November of this year will mark twenty-five years since I manned my post as a local-church worship pastor. In that time, I’ve served as worship pastor at two churches: Emmanuel Baptist Church in Sterling, Colorado, from 2001 to 2010, and New Harmony Church in Salem, Missouri, from 2010 until this moment. I’ve served with four different senior pastors, two at each church, and alongside numerous associate pastors. I’ve learned and led hundreds of songs, maybe into the thousands. I’ve attended worship conferences, held retreats, hosted workshops, led untold numbers of rehearsals, and made more mistakes than a monkey typing Shakespeare. One Sunday, I even ripped my pants right down the middle. I have recurring stress dreams of showing up to church on Sunday morning, late and unprepared, but somehow no one notices except me.
So, yeah… I’ve been doing this for a long time. I don’t consider myself some worship pastor sage at this point. In fact, I don’t even consider myself all that musical for a worship pastor. I don’t sit around listening to music all the time. Growing up, my family wasn’t musical, so it just wasn’t part of our family life. I discovered every musical bone in my body in my late teens and early twenties. When I go to conferences and strike up conversations with other worship pastors, I find myself not like them. I don’t get caught up in guitar tone wood discussions, or the latest singles or album drops from artists. I just don’t care about that stuff too much. I suppose you could characterize me as a very utilitarian worship pastor. I know what I need to know to do my ministry. A guitar is a tool. I learn to play the music we sing, and not much else. I can’t play Smoke on the Water or Stairway to Heaven, or even Sweet Home Alabama, because I just don’t care to learn them. And though, over twenty-five years, I’ve learned quite a bit, I don’t know much music theory. I’m almost entirely an ear musician. I don’t read it, I hear it.
But with all that said, I have been and continue to be deeply passionate about one thing: ushering in the presence of the LORD. Leading the church into authentic, expressive encounters with Jesus every week. Why is that what drives me? One, that’s what Jesus deserves. Two, that’s the kind of worship I desire to offer Him. The church’s gathered worship will seldom surpass the worship of its leaders. If the leaders are clappers and hand raisers, the church will broadly follow suit. It’s not an overnight change, but I’ve witnessed four very different senior pastors over two and a half decades, and without fail, the church gradually shifts to follow their lead. Even more than mine.
That’s my first observation. Worship pastors are not the lead worshipers. That distinction always belongs to the lead pastor. I have great influence on the worship of the congregation, but I have never been able to push beyond how the lead pastor’s example eventually shapes things. It’s inevitable, and I’ve come to terms with it. So if I ever transition to a lead pastor role, I plan to continue leading worship, just from a different seat. So, do what you can to encourage freedom and expression in worship, and also realize that the person setting the tone for everyone will be preaching in a few minutes.
It’s humbling to realize that even with instrumental skills, vocal ability, and a fairly good sense of what’s happening in the room, you’re not the guy really leading things. But that’s a great segue into the subject of egos. I learned a lesson about ego very early in my ministry that is still protecting me today. We’ve all heard the stories about bands that break up, many of them over uncontrolled egos. There’s no place for egos on any worship team. If I’ve been consistently clear about anything over the years, it’s that egos aren’t welcome. And because of that, one of the most consistent things I hear back from team members is amazement that we don’t have conflicts. Let me qualify that. It’s not that there are no disagreements or even the occasional hurt feelings, but those things are almost always handled with love and humility. I have heard horror stories about worship teams at other churches. From the sounds of it, they’re often ego-driven fractures in the harmony of the band and/or singers. It just reinforces my no-ego policy.
I’m sure that people may think that I have an ego because I have a vision for what the worship team should look like, and I pursue it. That’s not ego, that’s leadership. Leaders must make decisions and stand behind them. Leaders must have a vision and chase it. Worship leadership involves knowing the kind of music you want to make and putting the people in place who will help you achieve it. Just because someone says they can play piano doesn’t mean they play the way that you need them to play for your team. I’m very upfront with folks who express interest in playing. We use chord charts, we are loose with the form, we’re all, to varying degrees, ear learners, and you have to be on your toes because sometimes we change things mid-song. If that’s not your bag, then we may not be a pleasure to play with.
Of course, on volunteer teams – which is all I’ve ever known – you’ll seldom get everything you hope for. It’s an opportunity to trust the LORD that He’ll make something actually better than you hoped for. And in my experience, that has almost always happened. Trusting the LORD for provision is a core matter of leadership. And He always leads me to places where I can trust Him a little more. I’ve had seasons where super talented people stepped away, and it changed the feel of the music for a while. But the LORD has always, always, always sent people who exceed my expectations and take us to a new level that’s just as good or better than before.
People are gifts. It just so happens that the gifts on the worship team can sing and play instruments skillfully. For a long time now, I’ve been purposeful about identifying and training up people who can replace me. It’s not just for the sake of continuity when I’m gone for a weekend or when I’m actually gone for good. I want to raise up people who can lead. Even go to other churches and lead. I’ve seen that happen too. One of the most satisfying things has been to watch the people I invest in and train up go and do it themselves, even lead better than me. Back to the ego subject, I can’t afford to be threatened by greater talents. And I’m not. I’m not the greatest vocalist or guitarist, or bassist. There are better singers than me on my team today. There are better guitarists on my team today. I’m not threatened by them one ounce. In fact, I plug them in and let them lead as often as possible. Worship leaders elevate their team. When one of us rises, we all rise. I’ll say it again, people are gifts.
The gifts we receive from the LORD are ours to identify, sharpen, and multiply. The way I’ve done that over the years certainly isn’t perfect, but it has borne good fruit, and that’s really all you can hope for. I’ll be fifty later this year, and I’m starting to feel changes in my voice. I sing differently now. It’s not worse, just different. My stamina is different. Once upon a time, I could sing and play for hours. That has diminished some. I have to take more intentional care of my hands and my voice these days. But, overall, I believe the LORD still uses my middle-aged talents for His glory. That makes me glad. As long as He keeps using me, I’ll keep picking up the guitar and raising my voice to lead His church into His presence. The question is, how long?
Honestly, I do believe that eventually, before I’m decrepit, He’ll move me into a preaching role, but that’ll be His move, not mine. I’m here to serve with whichever talent He wants to use for His plans, not maneuver into a new lane through ambition. To quote a song we often sing, we won’t move without You. Well, I won’t move without Him. If the LORD still has a guitar around my neck when I’m 75, I’m sure He’ll keep giving me gladness and joy in serving Him.
Young leaders, let the LORD advance you, let the LORD lead you, let the LORD be your joy and gladness in leading. Stay humble, dismiss ego, see people as gifts, not voices and instruments, and sharpen and multiply them as often as you’re able. The good fruit will come.
