A couple weeks some folks from the worship team and I went to a one day worship leaders conference with Tim Hughes and Al Gordon from Worship Central (www.worshipcentral.org). I didn't really enter the conference with any expectations, but I really appreciated their style and approach. They didn't really say anything 'new' about worship and worship leading, but they said many little things that I appreciated. They also had a few refreshing worship times where God really met me and blessed me. I have included an outline of their two worship sessions below, but I thought I would share of couple thoughts that really helped me.
1.) The talked alot about giving space for the Spirit to work in our worship services. Not doing anything flashy but just giving space for silence and to listening in the midst of our worship services. I realized that I don't really do this very well, partly because of my reformed background and skepticism of some charismatic practices. English and European charismatics though I have noticed are different than American charimsatics....less emotional and ego centered. So they just focus on giving the space to people to meet God and then just letting God work. One of their mottos that I like is: 'our task in worship is to lead the bride to the bridegroom and then to disappear'.
2. And, as we are giving space for the spirit they talked alot about watching what is happening in the worship service. So often as worship leaders we close our eyes or look at our music rather than really observing what is going on in the congregation. This has two benefits: we both see what songs, etc... are working and connecting with the congregation and we also can observe what the spirit is doing. When they said this I realized that I never do this....I always either have my eyes closed, am looking over the heads of the congregation, or looking at my music stand.
Here are the notes:
Worship Central Workshop
with Tim Hughes and Al Gordon, 15-01-09
http://www.worshipcentral.org/
Session 1:
Initial thoughts about Worship and Worship Leading
1. Worship must be Christ centered. (This is the starting point.)
a. Worship is about Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ, not about us.
2. Worship must be led by the Holy Spirit.
There are two ways of leading worship:
a. Through INITIATION: We, as worship leaders, try to make people worship through our own power, preparation, and persuasion. OR…
b. Through RESPONSE: we need to follow what God is doing in our churches worship and plan our songs/worship sets, worship times based on that. We need to remember that God has a plan and agenda for our worship and we need to learn to follow God’s lead in worship. Phil 3:3, John 4:21.
3. Worship must lead us to the Father.
a. We are always focused on responding to the God who rejoices in us and gives us new strength and courage in His love. Zeph 3:17
4. Our worship must lead us to intimacy with God.
a. We think about the vows couples take during their marriage ceremonies: vows to love on another, surrender to each other, adore each other, and commit everything to each other. This same language is used in the Bible to describe the kind of relationship we have with our God as Christians. John 3: 28-30, Matt 9:15-17. Our task as worship leaders is to lead the bride to the bridegroom and then disappear. (to bring the worshipper and God together and then to disappear.)
b. Intimacy with another person (or intimacy with God) is not just about saying ‘I love you’ but living together in dependence on the other.
5. Worship is about serving others.
a. Leading worship is not about US (as leaders) and how we feel. It is about God and what God is doing.
b. As worship leaders we are called to humble ourselves and our agendas to focus on God’s story and telling the whole story weekly.
c. We need to serve God’s people. The worship service is not our moment to shine as worship leaders, but our moment to give.
6. Worship is about transformation
a. Worship is about the changing of our hearts and minds, so that suddenly we become concerned about those who have nothing, those on the fringes, those in desperate need. Worship leads us to a place where we cannot ignore the last, the lost, and the least.
b. “Worship without mission is self-indulgent, but missions without worship is self-defeating”. Worship, evangelism, and justice are intrinsically tied to one another.
Session 2:
Nine Question to Ask when planning worship (before, during, and after).
BEFORE:
1. Where Am I leading?
a. Context: What event have you been called to lead worship at? Your context will define how you lead people.
b. Journey: Where is the service going (what is the theme, sermon title, etc… , what are you trying to do and to say in the service?) Worship must reflect the reality of the journey of your church.
2. What Songs Work Best?
a. What is the theme? (what gives our worship focus?)
b. Journey (where are we going in worship and what songs can work best with that?)
c. Pick a mix of songs that both engage our minds and our hearts. Try to find a mix of substance and simplicity (both hymns or songs with weighty spiritual themes and simple praise choruses that engage our hearts in their repetition.
d. Pick songs that flow together (both in key, tempo, and theme).
e. Ask: what can I bring this morning to worship that will be fresh?
-new songs or something that will add to worship in a unique way. Some creative element that both inspires the team and adds something fresh to worship. (could be new arrangements of songs, a new element of worship or an extra time of prayer)
- Don’t be afraid to take risks!!
3. Have you thought through the practical stuff? Practical Stuff is Important!
a. Learning our instruments, practicing, the mics and sound is important. God deserves our best efforts!!
b. Don’t settle for mediocrity. One of their praise teams mottos: ‘Aim for perfection, settle for excellence.’
c. Mistakes are good. It is good to take risks and to try new things.
d. It is important for musicians to keep the music excellent but simple…we don’t want the complexity (or the loudness) of the worship to distract us from the real reason we are worshipping
e. Learn the songs well…..bands, get rid of the music stands!
f. Make sure the words on the screen (with the powerpoint) are the same as what you are singing.
g. OVERPREPARE! We want to make sure there are no distractions in our worship.
h. Rehearse well. We want to arrive prepared and ready to worship. We want to be rested, peaceful, calm, etc…when we enter worship.
DURING
4. Where are we going?
a. Often we, as worship leaders, close our eyes in worship or we keep our eyes on our music. We should though be looking out at the congregation, to both see what is working and not working in worship and see what the Spirit is doing, so that we can follow God’s leading. “Have one eye on the Lord and one eye on the people.”
b. Related to this….don’t just get into our own worlds in worship (close our eyes, focus on ourselves) but think about the flow during worship, think about where we want to lead our congregation
-Get rid of our eccentric habits as worship leaders so that we don’t distract people from worship.
5. Are you letting the Spirit Lead? Zech 4:6
a. We need to let the Spirit lead and constantly be asking: what is the H.S doing?
b. we need to create space for the Holy Spirit to work
c. we need to take risks.
6. How are the people in the congregation responding?
a. If they aren’t responding we need to ask why: Is the band too loud? Too many song? Songs too complex? Service too long? Etc…
b. To ask these questions during worship we need to SEE the people we are leading, be watching them to see both how they are responding and how the spirit is working. ‘Keep one eye on the people and one eye on the Lord.’
c. We need to GENTLY persuade and encourage people to worship
AFTER the service
7. What can we learn from the service?
a. Don’t think of anything as success or failure, but see everything as a part of the learning process.
b. You need people to debrief with. We need to encourage each other and challenge each other.
8. Where Do I Recharge?
a. Worship is not about us, it is about God and the Holy Spirit’s working. We then need to take the time to get filled and refreshed by God’s spirit. We need to recharge our spiritual lives everyday.
b. Have a longer term vision of the church, it’s work, and your role in the church. (Not about burning ourselves or our congregation members out)
c. It’s always in our places of vulnerability that our temptation comes.
d. We need places to retreat and rest ‘come by yourself to a quiet place and get some rest”
9. How can I continue to develop the team?
a. We need to build each other up
b. We need to promote a feeling of family/community
c. We need to give feedback, promote teachability
