The Worship Kenbook

Sound principles, right practices & smart tips for powerful worship ministry

Gangai Victor

To the many unknown worship ministers all over the world who are faithful to their community; those who arrive early and leave late; whose hearts are set upon Christ; those who do not look for popularity or applause; those who run the race daily, accepting the challenges of balancing their time between family, work and ministry; to those who are willing to stay in the shadows and leave the center-stage to the Lord.

My sincere gratitude to my beloved wife Irene, brother Babu Victor, dear friends Vanessa Srinivas, Mamta Ekka and Robert Martin.

Your support, encouragement, comprehensive review, and candid feedback have made this a far better book than what I had originally hoped to write.

Thank you!

Let’s Pray

Dear Lord, we thank you for the marvelous, life-transforming revelation of who you are:  the Only True God. How wondrous it is that you choose to grant us glimpses of Your magnificent glory that is radiant in holiness, every time we worship you! We are ever grateful that you bless our efforts to worship You with the sacred seal of Your Presence despite our imperfections.

We rejoice in the privilege of being Your worshippers and are immensely humbled that You called us into this ministry of helping others to worship You.

May our worship convey that You are the undisputed supreme priority of our lives and that You will be our God and our mission forever.

May our passion for You and our pastoring of your people be firmly rooted in uncompromised authenticity, demonstrating compassion to the weak, generosity to the needy and fairness in the treatment of people.

May the worship that we lead be a favorable avenue for You to reveal Your awesome power, heal the sick, lift up the lowly, restore the broken, comfort the hurting and bless Your Church.

May our worship invite your grace to move in our lives and cultivate resilience during temptation, repentance during sin, forgiveness during hurt, trust during disappointment, fortitude during suffering and prayer at all times, shaping us to become imitations of You.

May our music, songs, art and other vehicles of worship express thanksgiving, praise, devotion, adoration, reverence, honor, blessing, awe and everything else that is rightfully Yours in a manner that pleases You and edifies Your Church.

As You draw us closer to Your irresistible heart of love, may we always minister in Your Name and under the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit embracing humility when we are applauded and grace when we are criticized.

May we become and remain willing, committed and faithful servants focused on spreading Your Name and the timeless message of the Cross within the spheres of influence that You place us in without compromising on our love, attention and care, for the lives You have entrusted to us, beginning with our families.

And one day when our time here on earth comes to an end, we pray that you grant us the ultimate reward of your benevolent mercy—the opportunity to worship You through all eternity, beholding Your glorious presence face-to-face.

Amen.

ken \ˈkɛn\

noun

range of knowledge, vision or perception

synonyms: understanding, grasp, comprehension,

realization, appreciation, consciousness

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The DNA of the Church

Chapter 2: The Heart of a Worshipper

Chapter 3: Acts and Expressions of Worship

Chapter 4: The Design of Contemporary Worship Ministry

Chapter 5: A Blueprint for Constructing Inspired Worship Set-Lists

Chapter 6: The Art of Establishing Fluidity in Worship

Chapter 7: The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Rehearsal & Delivery

Chapter 8: The Essentials of Managing Visuals

Chapter 9: The Fundamentals of Forming a Team and Mentoring People

Chapter 10: Personal and Ministerial Pitfalls to Avoid and Overcome

Chapter 11: The Worship Servant’s List of Lifelong ‘Unforgettables’

Chapter 12: The Center and Focus of Christian Worship

Chapter 1: The DNA of the Church

“You never go away from us, yet we have difficulty in returning to You. Come, Lord, stir us up and call us back. Kindle and seize us. Be our fire and our sweetness. Let us love. Let us run.” – St. Augustine of Hippo

The New Song

I was born Christian.

What I mean by that is I was born in a Christian family. I did all the things Christians normally do. I went to Church every week, received the sacraments, attended Sunday school, read the Bible, and participated in a variety of Church activities and so on.

Somewhere, somehow I developed an unhealthy fear of God and his ‘punishment’ if I did not behave myself. To me, God became a tyrant and religion a set of rules and regulations to be observed to satisfy this tyrant. You can imagine what this led to: I became a staunch devotee of the ‘gospel of works’ truly believing God’s favor could be earned by being ‘good’ and doing ‘good things’. When things went well, I assumed that God was rewarding me for my ‘goodness’. When they didn’t, I attributed it to God’s punishment for the sins that were doing the rounds in my life at that time.

I lived this life for many years until one day I encountered the love of God during a retreat. Strangely, this wasn’t my first retreat; in fact it was my third. The previous ones were mandatory programmes arranged by the institutions I was studying at. I snuck out halfway through the first one and was thrown out of the second for less than desirable behavior.

But this third one was different. Though I had heard about it, I had no plans of going anywhere near it. But God had other plans. I woke up one morning with a voice speaking gently in my head, “Go to that retreat.” The voice was insistent, and although I did consider going to a doctor to check if I was suffering from some kind of mental illness, I caved in to “the voice” and went to the retreat instead.

And what a retreat it turned out to be! I finally understood truths that had been taught to me repeatedly over the years but until then did not make much sense. Basic things like the Father loves, Christ saves, and that the Holy Spirit actually exists! It was during a session of worship that I gave my life to Jesus and was flooded with a joy I had never felt before! It’s why I firmly believe that Jesus can only be taught to an extent; the real deal is in experiencing Him. Else He remains in the mind as an intellectual idea and the heart wants nothing much to do with Him or relate to Him as a person.

Consider Israel’s journey in the Old Testament. God chose a people for Himself, rescued them from slavery, gave detailed laws about how He was to be worshipped, and established a special covenant with them. God did not stop there either! Prophet after prophet followed to remind them of how unique they were to Him.

And yet, Israel’s attention was always on the gospel of works. They did just what I did. They equated prosperity to God’s reward for obedience and disaster to punishment for disobedience. And all the time, God was patiently waiting for Israel to get the point: RELATIONSHIP. Somehow, this eluded their understanding with uncanny consistency for centuries… just like it eluded me for 22 years of my life.

God wanted to be my God… loving Father… Provider… Savior… Redeemer… Friend… Shepherd… but like Israel, I had been looking for Santa Claus instead; someone who would give me whatever I wanted and stay out of my life so that I could live it the way I wanted to.

Before that retreat, I only had knowledge about God and worship but never had actually known Him or worshipped Him. For years, I had gone through the motions of religious observances without actually getting involved in them.  And now, suddenly; everything attained a new definition—a lot like watching a Black & White movie, which instantly transforms into sparkling High Definition color!

I entered into a personal love relationship with the Lord; this may sound clichéd, but that’s what happened. I started loving the God who created me. This whole new realm of relating to God was incredible and my life was totally overhauled. My habits, relationships, self-esteem, life-goals, the music I listened to, the books I read and so on… everything began to change! Many years later, this experience would become my inspiration to write “The New Song”:

Broken by my choices

Lost in my own way

Then You found me Jesus

Made me born again

Raised from sin's quicksand

By the Cross I am restored

Grace fell on this dry land

Now I breathe in Christ alone

O Jesus You are the new song I will sing

O Jesus You are the new song I will sing

Lord You changed everything

O what a Savior

Rescued me from death

My soul is safe and secure

By the Blood that You shed

Generous are your blessings

Lord You are so good

I will offer worship

Making melodies for you

Turned my mourning into dancing

And I'll never be the same

Sorrowful night to joyful morning

You're the One my heart shall praise

Around the same time, my brother also went through a similar experience and became a gifted preacher of the Word, while I dove into worship ministry. Many of my friends too got into different ministries, and that’s just the way God wants it. As St. Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers”. We could include a few more like intercessors, preachers, mercy workers, miracle workers etc.

You see, a pastor need not be a teacher; a teacher need not be a prophet; a prophet need not be an intercessor; an intercessor need not be a miracle worker; a miracle worker need not be a… you get the idea. However, a pastor must first be a worshipper; an apostle must first be a worshipper; a preacher must first be a worshipper; a miracle worker must first be a worshipper; an evangelist must first be a worshipper; an intercessor must first be a worshipper… and that my friend, is the uniqueness of worship. And one of the most profound realizations for me has been that there’s a massive difference between knowing about worship and actually worshipping.

The Unity Catalyst

If someone were to ask me for a definition of worship, I would simply put it as to love and consider someone or something as the most important person or thing in our lives. So ‘Do we worship?’ is never a question; it’s always who/what do we worship. It’s the basis of our relationship with God. In other words, this also means that the person or thing i.e. the object of our worship, becomes our god.

Loving is in our very nature because God is love (1 John 4:8), and we were created in His own image (Genesis 1:27). In fact, we can’t help but love! Hence, it’s no wonder we can’t help worshipping either! We were so created to worship God that it is probably embedded in our spiritual DNA itself. Jesus Himself gave us more than a hint of this when He responded to the rich young man, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 2:37)

Consider and visualize the worship described in the book of Revelation: Every tribe, tongue, and nation gathered with the angels around the throne of the Lamb singing, “holy, holy, holy!” They were focused only on the Lord, leaving no room to look at each other’s differences (like language for instance). How glorious would it be if all Christians were to unite together and worship the Lord!

Some time ago, Don Moen and Lenny Leblanc were in Chennai and apart from their scheduled programmes, an impromptu concert was organized in a Catholic parish. That evening, a sizable crowd from various churches, worshipped the Lord without worrying about denomination, worship styles and other differences. Similarly, if we were to understand worship as loving the Lord and keep our eyes fixed on Him, worship could be a catalyst for ecumenism!

So if worship is embedded in our DNA, can it be far from the DNA of the Body of Christ, the Church? You bet not! Loving the Lord and loving our neighbor form the core of our personal and corporate calling. It may be expressed through various ministries, but the underlying vocation is chiefly to be a worshipper and to be a worshipping Church. The early Christians met and worshipped together daily and the Lord added to their numbers steadily (Acts 2:46-47). A worshipping Church or a prayer group is a magnet that draws the Lord and His people to connect with each other!

Ministering to the Lord

When we talk about ministering in the Church, it’s always from a perspective of serving people and fulfilling their needs. Ministries like preaching, interceding, pastoring, evangelising, giving, visiting hospitals/prisons, and so on are examples of this. When we do these for the least of our brothers and sisters, we are indirectly serving the Lord Himself (Matthew 25:40). However, the Bible also mentions the phrase, ‘minister to the Lord’. Consider these verses:

“Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the LORD your God…” (Deuteronomy 17:12)

“But Samuel was ministering before the Lord…” (1 Samuel 2:18)

“then my covenant with David my servant - and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me…” (Jeremiah 33:21)

We understanding what ‘ministering to the Lord’ primarily means when we read 1 Chronicles 16:4, “He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to extol, thank, and praise the LORD, the God of Israel:” (1 Chronicles 16:4)

Acts 13:2 in some Bible translations reads “While they were worshiping the Lord…” while in other translations like the NASB, ASV, KJV, Douay-Rheims etc. we read this verse as “And as they were ministering to the Lord…” It is in worship that we minister to the Lord directly, offering Him our love, praise, thanksgiving and more. This does not mean God has needs, of course not! God is sovereign and self-sufficient (Romans 11:36). But through worship, it is He who gives us the opportunity to connect with Him and build a relationship with Him!

Post the ascension of the Lord, the disciples remained in joyful worship in the Temple (Luke 24:53) and continued to worship together in the upper room (Acts 1:14) for days until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The Church therefore, was born in worship, and to worship. The Lord’s Bride cannot offer anything to the Lord that is higher than genuine worship; it’s our ultimate end without end, for it will be our only engagement in Heaven! That’s why the Holy Spirit has woven it into our DNA and the DNA of the Church. For, charisms and ministries will pass away some day, but love will remain (1 Corinthians 13:8) —the love of the Lord for His beloved and the love of His Bride for Him, which will be expressed in eternal worship in Heaven!

What an honor then, to worship the Lord and to be called to this ministry of helping others to worship Him on earth! How can we not run full steam ahead! How can we not give it our all! How can we not make it the pursuit of our lives! Oh that we would give in to the Holy Spirit to bring out authentic worship from us and through us! Oh that we would be willing vessels of praise overflowing with all the worship that we can possibly offer to the Lord of all that was, is, and is to come.

“The Goal of our life is to live with God forever.

God, who loves us, gave us life.

Our own response of love allows God's life to flow into us without limit.

All the things in this world are gifts from God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.

As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us to develop as loving persons.

But if any of these gifts become the center of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.

In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation.

We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us A deeper response to our life in God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this:

I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening his life in me.”

- St. Ignatius of Loyola (paraphrased by Fr. David L. Fleming)

Chapter 2: The Heart of a Worshipper

“The great God values not the service of men if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; He has no regard for outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God.” – Isaac Watts

I believe that the heart of worship is all about living a life yielded to God in every possible way. A soul that has tasted the goodness of the Lord cannot but only love Him and want more of Him. That’s been my experience and the experience of many believers I’ve engaged with over the years. And I’ve learned that the secret to a flourishing relationship with the Lord is this: if we want more of Jesus, we need to give Him more of ourselves. Kind of what St. Augustine once said, “The Kingdom of Heaven, O man, requires no other price than yourself. The value of it is yourself. Give yourself for it and you shall have it.”

Top-10 Moments of Worship

The Scriptures speak of many men and women of God from whom we can learn about the different facets of worship. So let me draw your attention to some of the great moments of worship in the Bible that teach us simple and yet profound truths about the heart of a worshipper. This is my personal Top-Ten:

10. Nehemiah 8:5-6, “Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.” Ezra only had to open the Scriptures and the people were already on their feet! The veneration they display for the Word is a lesson in itself. When I read this, I am reminded of the many times I have treated the Bible so casually and irreverently. Oh that we would treat God’s Word with due veneration and immerse ourselves into it!

9. Luke 17:15-16, “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan.” While ten men were cured of leprosy that day, only one of them was healed body and soul because he turned out to be a person of gratitude and praise. Oh that we would not forget to offer our thanksgiving to the Lord!

8. Luke 7:38, “As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” An amazing act of repentance and worship that moves the Lord to forgive her of her many sins (verse 47). Oh that we would never hesitate to repent and humbly seek the Lord’s mercy each time we falter!

7. Luke 5:15-16, “But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.” Large crowds came to Him, but Jesus withdrew to pray! If large crowds came to me at my prayer-time, I’d probably not mind it too much, perhaps I’d even feel very important—“Sorry Lord, I don’t have time to pray today, your people need me to minister to them you see, I’m sure you understand!” How different is Jesus here! Quiet time with the Father was the main thing for Him. Oh that we would prioritize personal prayer over ministry and not compromise it for anything!

6. I Samuel 17:45, “David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”  The Bible says Goliath was 8-9 feet tall and big enough to wear armor weighing 125 pounds (57 kg), and not to forget his spear, which weighed around 33 pounds (15 kg). That’s enough to dwarf sumo wrestlers! This proud behemoth of a man looked at the Israelites like ants to be stepped upon and taunted them for 40 days. Considering how puny David would have appeared when he faced Goliath, the confidence and assurance he exhibited is beyond belief. What should have naturally gone down as the worst mismatch in history turned out instead to be one of the most famous triumphs for God’s people! Oh that we would trust the Lord like David and stand up to the giants that we face in our lives like temptation, sickness, failure, sorrow, hurt, disappointment etc.

5. Daniel 3:17-18, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Trusting and praising the Lord is quite easy when we are happy and things are going well. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego praised God inside a burning furnace! They could have easily avoided it by obeying the king, but they wouldn’t, not even for their lives. What an example for us to follow! Oh that we would not take the easy way out, compromising on our faith, but instead be found willing to walk through the fire when necessary!

4. Luke 1:38, ““I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” Here is a teenage girl facing God’s will for her life: a premarital pregnancy. At a time when society would stone her to death for it! If I were Mary, I would have run away faster than Jonah. Oh that we would stand our ground and say ‘yes’ to the Lord when He asks the not-so-easy things of us!

3. Job 1:21, “…The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Overnight, Job lost it all including his beloved children. What would I do in such a predicament? Probably react like Job’s wife: “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Job’s response of praise on the other hand is stunning! Oh that we would be found as people of praise particularly during times of testing!

2. Genesis 22:10, “Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.” I have a son, and he is extremely precious to me. As a dad, there is no way I can even imagine what Abraham was willing to do. Oh that we would also practice faith, fear of the Lord, and obedience, not withholding anything back from God!

1. Luke 23:46, “Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” A slight head-ache, an on-stage monitor breaking down, the snapping of a guitar string or a howling microphone is sufficient to take my mind off God and worship. What a contrast to the Lord: Betrayed, forsaken, cursed, flogged, tortured to the point of death and still Christ is found to be a Man of prayer. He turns out to be the ultimate worshipper offering the most perfect worship possible. Oh that we would give of ourselves wholly to the Lord as an offering to Him!

No doubt, there are many other passages in the Bible about worship. These ten are only chosen for the sake of brevity. I have learnt important values of worship from these passages, and they challenge me daily to grow in my love for God, and I pray that they inspire you as well.

The heart of a worshipper is a heart arrested and set free by the love of God. It is a heart overwhelmed by the Cross of Christ, and beholds Him with grateful awe. It is a heart that desires to yield to the Holy Spirit in love, faith, dependence and obedience. Getting to this point may not be instantaneous for most of us, which is why we understand our walk with the Lord as a journey, in which He patiently guides us to the destination He wants us to reach. This journey can also be broken down into stages of a life cycle.

The Life cycle of a Worshipper

If the version of myself that existed before encountering the Lord time-travelled to the present, I doubt we’d recognize each other at all. Such has been the transforming influence of the Holy Spirit in my life. However, I’d be lying if I said it happened overnight. It was and still is a continuous journey of trusting and doubting, falling and rising, resisting and yielding, one that I am confident will carry on for the rest of my life. From what I have experienced and what I have seen in the lives of other believers, I believe this journey generally comprises these five stages:

1. Casual Consumer

This is where many of us begin. Attending church because it’s a tradition in the family or maybe someone invited us or maybe we wanted a problem to be resolved by divine providence. In this stage, it’s mostly about showing up at church and going through the motions with an elementary belief that there is a God. Worship is mostly about asking for material things, and we go to God out of religious compliance more than anything else.

2. Neophyte

Some of us skip the first stage and get here first, especially the ones who have had no formal Christian upbringing. For the rest, this is the second stage. It starts with a distinctive move of God in our lives—an experience in a retreat or a worship service or when someone prays over us or maybe when a prayer is answered miraculously.

Suddenly God becomes an attractive, tangible, reality and what we read in the Bible is no longer a figment of somebody’s imagination. Worship becomes a longing for more of that experience and tends to be emotionally charged. More often than not, this is also the stage of spiritual innocence, when we make many  mistakes that we either laugh about or regret five years  later (man, I can’t believe I thought it was God telling me to…!)

3. Theologian

The first-love experience kind of fades after a while and we start studying everything we can about God. As we come to know more and more about Him, the knowledge we gain leads us to worship with more of the mind, reasoning out the ingredients of worship. This is also the period, in which we start examining (and disagreeing with!) song lyrics, sermons, worship style, content etc. This is also a time when some unfortunately, give up on God out of doubt, frustration or fallout with a fellow churchgoer or ministry leader.

4. The Thanks-Giver

This is the stage when the revelation of salvation through the Cross takes deeper and stronger root within. Here, worship takes a posture of thanksgiving for all that God has done for us. By now, trusting God is much easier. This is when we count our blessings and can’t help thanking God for the many precious gifts He has showered upon us.

5. Theophilus

In this stage, God becomes everything to us, and we hold nothing back from Him. Material desires take a secondary place, and worship looks not at the hands of God but focuses on His heart. We start embracing the Cross without worrying about things like prayers going unanswered. Worship becomes all about enjoying the presence of a God, who we finally realize is a lovable person—lovable not for what He gives, but for the person that He is.

We begin to love God for who He is, going beyond what He does or has done for us. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that as we keep moving on to a stage, we lose what we had or stop being what we were in the previous one. Rather, it’s about how we evolve throughout our life-journey as worshippers, striving for more of God in our lives.

It takes a person in love to authentically express romance to his/her beloved. In the same manner, only a Theophilus or God-lover can be an effective worship minister who inspires the Church to express worship to the Lord. If apostles, preachers, miracle workers, evangelists and intercessors must first be worshippers, how much of a worshipper should a worship leader be?! Needless to say, we have to be absolutely passionate, fervent, and wholehearted in this journey to become the kind of worshipers the Father seeks (John 4:23).

“The Church is not merely ‘a human enterprise,’ but rather ‘a love story’." – Pope Francis I

What Worship is Not

Because of the unprecedented popularity of contemporary worship music in recent times, when we think or speak of worship, far too often, the image of a band on stage and people raising their hands comes first to mind. And sometimes we lose sight of the fact that music (and song) is a tool to worship and not worship in itself. In fact, we could make the mistake of worshiping only with music and song. Even worse, we could actually end up worshiping the worship, which is a deluded and a deceiving syndrome of letting worship songs or the ministry take precedence over God Himself; a state in which God isn’t our first-love, but the act of worship is. So I’d urge you to remember these ‘Nots’ at all times:

- Worship is not a show

- Worship is not a method

- Worship is not a musical gig

- Worship is not a performance

- Worship is not a means to obtain emotional highs

- Worship is not a talent show

- Worship is not entertainment

- Worship is not a concert

- Worship is not music

- Worship is not a fashion show

- Worship is not a tech show

- Worship is not about us

I am sure you can add some more “Nots”, but I trust you get the point: Worship is far more than just singing songs.

To summarize, a worshiper offers worship to God alone (Luke 4:8); responds in love and faith to the Lord Jesus and the Gospel of love as demonstrated by Him (Ephesians 3:17); understands that worship is an act of will, a conscious decision to express one’s love for God; seeks to offer worship and encounter God—not simply sing songs and ‘experience worship’; understands that music/singing is not worship by itself; is sold out for Jesus, arrested by His unbelievable love, mercy and grace (Luke 9:23); gives cheerfully to the needy—time, talents, money and other resources (2 Corinthians 9:7); endures suffering with uncompromised dependence on God (Romans 12:12); perseveres in the struggle against sin and temptation (James 1:12); builds and maintains a consistent life of daily personal prayer (Mark 1:35); desires and strives for the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23); intercedes for the needs of others (1 Timothy 2:1); treasures the Word of God (Psalm 119:16); enjoys fellowship in the Church; and lives in authenticity by practicing worship outside the church too.

“…the end we ought to propose to ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshippers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity.” - Bro. Lawrence

Chapter 3: Acts and Expressions of Worship

“For man is not a pure spirit but composed of body and soul, and he should adore God not only in his soul but also in his body” – newadvent.org

Worship Without Music

There are only two places to worship God: Inside the Church and outside the Church! The Bible teaches us many ways to worship God and most of them have nothing to do with music. A relevant challenge for today’s worship leaders is to keep an open mind towards worship practices that don’t involve songs. If you aren’t comfortable worshiping without song/music, you’ve got to work at it. Let’s look at four ways of worshiping without song, each of which is necessary for anyone stepping into contemporary worship ministry:

1. Prayer – It is so simple and yet sometimes so easily ignored while worrying about putting together the next smashing worship set-list or figuring out the vocal harmonies to that groovy song we will use next week. We must remember the example of Jesus, who prayed… a lot (Luke 5:16)! He prayed alone in the morning, He prayed before key events like choosing His disciples for example (Luke 6:12), He prayed before ministering and He even prayed during his suffering on the Cross (Luke 22:44). He truly was an absolute Man of prayer!

Spending personal time with the Lord should be an unbreakable habit for any Christian and worship ministers are no exception. If you already haven’t done so, I urge you to cultivate the habit of daily personal prayer. Work your way up to around 60 minutes a day and your relationship with the Lord and your ministry in the Church would be the better for it!

2. Bible Reading and Study – There’s no superior way to get to know Christ the Word than through the Bible; let no one tell you otherwise! It’s actually a no-brainer that a worshiper and the Bible should be inseparable. Whether your preferred device is a desktop, smartphone or tablet, there’s always a free Bible application out there, which you can easily install to access the Word of God at any time with remarkable convenience.  Reading, reflecting, memorizing, studying, and most importantly, applying the scriptures in our daily lives, are all acts of worship. When we commit ourselves to the Word, Christ will commit Himself to us!

I am sure you’ve seen people in love communicating with each other through letters, text messages or emails. They read them again and again and again and again; they immerse themselves into every word they read! We who love God should be no different. We cannot claim to love Him if we do not love the love letter He has written to us—the Bible.

In fact, if we fail to root ourselves in Scripture, our souls will be starved for Christ. “Let it then be our chief study to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.” - Thomas à Kempis

3. Silence – “He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”” - 1 Kings 19:11-13

Need I say more? I remember making a silent retreat on “Holiness” some time ago; it was quite amusing to note that among those who attended, the ones who struggled most with being quiet were the people who had led many ministries for a really long period of time. They just couldn’t stay still having been used to ministry activity all the time!

We hear God best when we close our mouths and open our ears. So make it a habit to take a break from ministry and other activity every now and then and spend it in silence with God, listening to Him. It does wonders to our walk with Him, trust me!

4. Intercession – The Bible says “first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” – 1 Timothy 2:1. A worship leader’s role is also intercessory—standing between God and His people and praying for them to encounter Him.

I have seen many examples of ministry leaders who have exclusive time set apart for intercession on a regular basis. It’s an important practice of worship that we should not ignore, more so because Christ Himself offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears (Hebrews 5:7).

Do you remember the last time your heart cried out to God for someone else’s need? Before we take the stage we ought to first pray for the people we will be leading into worship. We are called to be like Christ and pray for them as much possible. “The goal is that when we look out across the microphone we don’t just see the church, but a collection of people who we’ve been praying for all week.” – Paul Baloche

Regrettably, the multimedia-centric, entertainment-oriented contemporary culture that we are living in makes singing seem more appealing than silence or Bible reading. So unlike the Psalmist, who on the one hand says,

“I treasure your word in my heart” (Psalm 119:11)

“Oh, how I love your law!” (Psalm 119:97)

“I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil” (Psalm 119:162)

“My soul keeps your decrees; I love them exceedingly.” (Psalm 119:167)

“…your law is my delight” (Psalm 119:174)

we, on the other, tend to prefer musical worship more.

We may sing like angels, play guitar like Joe Satriani, know the latest trending songs or possess strong stage presence, but without these life-practices, our worship ministry may not be very different from empty vessels making a lot of noise.

Worship Outside the Church

“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” - C.S. Lewis

God already receives sublime worship in Heaven 24/7 (Isaiah 6:1-4, Revelation 4:8). Our worship doesn’t add much to this and as C. S. Lewis puts it, nothing much is diminished from God either if we do not worship Him. This is one of the most humbling revelations about worship! While the psalmist says, “It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High” (Psalm 92:1), what we ought to remember is worshiping the Lord is good for us and not for God. The more we worship God, the more we are transformed into becoming the persons God wants us to be.

Showing up at Church on a Sunday is pretty easy—but what about the other six days of the week? Consider Psalm 100:4. For the Jews, worship started with thanksgiving right at the gates of their Temple; they did not wait to enter inside to start singing worship songs. Many of us do the opposite, that is, we start and even end our worship inside the Church (“Okay Lord, so long, until we meet again next week.”)

Here are nineteen life-practices to worship God outside the Church:

1. Maintain a regular routine of daily personal prayer (Mark 1:35).

2. Memorize a verse of Scripture every day.

3. Keep a prayer journal and write down your prayers.

4. Fight and overcome any sins you are struggling with, one at a time (Romans 12:1).

5. Be kind and generous to the helpless and needy people whom you encounter (Isaiah 1:17, Acts 20:35)

6. Tithe faithfully to your Church or a ministry or a person of God in need (Malachi 3:8-9).

7. Develop the habit of daily family prayer (Psalm 144:15).

8. Teach scripture to your children regularly (Psalm 45:17).

9. Read a Christian book.

10. Pray for the specific intentions of others (Timothy 2:1).

11. Volunteer in other ministries like hospital/jail/mercy works etc. (James 2:26).

12. Praise God and sing a worship song during a difficult time like sickness or sorrow or anger.

13. Love your spouse (Ephesians 5:28).

14. Give (2 Corinthians 9:7) (Philippians 4:18).

15. Admire and enjoy God’s creation (sunrise, moon, waves breaking on the shore, rainfall, flowers etc.)

16. Seek God’s will (1 John 2:17).

17. Share your testimony of God’s work in your life with someone (Acts 10:42).

18. Forgive (Matthew 5:22-24).

19. Live out uncompromised Christian values and principles at work, college or school, especially when people and circumstances challenge us to.

Worship must occupy us fulltime for a lifetime because our final destination is Heaven—it’s no place for part-time lovers! Consider Isaiah 29:13 or Isaiah 1:15-17. God’s requirements are that we live worship first and then express that way of life when we are inside the Church. Worship must overflow from our private worship outside the Church into corporate worship inside the Church. This in turn should inspire us to continue our worship outside the Church until we meet again next week. That my friend is the circle of worship! It is the holiness of our lives that is a reliable measure of the quality of our worship.

Worship inside the church

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42 so lays down the four predominant ingredients of Christian worship inside the Church:

1. Prayer

2. Teaching of the Word

3. The Eucharistic meal

4. Fellowship

This is why, from the traditional Catholic Eucharistic celebration to the contemporary Evangelical service, the worship of almost all Christian Churches integrates these four elements (among others) in some manner. The Bible describes many expressions of worship that help us to participate in these elements and respond to God’s invitation to belong to Him. Let’s look at eight such expressions:

1. Singing

In Isaiah 61:3, the Lord promises to replace the spirit of despair with the garment of praise. The word ‘praise’ in this verse actually means ‘singing’, how about that!

Colossians 3:16 teaches us that songs of worship help us to learn, memorize and remember the Word of Christ. The Father sings (Zephaniah 3:17), so does the Son (Mark 14:26) and who do you think has been inspiring songs of worship in the Church? The Holy Spirit of course! Our God is a singing Trinity. When we sing, we know that we are imitating God Himself. Remember that the next time you are singing in worship.

Also consider verses from Psalm 90:14, 5:11, 59:16, 89:1, 101:1 and 42:8 to understand how deeply the Psalmist was moved by God’s love to worship Him in song. And he did not even know about the Cross like we do! That’s why we should be singing even more!

Singing is also the most participatory and congregational expression of worship. It breathes emotions into words and gives us a foretaste of Heaven—of eternal worship directed to the Lamb upon the Throne!

"For he that singeth praise, not only praiseth, but also praiseth with gladness: he that singeth praise, not only singeth, but also loveth him of whom he singeth. In praise, there is the speaking forth of one confessing; in singing, the affection of one loving." – St. Augustine of Hippo

2. Lifting hands

This is a very versatile expression of worship, because of the various dispositions it can convey as an expression of worship:

Praise

“Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” (Psalm 134:2)

Supplication

“Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.” (Psalm 28:2)

Repentance

“Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven, and say: “We have sinned and rebelled and you have not forgiven.” (Lamentations 3:41-42)

Surrender

“May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.” (Psalm 141:2)

Intercession

“Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at every street corner.” (Lamentations 2:19)

3. Bowing & kneeling

The primary word for "bowing down" in Hebrew, “Shachah”, is literally translated as “worship” in English implying a close relationship between “worship” and “bowing down.” Bowing and kneeling before God (Psalm 95:6) shows an acceptance that He is truly greater than us, we are His, and at His service, we praise, worship, revere, respect, and honor Him; and that we submit and humble ourselves before Him. Consider these scripture verses to get a better understand of kneeling:

“I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.” (Ephesians 3:14-15)

“When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven.” (1 Kings 8:54)

“When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “He is good; his love endures forever.”” (2 Chronicles 7:3)

“When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.” (Acts 21:5)

4. Standing

Standing is a sign of respect across many cultures. It conveys our reverence (Nehemiah 8:5) and acknowledgement that God is great and we are in awe of Him. Imagine the Church as a courtroom and the worship leader as the bailiff. You can almost hear the loud announcement piercing through the place, “All rise for the King of glory, our God is in the house!” If God is with us when we worship, how can we not stand to salute His presence! “And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.” (2 Chronicles 20:19).

5. Clapping

If lifting hands, bowing and kneeling imply intimate worship, then clapping signifies euphoric praise. Consider these verses:

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.” (Psalm 47:1)

“Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy” (Psalm 98:8)

“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12).

Clapping establishes a sense of joy, celebration and acclamation especially when up-tempo songs are used or when we hear a testimony. But remember, the applause is for the Lord!

6. Shouting

Shouting has had its fair share of controversy with heated debates over its appropriateness in worship. What I can safely say is that shouting God’s praises or simply calling on the Name of Jesus gives us a release from negative emotions and thoughts and helps us get engaged in worship.

Biblically, we see shouting as an expression of

Acknowledging God’s presence

“When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.” (1 Samuel 4:5)

Committing to God

“They took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns.” (2 Chronicles 15:14)

Praising and thanksgiving

“With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.” (Ezra 3:11)

Expressing joy

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music” (Psalm 98:4)

Acclaiming God’s works

“Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” (Psalm 118:15)

7. Music

Music as a ministry is by no means a modern invention of recent times; it has been an integral tool of worship especially from the time a formal place of worship was built by the Israelites (1 Chronicles 25:7). Psalm 150 is of course a prominent example of Scripture encouraging the use of a variety of musical instruments to praise God.

While I totally understand that some people still think drums and the electric guitar were invented in hell, my take on this is any musical instrument used appropriately and sensitively, will add value to worship. The first time I wanted to use live drums in a youth retreat, I met with stiff resistance from the leadership, who collectively believed that it was inappropriate. We discussed and debated at length and they finally relented after I agreed to sponsor all charges related to hiring and transportation of the drum-kit, in case it did not work out. A couple of worship sessions later in the retreat, their attitude totally transformed; they saw the positive contribution of the live drums and they absolutely loved it (and they paid for it too in the end!). So if you’re a drummer or a lead guitarist facing rejection, please don’t give up. Use your instrument with a heart for God and gradually you will overcome traditional resistance and win the approval of your leaders.

8. Dancing

Dance as an expression of worship is not a recent discovery either—consider these scripture verses: Exodus 15:20, 2 Samuel 6:14 and Psalm 149:3. While we normally associate dancing with celebration and praise, it can also be used to bring in another essential aspect of worship: story. Check out video websites like YouTube or Vimeo for hundreds of uplifting videos that are brilliant examples of skits and dances presenting the salvation story in a creative and moving manner.

These expressions help us to worship God with our bodies and with all our senses: hearing the Word of God/songs, seeing the visuals, touching and tasting communion and so on. In fact, traditional worship of many Churches also include the burning of incense so that even the sense of smell does not miss out on participating in the worship, how about that!

Worship inside the Church is first and foremost a gathering (Matthew 18:20). It is an offering of praise and thanksgiving to our God who is worthy. It is a remembrance of the life, passion, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a time of restoration, of repentance for our sins and of coming back to God and allowing Him to transform us. It is a renewal of our surrender to His Lordship. It is an encounter with God in Communion. It’s an experience of His love through fellowship with His people and finally a promise to be committed to His mission—to go out, evangelize, make disciples and complete the circle of worship in the outside world.

“The first element of worship is adoration. The Hebrews expressed this by their posture and not alone by their word.” – H.H. Rowley

Chapter 4: The Design of Contemporary Worship Ministry

"Teach my song to rise to You

When temptation comes my way

And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You

Jesus, You're my hope and stay." – Matt Maher

What is Leading Worship?

Singing Christian songs for people to sing along? Vocal cheerleading (“c’mon people, clap your hands...”)? Directing the choir? Putting together a ‘praise’ band? Managing a song-list? Well, we might have to do all of this and more from a functional perspective. And we’ll cover a lot of that in this book too. But then it is more than a function or fulfilling a role. Leading Worship is about inspiring God’s people to love Him, to proclaim revealed truth about Him, to sing His praises, and to live for Him. If worship is about a heart that loves God, then leading worship is about a heart that craves to magnify the Lord!

One of the easiest analogies to explain the role of the worship leader that I’ve come across is from “The NEXT 500 Stories” by Fr. Frank Mihalic:

“The English writer and Christian Socialist, John Ruskin, gave us a good picture of what the Lord wants us to be in our world. In the 19th century, during the “gaslight era”, streets were illuminated by gas lamps. Each evening a lamplighter would go around with a little flame and light one lamp after another.

One evening, Ruskin was sitting in his house looking out the window. Across the valley was a street on the hillside. There Ruskin could see one lamp after another being lit by the lamplighter as he went along. Because of the darkness, Ruskin could not see the lamplighter, only his burning torch and the trail of lights he left behind.

Seeing that, Ruskin turned to the person sitting with him and said, "There’s a good illustration of a Christian. People may never have known him, they may never have met him, but they know he passed through their world by the trail of lights he left behind him." What a wonderful legacy to leave - a trail of light behind you to guide those who follow.”

If we can enable people to see the light of Christ and not ourselves, we would be very good worship leaders! Leading worship is about the worship leader becoming invisible by focusing the spotlight on Christ. It’s about being a signpost that passionately proclaims, “Behold the Lamb of God, and worship Him!” A lot like the prayer of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30). Our challenge, pursuit, and high-calling is to amplify God’s praise in a manner that people can’t help but join with us!

Worship Session vs. Secular Music Concert

While both kind of appear the same these days due to the similarities in equipment, musical instruments, lighting, musical style etc., we must not lose sight of the fact that there are fundamental differences between a Church worship session and a secular music concert.

1. A music concert is mainly about two entities: the band and the fans attending the show. A worship session is about three: God, the congregation and the worship team.

2. People go to a concert to see and hear the band whereas in a worship session, the Lord is the center and focus of our attention, while music is only the vehicle or tool to worship.

3. A secular band plays music to showcase its musical skill and songs. A worship team, however, plays to create an environment that facilitates people to worship the Lord.

4. A secular band performs to increase its fame, fans and ultimately money. A worship team ministers using music to increase God’s fame and disciples.

5. A secular band performs in the interest of entertainment. A worship team plays in the interest of the Church.

6. When a secular band plays, the people are the audience. When a worship team plays, God is the audience.

7. For a secular band, character does not matter; in fact negative character might even be seen as a positive as it may help the band to stay in the news! However, for a worship team, holiness and upstanding character are must-haves.

8. In a secular concert, it’s the band’s skill that matters; the fans are not expected to be much more than spectators. Whereas, in a worship session, involvement matters; if the congregation is unable to participate, the worship session is a failure.

Sure, these eight differences are pretty obvious. But they are also easy to forget when on stage! The spirits of pride and of performance always lurk around the corner waiting for an opportune moment to use us to draw the focus of the Church away from the Lord. And if we give in to their temptations, from worship facilitators, we’ll quickly become worship barriers instead. You see pride says, “I am God” while worship says, “You are God”. In that sense ‘pride’ and ‘worship’ are spiritual opposites. So a ‘proud worship leader’ and a ‘proud worshiper’ should in essence, be spiritual oxymorons. We can be proud or we can be worshipers, not both. We can be proud or we can be worship leaders, not both.

Worship Leader or Pastor?

After my life transforming encounter with God, I began leading worship almost immediately. At least I thought it was worship that I was leading! At that time, I knew all of twelve worship songs printed on a sheet of paper. We would sing all twelve songs one after the other in the same sequence. This was my idea of ‘worship leading’ for many a meeting (I can almost hear you laughing!).

Fortunately, the Holy Spirit in His mercy decided to invest in me. But His school of training was a bit different. He inspired our prayer-group to have daily prayer meetings, and I ended up leading worship in most of them. I was filled with a hunger for worship that I started attending meetings of other prayer-groups. At one point, I was attending nine prayer meetings in a week, leading worship in most of them and still couldn’t get enough! This went on for about two years and experience turned out to be an extremely valuable teacher. I couldn’t afford a computer then, so learning through the Internet wasn’t a viable option either. A worship seminar by Dave Bilbrough and his team was my only other source of learning during this time.

You can imagine how many mistakes I would have made—probably all of them! In addition, I tried my hand at songwriting also, with absolutely no idea of how to do it. I so wanted to write the next “Open the Eyes of my Heart” for the Church! I still write songs today, but the motive is to magnify Christ—that’s where I found my freedom and it’s where I believe you will find yours. Remember, we are in the business of God-promotion not self-promotion!

An important lesson that I’ve come to realize over the years is that leading worship is a pastoral ministry. All the musical talent in the world cannot make anyone a worship leader or ‘lead worshipper’ as some people prefer to refer to this role. It’s about having a heart for the Lord and a heart for His Church. For He has made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father (Revelation 1:5-6).

Without the heart of a pastor, selfishness and insecurity could easily creep in, and we might want to be the only ones leading worship in the group. Such worship leaders will treat the stage as their property and will impede the growth of other ministers. Without a pastoral attitude, we would feel threatened by another worship leader’s ministry. A simple sign of this disorder is the discomfort one feels when appreciating and encouraging other ministers. A worship leader with a pastor’s heart, on the other hand, will genuinely care about the people more than his/her time on stage. He/she will be a selfless mentor and a positive role model especially for others in the ministry.

So worship pastor or leader? While I have to say we need to be both, let me toss another term into the ring: ‘Worship Servant’. This is because Christ’s idea of leading or pastoring is centered on servanthood (Matthew 23:11).

Some time ago, I did a search for worship related domain names that were still available. Worshipleader.com was obviously taken. So were worshipministry.com,

worship.com,

worshiptraining.com,

worshiper.com,

leadworshiper.com and every other combination that I could think of except one. Guess which one? Yes, no one had bought worshipservant.com.

We love to feel important, to be in the forefront, leading influential ministries, hero-worshipped by our congregations. But servanthood, on the other hand, does not quite have the same zing to it, does it? My friend, we need to change. Say it out aloud and live it: I AM A WORSHIP SERVANT.

The call of servanthood is to die to self, letting go of my agenda, my ambitions, my dreams, my plans and to embrace  God’s will and the vision of the Church  instead. It’s about desiring and prioritizing the good of others over our own. Genuine worship leaders are servants and shepherds at heart. They point us towards God, facilitate us to connect with Him and then get out of the way. That's the kind of worship servant I strive to be.

“Lord, teach me to be generous.

Teach me to serve you as you deserve;

To give and not to count the cost,

To fight and not to heed the wounds,

To toil and not to seek for rest,

To labor and not to ask for reward,

Save that of knowing that I do your will.”

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

Seven Essential Qualities of Awe-Inspiring Worship Servants

True worship leaders worship the Lord at all times and use songs only when necessary. If we want to be that kind of stand-out worship servants who advance the praises of the Lord, I believe we ought to be working on these traits:

1. Be a friend of God

Great worship leaders are God-lovers first and foremost. They love the Lord so much that they make sure they begin and end every day with Him. They maintain strong and consistent personal prayer lives. They can pray without guitar and song. They are comfortable with being still and silent before the Lord, with His Word.

2. Depend on the Holy Spirit

Accomplished worship leaders don't bank on their own talent and experience as much as they rely on the Holy Spirit. Whether it is putting together a set-list or delivering a session on stage, their ears are constantly listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and their hearts remain obedient to Him.

3. Love WORSHIP—not just a way of worshipping

Fantastic worship leaders don't believe that worship happens my-way-or-no-way. They do not cause or participate in ‘worship wars’ over which style of worship is the right one. They respect traditional liturgy and don't consider it inferior to contemporary worship. They appreciate "When I Survey the Wonderful Cross" as much as they enjoy "Everlasting God".

4. Never stop learning

Outstanding worship leaders value training. They always keep themselves open to training opportunities and continually update themselves through books, blogs, podcasts, videos, seminars, webinars or any other resource that can help them to advance their walk with God and their ministerial competence. They never claim to know-it-all and do not shy away from listening to feedback.

5. Be selfless, create space for others

First-class worship leaders are team players. They are secure in their own identity, calling, and position and therefore, do not allow doubt, fear or insecurity consume them. This makes them others-centered: they love to share tips and the stage with others. They sincerely encourage and take pleasure in helping others to grow—ministerially or otherwise. They are able to worship when others lead worship too.

6. Be happy in the present

Excellent worship leaders are grateful to serve wherever they are. Their happiness and contentment are not tagged to things like the size of the congregation, count of Facebook likes or blog comments they receive or the number of followers of their Twitter profile and so on. They joyously minister in the disposition of servanthood.

7. Keep it real

Top-quality worship leaders are not different people on and off the stage. They practice worship outside the church sincerely. They don't play games with God or His people. Their spouses, children, or mothers-in-law will vouch for their authenticity! I attended Don Moen's worship workshop twice and both times, the one thing he spoke about most was 'keeping it real'.

"I've learned through the years that becoming a worship leader involves far more than developing a set of skills - it's all about developing a life in God." - Andy Park

This doesn’t mean musical, or singing abilities aren’t important. They obviously are, but the aspect that gets lost rather easily, when we talk about our ministry, is that one doesn’t become a worship leader solely on the grounds of being a singer or musician. Musical talent does not breed leadership traits. Having said that, assuming there are two people with identical abilities to lead worship, with only one of them having musical ability, if everything else is equal between the two, the one with musical flair will be the better worship leader. So if you’re serious about committing to this ministry, I urge you to learn a musical instrument, as it will take your ministry to a higher level.

Seven Roles of a Worship Team

The role of a worship team is not limited to that of the music ministry alone. Its sphere of influence has rapidly expanded to include multi-faceted responsibilities, fulfilling a variety of functions. Let’s look at 7 roles that I believe worship teams should play:

1. Usher

Generally, Christian meetings begin with music and singing. Hence, the congregation meets with the worship team before it meets with other ministers. As the usher, the worship team’s responsibility to greet/welcome the people and instill a sense of comfort in them right at the beginning of the service cannot be over emphasized.

2. Host

As a host, the worship team’s role is to attend to the worship needs of the people. This includes setting suitable volume levels, providing visual aids to follow the lyrics etc.

3. Guide

The worship team establishes order during the worship guiding the people to convey their worship through various expressions at appropriate times like singing, responding to prayers/scriptures, physical postures, media etc.

4. Designer

The worship team’s primary role is to create an atmosphere of prayer for people to connect with God. From song selection to lighting, every component of the worship should be carefully designed and determined to support the environment of worship.

5. Messenger

The team is entrusted with the role of announcing/presenting God to His people, facilitating them to engage with Him and then stepping out of the way. As a messenger, the worship team’s role is to point people to God and help them draw nearer to Him.

6. Prophet

When David put together the first formal music ministry, the idea was to prophecy accompanied by music (1 Chronicles 25:1). The prophetic role of listening to God, hearing His Word for His people, understanding His vision and revealing it to the congregation has not diminished since that time. Except that today, the prophetic is primarily concerned with testifying Christ (Revelation 19:10).

7. Theologian

At the end of a service, the people may not remember all that they heard in the sermon, but they will most probably remember the lyrics of the songs. Song selection is, therefore, a critical function of the worship team. When picking a song, its theology should be given due importance to determine if we really want to put those words into the congregation’s heart. By taking care of this, the worship team performs the function of a theologian also.

And, when we say ‘worship team’, remember we are not talking about only the vocalists and musicians; the person handling the presentation slides, the sound guy (why is it always a guy?!) who manages the mixer, and all others who support our ministry in many different ways are also part of the team and should be treated as such.

Tips to Increase the Effectiveness of a Worship Band

In a band, there are certain practices, which all musicians ought to follow and then there are others, which are instrument specific. Let’s look at some common tips for all musicians first:

- Think less like individual musicians and more like arrangers; this will render a fresh perspective as to where and how each instrument fits in.

- Study each song, take notes on what to do and what not to do during each section in a song and follow the notes diligently.

- Collaborate with the worship leader/other musicians with a team attitude.

- Keep it simple; in worship, most of the time, less is more; so don’t overplay.

- Know when not to play and don’t play at those moments. Put Jesus first, the congregation next, and serve the song, not yourself.

- All play and no worship makes for a fruitless musician; so be a worshiping musician.

- Listen to others while playing, God deserves a team playing with vision, in unison and harmony.

- Work out and rehearse subtle signals and cues with the worship leader and others in the team. This will make communication on stage easy and non-distracting.

- Be alert and watch the worship leader, especially at the end of each section of a song, be it the verse, chorus or bridge; so that you don't miss out those what-to-do-next cues.

- Work with the ‘sound guy’ to arrive at a balanced sound-mix and volume; a ‘too-loud’ musical setup is an unfortunate worship killjoy.

- Listen to different kinds of music to build variety in your musicality.

- Keep yourself physically fit with regular physical exercise and a healthy diet.

- Play to express worship, not to impress people.

- Bring your own gear—backup strings, batteries, cables, picks, capo etc.

- Play with passion.

- Don’t show off… ever!

- Leave your ego at the door.

With that, let us move onto individual instrumentalists:

Tips for drummers

While I don't know a great deal about drumming in general, there is one thing I do know: a contemporary worship team is certainly impoverished without a good drummer.  The drummer is the musical pulse of the band; it is the drummer’s role to lay down the rhythm and keep time for everyone else. And that my friend is a very big deal!

1. Hold back the heavy and fancy rolls/fills especially at the beginning of the song and build it up as the song progresses. Pounding your instrument through every song doesn’t help anyone.

2. Create dynamics by using different types of sticks, rods, brushes etc. In fact don’t restrict yourself to the drum-kit; use shakers, scrapers, cowbells, chimes and so on to add different percussive colors to the song.

3. Maintain and tune your drum kit regularly—it might be a good idea to invest in something like a Drum Dial too.

4. Practice with a metronome to develop consistency of rhythm and timing.

5. Adapt to the venue and acoustic environment. For example, play softer in smaller rooms.

“Playing simple great grooves is NOT as simple as you may think. It takes a strong, mature player to do this. But the pay-off is amazing. The whole band is going to sound better. Your singers are going to love how open and spacious the tunes feel. And you should feel more confident and solid in your performance.

Again, remember it’s all about the music. Play what’s right for the style of songs you’re doing and you’ll be honored amongst your peers.

Play music, not just drums.” – Carl Albrecht

Tips for bass guitarists

The Bass is the one instrument, which solidifies the groove of a band. When teamed up together, the drummer and bassist form the musical foundation of the band. Playing bass artfully is therefore, a key responsibility in a worship team.

1. Listen and lock-in to the drum beat; bass is primarily about complementing the kick drum to create the groove. When the drum and the bass are in sync, the band sounds beautiful; when they are not, it doesn’t sound as great. However, this is not a hard and fast rule; there are creative bass players who complement the music without being completely in sync with the kick drum all along, but that kind of skill comes with experience, over time.

2. The bass is not meant to be the loudest instrument in the band, yet it is tempting to overplay with the intent to be heard. Therefore, one must play with restraint and use additional fills and runs only when necessary.

3. Complement the chord progression by playing notes at different octaves. This helps to add better dynamics to the overall sound. Try out various combinations to understand how you can express diverse emotions. Use bass inversions and think of harmony when deciding which notes to play.

4. Spend time experimenting with your instrument to work out your tone. And by the way, it is absolutely fine to use your treble and mid knobs too.

5. On stage, place yourself next to the drummer and ensure that you are able to see the worship leader.

"It is my great joy to have musical conversations with other players…. It's about listening to what people have to say and reacting to it." – Abraham Laboriel, Sr

Tips for electric guitarists

Apart from generating controversy (most of the time unfairly), the electric guitarist has the grand responsibility of adding color, beauty and expression to the band’s overall sound. The challenge is in performing this role without distracting from the worship.

1. Stop replicating what you do with an acoustic guitar on an electric guitar, they are just not the same. For example, stop playing straight chords and learn to play triads and inversions instead.

2. Learn and practice different scales—as many as you can.

3. Know your processor/pedals and experiment with all kinds of tones and effects (delay, reverb, chorus, overdrive, wah wah etc.). Don’t use the same tone for every song.

4. Get trained to play different voicings up the neck and stay out of the way of the acoustic guitarist or keyboardist. A capo can also help achieve this.

5. Hone your right hand and left hand techniques like damping, tapping, picking patterns and so on. This will help to add dynamic variations to your playing.

6. Solos are okay as long as they are played prayerfully and sensitively; only remember that more often than not, a worship team is not the ideal spot for face-melting or shredding material!

Tips for keyboard players

The worship keyboardist is probably the most versatile musician in the worship team. Where I live, the keyboardist doubles up as the entire band in the absence of other musicians (especially in small group prayer meetings). At other times, when there’s a full band, the keyboardist becomes responsible for traditional piano/organ tones as well as modern synthesized sounds.

1. When the keyboard is the only instrument, both right and left hands have a lot to do. With a full band, the left hand work should be minimal (else you will clash with the bass guitarist), while the right hand should do more to add color to the sound.

2. Use pad like tones to fill the background with ‘heavenly’ warm sounds. And while you’re at it, don’t shy away from trying out different voices.

3. When the intensity is building up in a song, move to a higher octave or play a different voicing; the keyboard fills will then stand out from the electric or acoustic guitar parts.

4. Work with the electric guitarist to avoid clashing with each other. You can take turns playing fills, chords, riffs, playing at high/low octaves and so on.

5. Learn diverse musical styles to sync with the groove established by the drummer and bass guitarist.

Tips for acoustic guitarists

For some reason, most worship leaders seem to prefer playing the acoustic guitar. A unique quality of the acoustic guitar is its ability to stay in the background, not draw undue attention to itself and yet provide its own distinctive flavor to the overall sound. Without this instrument, I always end up feeling that the band’s sound is incomplete.

1. Similar to the electric guitarist, work on your right hand and left hand techniques like damping, picking/strumming patterns and so on for better dynamics especially when there are no other accompanying instrumentalists.

2. Learn to play alternate chord voicings. You could also look at using a capo / cut-capo or learn alternate tunings.

3. Most of the time, the acoustic guitar works as a rhythm instrument; so learn up a wide variety of strumming patterns to be able to play various musical styles.

4. Spend time on setting the EQ and tone to add more polish to the sound.

5. Work with the electric guitarist and keyboardist to prevent clashing with each other; playing on different octaves is one way of doing this. Each instrument playing different voicings is another.

6. Practice playing and singing/ talking at the same time.

Are these the only instruments in a worship team? Of course not! I am covering only the most common ones here. Instruments like djembé, violin, tabla, trumpet and many others are also used in worship bands subject to the availability of instrumentalists and the musical culture of the place. Whatever may be the instrument, we would do well to plan its role in the overall scheme of things and use it sensibly in a manner that supports the worship.

The Sound of One

I am an acoustic guitarist. When I lead worship with only my guitar, and there is no other musician, I play almost all the time. If a keyboardist joins me, I play a little less. If more instruments like bass, electric guitar or drums join in, I play even less. If all of us start playing at the intro and go on to play through every section of the song without a break, it wouldn’t sound like worship music; it would only be irreverent cacophony!

Listening to each other and giving appropriate musical space for all the instruments are sensible principles of a music band, Christian or secular. “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:12). In the same manner, a worship team, though made up of various instruments and voices, must establish one united sound. It’s not about people hearing my instrument/voice; it’s about people hearing Christ in the sound that we make together. “It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord…” (I Chronicles 5:13). And even today, the relevance of this musical goal has not changed in any way: The sound of one made by many!

Musical teamwork requires the sharing of a common vision, embracing responsibilities, setting aside personal needs for the greater good, enjoying each other’s successes without envy, and supporting each other when things don’t go well. The key to achieving this is to ensure the spiritual is not compromised for the sake of the technical or that relationships are not compromised for the sake of ministry. A worship team that prays together stays together.

“Let God Himself be the main attraction at church again, and let us be tireless in our insistence that church is for God, about God, through God, and to the glory of His great Son.” – James MacDonald

Chapter 5: A Blueprint for Constructing Inspired Worship Set-Lists

"Planning worship is a mixture of practicing theology, musical artistry, and understanding human dynamics." – Rob Still

What is a Set-List?

A worship set-list or set is the planned list of songs in a definite sequence that a worship team intends to use in a worship session.

Let’s think about that for a moment.

A set-list is carefully planned before the session (yes, planning on stage is not a smart option, no matter what you think the Holy Spirit is telling you). Based on musical and logical parameters (more on these later), it needs to be in a specific sequence that supports our worship. This requires us to think like an artist bringing together different colors on a canvas to create a beautiful picture; or a story-teller narrating a story in a manner that draws the listener into it and brings it to life.

Once, I had to back up a worship leader with my guitar. With no communication on what songs we were to use, I showed up early at the venue, while she entered 5 minutes late. When I asked her for the song list, her reply was, “Why do we need a song list? We will go as the Spirit leads, brother!” While I am a reasonably competent guitarist, I am no magician to conjure up the precise key and chords if someone sings songs that I’ve never heard before, which is exactly what happened. I just about managed by playing by ear, but overall, the session was a train wreck. You see, planning and prep-work are important components of our work ethic if we want our worship sessions to be effective.

As a worship servant, one of my joys is to watch a set of songs coming alive in worship. A good set-list engages the congregation, encourages participation, places appropriate prayers in the hearts of the people, moves them to intimacy with God and invokes a love response towards Him.

Having said that, one of the easiest mistakes we can make is to choose the wrong set of songs. In this chapter let’s look at how we can get this right consistently.

Developing a Song-Base

A powerful set-list doesn’t materialize out of thin air just when we sit down to plan for an upcoming worship session. It requires a constant and continual practice of collecting usable songs whenever we come across them, and storing them in an easy-to-access manner. My preference is to put them into an Excel spreadsheet cataloguing them with these fields: song title, song theme, key, tempo and rhythm.

Here’s a sample for better understanding:

You could also include more fields if you wish like a related scripture verse, name of the songwriter etc. Whenever a song inspires me and something in my spirit tells me it’s a usable one, I add it to the list. This becomes the song-base: a master list of possible songs for congregational worship.

The hallmark of a good song-base is the variety of songs in it; fast songs, slow songs, medium tempo songs, songs with different time signatures and so on. Thematically also, an ideal song-base would have something for every occasion with diverse themes like the Cross, redemption, spiritual warfare, repentance, healing, deliverance, evangelism, communion, fellowship, creation, mercy, love, forgiveness, thanksgiving, power, surrender, faith, hope, resurrection, judgment, second coming, mission, justice etc.

If you haven’t done so, kick-start your song-base today, it’s the first step to building effective worship set-lists. If you already have, read on.

Begin with the theme

The first question to ask when planning a set-list is “What is the subject of the Church meeting?” This is important because without a theme, we lack direction and without direction we lack focus. A lack of focus is… well… a surefire route to making a mess of the worship. The point is that a set-list for Good Friday should be different from a set-list for Easter.

With the theme in mind, start praying to the Holy Spirit and find out what’s in His heart. A useful question to ask here would be, “Lord, what should our Church be praying during this worship session?” Now, start writing down what you believe the Lord is placing in your heart. Sometimes, we may come up with a few focus words; other times, titles of songs. This is more of a ‘brainstorming session with the Lord’, so just jot down everything without evaluating it too much.

Let’s assume the theme is ‘the Passion of the Lord’. While praying, the Holy Spirit may inspire us with specific themes, which will guide us to pick certain songs. If we get a focus-word like ‘thanksgiving’ for instance, we may want to go with a song like “Thank You for the Cross”. Here are a few more examples:

This method also prevents us from selecting a bunch of songs just because we happen to like them or they happen to be the current favorites with the congregation. We will instead consider what our Church needs to be singing as opposed to what we want to sing. Too often, we simply pick a song because it’s known, popular, and people like to sing it. While it’s okay to consider the congregation’s comfort, need outweighs want any day.

If the theme happens to be something like, “the armor of God”, it would be difficult to fill an entire set-list with songs around it. In such cases, we could pick at least one song that highlights the theme. For example, for a theme like “the armor of God” we could look at something like “O Church Arise” (Stuart Townend, Keith Getty) as the highlight-song in the set.

We are called to be enablers of truth-filled worship. Constructing a session only filled with people’s favorite Christian tunes is entertainment, and not worship. So start with the theme, consider what we should be praying and find songs, which are lyrically close matches to it.

Coming back to ‘the Passion of the Lord’, the list of possible songs will look something like this (song title, key, tempo, rhythm):

Let’s say we’ll be leading worship for about 30 minutes. It’s a no brainer that 16 songs are way too many; 4-5 songs would be more apt. The process of pruning this draft list down to 4 or 5 requires us to consider the concepts of progression, key and rhythm.

Worship Progressions

A progression can be defined as the sequence or order of songs in a worship set list based on their tempo.

Knowing progressions is the key to decide which songs can be used at the beginning, middle or at the end of a worship session.

In his wonderful book “To Know You More”, veteran Vineyard worship leader, Andy Park illustrates progressions or curves using line charts. I am going to do something similar here. Bear in mind that the Y-Axis (vertical side) measures tempo and the X-Axis (horizontal side) measures time in minutes.

1. The Standard Progression

We’ll continue with the theme “the passion of the Lord” and plot sample set-lists using the standard progression. In this progression, we start with up-tempo songs, move to medium-tempo songs and then close with slower, more intimate songs. This is the most common worship progression out there and works in most situations such as regular prayer meetings, Sunday worship, morning sessions in a retreat etc.

Standard Progression: Fast – Medium – Slow.

1. The Same Love

2. You Alone Can Rescue

3. Oh to See the Dawn

4. Once Again

5. Amazing Love (You Are My King)

When using the Standard progression, what works well for me is a 3-stage approach:

Stage-1: Invitation

Stage-2: Story

Stage-3: Response

When we say ‘Invitational’, we only tend to think of songs like “Come Now is The Time to Worship”. But check out these lyrics from “The Same Love”:

The same love that set the captives free

The same love that opened eyes to see

Is calling us all by name

You are calling us all by name

The same God that spread the heavens wide

The same God that was crucified

Is calling us all by name

You are calling us all by name

You're calling You're calling

You're calling us to the cross

See how it’s got ‘invitation’ written all over it? Moreover, it also serves as a great launch pad to worship around the theme of “the passion of the Christ”. The second song “You Alone Can Rescue” starts telling the story of saving grace and leads us to reflect on our own helplessness and how much we need Jesus. “Oh to See the Dawn” completes the story with precise details of what Christ accomplished on the Cross. “Once Again” calls for a personal, grateful reflection of the Passion and the set ends with another personal response, “You are my King.”

The Standard progression also has three variations:

Variation-1

In the first variation, we end the set with a more joyful medium/up-tempo song; in this example “Hallelujah to my King”:

Standard Progression (Variation-1): Fast – Medium – Slow – Fast.

1. The Same Love

2. You Alone Can Rescue

3. Oh to See the Dawn

4. Once Again

5. Hallelujah to my King

Variation-2

The second variation begins with a medium-tempo song at the beginning and then moves to the faster song. Paul Baloche recommends this progression in his training DVD “Leading Worship”. The rest of the set stays the same:

Standard Progression (Variation-2): Medium – Fast – Slow.

1. You Alone Can Rescue

2. The Same Love

3. Oh to See the Dawn

4. I Stand Amazed

5. Once Again

Variation-3

The third variant of the Standard progression combines variations 1&2 i.e. starting with a medium-tempo song and ending with an up-tempo/medium-tempo song. This works best for longer sessions of 40 minutes or more:

Standard Progression (Variation-3): Medium – Fast – Slow – Fast

1. You Alone Can Rescue

2. The Same Love

3. Oh to See the Dawn

4. Once Again

5. Hallelujah to my King

2. The Ascending Progression

As the name implies, the ascending progression steadily builds up in tempo and intensity throughout the session and ends with a bang. This curve is most effective at the end of a long programme like a retreat, seminar or conference. It also works well when people are lethargic or not responding to the worship very easily. Here’s an example of the Ascending progression:

Ascending Progression: Slow – Medium – Fast

1. Oh to See the Dawn

2. Here I am to Worship

3. You Alone Can Rescue

4. Because of Your Love

5. Hallelujah to my King

The Ascending progression is also called the Crescendo or Climbing progression.

3. The Serene or Still-Water Progression

This curve starts, continues and ends with medium or slow songs. It is most appropriate for times of ministry or praying-over people, inner-healing sessions or during sessions with people who are more comfortable with traditional worship practices. In fact, Catholics use this progression all the time during Eucharistic adoration sessions. Here’s an example of the Serene curve:

Serene Progression: Slow/Medium – Slow/Medium – Slow/Medium

1. Here I am to Worship

2. You Alone Can Rescue

3. Because of Your Love

4. Amazing Love (You Are My King)

5. Thank You for the Cross

The Serene progression is also known as the Intimacy or Still-Water progression.

Using a New Song

A new song need not necessarily mean the latest worship track released yesterday by our favorite Christian music artist. Any song that is unfamiliar to our congregation is a new song; it may be a hymn written hundreds of years ago or it could be a modern worship song published recently. Regardless, I’ve witnessed the introduction of a new song during worship going both ways—at times edifying and at other times wrecking the worship!

While it’s easy to play it safe by using familiar songs all the time, after a point, it makes the worship dull, monotonous, and predictable; too much of a good thing is also bad! A new song, on the other hand, has the potential to instill freshness, and enhance our praise and worship vocabulary. Many times, a new song also teaches us Scripture verses. For instance, until I learned “Everlasting God”, my knowledge of Isaiah 40 was mostly around the 31st verse. It was this song that led me to study other verses in this chapter.

So here are some right practices on using a new song in worship:

1. Choose songs with purpose and explain it to the congregation when using them. People accept a new song more easily when they have a credible reason to sing it.

2. Take time to teach it before the session; how much time depends on the length and complexity of the song.

3. Teach with one instrument (acoustic guitar or keyboard works best) so that people hear and learn the words and the melody clearly.

4. Be patient and don’t hesitate to go through it line-by-line as most songs require it.

5. Encourage people; tell them how well they are picking up the song and stay positive.

6. If possible, look at building a medley of the new song with a familiar song. Going back and forth between a new and familiar song makes the learning process easier for the congregation.

7. Try to repeat the song again; maybe at the end of the meeting/program. Use it again in a subsequent gathering. Repetition converts a new song into a familiar one!

8. Using more than one or two new songs in a session is asking for trouble, so choose wisely.

When trying to find new songs to use in worship, the easiest thing to do is to browse through some Top-25 charts of Christian songs in the Internet. While the songs featured in these lists are mostly wonderful ones, we need to bear in mind that these songs are also popular because they are backed by very influential record labels. Also, most of these record labels are based out of the US and the UK, which causes the rest of the world to go largely unrepresented. So, make it a practice to search for songs written by songwriters in your community, city, and country too. You will definitely find many hidden gems to use while also providing some much needed encouragement to your local songwriters. For if you do not support them, who else will?

“For me a New Song is any musical worship that is really inspired by the Spirit, who brings a continuous springtime to the Church. It is the Spirit who makes the Church ever new, yet ancient.

So a song can be new regardless of whether or not it is actually “new” or not. It can be new even if it is quite ancient and traditional as long as it is made in the Spirit of God. It can be stylistically new, but still be “old” in that it has not really cast off the old ways of the fallen world. When music is made in the Spirit of God, it uplifts the body, soul, and spirit in worship and praise, and leads them deep into the Spirit through quiet meditation and contemplation.” – John Michael Talbot

The 4 C’s of a Powerful Set-List

It’s not about how wonderful we feel, how enjoyable it is, how skillful the music is or how many people compliment us. Leading worship is about magnifying God, and that’s the core goal of building a set-list. So once you’ve put together a set, do a simple check to see if it holds these four qualities, which I believe, are the hallmarks of really good set-lists:

1. Call

At the risk of sounding repetitive, I have to say that effective set-lists are invitational—to the people and to the Lord. They have a ‘welcoming’ feel about them that calls people to offer their praise comfortably. Think of songs like “Come Now is the Time to worship”, “This is Your House”, “The Same Love”, “Arise” etc. and I am sure you get the picture.

2. Connect

The songs we sing should resonate with the people and move them to participate. It’s not so much about what the worship leader wants to sing as much as it’s about what the church needs to pray. Great set-lists have this pleasant ability to connect with the congregation and enable them to express their hearts to the Lord.

3. Convey

Powerful set-lists make a point and bring home a message. They are not about aimlessly stringing together a random bunch of songs; rather it’s about placing each song with intent and purpose. Put together, the songs will teach truths about God, our faith and even ourselves.

4. Convert

Effective set-lists facilitate change in the hearts of the worshipers and evoke a response towards the Lord. The response could be anything from resolving to love the Lord more or forgiving someone to being deeply convicted of a truth or an increase in personal faith. While being emotive is wonderful, a great set-list will go beyond the emotional and facilitate conversion on the inside.

To sum-up, while considering songs for inclusion in a set-list, remember these eight pointers:

1. Pay attention to the theme of the day

Start with the theme and list down possible songs around it. A useful rule-of-thumb is to have at least one song in the set-list that highlights the theme.

2. Keep the focus on God

Psalm 100:4 teaches us that when we worship God, we are entering His gates, His courts and into His Presence. So ideally, we must give thanks to Him and praise His Name. If our worship leading is not bringing about a sense of reverence for God, something’s amiss! Worship must be about God—so fewer songs about ‘us’ and more songs about and to Him are better.

3. Prioritize familiar songs above new songs

Worship leaders/musicians get tired of songs faster than others. While I totally get that, 99% of the times, known songs lead to better participation than new songs. So a few new songs coupled with more familiar songs would be the way to go.

4. Don’t ignore new songs

It is one thing to take known songs to keep the congregation comfortable, but we shouldn’t stop there! While putting together a set-list, we also need to keep an open ear to discover those fresh prayers in song, and challenge people to move out of their comfort zones. Introducing one or two new songs in a month helps.

5. Look at the song, not the songwriter

No matter how brilliant a songwriter is, not every song written by him/her will be a winner in congregational worship. It is necessary to assess a song based on the strength of its lyrics, melody, ‘singability’ etc. and not just by the name/reputation of its songwriter.

6. While songs need to be congregation-friendly, they should also be ‘our’ congregation-friendly

Songs that work in the United States may not work in India and vice versa. While evaluating congregational accessibility of a song, it’s essential to also consider local cultural accessibility. Consider who is our congregation (teens? young adults? elders?), and pick songs accordingly. Remember to keep it simple—a typical congregation consists mainly of regular folk rather than highly skilled musicians/singers.

7. Consider musical elements

Can the song be sung at a comfortable key? Are the tempo and rhythm blending smoothly into the overall set-list? Is the style/complexity within the range and ability of the musicians and congregation? If the answer is ‘no’ to these questions, the song should most likely not make it to the set-list.

8. Listen to the Holy Spirit

It does not take a genius to figure this out, but the temptation to finalize a set-list based on our experience and skill always lurks around. Praying to the Holy Spirit, waiting on Him and obeying His inspiration is probably the most fundamental responsibility of a worship leader while constructing set-lists. Another good practice is to run the entire set-list in a time of personal worship, gauge what works and what does not and edit accordingly. This refines the set-list further.

“Those who are most prepared are the most led by the Spirit of God.” – Chris Tomlin

Chapter 6: The Art of Establishing Fluidity in Worship

“Our worship of God is not a part of our lives; worship is our lives.” – Dillon Burroughs

I am sure you’ve flown in an aircraft some time. A typical flight has 5 stages: take-off, ascent, soar, descent and land. The chief difference between a good pilot and an inferior one is what the passenger experiences at every stage. With a good pilot, the entire flight feels like a unified and comfortable journey. With an inferior pilot, on the other hand, stomachs churn, heads ache, sharp ascents/descents are frequent, the sense of soaring is mostly absent, and the landing turns out to be an ugly jolt. So it is with a substandard worship leader: The only time the congregation is happy is when the ‘worship’ comes to an end!

If we are concerned only with song selection and not paying attention to the rest of the components of worship, we are setting our congregation up for a bumpy and unpleasant ride! Here’s where planning ‘fluid’ factors comes in. By ‘fluid’, I mean that the worship session is delivered in a seamless manner by which the congregation gets a sense of flow between each element of the worship, be it a song or a prayer or music or anything else. Just like a smooth plane journey in the hands of an expert pilot.

If worship were only about songs, there’s no need for you and me. We could boot out the worship ministry, connect a music player to the sound system, and simply switch on a playlist of worship songs for people to listen to. It would probably even sound better!

But then we know a music player can only play songs; it cannot listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit; it can’t read people or respond to their needs; it can’t pray and it certainly can’t do anything between songs except be silent for a moment as it skips to the next track.

Unfortunately, it’s possible for worship leaders too to function like music players. We can be all about exciting musical/vocal skill and next to nothing at anything else. I am pretty sure you’ve come across worship leaders like these. They play a song, pause, play another song, pause, play another song, pause… or play a song, talk, play another song, talk, play another song, talk…

Well, we are called to be better than music players, and I don’t mean sound quality; I am talking about ministering under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Planning worship involves thinking about how to use music and song to deliver a worship session that feels like a pleasant flight and not like an obstacle course! The good news is, establishing fluidity is not rocket science. You don’t have to possess a doctorate in music theory either to get there.

Grouping Songs

Grouping songs is the first concept to consider when thinking about fluidity. We saw how songs are sequenced based on tempo and a chosen progression in the previous chapter. The next step is to consider the key of each song to plan how to move from one song to the next.

The key is the first chord of a song—a definition that would work for 99% of worship songs. For the remaining 1%, it’s the chord that provides a feeling of rest or completion when played after the other chords of a song. If you need a better understanding, take out your guitar or keyboard and play these chords: ‘C’, then ‘F’ and then ‘G’. Keep playing ‘F’ and ‘G’, ‘F’ and ‘G’ repeatedly; now stay on ‘G’ for a few moments and then play ‘C’. Notice how you get a comforting sensation like you resolved something? The chord that gives you that feeling is the key of a chord progression.

You can determine the key by knowing chord families or related chords of the key. Check out these examples:

KEY

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Key of C

C

Dm

Em

F

G

Am

Key of D

D

Em

F#m

G

A

Bm

Key of E

E

F#m

G#m

A

B

C#m

Key of G

G

Am

Bm

C

D

Em

Now, let’s look at a couple of songs:

“Friend of God” begins with this chord progression – E, C#m, F#m, E. If you refer the chords in the different keys given above, the key is easy enough to identify here – ‘E’.

On the other hand, the chord progression of “Revelation Song” is D, Am, C, G. Though it begins with ‘D’, it is not in the key of ‘D’ as we can see ‘Am’ and ‘C’, which are unrelated to ‘D’ in the progression. The correct key of this song would then be ‘G’ because all of these chords are only found in the family of ‘G’.

How does this relate to grouping songs? Well, songs in the same/related keys sound great when played one after the other, while songs in unrelated keys don’t. For example, try playing “How Great Thou Art” and “How Great is our God”, both in the key of ‘A’. See how pleasant it sounds as you move from one song to the other? We don’t even have to pause between the songs. Now play “How Great Thou Art” in the key of ‘A’ and “How Great is our God” in the key of ‘Bb’. It’s not as pleasant as before, is it? And we’re forced to stop between the songs too because of the difference in keys, right?

Musical Transitions

‘Transition’ in simple terms means whatever we do between songs to make the move from one song to the next, feel fluid, unlike an obstacle course. Musically, related keys lend themselves to effective transitions, unrelated keys don’t; it’s as simple as that. So here are some possibilities when using related keys to move from one song to the next:

1. Same keys

This is of course the easiest transition! We also saw an example of this with “How Great is our God” (A) played after “How Great Thou Art” (A). Another example could be “Because of Your Love (Phil Wickham)” (Bb) played with “You Alone Can Rescue” (Bb). Same-key transitions are even better when both songs have the same rhythm and tempo. Needless to say, this is the same principle behind playing medleys.

2. Moving to a higher key

Most of the time, transitioning to a higher key is better than transitioning to a lower key. Because moving to a higher key gives us a subconscious feeling of “the climb” or “being lifted up” musically and supports the atmosphere of worship.

The easiest musical method to move up a key is to play the 5th chord of the current song, then the 5th chord of the next song and then its opening chord. Depending on your level of musical skill, I may have just stated the obvious or I may have confused you plenty! So let’s take an example—transitioning from “You Alone Can Rescue” (A) to “Because of Your Love” (B).

KEY & SONG

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Key of ‘A’ (You Alone Can Rescue)

A

Bm

C#m

D

E

F#m

Key of ‘B’ (Because of Your Love)

B

C#m

D#m

E

F#

G#m

Note that the 5th chord in the key of ‘A’ is ‘E’ and the 5th chord in the key of ‘B’ is ‘F#’. So we can end “You Alone Can Rescue” with the ‘E’ chord, play an ‘F#’ and then ‘B’, which is the opening chord for “Because of Your Love”.

3. Moving to a lower key

While moving up a key is highly recommended, it doesn’t mean we should never move down to a lower key. The good news is this is quite possible without compromising too much on the climbing feeling.

The best way to move down a key is to end the current song on its 4th chord and simply play the 1st chord of the next song. For example, let’s assume we are playing “Here I am to Worship” (E) and “As the Deer” (D).

KEY & SONG

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Key of ‘E’ (Here I am to Worship)

E

F#m

G#m

A

B

C#m

Key of ‘D’ (As the Deer)

D

Em

F#m

G

A

Bm

We can end “Here I am to Worship” on its 4th chord, which is ‘A’ and then play ‘D’, which is the first chord of “As the Deer”.

This transition sounds fine because ‘A’ and ‘D’ are related; ‘A’ is the 5th chord in the key of ‘D’ and ‘D’ is the 4th chord in the key of ‘A’, which brings us to the next musical-transition concept.

4. Related keys

Song keys don’t always go up or down for us to use the above two transition methods. Let’s go back to the sample set-list we saw on the Standard Progression:

Song

Key

Tempo

Rhythm

The Same Love

B

103

4/4

You Alone Can Rescue

Bb

74

4/4

Oh to See the Dawn

C

64

4/4

Once Again

D

74

4/4

Amazing Love (You Are My King)

E

70

4/4

Notice the change in the keys? B to Bb to C to D and then E. If you’re a music theory whiz, this shouldn’t ruffle you; you would probably find a way of switching into each of these keys without breaking too much of a sweat. But if you’re a regular musician like me, you would be looking for simpler key-transition ideas.

So how do we transition from song-1 to song-2 i.e. from ‘B’ to ‘Bb’? Well, we don’t. Instead, we can drop the key of “The Same Love” by half a step from ‘B’ to ‘Bb’, which simplifies the key movements like this: Bb to Bb to C to D, and to E. So song-1 and 2 can be played in the same key. Then, song-2 to song-3, song-3 to song-4 and song-4 to song-5 are all lower to higher key transitions.

Adjusting song keys is a practical method to create fluid transitions. A simple rule of thumb to follow is to ensure the next song is always in one of the following keys:

1. Same key as the current song.

2. Lower key of the current song.

3. Higher key of the current song.

4. Fourth chord of the current song.

5. Fifth chord of the current song.

For example, if the current song is in the key of ‘D’, the next song should be played in the key of ‘D’ (same key) or ‘C’ (lower key) or ‘E’ (higher key) or ‘G’ (4th chord) or ‘A’ (5th chord). These 5 alternatives should meet almost any song-transition scenario.

This method of tagging each chord in a key with a sequential number is called “The Nashville Number System”. It’s a simple and informal technique to remember related chords in each key and makes transposing a chord progression to any key incredibly easy. If you haven’t already done so, I strongly recommend that you look it up soon.

This doesn’t mean there are no other chord progressions to transition from one key to another. Of course, there are lots more, and the combinations are limited only by your musical knowledge and creativity. But the transition ideas I have put down here are the simplest to remember and probably the easiest to communicate with other musicians too.

If you’re a guitarist or keyboardist, I’d recommend you to play each of the examples given in this chapter on your guitar/keyboard for better understanding.

Other musical transitions—using percussion

If the current song and the next are in different tempos and/or rhythm, apart from the key changes, we can also use the drums or other percussion instruments to firm up the song transition.

The percussion could pause after a song, let one or two instruments (keyboard or guitar for example) play the transition chords, and then start again in the rhythm and tempo of the next song. The other instruments can join in progressively.

We can also do the opposite by letting the music die out, and begin the next song with just the drums/percussions while the others join in after a few bars. Another way is to pause all instruments, let the drummer count-in at the tempo of the next song (1-2-3-4 bang!) and let the entire band come into the intro of the song.

When moving from fast to slower songs, a good practice is to introduce a song in the 6/8 rhythm. 6/8 rhythms feel fast and slow at the same time and help in transitioning to slower songs in a flowing manner.

Other musical transitions—the solo intro

As one song ends, the worship leader or any other musician can begin the next song’s intro in solo mode—usually the keyboard or acoustic guitar. The rest of the band can slowly join in one by one. Sometimes the band can join in at the first chorus or as late as the second verse also. This is a useful way of incorporating dynamics into the delivery of a song prayerfully.

Non-Musical Transitions

If each song is a dot, then musical transitions help to connect the dots in a pleasant manner. But if we stop with these musical ideas alone, we go back to ending up like music players!  So many worship leaders that I know struggle with the question of ‘what do I do between songs?’ Here are some ideas that have worked well for me especially when done on top of the musical transitions:

Free praise

We can sing a key line of a song (usually the last line of the chorus) or an extemporaneous line around the theme of the song repeatedly and encourage the congregation to sing spontaneously and praise God with their own words. Be prepared to be patient as it takes time for most people to become comfortable with this. It also helps to practice this way of singing with your band by incorporating it into your rehearsals and band worship times. A recorded example of this would be Paul Baloche’s “Your Name” from his album, “The Greater Song”. If you haven’t noticed it before, just playback the last section of the song now and give it a listen to understand how this works.

If your congregation is not open to singing free praise, you can simply encourage them to proclaim/declare their praises as an alternative—that works fine too!

Pray

The worship leader’s prayer coming from the heart and not said for the sake of a transition is a wonderful way to lead worship between the songs. Many times I’ve ended up surprised at the visible effect of such prayers—it’s happened to me so many times; that is the generous work of the Holy Spirit.

While praying, be yourself, be conversational and be sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Also, marathon prayers can become needless distractions, so please be brief and to the point (30 to 40 seconds should do).

Scripture

Carefully chosen verses of scriptures around the theme of the day can be read out by the worship leader or another band member between songs. Scripture is God’s Word, and when it is read or recited prayerfully, I’ve witnessed the powerful connection it brings into the worship many a time. Good worship songs are usually scripture based, so find out Bible verses that are central to the next song and share them at appropriate moments. Apart from between the songs, scripture can be shared during an instrumental break or somewhere in the middle of the song too.

Silence

Yes, silence! Probably the most ignored aspect of worship. Silence during worship is the best space for the Lord to speak to His people. It gives freedom for people to ponder and respond to the Lord in their hearts. Unceasing sound even if it’s music can be self-defeating in worship at times. If the worship leader prayerfully calls for silence at the right juncture, it will not be awkward or discomforting. Instead, it will help us look inward and connect with the Lord in spirit.

One way of using silence is to look out for times when people engage in worship with one particular song as it so often happens. Hang on to that song, linger in it, draw it to a close slowly and then call for silence.

A gentle piano or acoustic guitar playing background music softly (very very very softly!) also helps at these times. These are the moments when the worship ministry needs to step aside and give room for the Lord to minister to His people. It’s the worship leader’s responsibility to help the congregation become comfortable with silence in worship. So do consider using silence as a song transition concept, its importance cannot be overstated.

Medley

Sometimes, the best transition is no transition! When there are two songs in the set, one after the other in the same key, rhythm, similar tempo and theme, it just might be best, not to pause between them. We can simply flow from one song to the other without a break in between. “Hosanna (Praise is Rising)” with “Your Grace is Enough” or “Because of Your Love” with “You Alone Can Rescue” are possible examples of a medley.

Speak

The most used, over-used and abused transition technique is speaking between songs. Maybe it's nervousness, stage-fright, or lack of knowledge of other transition methods; whatever it is, we need to remember that worship leaders are not pseudo-preachers. If we must speak, let’s speak encouraging words, short reflections embracing brevity at all times; we need to be sensitive to know when to start speaking and more importantly when to stop. I am writing this as a witness to a zillion worship sessions killed by the insensitive verbosity of the worship leader (and at times it was me!).

These transition ideas should hopefully get your creative juices flowing to develop your own techniques.

Managing Distractions

“One of the main jobs of a worship leader is to identify and eliminate as many distractions as possible and then through the vehicle of music, create an environment that makes it easy for people to connect with the Lord.” – Paul Baloche

When planning for fluidity in worship, it’s necessary to consider what can possibly distract people from worshipping the Lord and take steps to manage them. Some of the possible distractions could be:

Faking it

People are generally smart enough to see through us if we are being less than genuine on stage. A non-worshipping ‘worship’ team, which acts as if they are worshipping on stage, is not an edifying sight to behold and is a sure distraction for everyone. We need to take on an authentic disposition of worship to inspire others to worship. In simple terms, if we want to fill our Church with worship, we need to be overflowing first.

Excessive movement

Guitarists especially have this uncanny ability to make funny movements on stage. While it may add to the performance in a secular music concert, it becomes a disturbance in worship. Apart from this, too much signaling/gesturing also distracts the congregation. We need to work out subtle signs/signals to communicate with each other when on stage to ensure minimum disruption for everyone.

Unfriendly keys

Not everyone can sing in the keys of Chris Tomlin. Come to think of it, that probably includes most people. It’s perfectly acceptable to alter the key to bring a song within the singing range of the congregation. Else, people will tire themselves out straining to scream songs in keys that are simply too high for them. We need to be sensible and sensitive when fixing song keys. Experiment with different keys with your team until you find a key, which is comfortable for both male and female singers.

Too many unfamiliar songs

As musicians and worship leaders, we probably sing worship songs more number of times than the average person in the congregation, which means we get tired of songs faster than most people. While I totally get that, loading a set-list with too many new songs turns the worship session into a song-learning session. It’s distracting, discomforting and kills involvement. So use more familiar songs than unknown songs. Rule of thumb: unknown songs should not be more than 10% of a set-list.

Long instrumental breaks/solos

When an instrument solo is exceedingly long, people get confused as they are not sure what they are expected to do; should they just listen passively? Admire the musician? Stare at the screen awkwardly? Wait for their next cue to sing? It’s essential, therefore, for us to discern if a solo/interlude is required at all. If it is, keep it short and move on before people get disconnected. We could also flash carefully chosen scripture verses on the screen during the instrumental to better engage with the congregation.

Talking/praying for too long

Long prayers and lengthy monologues especially between songs can easily distract people simply because they’re the same as excessively long instrumental solos/interludes, which kill the congregation’s participation. For what can the poor people do apart from staring at the worship leader, as we go on and on with our stand-up routine!

Whenever I sense it’s appropriate to speak, I go by what I call the 5-Es formula and make sure what I speak falls within one of these Es:

- Encourage: compliment them for showing up or responding or participating.

- Exhort: invite, appeal and obtain prayerful responses.

- Express: share feelings and thoughts about a song or scripture verse.

- Educate: teach people about worship itself; sometimes we may have to explain basic concepts like why we clap or lift our hands and so on.

- Engage: focus people’s attention on the Lord as the goal of worship.

Also, I ensure to stick to a 30-40 second time limit whenever I speak or pray, unless I strongly sense otherwise in my spirit.

Inappropriate visuals

Imagine a worship leader starting the song and it doesn’t come up on the screen until the first chorus. Or the worship leader calls to sing the chorus and the first verse is seen on the screen instead. Needless to say, the person managing the projection slides also needs to coordinate well with the worship team on stage to ensure the congregation is not left confused and disengaged.

Another distraction can be poorly formatted slides that prevent easy readability. Getting someone to proofread slides is also a sound practice to avoid spelling errors in lyrics like “You are my piece” or “Come Holy Sprite” or “Has the dear panteth” or “Rice my sole to watch and bray” coming up on the screen!

Inappropriate clothes

Once when I went to buy a guitar, the helpful store manager wouldn’t let me near one particular model because he knew I was a Church musician. Why? Because this guitar had an enormous skull printed all over its body. Imagine leading worship with that!

The point is that the concept of worship visuals doesn’t stop with the stage backdrop or formatting of projection slides. We ourselves are also visuals, our clothes and musical instruments included. Care is required, therefore, to ensure our clothes are not attention-grabbing or too flashy or too revealing. Simple principles to follow in this regard are:

- Tees / shirts / tops should have sleeves.

- Tees / shirts / tops shouldn’t be so tight as to reveal every physical curve.

- Tees / shirts / tops should be well over the waist.

- Long pants / jeans / skirts only.

- Neckline should be near the neck.

- The fabric should not be transparent.

- If your preference is Indian clothes, Salwar / Churidhar are suited better to move around freely and therefore is more practical than say, a Sari.

Sounds too conservative? Well, trust me, it’s better to err on the side of caution!

Playing wrong / different chords

You can get away with playing a wrong chord or a different one to an extent if you’re the only musician on the scene. When part of a team, it becomes a lot more conspicuous. We need to practice songs repeatedly until the chords become unforgettable. In a team, we also need to ensure that the same chord chart is followed by everyone to avoid version clashes—a problem especially with the most popular songs as they are sung by a variety of artists, each version with its own possible chord variations.

Instruments not tuned

Guitarists, violinists and other stringed instrumentalists, please take note. A single out-of-tune string is enough to cause unpleasant noises and spoil the musical environment. When there are more than one instrument, tuning issues get amplified even more. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time for you to invest in a tuner. There are also many free smart-phone apps out there for tuning any kind of stringed instruments.

Singing off-pitch

Basically, good singing comes from good listening and confidence. Singing correctly on key is a far higher priority than singing with great flair/style. In fact, too much style can be a distraction by itself! Practicing vocals by singing along with an instrument or a music player has helped me a lot in minimizing off-pitch singing. It’s the same for singing harmonies/parts. If required, taking vocal lessons is not a bad idea too.

To sum up, establishing fluidity in worship is a mixture of grouping songs by tempo and key, transitioning songs musically and prayerfully, and minimizing possible distractions.

Chapter 7: The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Rehearsal & Delivery

“But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.” – Psalm 5:7

The most reassuring aspect of worship leading is that we are not in control, God is. So no matter what we do, God is sovereign and only He decides whether to make it happen or not. It is His Spirit who turns our worship into times of refreshing; not us, our songs, our music or our prayers. This truth should draw us to confidently, and reverently depend upon Him more than ourselves or our ministry experience.

And fortunately for us, God has made many amazing promises in His Word, two of which are in Psalm 22:3 and Matthew 18:20. He dwells in our praises, and His Presence is with us whenever we gather in His Name. I remember leading worship for a full day program some years ago. During the lunch break, a woman came to me and testified of a physical healing she had received during the worship. The fact that she was a non-Christian made it all the more remarkable. This is an example of the Lord manifesting His presence and power during worship. Despite His omnipresence, we may not experience Him so tangibly every single time. But more often than not, when we worship, He allows us to experience Him through our emotions and inner-senses. We may struggle to understand His ‘omnipresence’ vis-à-vis His ‘manifest presence’, but our assurance should be upon His Word: He dwells in our praises, and His Presence is with us whenever we gather in His Name.

Our end of the bargain is to be primed to meet the Lord with the expectation and readiness similar to that of the five wise virgins in the parable in Matthew 25:1-13. We don’t just show up on stage; we bring along the oil of praise in jars of practice and rehearsal so that when the Lord shows up, our worship shines as the light with which His Church shall welcome Him!

The Makings of Effective Rehearsal Sessions

Many of us confuse rehearsing with practicing when they are actually quite different. Practicing is akin to regular, ongoing, and personal training and learning. Rehearsing, on the other hand, is like a preview of the worship; kind of like the preliminary athletic heats before the actual Olympics.

Rehearsal is not a time to select songs, learn songs or work out each other’s role in a song. All of that should be done during our personal practice time. Team rehearsal is a time to bond as a team, work out how to obtain more unity in the sound and reinforce the worship ministry’s chosen vision with each other. So make rehearsals a regular and frequent aspect of your ministry work ethic and remember these best practices to get the most out of them:

Before the Rehearsal

1. Decide the set-list well in advance and communicate it to everyone. You could use email, a social network group, a worship planning software, online chat… whatever works for you.

2. Communicate which versions of the songs we will be using along with chord charts and other details like song keys, tempo etc. For e.g. suppose we have included “Everlasting God” in our set-list, we need to specify if we are going to go with the original version by Brenton Brown or any of the cover versions by Chris Tomlin or Lincoln Brewster or others. Sending specific YouTube links also helps!

3. Learn new songs, if any, and work out our specific vocal/musical parts and practice them repeatedly until we are stage-ready.

4. If required, vocalists could meet separately for a vocal rehearsal some time before the actual team rehearsal.

During the Rehearsal

1. Arrive before time and get the place ready for rehearsal. Set up each person’s physical position in a circle so that everyone is able to face each other.

2. Pray for each other and for the congregation. You could include a short scripture reading/devotional too.

3. Play every song patiently, identify sections that need more work, correct mistakes if any and confirm what signals we will be using during the actual worship session to communicate with each other. Use a metronome, click-track or play along with a music player to keep time.

4. Discuss the set-list and simplify song arrangements where required. Experiment freely, it’s totally allowed!

5. Run through the song transition plans and ensure that everyone understands what is required of them.

6. Share each other’s thoughts on the session’s theme and discuss ideas on how we can support it with our worship. We could also read selected passages of scripture together.

7. Play through the entire set-list again including transitions, but this time, worship together as a team. If you sense the Holy Spirit is leading you to do something different, go with the flow and see what happens. This way, we will practice being spontaneous too. If something like this happens during the actual worship session, our team will be able to follow us without disruptions.

8. Have fun!

Post Rehearsal

Hang out together and fellowship, maybe with snacks and coffee!

If you can follow these ideas as a loose framework, your rehearsals should turn out to be pleasing times of learning, bonding and worshipping.

The Ingredients of Delivering Worship Sessions

Praying, planning, preparing, practicing and rehearsing are all but stepping stones to the real thing—an anointed time of fluid congregational worship that facilitates the congregation to pour out praise offerings to the Lord, connect with Him and rejoice in His presence.

As worship servants, engaging with people and enabling them to participate wholeheartedly in worship should be among our topmost priorities. Otherwise, it’s all just a Christian music show. Someone once said, "The worship band is merely an extension of the congregation." Getting our congregation to feel so during our worship is a terrific goal to have.

But let's face it, sometimes the microphone itself can be a barrier between the congregation and the worship leader. It's not too difficult for the band to get so caught up with the technical and the musical aspects that people begin to feel a bit disconnected with those on the stage.

Here are some best practices to maximize our engagement with our people and get to that special place, which is beyond the functional and seize the relational:

Before the Session

- Pray for the community individually during personal worship and as a team during rehearsal.

- Imagine people’s expectations and experiences by putting ourselves in their shoes. It's not a bad idea at all to walk into the place where we lead worship and stand where they stand, sit where they sit and look at the stage from where they are. This will give us a fresh perspective on how they approach us.

- Listen to the team. Ask them what the potential causes of disengagement are and discuss possible solutions to overcome them.

- Memorize songs by-heart. No matter how many different visual aids are available on stage, there's nothing better than singing from memory because it frees us to look at our people or close our eyes. Any other visual aid is for backup purposes in case we forget a line. So make a playlist of your set-list songs and sing along with the music player (laptop, mobile phone, car stereo etc.) repeatedly whenever possible until the lyrics are burned into memory. Remember, repetition is the key.

When I sang a solo during my son’s baptism, I almost forgot a line in the middle and still went on to sing it correctly without thinking—that’s the benefit of repeated practice. We should not be able to make a mistake even if we want to, that’s the amount of repetition required!

During the Session

- Smile. Sounds too simple? Maybe it is. But a prime turn-off for people is to see a stiff worship leader going through the motions. We may possess exceptional technical skill, but it’s of no use without a sense of connection. And while we’re at it, let’s please open our eyes and look at our people. We’ll certainly appear aloof if we keep our eyes closed all the time.

- Talk to them. Don't just stand there and get through the set-list like a robot. Remember we are in this together; it's never 'us and them', but always 'we'. Let’s try to open our hearts to them; share a scripture verse, or our struggles, or even our goal for that session and so on.

- Use more familiar songs. Meet them where they are and then take them to newer songs. If our people are elderly, throw in a hymn too now and then. Let there be something for everyone in the set-list.

- Let them sing. In some sections of songs, stop playing/singing and invite them to sing instead and create congregational solos. I always end up enjoying this as much as them!

- Obtain responses. Sometimes, when people are not responding too well, we can use responsive scripture verses like from Psalm 136; worship leader calls out “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” and people get to respond “His love endures forever!”

- Worship. I know it sounds clichéd, but a worshipping worship leader (is there any other kind?!) is the best enabler of engagement after the Holy Spirit. But it also shouldn’t happen that we get so caught up with our own personal worship trip that we forget the poor congregation—we need to be balanced lead worshippers!

After the Session

- Invite feedback. Hang about after the gathering, walk around and get a feel of their experience during worship. Being an introvert, this doesn't come naturally to me, but I've worked on it over the years and it's a lot easier today. Listen dispassionately to their views whether we agree or disagree with them. We can always evaluate everything later with the team.

- Thank people for being there and for their participation.

Inculcating Spontaneity

As much as we plan our worship sessions, we should also leave room for the Holy Spirit to inspire us with something new. Practicing spontaneity during personal worship and rehearsals is not a weird thing to do at all. It actually helps us to be open to the Holy Spirit when He sometimes chooses to move differently from what we have planned. Some of the ways in which I’ve experienced spontaneity are:

1. Singing extemporaneous lines enhancing the theme of the song, usually done at the end of the song or during instrumental breaks during the song.

2. Free praise & thanksgiving. Sometimes in words and other times in song. At trying moments, when things don’t seem to be happening and inspiration seems far away, I like to start in this manner. I gently urge the people to lift their voices and join me to praise the Lord and just pour out our hearts together to Him. As the praising gets more intense, I start strumming a chord on my guitar, the words form into melodies and lead me to start a song.

3. Singing or speaking in tongues. This obviously works only with charismatic congregations and is not advisable when the majority of the gathering is not familiar with charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit like the gift of tongues. But when leading worship in a charismatic environment, do encourage the congregation to use the gift of tongues while praising—that’s how the Lord blesses many with this gift. For me, it mostly happens when I am playing a song to the Holy Spirit and suddenly I sense the need for spontaneity and regular words are just not there—speaking or singing in tongues becomes the offering of spontaneous worship here.

4. The spontaneous song. This one does not happen too often for me, but when it does, it’s amazing! When the session moves to a point where the congregation is in silent worship, the Lord sings over His people through the worship leader or someone else in the worship team. Steve Kuban’s “I will fight for you” (Spirit and Truth Publishing) is a classic example of this. Or it could also be the people’s song to the Lord like “We will ride” (Andy Park, Mercy Vineyard publishing).

It’s only right to practice spontaneity to know what kind of melodies or musical keys we are comfortable with. What we also need to remember is that spontaneity is not a technique—it has to come from the heart (and people can usually tell when it’s not!) to inspire someone else to join us.

Handling Stage Fright

I started out as a small group worship leader. During my first 2 to 3 years, the biggest crowd I worshipped with was around a hundred people. Later, somehow I got into a worship team for a specific event, which expected a larger crowd. The night before the event, we had a rehearsal on stage and we totally rocked. Then morning came and the event was to start with a short worship session. We got onto the stage and went through a final sound check. Till then, the stage was completely closed with a screen; so we couldn’t see the congregation and they couldn’t see us either. I confidently took the mic, walked towards the front; the screen rolled away, I looked out and… yikes!

More than four thousand faces were staring back at me! ‘I froze’ would be a gross understatement. My pulse raced faster than a Ferrari; my mouth and throat became dry as the desert; the mic almost slid off my suddenly sweaty hands; it took all of my will power to stop myself from falling down as my knees trembled with acute terror!

Can you visualize what happened next? Did I collapse? Or bolt towards the nearest exit? Or crack my voice trying to sing through my panic attack? Or suffer a nervous breakdown? Not at all. It ended up as one of my best first-sessions ever! Managing stage fright or performance anxiety is not impossible, if I can do it, so can you. Here’s what works for me:

1. Over Prepare

The more we prepare, the less we fear. Robust prep-work boosts our confidence and many times it makes us sing or play correctly even when we feel like losing it. Be over prepared through long hours of repetitive practice and rehearsal.

2. Depend

Understand that worship works because of the move of the Holy Spirit, not because of what we do or don’t. This realization drives me to depend more on Him and less on my abilities. A deep conviction that He will show up and make it happen is our biggest assurance to minister with courage. He is in control, we are not, and that’s a good thing!

3. Move

Don’t stand still, it increases anxiety and will cause us to freeze. I force myself to move around, smile at people, and talk to them; when they smile back at me, my nerves calm down.

4. Praise

Start praising the Lord, invite people to join in and create an ambience for worship. As we engage with God through praise, He will cause our burdens of fear, panic and nerves to disappear.

5. Utilize

Nerves are not always a bad thing; fear does give us wings. Accept and harness the fear, don’t suppress it. Instead, learn to utilize the added adrenaline to our advantage. A positive attitude will facilitate adrenaline to energize us.

6. Breathe

Take slow and deep rhythmic breaths; it will help bring our heart rates closer to normalcy and achieve a sense of calm.

7. Get Through the Beginning

The beginning of the worship session or the first few minutes is the most terrifying part. Get through the first song and the temporary paralysis will begin to withdraw.

8. Lose Yourself

Adore the Lord, immerse yourself in worship and give the limelight to Him. Consciously focusing the attention on Him and not on ourselves makes the worship a lot more authentic, apart from helping us handle our apprehensions. Remember, the people are there to encounter God and not us. So it doesn’t matter too much even if we make a few musical/vocal mistakes on stage.

When Worship Nosedives and Crash Lands

Despite our meticulous planning and prep-work, things need not go our way, every single time we lead worship! There are many instances I can recall when I worshiped my heart out with wonderful songs and… nothing happened… absolutely nothing. The people simply stared back at me as if I were some kind of an animal in a zoo! These are the times, when the worship session can feel like a disastrous crash landing.

While we can take feedback post - session and learn our lessons, what do we do at that moment?

Carry on pretending things are fine?

Just get through it and live to fight another day?

End the worship early and run for cover?

Beat ourselves up and stop leading worship forever?

Well, there are better options for us; here are six of them that have worked for me:

1. Read/Proclaim Scripture

The Word of God has more power to engage people than the best of songs. Read or cry out a Psalm or a passage about worship. We could also ask them to repeat the verses after us like a response and take it from there.

2. Pray

Take the song to its ending and pray. Make it a community prayer by calling for free praise from the congregation and together, raise a joyful noise to the Lord.

3. Speak

Remember the 5-Es formula (Encourage, Exhort, Express, Educate, and Engage) and talk to the congregation. Don’t get frustrated and take it out on the people; just pull back the negative emotions and share what’s in our hearts and motivate them to participate more.

4. Be Spontaneous

Call for a few moments of silence and look out for the voice of the Holy Spirit. Listen to Him and go where He leads. Don’t be afraid to do what you’ve not practiced or rehearsed; trust the Lord to see you through.

5. Use Response-Songs

Use a response-song that requires their singing. Something like “You are Holy (Prince of Peace)” or “Hallelujah Glory” or “Forever (Give Thanks to the Lord Our God and King)”. These are songs where we sing a line and the people have to sing the same/another line back to us.

6. Have a Standby Set

Always have a list of ‘safe’ songs; these are songs, which almost never fail to connect with people and are kind of timeless in popularity. Have these songs at the back of your mind as your go-to option. Pick a song from there and change the set-list. Practice these songs with your team beforehand, so they are not totally taken by surprise.

“Everybody has a plan until they get hit.” – Mike Tyson, one of the most thoughtful theologians of our time (yes, I’m kidding!)

The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Mediocre Worship Leaders

You could be a beginner worship servant and grow into a skilled music minister. You could be an awesome worship leader and still find room to improve (that's one of the reasons that makes you awesome in the first place!). In either case, it's a pleasure to worship with you.

The ones that actually put people off are the mediocre ones—I'm sure you've seen them, because they seem to be almost everywhere. They are the ones who kill our expectations of an engaging worship session, display almost next-to-nothing levels of creativity and tightly embrace 'ordinary' like their closest friend without letting go... ever! If you don’t want to be mediocre, here's what you should be avoiding:

1. Mediocre Worship Leaders Pray

Irregularly! They do not build or maintain a consistent daily personal prayer life. It's 15 minutes today, 7 minutes tomorrow, zero for the next 2 days, start again next week and so on. Their knowledge of scripture comprises mostly of stuff they’ve heard from others. They don't invest much in personal study of the Word.

2. Mediocre Worship Leaders are Worshippers

mostly in public and rarely in private! They only perceive worship as an on-stage activity or ministry and not as a way of life. They are unwilling to pay a price for their calling and generally lack vision. They don't have a long-term Kingdom perspective too.

3. Mediocre Worship Leaders Strive to be Like Jesus

by remaining the same yesterday, today and forever—I mean musically. They know 6 chords and 2 strumming patterns when they begin to lead worship. 10 years later, their knowledge consists of the same 6 chords and 2 strumming patterns. Consistency is their motto and goal.

4. Mediocre Worship Leaders Love

staying mediocre by somehow believing that they are expert worship leaders! In fact, they think they are so good that they learn only from themselves! They never recognize a need for training and most often respond with “Do you have any idea how many years I’ve led worship?” to constructive feedback.

5. Mediocre Worship Leaders are Spontaneous

which is why they change or create set-lists while on stage (They seem to have trouble hearing the Holy Spirit outside the stage)—'planning' and 'rehearsing' are absent in their vocabulary. If by some miracle they actually plan beforehand, it happens only at the last minute. They've also applied for a patent on their 'work ethic' calling it ATSL (As The Spirit Leads).

6. Mediocre Worship Leaders are Highly skilled

in being predictable! They start the first song, and you can predict the rest of the set-list immediately. Such is their over-use of songs that they end up beating them to death! They are poor in staying updated and remain obsolete in the eyes of everyone but themselves.

7. Mediocre Worship Leaders are Creators

of more mediocrity! They enjoy mediocre songs that lack richness or lyrical depth. They sing what people want to sing, not what people need to be singing. Some of them also get into leadership roles and influence genuinely good worship leaders to become like them, thereby ensuring their legacy of the ordinary continues.

“We cannot spend our entire week in pursuit of the world and then wonder why our worship on Sunday feels flat.” – Joel Balin

Chapter 8: The Essentials of Managing Visuals

“And there before me was the glory of the God of Israel, as in the vision I had seen in the plain.” (Ezekiel 8:4)

When we talk about the worship environment, we can include many things like the physical building, the pews, chairs, the stage, the lighting etc. The manner in which these components of the worship environment are managed can also impact the engagement levels of the congregation. While all of these may not be directly under the influence of the worship ministry, the projection slides certainly are. So let’s look at some tips for formatting onscreen visuals.

Considering its limitations like lack of support for on-the-fly Bible verse projection, inability to make set-lists quickly etc., ditching PowerPoint should be an easy decision. There are loads of Church projection software out there, many of them free to download and use. Whichever Church projection software you end up choosing, there are guidelines you can follow to ensure the screen content facilitates worship and doesn’t become a distraction. The goal is to ensure our people are not just looking at a screen, but encountering the many facets of God in the lyrics, scripture and other content displayed on it.

Font

There are fonts which are glitzy and look hip and then there are fonts, which are clear and easy to read. Basically, there are two categories of fonts: ‘serif’ fonts and ‘sans serif’ fonts.

I prefer non-serif fonts, because, the characters are well spaced out and easier to read especially when looking at chunks of text like song lyrics.

White colored text on dark backgrounds is generally easier on the eye when displayed onscreen. Almost every piece of software comes with the option of setting border and shadow for text content. See the sample images below—notice the dark border and shadow around the text making it highly readable regardless of the background image being light or dark?

This border size can be increased or decreased according to our preferences too. With respect to size of the font, 34 is the minimum recommendation and this can go up to 40+ depending on the venue, screen-size, distance between the last pew and the screen and so on.

Background

When creating visuals for song lyrics, readability is priority number 1, everything else is secondary. Contrasting the colors between font and background image works better any day. Plain single color worship backgrounds are the safest. If you still want to experiment with lyric related pictures as worship backgrounds, that’s okay too as long as they don’t draw too much attention away from the lyrics. The same goes for video backgrounds too; choose minimalistic content that doesn’t clutter the screen and distract the readers.

To repeat, readability must be given top priority.

Formatting

People read from left to right unless your congregation worships in Arabic! See these two examples—it takes time to get used to the placement of the lines before actually starting to read the lyrics:

Also, people need to read the song, more than its title, which is usually placed at the top with a font size bigger than the song lyrics. These I think are carry-over habits from using PowerPoint or other similar software before switching over to worship software. So give lesser focus to the title and more to the lyrics.

Line Breaks

The lyrics should also match the singing and break at logical phrases or song section. Here’s an example of incorrect line breaks:

Here’s how to do it right:

Ideal Formatting

Have a look at these two examples, which I believe are ideal slides for worship:

- 4 or 5 lines per slide

- Song title unobtrusively placed at the bottom

- Left aligned text for easy reading

- Font type and size chosen, more for readability than jazz

- Distracting punctuation removed

- Lines logically grouped by song section to facilitate easy singing

Apart from slide creation, the screen content during the worship needs to be in sync with the worship leader’s cues. The easiest way to achieve this is for the person managing the slides to sing along looking at the screen, which will force him/her to change the slides on time. He/she should also be hands-on with the features and functionalities of the software apart from having familiarity with the songs.

What about things like multi-colored lighting, funky graphics, haze, smoke machines and so on? Well, there are necessary components like willing hearts and a place to gather, and then there are nice-to-haves like a good sound system, musical instruments, computer, and projector. It is for you to have an eye on what items are really indispensable and what are superfluous depending on your place, worship style, culture, and traditions, and use only what really supports worship. By discarding what is excessive, you will end up saving money, which can then be used to worship the Lord by giving to the needy. In the end, worship must be different from a rock concert.

“The perfect church service would be one we were almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.” – C.S. Lewis

Chapter 9: The Fundamentals of Forming a Team and Mentoring People

“As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” (1 Corinthians 12:20)

In the year 2011, Jimi Hendrix was named the best guitar player in history by Rolling Stone magazine in a Top-10 list put together by guitar players and music experts. The list had some expected names like Eddie Van Halen, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton etc. though, in my subjective mind, I couldn’t understand why Brian May, Django Reinhardt or Joe Satriani didn’t make the list.

Some of the reasons for giving the No. 1 spot to Jimi Hendrix were innovation in rock music, use of the whammy bar, playing the guitar with his teeth, popularizing the wah wah pedal and so on.

What if someone like that wanted to join your worship team? Would he make it?

If we were to select musicians for a worship team, what should we be looking for? Would we consider only musical skills, musical knowledge, creativity, ability to play different musical styles etc.? Or would we look for more? Like a heart for the Lord? A disciplined prayer life? Love for scripture? Humility? A servant’s heart? Positive attitude? Ability to get along in a team?

Ultimately, apart from musical/vocal prowess, if we have nothing more to offer in worship, we are pretty much missing the point!

7 Essential Qualities of Great Worship Musicians

You see, every member on the worship team is more of a minister than a musician and together the worship team strives to create an environment that is conducive for people to offer their worship to God. This also means that not everyone will fit in, requiring us to have an attitude of discernment, when we invite musicians to be part of the worship team. Here's what I believe are indispensable qualities to become must-have musicians in a worship team:

1. They make it look easy

I remember playing with an extremely talented guitarist who once showed me a different strumming pattern he had worked out for "My Redeemer Lives". It sounded so cool and looked easy enough... until I tried playing it and ended up sounding like a dork! What looked like a breeze when he played it was actually a pretty complex and challenging strumming pattern. Great musicians have this ability to make things look easy even while playing difficult music.

2. They play on time and in key

Sounds basic, right? But timing and key are probably the two most fundamental concepts of playing an instrument. When practising, great musicians have the discipline of using a metronome or a click-track to drill correct and consistent tempo into their playing. They are careful to learn the chords in the right key, taking and storing notes to ensure mistakes related to timing and key are killed.

3. They give space for others in the team

Lousy musicians are obsessed with being heard the most. They play in a manner that overpowers and suffocates the overall sound. Whereas, great musicians are team players—they support the song and the team, sharing musical space for everyone to play their part; they are concerned with what each instrument can contribute to the worship, not just their own cool musical chops.

4. They know when not to play

Lousy musicians start playing during the intro and won't stop till the song is done (some play on even after that!). They lack a sense of song or worship dynamics. Great musicians, on the other hand, play to serve the song and the worship. They know how to blend their instrument's sound into the song and stop playing at sections where their instrument is not needed. This is probably the biggest difference between a good band and a great band. In a great band, people know when not to play.

5. They love to stay updated

Great worship musicians stay hungry... for more. If it's open chords today, it's inverted chords tomorrow, then different voicings, a capo, maybe a cut-capo after that and so on. They love to pick up new concepts, improve technique and strive to stay relevant all the time. They are lifelong learners.

6. They listen to the worship leader

Great musicians submit to the worship leader's authority—even when the worship leader is a lesser musician. They are willing to die to their own opinions and feelings to fulfill the worship leader's requirements. They make music out of a disposition of servanthood.

7. They worship

Being a musician in a worship team is actually less about music and more about Jesus. We could be gifted musicians with the highest levels of expertise, but it counts for nothing if we are not worshippers at heart. Great worship musicians are grateful to be on the worship team and consider it a privilege to serve God with their music. They play worship music out of a love-relationship with the Lord more than anything else.

When we are putting together a worship team, we need to look out for musicians who love God’s presence more than music. If you feel this is lacking now, make it a goal to cultivate worshipping hearts in every person on your team.

This leads to a controversial question: should we accommodate people who are not serious about the Lord in a worship team? There are lots of sensible arguments for and against it. I am sure if you ask a bunch of worship leaders, you will hear testimonies of such people joining the ministry and developing a heart for the Lord; just as you will hear testimonies of such musicians messing up the ministry too! So the answer my friend, rests with you, your community and your discernment before you take a decision to let someone into your worship team.

Another factor to consider is many people look at Jesus through the ministers representing Him. This steers them to form an opinion that every member of the worship team they see on stage is an infallible saint! Whereas I know who I am—a fallen, broken human being just like anyone else. If one of these ‘saints’ causes a scandal and falls before the congregation’s eyes, it could shake their faith for good. It could happen to anybody, but I believe the risk is higher with a person who doesn’t love the Lord. And so the bottom line is: always discern and discern well.

Managing Conflict

Each of us is a uniquely created individual. So differences in musical tastes, opinions, ideas, and work ethic are bound to arise in any group. In fact, the absence of differences is a more worrying sign than their presence. If people are simply agreeing with the worship leader all the time, it means the leadership has repeatedly indicated that differences are not welcome.

The mark of a good leader is in establishing an open culture, in which people feel free and comfortable to express themselves, especially their disagreements. For, it’s by discussing differing viewpoints that new lessons are learnt and better decisions taken. The worst leaders are those who impose their opinion all the time on the group with an ‘I know better than you’ attitude. Even when we think we know better, the right practice is to encourage dialogue and discuss things before reaching a consensus.

Having said that, the trick is to ensure that discussing differing perspectives doesn’t get too emotional, or lead to prolonged arguments or mudslinging. Working through a conflict is easier when we follow these six practices:

1. Avoid avoidance

Conflicts are natural and should be expected. Avoiding them is not a smart option because it only works temporarily; worse still, every instance of avoidance causes accumulation of negativity over time and inevitably blows up into a nasty problem one day. At that point, resolving the conflict will be that much more challenging, as by then, regular avoidance would have built up tremendous mistrust, hurt and anger within the group.

2. Invite discussion

Attract everyone’s viewpoints and don’t be surprised when people disagree with us or others. Just because people disagree with us doesn’t mean they hate us. Be dispassionately objective and ensure emotions are not allowed to flare up. Over time, the group members’ confidence to express themselves will develop, provided, we play the role of patient listeners valuing people more than ministry.

3. Step into their shoes

We need to understand why people behave the way they do. Looking at the issue from the other person’s viewpoint helps us get there. Ask questions and empathize; find and emphasize on points of agreement and pray with them; this will help reach mutual conclusions.

4. Lead

When mutual agreement doesn’t seem forthcoming despite our best efforts, we shouldn’t hesitate to step in and enforce what we feel is the best course of action. We can do this by refocusing the team back to our ministry’s vision and explaining how the decision will contribute towards it. This requires us to take charge and lead the conflict to a resolution. It is therefore essential for us to establish this structure through clear communication, transparent attitude and team fellowship.

5. Be firm

Sometimes, the issue is not a disagreement over something, but less than acceptable behavior like poor work ethic, bad attitude or plain rudeness from someone. In such cases, don’t shy away from confronting the person, but do it privately, away from the group. Getting into a public spat would only cause more conflict and disruption in the team and would end up leaving a bad taste for everyone. If the other person is unwilling to change, it may just be best to give him/her a break from the team, rather than continuing to put up with troublesome behavior. The team is bigger and more important than any individual, no matter how musically talented he/she is.

6. Refer

In exceptional conflicts, when things simply are not resolved satisfactorily, it’s not a bad idea to refer the conflict to someone outside the team like another ministry leader or an elder—someone trusted by everyone to be impartial. There’s no shame in being transparent about our team’s conflicts with others as long as we are able to resolve them amicably.

Mentoring

I am not good enough… I am not talented... I don’t have a great voice… I am not a cool musician… ever had such thoughts? I certainly have, so many times! In fact, even when I thought about writing this book, one of my first notions was “I am nobody, who will read a book that I write?!”

Well, guess what, an important truth I’ve realized over the years is that it’s the work of the enemy to fill our minds with doubt, fear, anxiety, negativity and more. If God wants Paul Baloche or Israel Houghton to mentor your worship team, God would’ve placed Paul Baloche or Israel Houghton in your Church. But He didn’t, right? He placed you! So it’s up to us my friend, to teach and mentor those whom God has placed within our reach. We may not be qualified or worthy, but the Lord who called us most certainly is! And when we trust Him and let Him work through us, His work will be done. If God has placed us, it means He thinks we can do it, and that’s all the assurance we need.

It’s not about the number either; Jesus himself started with only twelve people. The maximum number of people in a batch that I’ve trained for worship till now is less than fifty. Whether it’s 5 or 5000, we joyfully accept what the Lord gives us and give it our best trusting Him to do the rest.

Mentoring is an ongoing process and is not achieved overnight. It needs us to invest time and effort apart from having an unselfish heart that delights in building up others. Here are seven right practices that work towards successful mentoring:

1. Passion

Passion compels us to own our responsibilities and not shirk them. It keeps our hearts fresh and ready. It enables us to show up for our ministry without giving up, especially when things don’t go our way. It drives our creativity and also helps to keep burnout at bay.

More importantly, genuine passion tends to rub off on others like nothing else can; it’s moving, undeniable and contagious! So be joyfully passionate about the Lord and worship Him with intense zeal. Not just in music ministry but in living a righteous and faithful life. Passion is the critical edge that brings about productive mentor-mentee relationships. The Lord will use our fire to set someone else ablaze for Him!

2. Fellowship

Lone rangers are not much fun. A ministry-only minded individual is not a person people enjoy hanging out with. Invite home the people you want to mentor for reasons other than ministry too; hang out with them; get to know their lives, their struggles and walk with them. Good relationships matter more than ministry, no matter how excellent or brilliant it may be.

3. Pray

Be a person of prayer who can be counted on in times of need. Pray with and for those you mentor. Minister to them and teach them to pray, apart from training them in worship ministry. Check on their prayer-lives regularly and encourage them to pray more and more. Stir up a love for the Word of God in them and guide them to become friends of the Bible.

4. Challenge

Don’t hesitate to challenge your mentees. Fire up conversations, ask difficult questions, discuss Christ and motivate them to go deeper in their walk with Him. Don’t ever let things become too comfortable; inspire them to cry out to God with confidence and longing.

5. Share

Share your stage with your mentees often, and while you are at it, stop ministering alone altogether. Take a backseat every now and then and let them minister to help build their confidence and experience. Share all the best tips and practices that work for you, because we are not in the Secret Service to keep things to ourselves. Sow the seeds of your knowledge and experience in them and take pleasure in watching another grow as a person and as a worship minister!

6. Care

People trust a caring pastor more than instructive leaders. Those you mentor will look up to you more when they know you have a heart for them. Take efforts to build people individually; equip them with what they need. Connect with them on a personal level, not just functionally. Be a shepherd who pastors; not a control-freak who wants everything done your way.

7. Serve

Servanthood (there’s that word again!) matters. Be willing and open to serve your mentees, that’s the Jesus model. For example, if your mentees are leading worship, be as helpful as possible; tune the instruments, mix the sound, look after the onscreen visuals, and assist in any other way, on and off the stage.

Mentoring requires us to be role models that people can look up to. It’s really not about how talented we are musically. Instead, it’s about nurturing relationships and the willingness to share what we have generously.

The Lord wants His Church to grow, not yours or mine. We ought to remember that we are serving to build His Kingdom, not ours. When we are promoting our ministries, blogs, websites, songs, and anything else, it’s essential we check our hearts and verify if our goal is to promote ourselves or Jesus. If Christ is not the center, then something else is, and that is idolatry. That’s the attitude we are called to bring into our mentoring relationships too.

Fulfilling a Vision

"The glory of God is the living man, but the life of man is the vision of God." – St. Irenaeus of Lyons

When I began to lead worship, the culture of worship in my home town was literally begging for change. The songs that were widely in use at that time could be compared to nursery rhymes at the most; they were songs more appropriate when worshiping with little children. It seemed somewhat okay at the beginning; but after attending way too many sessions consisting of the same juvenile songs over and over again, it was more disillusioning than edifying. Imagine a gathering of adults singing “God told Noah to build an arky, arky…” and you’ll understand what I am conveying here. Somewhere along this road, I remember praying, “Lord, you deserve better than this, help me to do something about it.”

Soon after this, almost everything about my worship ministry (song selection, musical style etc.) gradually became different from others. I grabbed any and every training opportunity that came my way and kept myself as updated as possible and focused on delivering sessions with authenticity, lyrical richness and vision. So how do you think it went? Not well at all in the beginning! Change is not exactly a welcome thing in most places and it was no different where I live. For some years, I wasn’t exactly the worship leader of choice mainly because of being different.

But guess what, the Lord started moving people’s hearts in His own way and they began to appreciate the richness in the songs, whether they were classic hymns or modern worship tunes and over the years, He won them over. During this time, many of the senior worship leaders retired, moved on to other things or migrated from my city to other places. A new generation of worship leaders arose among the youth; they were hungry, willing to be trained and loved to learn deeper songs. The Lord utilized me to train some of them, which also helped establish an acceptance of change.

Last year, I witnessed one indicator of the success of this transition, while leading worship in a retreat: the eldest person among the retreatants, well over 70 years, enjoyed the worship so much that he actually took the effort of writing down the lyrics of the songs in his notebook. When I asked him to take my lyric sheets instead, the joy that lit up his face humbled me greatly! When I started my ministry, people of this age group appreciating the kind of songs I used in that retreat was unthinkable… but our God keeps proving that He really is the God of the unbelievable!

The vision given to me by the Lord was to renovate and enrich the song culture in my city. It could be something else for you. Regardless, it’s essential to discern if it’s the Lord who’s behind the vision before proceeding to fulfill it. And remember, it takes time to implement change (it took 10 years for me), so be patient, be determined and persevere, the Lord will see us through. Today, people of all age groups are comfortable when I lead worship and genuinely like the lyrical depth and variety of the songs in use; who knows, maybe it’s time to change things again!

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves; when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; when we arrived safely because we have sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life. Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love. Amen.” – Unknown Author

Chapter 10: Personal and Ministerial Pitfalls to Avoid and Overcome

“We were never designed to receive glory, only to give glory… that is why when people wrongly try to take it for themselves, it will eventually end up blowing them up…” – Darlene Zschech

The struggle to restrain pride and stay humble is easy when we are starting out in ministry as rookies. The fight is a lot harder when we get good at it! At one time or another, people active in on-stage ministries like preaching or worship struggle with the spirit of pride. That’s the corruption brought about by the spotlight. The more it’s focused on us, the more care we should be taking to guard our hearts and attitudes.

On stage, with all the excitement, songs, music, people clapping and cheering etc. it’s so easy to get carried away and turn the session into a musical concert riding on people’s emotions. That’s when the session doesn’t anoint but annoys! Some indicators of this struggle are:

- I want to be leading worship all the time and do whatever I can to ensure others do not get opportunities. I monopolize the stage as much as possible.

- I forget that compliments are just a way of confirming my calling and instead use them to feed my ego. I feign humility when receiving compliments while I gloat on the inside. I feel threatened when another worship leader is complimented.

- I dislike small crowds, enjoying only big gatherings and bigger programs.

- I wear flashy, attention-grabbing clothes or accessories.

- I make exaggerated gyrations and movements when playing my musical instrument.

- I manipulate people and their emotions using music and song to create feel-good ‘worship.’

We need the constant grace of the Lord to fight these attitudes. Some habits that have helped me in these struggles are:

- Be open and encourage frank feedback on my sessions.

- Work with my worship team closely, mentor them and share the stage as much as possible with them even if it means ‘my' time is reduced.

- Remember worship is all about the Lord and His people, not about me.

- Learn to enjoy all crowds, large or small; this keeps my heart in its proper place.

- Never forget that God is the real audience.

- Never run after an opportunity to lead worship. Trust God and joyfully take whatever He provides.

- Quit trying to attract people with things that are showy, your integrity matters more.

When all is said and done, the fact remains that worship should be awe-filled not awful.

The Eight Types of Worship Leaders You Don't Want to be

Apart from the proud and performing kind, there are other types of worship leaders we don’t want to become, especially these eight:

1. The Hangman a.k.a. Ancient-of-Days

In terms of song selection, the Hangman simply can't move beyond the songs that were learned 25-50 years ago; hence called "ancient-of-days". The number of songs this type knows is roughly about 7 to 15 and he/she loves to sing the same song in the same musical style a zillion times to ensure the song and the congregation are effectively tortured and beaten to death—hence called the Hangman.

2. The ‘New Release’ Specialist

This type is sort of the opposite of the Hangman—loves to use only unknown songs that were learned 30 minutes ago. Has a different set-list of unknown songs for every session. This type specializes in creating an irritated audience out of any congregation. Strongly believes the worship leader alone must sing, and everyone else must only watch and listen. Knows just one verse in the Bible... yes, you guessed it, Psalm 33:3!

3. The Songwriter

The Songwriter believes that every song he/she writes is going to be the next "How Great is Our God." Very similar to the ‘New Release’ Specialist, except this type uses only self written songs from start to finish. The basic objective is to promote one's own songs; worship can go out the window.

4. The Talking Tomcat

The Talking Tomcat starts a 45 minute worship session with a 15 minute prayer/speech; follows up with 10 minute monologues after every song. Very effective in ensuring the congregation becomes sleepy, passive and distracted.

5. The Ace of Aerobics

The Ace of Aerobics starts every song with "raise your hands" or "let's stand / kneel / bow / jump / hop on one leg..." This type is convinced that worship happens only when the congregation rattles, shakes and rolls. The Ace of Aerobics also loves ‘action’ songs the most and promotes them at every opportunity with the strange scriptural (mis)understanding that "doing" action songs = becoming child-like.

6. The Wailing Wall a.k.a. The Weeping Willow a.k.a. The Sobbing Sponge

The Wailing Wall sheds tears before every song, during every song and in between any two songs. Loves to lower song tempo to incredibly slow-motion levels and weep even more. Swears by the doctrine that a greater display of emotion equals better worship.

7. The Spirit-Led Superhero

The Spirit-Led Superhero doesn't believe in any kind of planning or prep-work. No one (including him/her or the worship team) knows what songs are in the set-list. Gets on stage with a blank brain and believes the first song that comes to mind is the one the Holy Spirit wants to be sung. This is why this type claims to be "led by the Spirit"; don't ask me which spirit though!

8. The Tenor Terrorist

The Tenor Terrorists have a sudden change of voice, the moment they get on stage. They speak, pray and sing two octaves above their normal vocal range. Some of them even have three distinct high-pitched tones to their voice—one to speak, one to pray and another to sing. Regardless, all three are equally exasperating; grueling to listen to and impossible to sing along. They also have the habit of asking the congregation to scream back and believe a higher decibel equals better worship. Another common trait is the loudness and weirdness of their voice being directly proportional to the size of the congregation; larger the crowd, louder and weirder becomes their voice and vice versa. This type is also known as the ‘Shrieking Shylock’.

A Checklist of Mistakes to Avoid When Leading Worship

I’ve had my share of off-days when leading worship, some of which were only slightly off the course, while some others were totally shipwrecked. Anyways, today I look back and smile at times when nothing went right and the worship felt like a plane crash. Analysis of below-par sessions brings about new learning on what works and what doesn’t. So here is a list of mistakes that I try to steer clear of:

- Assuming practice can replace prayer.

- Assuming prayer can replace practice.

- Using too many new songs.

- Using too many old songs.

- Closing my eyes throughout the session.

- Choosing song keys that are too high or too low.

- Choosing songs that are too wordy.

- Singing too many improvised ad-libs, fill-ins etc.

- Not tuning musical instruments.

- Not taking time to set the sound/mix.

- Singing off-key or wrong melodies.

- Playing wrong chords.

- Lyrics on the slides not coordinating with the worship.

- Playing songs at incorrect tempos.

- Failing to leverage rich songs from the past, like hymns.

- Making people stand for too long.

- Setting the volume too loud or too low.

- Choosing songs or musical styles that is not relevant to local culture or age group.

- Not working out what to do between songs.

- Treating worship leading like cheerleading.

- Picking too many “me” songs, which are centered on us rather than God.

- Choosing songs with confusing/controversial lyrics.

- Singing songs that are not theologically sound.

- Not starting on time.

- Not ending on time.

- Playing to the gallery by doing what’s popular instead of what’s needed.

- Picking songs that don’t tie-in with the sermon’s theme.

- Looking at each other awkwardly when someone makes a mistake on stage and make it obvious to everyone.

- Playing too many instrumental solos/interludes.

- Moving on when a particular song is bringing the worship to life. Sensitive worship leaders will take time to “linger” in those moments to facilitate people to express their worship.

- Putting on an I-am-at-a-funeral facial expression throughout the session.

- Repeating a section or line of the song too many times.

- Getting over-emotional on stage all the time.

- Playing too many fast songs.

- Playing too many slow songs.

“Worship is giving God the best that He has given you. Be careful what you do with the best you have; whenever you get a blessing from God, give it back to Him as a love gift. Take time to meditate before God and offer the blessing back to Him in a deliberate act of worship.” – Oswald Chambers

Chapter 11: The Worship Servant’s List of Lifelong ‘Unforgettables’

“The Christian does not go to the temple to worship. The Christian takes the temple with him or her.” – Ravi Zacharias

The passage in the Bible known as the annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) is much more than an announcement of the birth of the Messiah to the Virgin Mary. It’s also a re-introduction to the concept of God as a Trinity. “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35). God Most High, His Son and the Holy Spirit: Trinity!

From this point, God calls us to understand that the Word is no longer just a set of dos and don’ts; but by becoming flesh, the Word became a tangible channel of a new level of relationship with Heaven! Therefore, our way of worship also had to change—rules giving way to a love relationship!

Jesus continued to transform the idea of how we ought to approach God. Take, for example, Luke 2-49:50, ““Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?"” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” The temple of a much feared God suddenly became the house of a Father, how about that!

In Luke 3:21, when Jesus was baptized as He prayed, we read that “Heaven was opened.” This also means that Heaven was closed before this. And today His mediation at the right hand of the Father continues to open Heaven for all of us.

Before His incarnation, Christ was with the Father all the time communing with Him with the greatest of love and unity. But in the flesh, amidst the noise and buzz of earthly life, it must have been immensely challenging for Jesus to be away from that kind of closeness with the Father. I am convinced He missed Him like crazy! Imagine being in Heaven all your life and then having to come down to earth. This may have also been a reason why Jesus prayed alone so often, a trend we see all over the Gospels—He so wanted to be with the Father!

The sacrifice of Christ was not only the Cross that He bore; it was His whole life on earth. We should never ever forget the weight of the price paid by Jesus for our sake! While we can learn so much from Jesus, I want to stress on five key aspects of His worship:

Holiness

Jesus worshiped by living a holy life. His friends (John 6:68-69) and even His enemies (Luke 4:34, Mark 1:24) acknowledged His holiness. People like Mary Magdalene or Zachaeus were transformed and were never the same again once they encountered the holiness of Jesus.

Submission

Christ worshiped by living a life of perfect obedience, reverently submitting His life to the Father at every moment (Hebrews 5:7). Considering who He really was, His humility is nothing short of astounding!

Servanthood

Christ worshiped by taking on the nature of a servant (Philippians 2:7). A servant’s calling is to do whatever the master wants. Servanthood is our fair duty (Luke 17:10).

Offering

Christ worshiped by giving Himself as a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2). A worship leader should be ready to lay down self for the sake of the community, especially when it seems like a thankless job. Out of the death to self, the Lord will bring life to many!

Keeping it real

Watching Jesus pray so much must have puzzled the Apostles. Until then, they were only used to seeing prayer brandished about by local religious leaders to show off how ‘holy’ and ‘spiritual’ they were. But Jesus was different; He prayed alone when no one watched. In fact, He actually withdrew from people to pray. (Luke 5:15-16).

The disciples gradually realized there was something different about Jesus and His prayers. Jesus worshiped by being genuine and authentic; He kept it real and was not a show-off. His prayers raised the dead, multiplied food, transformed sinners, calmed the storms, chased away demons, and so on. This is probably why in Luke 11:1, the Apostles finally got around to requesting Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”

That’s the kind of prayer every worshipper ought to be praying, “Lord, teach me to worship.” Christ is our No.1 role model to learn how to worship and how to lead worship. He alone is the way of the worship leader. Worship that is Christ-centered, Christ-focused and Christ-saturated is the kind of worship that we are called to lead.

Authenticity in Imitation

In the context of worship, authenticity can mean practicing what we preach; or singing what we mean; or something to do with the content of the worship service; or life outside the church matching the lyrics we sing inside it; or lifting hands only when we feel 'led' and so on. However, authentic worship does not stop with me being myself. Authentic worship is also me reflecting who I am called to be. St. Paul expressed this when He wrote "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1). This, for me is also Christian authenticity: acknowledging myself for who I really am, know I am called to be like Christ and striving relentlessly to get there.

An authentic worshipper loves Jesus and strives to be like Him. Pressing on; persevering; hanging on; holding nothing back; hungering for God; resisting temptation; running the race; ready to pay the cost; giving it everything.

Authenticity is also realizing who we are in Christ:

Chosen (Romans 1:6); Redeemed (Galatians 3:14); Saved (2 Timothy 1:9); Forgiven (Ephesians 1:7); Set free (Romans 8:2); Justified (Romans 5:1); Righteous (Romans 3:22); Holy (Ephesians 1:4); A pleasing aroma (2 Corinthians 2:15); Citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20); God’s temple (1 Corinthians 3:16); Royal (1 Peter 2:9); Spirit-filled (Titus 3:6); God’s children (John 1:12); Friends of God (John 15:15). I can go on and on… but you’re getting the picture. And all that we can say in grateful response is: Wow!

Consider the example of David in the scriptures. There are many Psalms, in which David expresses his frustration, fear, depression, hurt, confusion, repentance etc. to God without hiding anything. That’s the marvelous level of transparency he had cultivated in His walk with the Lord. But, what also stands out is he refused to remain in negative thoughts and feelings; he would either recall the good times experienced in the past or expect God’s consolation in the near future and praise Him (check out Psalms 22, 42 & 51 to understand this better). That’s a great model for us to follow especially when things don’t go our way—we express what we feel, but remember God’s goodness in the past and continue to look forward to God for solace and strength to get through.

Imitating Jesus is the only way to authenticity because He is our authenticity! In the words of St. Patrick, "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down..."

When Christ is everything for us, we will take hold of our calling and gratefully overflow with praise and worship that will transform our lives and our worship to be open, free, inspired, exciting, unashamed, fearless, amazed, overawed, Christ-like, transparent and authentic!

An authentic worship leader attracts people to Jesus. Our goal and agenda is always Jesus. He is our highest priority. Our ministry is to magnify Him, not ourselves, our talents and our ministries. We need to be absolutely clear about this to ensure we don’t lose sight of things more valuable than music. Like visiting the sick, caring for the oppressed, standing up for justice, giving to the needy. Remember, you and I are the only ‘Christ’ many people will ever meet, let's imitate Him well!

“Love transforms one into what one loves.” – St. Catherine of Siena

The ‘Unforgettables’

When we talk about unforgettables for a worship leader, we usually refer to things like songs in the set list, transition plan, chords, song sequence and so on. Let’s go a little deeper than that. Sometimes it's easy to bank upon experience and deliver a good enough worship session. Been there, done that, right?!

That's why regular time-outs to introspect are beneficial. For it’s not about what I can do or how experienced I am. It's not even about us in the first place! As worship servants, we need to be sure of what life habits/attitudes/practices truly matter among the many things that compete for our time and attention. Like these ten for example:

1. Loving the Lord is most important. Loving neighbor is the very next best thing.

2. Neighbor includes family; we should never take them for granted.

3. Just knowing the Name of Jesus is an extraordinary privilege, let alone singing it out, so treating the Name above every other name with utmost honor is essential.

4. God is full of surprises and it’ll always be that way.

5. Worship leading and songwriting are two distinct ministries. It doesn’t matter if we are in one or both of them, we are blessed anyway!

6. Regular repentance and thanksgiving are best practices for life.

7. Nothing good will ever come out of envying someone else's gifts / skills / ministry.

8. The anointing of the Holy Spirit was, is and forever will be a mystery. He cannot be manipulated or put in a box.

9. Relationships matter more than ministry.

10. Daily personal prayer cannot be substituted with any amount of ministry work.

"If you really want to lavish your love on God, pour out your life on the needy." – Mother Teresa

Chapter 12: The Center and Focus of Christian Worship

“Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."” (John14:8-10).

As worship leaders, I believe one of our key responsibilities is to build a culture of Trinitarian worship because that’s how our God has revealed Himself to us and that’s who He really is. The concept of Trinity is an inscrutable mystery and an amazing revelation at the same time. But, before we lead Trinitarian worship, we ought to have at least a little bit of an understanding of how to approach God as a Trinity. This requires us to first understand Jesus and His ministry.

The Real Worship Leader

In II Corinthians 4:4, we read that “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Worship is just the opposite of this—allowing the Holy Spirit to open our eyes by the light of the Gospel to encounter the glory of Jesus the Lord (John 16:14). And, Christ will reveal the Father who is in Him, to us!

The more we receive Christ, the more we are strengthened to go out into the world to live lives of worship—lives that are soaked in the Gospel to the point of being Jesus-permeated people. Then we will be able to walk blamelessly and minister to the Lord (Psalm 101:6). That’s when the Holy Spirit will reflect Jesus in us just as Christ reflects the Father. St. Paul said it best: “…I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20).

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (Hebrews 13:15-16). By themselves, our acts of singing praises to God inside the Church or good works outside are worthless. But when offered through Christ, they become God-pleasing. The key to Trinitarian worship therefore is Jesus Himself!

Since His ascension after His resurrection, Jesus ministers for our sake (Hebrews 9:24) in the Heavenly sanctuary as our Mediator. Only when we approach God through Him, we are saved because Christ intercedes for us always (Hebrews 7:25) in His dual role as the once-for-all sacrifice (victim) and the everlasting High Priest (Hebrews 7:24).

As the great High Priest, Christ is the real worship leader who declares the Father’s Name and sings His praises “in the assembly.” (Hebrews 2:12). We are to simply follow His example and join our songs with His! It is through Jesus that our worship becomes meaningful and ministers to the Father in the voice of the Son. That’s the kind of worship the Holy Spirit wants to inspire in us. This is why Christ-centered worship matters. If Jesus is not the focus, the worship is bogus.

Trinitarian Worship

Trinitarian worship therefore is best achieved by obeying the Lord’s words to the Apostle Philip—beholding Christ as the center and focus of our worship (Hebrews 12:1-2). Because, the Son is the very reflection of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). In fact, it is in the Son and in His mighty works that the Father has chosen to be glorified (John12:27-28 & John 13:31). Whether it is euphoric praise, intimate adoration or silent contemplation, the heart of worship is in fixing our eyes upon the Son of God.

When we look at the Son, we are in effect beholding the Father (John 12:45) and the Holy Spirit for the Three Persons in One God remain in each other. And, it is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of our hearts (Ephesians 1:18) to gaze at the Son. No wonder St. Paul prayed that the Father may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know him better. (Ephesians 1:17). It is with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we are also able to acknowledge Christ as our Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3). Yes it is an awesome and profound mystery! That’s why leading worship is a lot about inviting our congregation to join with us and gaze at the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ—that my friend, is the essence of Trinitarian worship.

Jesus, the Center of it all

“What you neither see nor grasp, faith confirms for you, leaving nature far behind; a sign it is that now appears, hiding in mystery realities sublime.” – St. Thomas Aquinas

The contemporary style of ‘praise and worship’ has often been criticized for an over-emphasis on music, for not depicting reverence, for seeming to be very entertainment oriented, and for encompassing more of style than substance. While these criticisms may or may not hold water (we’ll leave that debate to another day), I believe that the most valuable contribution of contemporary ‘praise and worship’ to the Church at large is, it has caused us to consider ‘worship’ with utmost seriousness. People are thinking… I mean really thinking about worship and this can only lead to further refined and better quality worship. The very fact that you’re reading this book is a testimony to this!

Then, what about liturgical-sacramental worship in Orthodox churches? Is that perfect? Well, it has also faced its fair (and unfair) share of feedback like being too ritualistic, not being very high on congregational participation, leaving little room for emotional connect, and so on. For various reasons, the worship in Orthodox Churches has also been modified and refined over the centuries and that will probably continue till the Lord Himself returns in glory. The advantage of liturgical-sacramental worship is, it is time-tested and has not only survived, but thrived over many centuries. However, instead of thinking too much about which way of worship is better, I believe we should focus on making Jesus the focus of our worship. How can we achieve that?

Consider the passage generally known as ‘The Road to Emmaus’ (Luke 24:13-35). The risen Jesus Himself teaches us the ideal model for Christian worship. Here are two disciples who had been with Jesus up, close and personal; seen Him heal the sick, deliver the possessed, raise the dead and comfort the broken. Yet, when the resurrected Jesus walks with them, they have no idea it is Him.

Jesus then proceeds to teach them about Himself, from the Scriptures. Their hearts burn with a holy fire deep within as they begin to understand things they had never comprehended before. When they reach their destination, they invite Him to stay with us (Luke 24:29) and Jesus agrees. Next, at supper time, the day reaches an incredible climax at the Table, in the breaking of bread. The Bible says, their eyes were opened at that very moment and they recognized Jesus for who He was!

In John 21 also, Jesus appears at the seashore and breaks bread for His disciples and serves them. The post resurrection pattern that is established is unmistakable. Jesus did not stop serving His followers with the Last Supper. He continues to serve us by teaching us what we need to know through the Word and by giving us Himself at the Table through the Eucharist. On the road to Emmaus, the disciples got revelation, and in the breaking of the bread, they recognized the Lord. I believe this is quite the model that the Lord would like us to follow in our worship.

The songs add beauty, emotional connect and participation, the prayers express the thoughts, needs and intentions of the Church, the preaching of the Word describes God, explains His character, reveals truths about Him, and converts our hearts; and at the Table, we receive Christ tangibly. Through the Word and the Eucharist, Jesus is and will be with us always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20). While the Word reveals, the Eucharist makes the revelation a reality.

When our worship is centered around the Word and the Eucharist, we are able to focus on Jesus in the manner in which He wants us to focus on Him; we are able to receive Him in the manner in which He wants us to receive Him; not our will but His! Through the Word, we are cleansed (John 15:3), set free (John 8:32), our faith is built up (Romans 10:17), and we come to know our God, and His heart. Probably some of the reasons why St. Jerome said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” Apart from reading/preaching/teaching Scripture, using songs that have strong scriptural basis also helps us to aptly focus on Christ the Word.

Through the Eucharist, we receive the new manna, the Bread of Heaven (John 6:58), strength for our weary hearts and nourishing food for our broken souls (John 6:35). The idea of the Eucharistic meal, which kind of prefigures in Genesis when Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine (Genesis 14:18) attains full clarity when Christ, the eternal Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6) establishes the New Covenant at the Last Supper, and in the process, overturns every known idea of leadership by washing the feet of His disciples! His passion, death and resurrection demonstrate the reality of His love by being broken to become a blessing for others.

The songs, prayers, sermon, and everything else must be based on Scripture and lead us to the culmination, or the main course, which is the Table. The Eucharist is the synopsis of God’s salvation story and our faith. It helps us relive the mystery of the Cross and instills in us the hope of our resurrection, one day. If the Cross is God’s masterpiece of His love, then the Eucharist is the centerpiece of our worship. At the Table, we are able to proclaim the Lord’s death, while looking forward to the heavenly feast that is to come when He returns in glory. “Worship in song requires a skilled band and a humble yet confident leader. The sermon hinges on a gifted teacher or preacher. But the bread and the cup will always be the body and the blood.” – Glenn Packiam.

Regardless of our musical skills, song selection or anything else, Christ makes Himself present through the Word and at the Table by the power of the Holy Spirit and gives meaning to our faith and our worship. “Thanks be to You, Jesus, everlasting Good Shepherd, Who have seen fit to feed us poor exiled people with Your precious Body and Blood, and to invite us with words from Your own lips to partake of these sacred Mysteries: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” – Thomas à Kempis

Through the Word and the Eucharist, Christ continues to display to us the Eucharistic way of life—to be broken for the sake of others, to put others before self, to offer ourselves back to God and be raised by Him! In the Eucharist, Christ continues to serve us just as He promised in Luke 12:37, by calling us to His Table and feeding us His own Body and Blood. That’s how Christ leads worship and that’s the path we ought to follow. Through the Word, Christ reveals Himself to us; through the Eucharist, He gives Himself to us! These are some of the thoughts that I tried to express when I wrote “Eucharistic Worship”:

You have given, life to this world

Giving thanks we receive

At Your table, now You call us

To this sacred mystery

As the Cup is raised and Bread is broken

We remember Lord Your saving passion

This is our Eucharistic worship

Adoration in truth and spirit

Lord Jesus, You are with us

This is communion of Your faithful

An offering of our lives unto You

May we be one, just as You are one

Those who come to You never hunger

You're the One we believe

Those who eat this Food live forever

You are all that we need

O Christ, He is risen from the grave!

In the interest of Jesus-focused worship, we would do well to remember the Emmaus model:

1. Revelation through the Word that we sing, preach, teach, hear and learn.

2. Respond to the Word just like the disciples inviting Christ to stay with us.

3. Receive Christ in the Eucharist and take Him through us to the world.

Hence the next time we plan and deliver worship sessions, it would be sensible to pray to the Holy Spirit to help us to put on the mind of Christ the real worship leader (I Corinthians 2:16). The result: The Holy Spirit will unite our songs with the song of the Son in whose perfect ministering, the Father is glorified. This way, our worship is made holy, acceptable and Trinitarian.

The Future of Worship

The future of worship, in many ways, lies in learning from the past and refocusing on the Word and the Eucharist. As worship leaders, we would do ourselves and our Church a world of good if we don’t lose sight of this truth. Our worship should be God-pleasing, not self-pleasing; we should teach people how to worship; provide people with what they need, not necessarily what they want. We should not cut our worship content off from the early Church practices described in the New Testament and in the writings of the early church fathers. “A worship that will have staying power is a worship that is firmly grounded in the old, yet aware of and concerned for new ways to respond to the old, old story.” - Robert E. Webber

While rooting our worship practices in Scripture and tradition, we are also called to embrace local culture, discern social changes and incorporate whatever adds value to worship. For example, dancing is considered perfectly normal in a Catholic Mass in Africa. In Rome, it may not get the same sort of acceptance. Same Church, same liturgy, but different socio-cultural norms!

As our worship continues to evolve, I believe the past will guide us to firmly (re)embrace the core ancient elements of worship—the Word, praying together, the Eucharistic meal, and fellowship—by doing so Christ will remain the center. I also have a feeling that music and song will play a role in getting us there.

“Why did Our Blessed Lord use bread and wine as the elements of this Memorial? First of all, because no two substances in nature better symbolize unity than bread and wine. As bread is made from a multiplicity of grains of wheat, and wine is made from a multiplicity of grapes, so the many who believe are one in Christ.

Second, no two substances in nature have to suffer more to become what they are than bread and wine. Wheat has to pass through the rigors of winter, be ground beneath the Calvary of a mill, and then subjected to purging fire before it can become bread. Grapes in their turn must be subjected to the Gethsemane of a wine press and have their life crushed from them to become wine. Thus, do they symbolize the Passion and Sufferings of Christ, and the condition of Salvation, for Our Lord said unless we die to ourselves we cannot live in Him.

A third reason is that there are no two substances in nature which have more traditionally nourished man than bread and wine. In bringing these elements to the altar, men are equivalently bringing themselves. When bread and wine are taken or consumed, they are changed into man's body and blood. But when He took bread and wine, He changed them into Himself.” - Fulton J. Sheen

Last Word: the Invitation

Our generous God has always been invitational towards us. He invited Adam and Eve to rule over creation; He invited Noah to enter the Ark of protection from His terrible wrath; He invited Abraham into a covenant of fruitfulness; He invited Moses to freedom from captivity and so on… And in Jesus, we have received the amazing invitation to enter the Kingdom of God itself (Matthew 4:17), despite the vast ocean of sin that stood between us and Him. This invitation is a blessing like no other, and we’ve got to remember to be grateful for it!

How can we not respond with love and gratitude to this invitation?! In response, I believe our lives, ministries and worship ought to be invitational too; the invitation to rejoice, pray, fellowship, bless, praise, surrender, trust, obey, repent, thank and more! And it really doesn’t matter if our ministries are small or big. What actually does matter is loving the Lord, staying in awe of Him and desiring to magnify Him all our lives—that is the essence of leading worship. Let’s place Christ at the center of it all; may His Cross forever be our prime inspiration to worship and to invite someone to worship with us.

In John 4:23, the Bible says the Father is seeking true worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Now, think about that for a moment. The Father already receives amazing worship in Heaven (Isaiah 6:1-4). Placed next to the worship of heavenly angels, our worship must surely pale in comparison. So why would He seek worshippers on earth?

Maybe because Heaven is perfect in every aspect; there are no tears, sorrow, temptation or sin there. Whereas on earth, we know it’s quite the opposite! Despite all such barriers in our world, when we choose to worship the invisible God compared to the face-to-face worship in Heaven, it’s that much more special because we are presenting to God what is far more difficult to offer on earth than in Heaven. Maybe God values this choice of ours and can’t wait to meet with us in our worship!

So what is worship in Spirit and in truth? I like to think of it as the work of the Holy Spirit in helping us realize our fallen and helpless state with respect to sin and our inability to make adequate amends for it. This truth then makes us realize another truth about our need for a Savior; and what an invaluable price He has paid to become the Savior! Our natural response will then be to love God without measure, and worship Him in humble repentance, and grateful awe! We will turn back to Him and run to Him; and He will run to us (Luke 15:20), and we will receive a foretaste of Heaven on earth! That’s why John 4:23 is a mind-blowing promise that if we worship Him in authenticity and in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, He will surely look for and find us!

So come... Let us worship... The LORD.

Copyright & Licensing Information

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher, except in the case of brief quotations or book reviews

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The DNA of the Church

Chapter 2: The Heart of a Worshipper

Chapter 3: Acts and Expressions of Worship

Chapter 4: The Design of Contemporary Worship Ministry

Chapter 5: A Blueprint for Constructing Inspired Worship Set-Lists

Chapter 6: The Art of Establishing Fluidity in Worship

Chapter 7: The Nuts and Bolts of Effective Rehearsal & Delivery

Chapter 8: The Essentials of Managing Visuals

Chapter 9: The Fundamentals of Forming a Team and Mentoring People

Chapter 10: Personal and Ministerial Pitfalls to Avoid and Overcome

Chapter 11: The Worship Servant’s List of Lifelong ‘Unforgettables’

Chapter 12: The Center and Focus of Christian Worship