In my early days of leading worship, I was oblivious to the people I was leading. I didn’t even really think about them. I basically thought it was some grand display of my musical gifts and anointing for others to enjoy. I know, awful, right? While I still battle pride on a daily basis, I’ve learned that leading worship is more about “engaging” your congregation than it is about “amazing” them with your worship leading brilliance.
One of my tendencies is to over-prepare musically and under-prepare relationally. Yes, I said relationally. In order to lead a congregation to breakthrough worship, they need to trust you. Here are some tips on how I work this out:
- Pray for your congregation
- Respond with grace to criticism (but don’t take it too seriously)
- Respond with gratefulness to compliments (but don’t take it too seriously)
- Relate to your congregation where they are (who is present? – unbelievers, new Christians, senior saints, rebellious teenagers, trendy young adult?) Trust needs to be established for them to follow you.
- Select a healthy balance of music (song choice & style)
- Practice your public speaking & communication skills
- Develop good people skills – you need to be like-able!
- Utilize humor tastefully – humor helps people relax and feel comfortable around you
Do you agree? What have you done in order to connect with your congregation?
I’ve been the worship leader now at my church going on maybe a year. In this year, I’ve done everything but show up naked to get the congregation engaged. However, nothing I do seems to work. I’ve had a couple of times when the congregation appeared engaged so I thought I just keep doing it that way but eventually I end up right back where I started. My pastor is never out in the sanctuary during praise & worship so I truthfully don’t know what to do. Any assistance would be great.
First of all, don’t show up naked 🙂 Second, are you doing music that they know? Sometimes the song selection and musical arranging can be so confusing that it’s hard for people to engage. Before I blame the congregation I always look at what I’m doing first. Am I serving them well? Am I inviting participation? Hope that helps!
Yes, it’s music that they know. I always invite God in first and then the congregation. Maybe it is me. I don’t know. It’s very discouraging.