Dear Worship Leader, Have You Stopped Learning???

 Think back to the days of when you were an aspiring worship leader. What were you working on? What was holding you back from being ready to take the lead? Maybe you were still trying to master the guitar or piano. You might have been finishing up your bachelor’s degree. Or maybe, like me, you were told that some maturity needed to happen before stepping into the role of worship leader. Whatever it was, we have all been in a place where working, striving, and learning was our focus. We  knew we needed to learn more music theory (or whatever it was for you personally) in order to reach our worship leader goal.

Now, we have arrived. No need to put any focus on learning, right?

Wrong.

How many times has someone told you, “If you want your team to show up on time, YOU have to show up on time.” Or “If you want your team to come prepared, YOU have to come prepared.” We’ve heard so often that it starts at the top. I firmly believe the same goes for creating a culture where learning and growing is fostered, encouraged, and expected.

This Isn’t About You

About one year into my current role as Worship Leader, I started to get comfortable. This led to me getting a tad complacent and apathetic. My initial enthusiasm and zest to make this the best worship team ever was fading. If I’m being completely honest, I felt very much like I had arrived and I was awesome and I was the best musician on stage and “I, I, I, I, I, me, me, me, me, me…”

Well, I’m sure you can imagine, this trend in my attitude didn’t have a positive effect on my team and it certainly wasn’t glorifying to God.

When I got knocked off my high horse and made a choice to work on this part of my leadership-ness, I realized there was a major gap in my example to my team. You see, when we come to terms with the fact that we ALL have something to learn, two major things happen.

1.     Our hearts are humbled and softened towards the people who are above us and especially to our Heavenly Father who is constantly molding us.

2.     We help bridge the gap between us, as worship leaders, and our team members.

Learn, Grow, Get Better

Our team members need to see us learn something new. They need to watch us grow as musicians and people. Not only does this help us be viewed as real, normal, and approachable people, it will go a long way in developing an environment that is excited about learning. What book are you reading right now that helps you in your walk with Jesus? Share about it with your team! And I don’t mean preach to them. I mean be vulnerable and talk about what you are learning from the book and how it is practically helping you grow in your life.

 A few months ago I had a Sunday on the schedule and no drummers available. So instead of switching to an acoustic set, I decided that this was a great opportunity for me to learn how to play the drums. My best drummer sat down with me and taught me the drum part for our three worship songs. Yes, I had to devote a crazy amount of my personal time to practicing. But it was so worth it! That drummer of mine got to watch me overcome the hard rhythms and my frustrations. The rest of my team saw my nerves and my extreme desire to not let them down. They had hugs and high fives for me at the end of the service, my biggest cheerleaders.

Currently, we have five worship team members learning a new instrument. I LOVE that. I make time before and after rehearsal to listen to their recent accomplishments with strum patterns and drum beats. I want to be there for them, giving tips and encouragement. Just last week, I had a lead guitar player show up to Sunday morning completely memorized and play at a level I have never heard him play. He is our last musician to take the plunge into memorization and I seriously thought he never would. I can’t help but think he wanted to be a part of our learning craze.

Worship Leaders, what do you want for your team members? Take a step back and honestly evaluate yourself in that area. Then get to work. And don’t forget to share your journey with the group of people who are up on that stage with you week in and week out.