Thoughts From a [Semi] Retired Worship Leader: Epilogue

My first two blogs on this subject dealt w/ my gear & settings, but in this last blog I just want to wrap up my thoughts w/ a few ideas & suggestions...

I'm all for doing something different. Some people hate change & the very idea of change scares them. I hear this all the time, “We're not going to do something different just for the sake of doing something different” in other words, they'd rather keep doing things the same just for the sake of doing things the same.

Here are some ideas to consider (& not just for try for a week & then go back to normal, try for a few months & see what happens):

In most fellowships, there's already a physical chasm between the worship team & the congregation, so try closing that. Move the worship team to the second tier or to the floor, worship w/ the people, lead worship in their midst.

If you have a balcony, consider moving the worship team from the front to the back, keeping all the focus on Jesus. It's worth a shot, try it.

If you don't have a full team you can still have a full sound by adding channels & running the instruments in stereo: keyboards, acoustic guitar & lead guitar can all be run in two channels, one panned left, the other right; it just fattens the sound & fills the room.

If you have background vocals, EQ them, mix them & push them slightly over the lead vocal as the congregation usually connects w/ the background vocals (I know that's weird but in my experience, it's true).

If there's people in your congregation who are just learning keyboards, bass or acoustic guitar, the back balcony is a perfect place for them to learn. Give them the music, a headphone for the keyboards so they can play along, unplug the acoustic guitars, etc; they won't be heard but it'll give them a sense of being on the worship team, of timing, of arrangement & boost their confidence when they are asked to be on the team.

Try a candlelight acoustic worship service once a month, just unplug everything, meet in the middle, have the people gather around, make it intimate, make it fun.

Arrangement is huge. I can't tell you how many times I've seen everyone on the team playing the exact same thing at the exact same time, all the time. Pick one instrument to lead & everyone play around them. Too many people playing the same thing is like frosting a cake w/ 4 different frostings, it's too thick, it's awful & it ruins the cake. Remember, it's all about the cake...

In regards to arrangement try this: pick an easy song, something like “Revelation Song” one of the great four chord wonders & take an hour experimenting w/ different lead instruments & arranging; see what works. Try one w/ the acoustic strumming & nothing else... or acoustic & pads... or simply pads & bass... or electric arpeggios w/ trailing delay & swells... get to where you're comfortable w/ any or all of those styles.

Shepherd the worship team, ask each member to lead a 5 minute devotional before each practice, if you have 10 members & practice once a week, that's 10 weeks of seeing where everyone is at spiritually, of watching them grow, etc. Perhaps assign a theme, like… worship!

Encourage your team to learn different styles of music, different chording, different sounds. If the lead instrument is playing an open G major = traditional 1, 3, 5, then try playing a chord voicing of that = 1, 3 or 1, 5, or 3, 5, the possibilities are numerous... 

Always encourage songwriting in the group, your fellowship needs fresh songs, get w/ your leadership & pray about what the fellowship needs to hear, what the community needs to hear & write songs accordingly. The Spirit will always give you the right songs for the people, the community, etc.

There's so many ideas, so many different ways of doing things & people do have a tendency to hold to tradition, sometimes a little too tightly...  Look at Creation, God made all different kinds of fish, birds, plants, animals & bugs yet some people think there's only one kind of music in Heaven or one way to do things here on Earth.

As a worship leader/keyboardist/guitarist/whatever, find your own sound. Hillsongs, Gateway, Bethel, Vineyard all have their own sound but you are not them, you are you so be you. Bird sounds & whale sound are completely different but each is beautiful. 

One last thing, as a worship leader don't (well try not to) tell the people what to do, as in, “stand, clap, shout, jump, bow down, worship” etc; let that naturally come from them, let the Spirit move them; it's just better all around, trust me.

So these are my thoughts & observations. I've learned a lot in the last 30 years of worship ministry, it would definitely have to be God for me to return to it on a regular basis but I'm looking forward to seeing where the next generation will take it.