Where are the trained worship leaders?
Poll Friday, January 8th, 2010
It did not take long after our full-time foray into congregational singing/worship workshops for us to discover the vast shortage of well-trained worship leaders. It’s one thing for our workshops to facilitate a profound awareness of a congregation’s potential; and yet another for them to sustain their discovery. There is a tremendous need for dedicated worship leaders who will commit to the journey of excellence and growth. That’s why I can’t think of anything more important than the time we invest in the Worship Leader Institute. Leaders are coming from Florida, West Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma, Washington and Australia for four days of intensive, practical training.
Testing is required to apply for this limited-enrollment boot camp. The ratio of staff to student is around one to one, ensuring a very personalized training. Please pray that our next few days will be very fruitful in encouraging the full-potential of these God-followers, so they can in turn, effectively lead others into His glorious presence.
Take this poll and leave your comments.
Short URL: http://keithlancaster.com/?p=1419
Of course, I voted that the training for worship leaders is just as important as for pulpit ministers. Although, you’d never come to that conclusion by studying a host of our churches, as it appears that this view is in the minority.
Yeah. I’ve been thinking about this for years. Singing (or lack of) is why so many people attend a church family or not. Why wouldn’t we invest in our worship leaders?
The schools within the acappella church community didn’t offer much in the way of worship leader training in their music programs. I think this may have played a big part in this problem.
That’s my opinion at least.
(hey Keith, how you doing? new site looks great)
-Mitch
Preaching is but one, albeit very important, component of worship. Having that said, all the excellent preaching in the world cannot save a poorly thought out and poorly executed worship. Each component should complement the other. Unfortunately, while we train our preachers for excellence, we tend to allow just anyone who can carry a tune lead our worship. Though it may never be practical to achieve the intense training and education of our preaching schools and universities, with worship leader training institutes, we can surely try.
Having been a part of congregations from very small to quite large, I believe that the worship leader is actually the most important person to stand in front of any congregation. He/she sets the over all tone of the worship, brings the congregation together in thought and purpose, prepares the congregation for the preaching minister, communion, etc, and can quite literally make or break the entire service. I have been a “just plain song leader” most of my life in every congregation my wife and I have been a part of and would have given anything to have been able to be properly trained in worship leading. That doesn’t mean attending a “song leading school”. Even though these schools serve a usefull purpose, they don’t produce high quality worship leaders who require a much broader base of training than just being able to properly lead a song.
I voted yes but . . . I am convinced the ability to lead worship is a spiritual gift which directly affects the idea of “training” worship leaders. Though I will say this as well: preaching also is a spiritual gift. Just because someone “can” preach or “lead singing” doesn’t mean they “should.” Churches absolutely should spend more time and consideration as to who takes the stage in worship, as that person is really the lead worshiper, with Jesus really being the worship leader. Remember, no one comes to the Father except through him. It’s one thing to have the ability to lead a song, it’s quite another to have the gift to draw someone into the presence of God. A worship leader should also strive to remember that worship incorporates so much more than just singing. Prayer, the public reading of Scripture, quiet time, giving, fellowship – all of these are acts of worship as well. And I’ll leave you with this: Sunday worship assemblies are (at least should be) the pinnacle of a week spent in personal and private worship. One can get a pretty clear picture of how a person worships during the week by watching them worship on Sundays! Which makes choosing and training a worship leader that much more important.
Tremendous points, Scott! Thanks for sharing.