Developing Identity as a Worship Leader

Q

I have been a musician all my life, but I just recently started serving my church as a worship leader. I thought it would be easy to pull together music, rehearse a team, and lead on Sunday mornings, but it has been such a challenge! How do I think about my role, and where do I start to develop my skills?

A

I understand the mix of confidence and uncertainty that comes with embarking on a new endeavor. I have been a lifelong runner. But in the last few years, I have taken on the role of a middle school track and cross-country coach. Middle schoolers can sniff out uncertainty in a coach like bloodhounds and deliver you as the evening meal!

To improve my coaching skills, I recently started working toward a coaching certification. In the first learning module, I was inspired by a top ten list of qualities of a good coach. I was surprised that only one of the items was about understanding the sport. The rest had to do with the capacity for learning and leadership, the skills of mentoring and motivation, the example of character and care, and the ability to listen and communicate effectively (International Olympics Committee, “Qualities of a Great Sports Coach,” tinyurl.com/QualitiesCoach).

These same qualities are what make a good worship leader. Musical skills and public speaking are essential, but they are not sufficient. 

I have mentored emerging worship leaders over many years and have discerned six essential identity markers for their development. I will define these markers here and provide several reflection questions and prompts for growth in these areas. 

Editorial Note: The first two of Ryan’s six identity markers are included here. For all six identity markers, visit ReformedWorship.org. 
 

1. Pastoral Theologians

The titles “pastor” and “theologian” can be intimidating for emerging worship leaders. Pastors preach and provide pastoral care. Theologians use sophisticated language, debate theories, and confront controversies. But worship leaders have a pastoral and theological role. They help the church to imagine who God is and how God relates to us and the world. I’m fond of this Eugene Peterson quote: “That is why I am a pastor, to introduce people to the real world and train them to live in it.” (“The Subversive Pastor,” Leadership Journal 10 (Spring 1989), archived at Christianity Today). 

Worship leaders introduce people to God through the names, images, and metaphors for God used in our songs and prayers. Worship leaders train people how to relate to God through acts of praise, confession, lament, and dedication. Worship leaders communicate God’s triune nature and activity in their spoken introductions and transitions. 

Worship leaders must therefore learn to integrate the tasks of planning and leading worship with a full-orbed theological imagination of the person and work of the triune God. At the heart of the task is shaping our prayers and song selections to mirror what we believe. 

Reflective Prompts

1. When you pray, what names, images, and metaphors for God most readily come to mind? How have worship leaders, worship songs, and public prayers contributed to your imagination?
2. How is God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—active in a worship service? What expectations do you bring with you into public worship? What is the role of the worship leader in relation to God’s activity?
3. Worship enacts a relationship between God and us. In what ways do you best relate to God in worship? How do you best hear from God? How do you best respond? What practices of worship help the people to hear and respond to God?
4. What healthy relational habits with God (praise, confession, lament, dedication, etc.) come most naturally to you? How have these been shaped by your experience of public worship? What habits are more difficult?
5. Imagine standing before your community in public worship. How do your beliefs about God’s church shape how you view them? How might your beliefs affect how you plan and lead worship for them? 

2. Followers of Jesus

Worship leaders are also disciples. We must apprentice ourselves to the person and work of Jesus and rely moment by moment on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. We grow in discipleship by engaging in classic spiritual disciplines, and for worship leaders, discipleship includes submitting all the tasks of planning and leading worship to Christ. 

As followers of Jesus, worship leaders ought to embody the life of Christ and cultivate a “congruence between what we do and the way we do it” (Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Eerdmans, 2009, 
p. 333). We must regularly ask what Christlike virtues we want to embody as worship planners and leaders. We must discern how to cultivate these virtues and how these virtues translate into both the process of our planning and the products. 

Reflective Prompts

1. Theologian Dallas Willard wrote, “I am not necessarily learning to do everything that [Jesus] did. I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did” (The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God, Harper, 1998, p. 283).
   1. Considering the administrative tasks of planning and leading (e.g., communicating with team members, preparing song binders, setting up the drum set, editing visual presentations, etc.), describe how you might apply and practice Christlike virtues such as humility, patience, and gratitude.
   2. Considering the creative tasks of planning worship (e.g., choosing songs, selecting Scripture passages, preparing prayers and spoken words, etc.), describe how you might apply and practice Christlike virtues such as imagination, wisdom, and unity.
   3. Considering the performative tasks of leading worship (e.g., leading in song, delivering prayers, reading Scripture, etc.), describe how you might apply and practice Christlike virtues such as discernment of gifts, courage, and presence.
2. Is the person you portray when leading worship consistent with who you are on Friday nights, in the workplace, or with your family? What would your friends say about your character and behavior outside of being a worship leader?
3. How have you seen God at work in you and in others as you have served in worship leadership? What practices will help you continue during the next year to pay attention to God’s activity? 

3. Curators of Culture

Ever more so in our multicultural world, worship leaders are those who gather the gifts of the global church and steward the talents of their diverse communities. Cultural intelligence is as valuable as musical aptitude. Worship leaders need not attempt to become experts in all cross-cultural practices of worship. But they must learn to appreciate and adapt to different cultures in order to extend hospitality, stand in solidarity, and mutually share in the abundant resources God has given the church (Sandra Maria Van Opstal, The Next Worship, IVP, 2015, p. 74). 

As curators of culture, worship leaders foster a multicultural approach to worship, seeking to wisely and adeptly relate their planning and leading to the global and ecumenical church loved by Jesus Christ.

Reflective Prompts

1. Author, speaker, and worship leader Sandra Maria Van Opstal writes, “The biggest barrier Christians face in developing communities hospitable to people of every ethnicity and culture is their ignorance about their own culture” (The Next Worship, p. 40). How would you describe your worship culture?
2. What is one aspect of your worship culture that you cherish? How would you warmly and winsomely describe it to a guest?
3. How do you feel about leading songs from outside of your cultural experience? What does it mean to lead with authenticity?
4. What contributes most to your cross-cultural awkwardness? Fear? Preference? Lack of exposure? (Van Opstal, p. 26). What steps can you take to overcome your awkwardness?
    

4. Collaborative Leaders

Some worship leaders serve within a team structure. Others work more independently in staff or volunteer positions. It is rare, however, for a worship leader not to collaborate with a pastor, with fellow musicians, or with other worship volunteers. Nevertheless, in North America individualism is idolized, and worship leaders must resist the all-too-common “go it alone” approach to ministry. As collaborative leaders, worship leaders seek opportunities with others to plan, lead, and evaluate the basic elements of a worship service. When we collaborate, we share the load, we balance strengths and weaknesses, we benefit from the wisdom and perspective of others, and we practice the virtues of Christ in community. 

Reflective Prompts

1. Reflect on your active listening skills. Do you stay visibly engaged when another person is speaking, or are you easily distracted? Do you validate the emotions of others, or do you try to “fix” them? Do you listen for what questions to ask, or do you listen for how you want to respond? Presbyterian minister Adam S. McHugh writes, “If you are ‘listening’ in such a way that the speaker must make an abrupt shift to listen, you are not doing it right” (The Listening Life: Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction, IVP, 2015, p. 142).
2. How do you show consideration when you don’t agree with an idea? Do you act with courage to share your perspective, or do you constantly defer to others?
3. Do you tend to celebrate the accomplishments of others, or are you envious? Why?
4. Do you tend to take responsibility for your failures, or do you blame others? Why?
5. What does it look like for you to appropriately share your struggles and frustrations?
6. Be honest: Can you be flexible and work with the schedules of others? Why or why not?
7. Describe what it means to work hard and demonstrate passion for doing a good job.
8. Do you take initiative to address a problem, or do you wait for others to act? Why?
    

5. Astute Administrators

Let’s face it: If you lead worship, you need administrative skills. Worship leaders manage the mechanics of executing services and lead teams of volunteers. I preach to my students that administration is how we love our teams. Organizing schedules, responding to emails, photocopying music, hosting meetings, sending thank-you notes, printing worship outlines, and many, many other tasks are not merely chores leading to worship. When done out of love in the name of Christ, they are worship. 

In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey encouraged his readers to be efficient with things and effective with people (p. 170). Efficiency with weekly tasks demands sage attention to time management. Effectiveness with people requires polished social skills. Worship leaders must devote time and energy to becoming astute administrators. 

Reflective Prompts

1. Covey suggested we evaluate our time management based on a time matrix attributed to President Dwight D. Eisenhower (see sidebar). He claimed tasks could be grouped into four categories: 1) Important and Urgent, 2) Important and Not Urgent, 3) Not Important and Urgent, or 4) Not Important and Not Urgent (Covey, p. 151). Astute worship leaders will devote a significant percentage of time to the second category, Important and Not Urgent. Reflect honestly on how you spend your time in each category. Where would you like to spend more of your time?
2. What is your preferred method of communication? Why? What are ways that other forms of communication might be more effective to convey your plans, ideas, or feelings?
3. How do you feel about checklists? Do they feel constraining, or do they lower your anxiety and strengthen your confidence?
4. Be honest: Do you love the idea of filing music, compiling binders, or producing photocopies? If not, what support do you need to fulfill these administrative tasks? If support isn’t available, what strategies can you employ to get these tasks done?
5. What values do you embody in the quality of your work? Does your work serve others? Is it loving, considerate, kind, thoughtful? 
    

6. Worship Apprentices

The Calvin University students I train in worship and leadership are aptly called “worship apprentices.” I challenge them to continually learn and grow in knowledge, skills, and identity. Discerning talents and passions for serving in worship leadership is a lifelong endeavor. Some learning in worship leadership can be acquired through the classroom, video tutorials, articles, and books, but a great deal happens through hands-on learning, reflection, and mentoring. 

Reflective Prompts

1. What is your vision for worship leadership and planning in your community and beyond?
2. What skills and knowledge do you need to achieve your vision?
3. What are your strengths and weaknesses as a worship leader?
4. How do you approach and evaluate new situations? Do you ask yourself if you will succeed or fail, look smart or dumb, be accepted or rejected? (Carl S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Ballantine, 2016, p. 6). Where do these concerns come from? Does this hold you back from following your curiosity and learning new things?
5. Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull wrote: “Failure isn’t a necessary evil; in fact, it isn’t evil at all. It’s a necessary process of doing anything new” (Creativity Inc., Random House, 2024, p. 317). Do you agree? How do you typically respond to mistakes and failures?
6. Describe any skill that you had to learn. How did you grow in confidence? What helped you stay motivated and positive amid hardship?
7. Who can mentor you in worship leadership or serve as a conversation partner as you continue to learn and grow? 

Most vocations require more than just skills and knowledge in a given discipline. Engineers need time management as well as mathematics. Teachers need passion as well as pedagogy. Entrepreneurs need grit as well as a great idea. The same is true for worship leaders. Musical skill is required. Knowledge of repertoire is indispensable. Charisma on the platform is crucial. But being and becoming an effective worship leader is so much more. It demands theological imagination, discipleship, cultural curiosity, teamwork, attention to detail, and a growth mindset. Developing as a worship leader is a worthy endeavor, an act of worship in and of itself.