Leading In Worship 1. First impressions Opening comments and body language are really important. Give thought to what you are going to say e.g.: ‘Good morning everyone. It is great to be together and have another opportunity to give ourselves to worship. Let’s all stand, lift up our hearts, hands and voices and welcome the Lord in this place’. DO NOT FORGET TO SMILE!! Musicians could begin to play while this is happening. Be inclusive in the use of language – use ‘we’ ‘us’ ourselves’. Remember that we can sometimes exclude single people, if our words relate to families. So be sensitive to the make up of the group you are leading. 2. Be confident People want to be led so be unafraid to take the initiative. I have never yet encountered a congregation who refuse to stand when I ask them to do so. Do not be hesitant and timid when giving instructions 3. Create a sense of faith and expectancy in the congregation We are coming together to worship almighty God. We are welcoming the Holy Spirit. When he comes anything could happen. We are joining with the angelic hosts in worship. We need to be open to the curtain being pulled back between our earthly dimension and the heavenly one! We want to touch the glory of the Lord. We want to encounter His presence. When that happens, we will not be looking at the clock! We want to entertain the Holy Spirit not entertain the congregation!! 4. Raise a sail I am one of those people who work better once I see how people are responding and the way the worship is flowing. That is why I do not over-prepare. I prefer to use the first few songs to see which way the ‘wind’ is blowing and then go with the flow of the Holy Spirit. 5. Be prepared to be spontaneous It is all too easy to rely on a formula for leading worship. For example, two fast songs to get people going followed by a couple of slow songs, which lead into singing in the spirit. It is far easier to repeat something that has worked well in the past, rather than step into uncharted areas. If we rely on a formula, faith disappears. The Holy Spirit is replaced by professionalism. It is faith that will cause us to please God. Faith is spelt R.I.S.K. A simple question to ask is when did we last do something for the first time? Let’s learn to recognise the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow His direction 6. Do not be afraid of mistakes We need to overcome our fear of making mistakes. Mistakes will be made as we function in the area of our gift. Let us ensure we learn from them. It is essential that our lives and ministries are not ruled by fear. Fear of failure, rejection, criticism etc. Love replaces fear. Let us live in the security of Gods love and that of our close friends. Believing that God has confidence in us and that others want us to succeed and not fail. 7. Lead with reality If something goes wrong – do not pretend that all is okay. Be real and acknowledge what has happened. Do not become religious. Religion is opposed to reality and leads to pretence. Develop a hatred for religiosity. Do not put on a different voice or manner when leading. Avoid the ‘holy’ tone of voice. Be yourself. Speak the way you do in real life. Use non-religious vocabulary, speaking in todays language and not that of the eighteenth century. Try and dispense with jargon words such as just eg lets just pray. It is an un-necessary word. 8. Lead with your eyes open. Creating a rapport with those whom we are leading requires eye contact. We need to watch how people are responding; otherwise we will end up having our own little meeting. If we are working with a pastor/leader/elder who has overall responsibility for the meeting, we need to keep eye contact with that person. If we do not, we will miss out on signals that someone else has a contribution to bring. 9. Take your encouragement from those who appear to be responding. Another reason for keeping your eyes open. If you concentrate on those who are not responding you will become discouraged. We are often drawn to those who seem not to be responding – ignore them. They always seem to sit in the front row with their arms folded and an expression that challenges you to try and get them to respond. Encourage those who are in leadership to respond. The congregation takes their cue from the leaders. 10. Dont worship for too long. I would much rather have five minutes of eternity than fifty minutes that feels like eternity. If the Holy Spirit is moving in a powerful way, time flies by. When nothing like this is happening lets be flexible enough to end the time of worship early. After about twenty minutes, people start to switch off anyway, unless something unusual is happening. All worship leaders should take the opportunity of occasionally sitting at the back of a meeting and see how people there are responding. Especially in prolonged times of worship. 11. Encourage physical responses Kneeling, dancing, raising hands, sitting, standing, shouting etc are all valid ways of expressing our worship. Give people the freedom to respond in whatever way they feel is appropriate. 12. Encourage singing in the Spirit Provide a musical background for this to happen or even encourage unaccompanied singing 13. Do not be afraid of silence Make time for this to happen. Do not feel under pressure to fill the silence. Take time for God to respond to our worship. We need to hear his still, small voice. 14. Lead in a pastoral way – love those you are leading. You are there to draw the worship out of peoples’ hearts. Make it easy for them. Engage people; help them connect with what you are doing and where you sense the HS is leading. Come in at the right level. Sometimes we start at 15,000 feet when the people are still at sea level! 15. Dont teach too many new songs. It is good to introduce new songs on a continual basis. One or two during the course of a meeting is the maximum. Be careful where in the programme you do this. I prefer to do this after doing lots of familiar songs. I do not teach it; I just sing it and let people pick it up. That way, you do not break the flow of worship. 16. Dont talk too much. The flow of worship is hindered when a worship leader gives a mini-preach between the songs. Most worship leaders are not preachers and the anointing is not on them for that. However, the occasional brief (and I mean brief) exhortation is helpful. If doing this, ensure that it is done in a succinct way. Maybe even write down a few headlines before the meeting commences. At all costs avoid falling into sentimentality when speaking between songs. 17. Watch the volume of the music. People are coming to worship the Lord not to a rock concert. The music should provide an adequate lead. The congregation should not have to shout to be heard above the band or be deafened by the level of the PA system. Establish who is in charge of the PA and give clear guide-lines on required sound-levels. 18. Make sure people have the lyrics. If using song-sheets, please give out the numbers of the songs. There is nothing more irritating, especially for visitors, than searching vainly through a song-sheet, only finding the song just before it ends. If using OHP or computer-generated lyrics ensure that they are bold enough to be seen at the rear of the hall, and by everybody. Make sure the operator knows how to use the equipment in an efficient manner. You do not want the congregation gazing at a blank screen. 19. Explain what is happening. This is particularly important for those who may be visitors to the church. Do not assume that everyone is initiated into the way things are done. For example, if there is a word of prophecy given, explain what has happened, in a clear concise way. When there are unbelievers present, explanation will help them to feel included into the event. HOW TRUE DO U THINK DIS IS?
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 10:17:39 +0000
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