3 Reasons to Elude Worship Leading from the Stage

Where's Bryan go?

From time to time, people ask, “Where have you been? You haven’t been leading worship lately. Is everything OK?” Not only is it OK, it’s on purpose. And here’s why…

It comes down to how the church (people) and its pastors function in their roles. You see, empowering volunteers and developing leaders are highly valued. Some churches hire a front man for a band. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Sometimes churches need exactly this situation. Other churches hire a worship coordinator, someone who administrates the worship environment. And again there is no problem with this. It’s not wrong, it simply is different than how we do it. I’d like to think we are more in the middle…which sheds light on why you don’t see me every week as the leader on stage.

I’m a talent broker of sorts. A talent broker’s role is to find, assemble, and delpoy talent for a set purpose. I discover talent in others (find it). I assemble and organize the talent in such a way that it’s effective (the administrative part). Then I deploy the talent (allowing YOU to serve). This is all done for one of the greatest purposes on earth…to meet people where they are and move them closer to God.

Listen, in many ways, this makes sense. Here are three reasons to elude worship leading on stage.

1. Variety Brings Broader Connections: People are wired differently. You and I aren’t the same. The more qualified people who can lead worship, the better rate of connectivity over time. It’s the velcro factor that we’re after.
2. Avoiding Personality Driven Worship: Having one worship leader may bring consistency and quality to a higher level quickly. In some situations this is not really needed, but the only way (a church plant for example). However, worship may take on the personality of this single leader in the long term. Worship could become more personality driven. If something were to ever happen to this one leader, it’s more difficult for a group of worshipers to compensate.
3. Unpaid Staff Minister, Paid Staff Equip: In other words my role is to set up the bowling pins, so that you can knock them down. Having an environment where a pastor is serving in the equipping role is valued more than a pastor who is doing the ministering. This doesn’t mean that I get out of the serving role as a minister, but it does mean that that is not my primary focus. My primary focus is to get others to serve, not set myself up to be the only one serving in the leadership role.

There are obviously some disadvantages to this method. We have to fight for consistency. It takes more time to create a worship environment with others than just one person. We’ll probably make more mistakes along the way. It takes a little longer to do it this way. But in my book, the advantages are greater than the short term cons that can be overcome.

The bottom line is when new people come to TBC and they cannot figure out who the paid worship leading guy is - it’s a win. It may lead to more focus on God (our ultimate purpose) than focus on the one leading them in worship of God.