A Letter to My Worship Leaders (Part 1)

Worship leaders have one of the most important roles in the church, here is my letter to you all

Dear worship leader,

You are one of the most important people in the life of our church.

You are entrusted with the task of standing before our people weekly and leading them into the very presence of God. Your role is to point people to Jesus, not yourself; yet, you do so through an art that is incredibly personal and that you’ve worked tirelessly to perfect. Your role requires you to be a gifted artist continually honing your craft, a theologian, and a leader. All of those things combined make yours an arduous task.

The Bible references the predecessors of the modern worship leader in several places, such as the list of people in 1 Chronicles 25 whose job it was to “to prophesy accompanied by lyres, harps, and cymbals” in the temple (25:1). The Scriptures are also filled with admonitions to worship, very often including song. “Praise the Lord in his sanctuary” (Psalm 150:1). “Let us offer up the sacrifice of praise” (Heb 13:15). “Sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col 3:16). So yours is, in my view, a clearly articulated biblical role.

Music can easily become one of the more controversial things within the life of the church.

Even so, your responsibility brings with it some pretty big challenges. Music can easily become one of the more controversial things within the life of the church. Everyone in our church has an opinion, often in direct opposition to another, and each will expect you to satisfy both somehow.

You will need to be more contemporary and less so, louder and softer, and create a “better mix” in the house sound, whatever that means, and you will need raise the ratio of one style to another and vice versa—all simultaneously.

 I want to encourage you to feel free to to listen to people’s suggestions, but focus on pleasing the Lord in the manner that the church  has have chosen to affirm, stylistically and culturally. We trust you, and we have your back.

This doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best or only way to lead, period. It is simply what makes the most sense for all people, that bears our particular emphases, and relates to both our theology and history.

Here they are:

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