The times they are a’changing. Worship leaders used to be conservative. Now you’ll see them sporting hats, deep v-neck shirts, and TOMS. They use vocoders and trash cans for a bit of creativity. But some things about worship never change. This is my take on 10 things a worship leader should never do. Enjoy!
- Chastise the congregation. If the congregation isn’t responding, it can get tempting to “preach” to them about how they aren’t worshipping. But we can’t judge their hearts. Plus, it’s the pastor’s job to bring correction. The worship leader should be a cheerleader, not a grumpy coach.
- Take a secular song, and change the word “baby” to “Jesus”. (Unless it’s referring to baby Jesus.) Come on, guys. I know it can be tempting to play that really cool song on the radio. A simple change of the word “baby” to “Jesus” could do the trick. But, seriously?!
- Introduce every song with a story. An occasional story can be a useful tool to engage folks with a song. But you’re there to sing, not tell anecdotes about your child reaching up to you saying “Dada”.
- Run the sound while leading worship. This is especially tempting at the churches where the sound guy and worship leader are always fighting. Trust me. Even a bad sound guy can do better than you can while leading worship. Don’t do this unless you have no other choice.
- Close your eyes during the whole service. You’re leading. Plus, it looks like you’re in pain if you close your eyes the whole time.
- Attempt a hymn you “think” you know. Be sure you know the hymn. Otherwise that throwback for the traditional folks will fall flat.
- “Wing it.” Unless you’re the only band member…with no sound team or slide runners…don’t wing it. Even then. Be careful. You’ll probably end up saying something dumb or forgetting all the words.
- Let choir members smuggle percussion instruments on stage. There’s nothing worse for a sound guy than suddenly hearing a choir member shaking a tambourine or smacking a cowbell next to the choir mics. Have a gender-segregated pat-down before the service if you need…
- Show your mid-riff. It’s the next inevitable phase after the deep-V. But please…don’t do it! (Especially guys.)
- Think it’s all about you. It’s not about you. It’s not about the music. It’s not about the songs. It’s about leading people into worshipping God.
Anything I left off the list that a worship leader should never do? Chime in!
As a Worship Leader it drives me nuts when I see Worship Leaders stop everything, mid song even, to have the sound messed with. Ive heard leaders stop mid song and say, “Sound dude, can you come fix my mic or turn up my monitors?” it totally quenches what God is doing. If I ever have that problem Ill keep playing and have one of the singers run to the back and tell the sound guy, but only if its a really big deal that has to be dealt with like my mic battery dying or something.
Also, Worship Leaders doing the same songs over and over. Introduce new songs! Branch out! Constantly doing the same songs over and over every week can get old. At one church I attended and was a lead singer at we did 3 songs so much I cant even hear those songs anymore without getting annoyed! HaHaHa!
Haha…never stop the song to fix sound problems…definitely. You CAN lead worship even if your monitor mix sucks
A worship team and leader should never make themselves be the objects of worship. Its not a rock concert about your band, its about leading the congregation to praise our One and Only God. Seeing some of the worship sets featured on the other site sometimes make me think of the former but I shouldn’t judge. Sorry.
However, could we please NOT wear any of those ridiculous beanie hats! Is it really that cold in your sanctuary? Whatever happened to taking off your hats as a sign of respect?
Sorry for the rant… Great list Jonathan!
Haha…but I LOVE beanies! I must admit…I’ve been guilty of wearing them while leading worship.
No worries about ranting. If you can’t rant on the internet…where CAN you?
worship leader should not chastise the congregation for not hoping up with rhythm pattern and style even the clap