take his opinion before you plan everything.
13. Understanding your congregation for leading worship
Worship leading includes a huge and complex effort from the worship team. However, this effort can be completely wasted and irrelevant if the congregation is not benefitted and it does not bring real worship to God. That's why we need to know our congregation well.
- Check the majority age group. If the church has a younger generation, it is better to choose songs that may be relevant to them, but do not ignore the preferences of other age groups.
- Understand the maturity and experience of the congregational members. A church with experienced believers may be familiar with most of the songs, but a church with more new believers may not be familiar with all the songs. A worship leader should keep these situations in mind when selecting songs for worship.
- Worship leaders should build relationships with congregational members. They should not think that they are celebrities in the church; rather, they are servants of God in the church. If you have a good relationship with people, it helps any worship leader connect with the congregation easily and vice versa. Moreover, relationships will help you understand your congregation better.
- Understand the cultural diversity of the people.
14. Communication and Managing live worship
All the worship team members need unusual sensitivity to the worshipful state of the congregation in the midst of the worship service. Worship needs a lot of concentration. Everyone in the congregation is responsible for that. Worship should not distract the congregation as you manage and coordinate the live worship atmosphere and music. As you manage live worship and coordinate among yourselves, please do not end up in a state where you are not worshipping. While keeping essential parameters to maintain coordination among worship team members, please keep in mind that you are there to worship God. I have observed many times that if the worship team, particularly the worship leader, is worshipping God powerfully and experiencing God deeply while leading worship, the congregation just flows into a great worship time and experiences God like a magnet attracting iron pieces; also vice versa. Having observed and experienced worship for many years as a pastor, I would tell you that I don’t know the mantra behind this, but this is a mantra your pastor wants to give everyone in the worship team for effective worship.
Worship is communication: with God, with the congregation, and with co-worship team members. The success of a worship leader depends upon how he or she may be able to manage these communication lines simultaneously. When you disconnect with God in communication from your heart, your songs/music will become a mere presentation. When you do not have live communication with the congregation, the worship team will do something on stage, but the congregation will do something else. It can also lead the congregation to become mere spectators. There should be intensive communication between the worship team members on the stage without distracting people for successful coordination of music and vocals in the live stage setting. This is a really challenging area, so please keep the following two things in your mind:
To understand the congregation and coordinate with others in the team, a worship leader or team member should open his or her eyes and look. But this does not mean that throughout the worship you need to do it. There is no absolute rule that we need to close our eyes to worship God. However, please do not ignore the fact that closing your eyes for prayer and worship will save us from many distractions and give us greater concentration; it is also an accepted gesture of prayer and worship, especially in a corporate worship setting. If you are going to open your eyes throughout the worship and stare at the congregation or look around, it may give a very wrong signal to the congregation. It can demotivate people. Let me share my experience: I attended a congregation for a short time. The church had a very powerful time of worship every Sunday, which everyone enjoyed. But I had seen a girl staring at every person in the church, especially when the congregation was experiencing powerful worship. During those days, whenever I opened my eyes during the worship time and looked at the stage, this is what I saw. It was really distracting and awkward because the entire worship team was worshipping and the congregation was actively engaging in worship, but a single girl was staring at everyone distractively. I am not trying to impose any rules or regulations on you about opening and coordinating worship, but I am trying to give you some ideas on how we need to be sensitive to God and to the congregation.
A live communication among the worship team members is an absolute need. But remember that you are there on the stage to worship God primarily and lead the congregation in worship. Sometimes, I have heard pastors and others teach that the worship leader and team should NOT worship but just present the songs and let the congregation worship. It is a very deceptive understanding because it just leads to a mechanical presentation of songs and music. I witnessed a worship leader telling others in the team, "We will sing this song five times, and I will show this signal and that signal to do this and that." Of course, the worship team needs to have certain common signals to show each other for better coordination, but remember that worship is worship; it is not a mechanical presentation. As leaders, I strongly believe that if we are not able to worship, I don’t think we will be able to lead others into worship. The principle is that what we do not experience or have cannot be given to others.
In the above two points, I am not trying to communicate any absolute laws in these areas. Rather, the emphasis is on how beautifully and naturally you need to worship God and lead others into the same experience while avoiding being mechanical, technical, or distracting. The key to this is how you are capable of blending and balancing these concerns (closing eyes – opening eyes; use of signals for coordination – your personal worship).
15. Simplicity and imitation in worship
Keep all ingredients of worship simple. Simplicity brings success and maximum success. Focus on core areas rather than the peripherals. Make a balance between prayer and other aspects of worship.Do not imitate anyone. There is no absolute law that you need to present a song as the original composer presented in his or her album. You can always customize the song for the congregation. If there is a need, you can simplify the songs.
16. Gestures and stage etiquette while leading worship
Coordinate with the teamThe entire team is supposed to follow the worship leader of the day.
Worship gestures
See my article: Biblical Foundations of Worship
Wrong gestures
- Carelessly and distractedly looking around the place and persons in the audience.
- Smiling and greeting people in the congregation while worship is going on.
- Crossed arms.
- Holding on to clothes distractedly.
- Cracking jokes and smiling at each other in the team while worship is going on on stage.
- Unnecessarily speaking to team members while the worship leader is exhorting or leading songs.
Dress codes (suggestions)
- No transparent dress.
- No fashion signatures.
- Should cover your body decently.
- No tight or revealing dresses.
- No logos or captions on dresses.
- No short tops for girls. The length of a girl’s top should at least cover the zipper of their pants/jeans or bottoms.
- No sunglasses on the face when you are in the worship team.
- No sleeveless dresses.
17. Evaluation of how you are leading worship.
We need to be eager to know how effectively we have served people. To this, we all need to raise questions such as: How did I do by leading this morning? How could I help people worship God? How was the response of the congregation? What kind of level of involvement did the congregation engage in? Was I clear? Are there any ways we can minister more effectively? How was the congregation benefited? What is your pastor thinking about your ministry? What are your team members thinking about that day’s worship session? Where are the areas we need to improve?
17. Job Description of various persons in the worship team
PastorHe is responsible for the entire team. He primarily sets the trend and vision for the team. He recruits and mentors the team.
Worship Coordinator
Sets the timetable for each month. The coordinator works with everyone and coordinates schedules for practice. The coordinator builds the team for each Sunday. The coordinator communicates and updates everyone.
Worship Leader
Leads Sunday service. Conducts the practice. Coordinates and leads the team assigned to them for a particular Sunday. Maintains spiritual preparation of the team before they minister to people. Mentors team members.
Instrumentalists
Assist the worship leader in instrumental music.
Choir
Assist the worship leader in vocals.
Sound System Team
- Sets up the sound system every Sunday.
- Manages live sound. All sound checks should be finished at least half an hour before the Sunday worship.
- Coordinates with other teams.
- All worship team members every Sunday are expected to help with all practical arrangements for that Sunday, including arranging chairs and packing the sound system.
18. Team Building
Ministry is a team ministry. So everyone in the team should make sure that they have a good relationship with everyone else. Especially, the worship leader of every Sunday should make a special effort to make sure that your team members are welcomed and thanked on Sunday when you lead worship. The worship leader should also make sure that when people come for practice, they get enough welcoming and guidance from you. Everyone in the team should be equally treated and encouraged. Make sure that no one in the team is ignored. Build a team.
Moreover, we need humility and love to work together, along with an open attitude of teachability, acceptance, and a willingness to listen. Worship team practice is a place where suggestions, ideas, and options about how to proceed with the music may be expressed by different team members to each other. A proactive mentality is essential here. We need a greater level of humility to learn from one another.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the official position of any organization or church.